Semiotics of the Sale

A Televised Performance, 2008

Somerville Community Access Television, Somerville, MA

DURATION: 20 minutes

 

Semiotics of the Sale was a performance on television that included 20 products whose brand names were also action verbs: Balance™, Cheer™, Refresh™, Cascade™, Pledge™, Repel™, Snuggle™, Shape™, Refresh™, GoLean™, Oust™, Ban™, Console™, Ensure™, Affirm™, Love™, Shout™, Combat™

Semiotics of the Sale from Andi Sutton on Vimeo.

In the piece, I spoke the name of each product and performed the corresponding action. After each action I ate, drank, and/or wore the products on my body. The piece ended after every product had been consumed and gesture had been completed.
 It was screened in conjunction with a panel discussion I moderated on gender and the media titled, Critical Focus on the Media: Gender, Sexuality, and the Media, with media theorist James Nadeau, and Professors Dr. Brecken Chinn Schwartz and Dr. Lisa Henderson. The performance was conceived as a complement to the guiding question posed to all panel participants:  what is the relationship between gender, sexuality, and the media?   The piece I conceived sought to explore the ‘feminine hand’ of advertising, and the ways the female body is often used as an avenue for product messaging and, in turn, consumer performance.

The performance and panel continues in syndication on Somerville Community Access Television.