Death Becomes Her
Barney’s New York came under fire last month for this window display in which remarkably un-realistic mannequins wearing Helmut Lang and ALC were posed in postures suggestive of attack, and the windows were blood spattered. Normally callous New Yorkers apparently freaked right out, Barney’s backpedaled and claimed their creative director had been out when the displays went up, and the whole thing was over and the display removed in less time than it takes to catch a New York Cab.
Obviously, these people have forgotten that advertising, violence, and poor taste go together like ice cream and cake and cake! Some of my favorite examples of the genre:
And, just in case you thought this was a modern trend…
Related posts:
August 15th, 2009 at 9:24 AM
Well– note how all those ads are violence being perpetrated against women? & given the, well, real world actual problems with rape & domestic violence, outright glamorizing of it is pretty…well, gauche. So yeah– colour me one of those NYC hardboiled who had a problem with it.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:38 AM
i like the blood spattered mannequins!
August 15th, 2009 at 4:41 PM
The window display reminds me of a certain episode of pushing daisies.
…Also, I quite like it.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:55 PM
You know, I think I would have liked that glass window display if maybe some of the victim mannequins were male…women and violence go together too much these days, too glorified, and everything…
August 16th, 2009 at 6:26 AM
Yes I agree these are disturbing & not in a good way.
August 16th, 2009 at 8:06 AM
Why would that lady in photo 5 put her purse in front of her face? would’nt she prefer her purse to not have holes blown in it?
:joke:
August 16th, 2009 at 4:00 PM
@f_fiend: Maybe it’s the same mentality that causes people to cover themselves with sheets after watching slasher films, as though an axe murderer will be waylayed by a few inches of fabric and batting.
Curiously enough, I just got finished reading BoingBoing’s entry on anatomical wax models, including anatomical Venuses (http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/15/aphrodites-of-the-op.html). And creepily enough, there’s a link there to an image of Duchamp’s Etant donnes: http://blackmodular.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/duchamp-etant-donnes-part-1946-66.jpg
Happy Sunday, everyone.
August 18th, 2009 at 9:26 AM
I can’t tell if the old timey ones are the most disturbing or the most frank. Either way, I agree with many of the above, I’d like some “mennequins” in the window too …
November 16th, 2009 at 9:59 PM
i LOVE that this is on my birthday