vienna

social benefit should be apparent immediately and the protest must
be trend-setting.” 510
The protest was not only directed against beautiful German
“good design”, but also against the notion of the involvement of
design in social processes, as Gert Selle pointed out a few years
ago in his “social theory of design”. The ugly seemed to make the
beautiful uncanny:
“‘Timeless’, ‘eternal’ design is a product of fear. We proclaim unrest
as the normal state, restlessness as resting place. We take loving care
of our neuroses. We rejoice in the onset of emotional confusion.” 511
The German seasonal sale window is not any different from
the ones in the other cities we have visited. Since it, too, stages the
ugly, the following would be a fine homage to German radical design:
A chrome rod held by chains hanging from the ceiling is the central
element in the show window of a men’s fashion boutique. On the rod
are several jackets on wooden hangers. Each of these fashion items
bears a red price tag. Folded shirts are exhibited on the right side, and
each of them seems to be crossed out by a tie. Written on the window
is: “SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE…”
The symbolic capital of the retailer, the image risks being damaged
to augment the commercial capital. 512 The next show window
takes us back to design and sociology:
The two huge show windows are located in a modern building. The
decoration of both windows is identical. One half of each window
is totally blocked out with red, paper posters, while the other half is
open. Four mannequins clad in red T-shirts and black trousers stand
in a row. Each T-shirt bears one big white letter: “S-a-l-e”. The backdrop,
the sidewalls and the floor are painted white. On coming closer
to the window, we see that one of the posters is damaged. When we
peer through the gap, we see several naked mannequins behind
a red wall. And behind them is a huge red flag with the word “sale”
written on it.
510 Borngräber (1987:13)*.
511 Brandolini (1990:20)*.
512 For the different capital types of market agents, see Bourdieu (2002a:192).
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