what is montage factory

may 2024

"the hypermarket resembles a giant montage factory, because, instead of being linked to the chain of work by a continuous rational constraint, the agents (or the patients), mobile and decentered, give the impression of passing through aleatory circuits from one point of the chain to another." -jean baudrillard, simulacra and simulation

my life has always felt very fragmented. the only forms of art that have really inspired me to make art in turn are collage (physical or digital), plunderphonics, and absurdist/anachronistic memes. i have also always struggled with authenticity and mimicry, constantly feeling like a mere collage of the traits of those i admire or like a false imitation of behaviours i deem to be 'cool'. thus, it only felt right to derive my website domain name from a pretentious baudrillard quote.

ever since i was young i remember spending most of my free time online. the digital realm felt like a space to be my real self, free from the primordial baggage of "vulnerability" and "face-to-face social connection". in middle school i had more online friends than IRL friends; throughout high school i depended on twitter shitposting to gain validation from strangers; to this day i haven't physically met the first person i fell in love with.

this website is an attempt to consolidate all the fragmented aspects of my personality. social media under hypercapitalism rewards siloed, optimized user profiles. it is tough to show up as your full self on instagram, linkedin, and are.na simultaneously. it is frowned upon to post a youtube video about one topic one week and a completely different topic the next. apparently, as my executive assistant tells me, this would not be good for The Algorithm. but unfortunately what is good for The Algorithm is often alienating for the human psyche. i haven't read enough theory to make a meaningful connection to marxism here but just imagine a really nuanced take. or, in its place, you can listen to one bo burnham song and come back here once you're done.

i have, what feels like, too many thoughts - yet not enough motivation or skill to actualize these thoughts into something valuable. but i will try to cultivate this website as a montage of seemingly unrelated concepts and topics. hence, welcome to the montage factory. please take off your shoes and replace them with bright orange slippers and a cute little button clown nose. and don't forget to leave a generous tip in the form of a kiss on your way out. xoxo :p