Southdale: the first indoor shopping mall

An Ethnography

Mall of America I can’t stand.  It’s all too busy and touristy for me; I’m not a fan of crowds unless I’m at an outdoor concert.  But I have always liked Southdale, especially around the Holidays – so that’s where I went.  I entered through the Herbergers entrance on the East side of the mall (I ran because it was pouring rain) and immediately people were trying to sell me junk.

Three girls sat right inside the door selling holiday coupon books for five bucks.  They could see right through me when I told them I’d think about it and let them know on my way out, I wouldn’t be long.  The truth is that coupons are great if you know how to use them in a way that will actually help you save money, but I know that if I were to spend five dollars on a coupon book I’d feel obligated to use as many of the coupons as I could and I just know I would spend a lot more than five dollars doing so.

And then, two steps in the door and I was slapped in the face by Christmas.  It’s usually the big department stores that do it up big.  Herbergers (founded in Minnesota might I add) was a Christmas wonderland of music, decorations and products.  “Holly Jolly Christmas” was playing and I was surrounded by Christmas trees, reindeer and a bright sign that read, “Cheer begins at home”.

I got out of there quick and went up to the second level of the shopping mall, where girls were swarming around Victoria’s Secret and their “Holiday Lingerie Shop” that just came out.  I spoke with one of the workers who was dying to get off work so she could do some shopping herself, and something occurred to me: sex sells, Christmas sells, the two together are dangerous combination for consumers.  I can never spend too much time in that store – it’s like somebody sprayed twelve different perfumes in your face all at once.  I was actually surprised by how busy the mall was on a Wednesday night; maybe it was because of the rain.  Lines were so long at check out they actually asked the employees to open another register – which they did.

Then I found my way into Ragstock: the original “recycled” ugly Christmas sweater store.  I could hear the voice in my head saying, “it’s just the Christmas music talking, you don’t really want to buy anything.” But it didn’t matter. It totally worked. The Christmas music, the atmosphere, the hustle-bustle of the holiday season… I love it.

Ps.

Matt, I blame you one hundred percent for the completely unnecessary seventy-three bucks I spent on Christmas sweaters and cozy socks at Ragstock.

Ethnography and the Nicollet Mall/Skyway

Downtown Minneapolis (especially in the area I went to) is the business epitome of the city. Being surrounded by upper-class, wealthy business people made me feel completely alienated, and even worse, strangely alone.

Wearing their expensive suits and holding their expensive briefcases, they walked with a direct focus in a way that made it seem as though they wanted to quickly return somewhere, or quickly go somewhere, completely ignoring all others around them. 

At one point, my friend and I ran into a man wearing a plaid, twee-like suit in the elevator. He acted as though we were completely impeding on him and his space, scoffing at us when we decided to go to the very top floor of the parking garage. This is where I felt most alienated and separated from what I thought I was a part of- a city. 

The mall area was full of empty, dark stores that were catered towards the busy business workers, mostly consisting of food places. The few places that were open included a jewelry store and a store that sold smoothies. There was a part of me that felt completely empty and alone, although I was surrounded by hundreds of people. They seemed so direct and so sad- it was really an experience that took me back a little bit. They paid no attention to detail, to their journey, to the rainy day outside. They paid attention to where they were going, and how fast they were going. 

Ethnography

I decided to take a trip to Cub Foods with my roommate (desperately needed groceries) and jotted down a few things I noticed while we were there.

One thing that really stood out to me was the traffic flow because there wasn't a whole lot of it. Yes, there were certain areas where people stuck to one side of the isle to let others pass, but in the fruit/vegetable section, for example, where there aren't really defined isles people just wandered. Some people were mindful of their karts and where they were in regards to others, but other people had no clue and were oblivious when we were trying to pass by them.

Another thing I noticed was the speed of people walking around and I noticed this with myself at first. I aimlessly and slowly wandered through different isles looking for food that I wanted, but the minute I thought of something without seeing it my pace quickened when I headed for that item. Without knowing exactly what I was trying to get, my pace was slow. But when I knew what I wanted, my pace was quick and determined. I noticed this with others, too. Many people were aimlessly wandering and you could see it in their expression also. They looked around a lot or read the food isle headings that said which food items it contained. But there were also people who walked with a purpose straight towards an isle or a food item.

The last big thing that caught my attention were checkout lines. When two people would approach a checkout line at the same time they would either avoid eye contact all together or nervously look up at the other person and then look away until they both just formed in line without saying anything. This type of thing happens to me all the time so I thought it was an interesting thing to finally notice.

Ethnography of Target Express

Since I didn't quite have enough time to make the trip to any mall nearby, I decided to do an ethnography of the Target Express in Dinkytown instead.

Immediately upon entering the store I realized the dynamic shift in body language and walking styles of those outside of the store vs. those inside.  It was interesting too to notice and feel the shift in myself as well as the group I had walked in with.  Those on their way out the door look straight ahead without veering, walked with purpose and speed, and seemed to pay no attention at all to what was happening around them.  Those inside the doors however, including myself, seemed to engage in the opposite style of movement.  We had a sort of 'wandering' look about us (or so I imagine), taking in the scene of the store laid out before us, thinking hard about what it was we needed and where we needed to go to find it.

In front of me stood a girl who looked like she had absolutely no idea where she was going or what she was looking for.  I could see others behind her start to get frustrated, as she was blocking their paths, but still she stood with that 'wandering' sense about her.  Then, almost as if a lightbulb suddenly shone bright in her head, she did a complete 180 and headed out the door past me.  Interesting.

I began to notice more closely those around me, and couldn't help but attribute stories to the people I saw even though I didn't know them at all.  Upon reflection I now realize that this realization was an important part of the ethnographic experience because I think sometimes we project our thoughts and beliefs onto others even when we know hardly nothing about them at all.  Is a good ethnography completely objective?  Or does implementing our own experiences and ideas make the observations valuable?  And if we were to take a step back and reflect on our own projections onto the people we observe, would they give us an even better insight into society and how we understand people?

Social Aesthetics

The idea that life is art is important (viz. Nietzsche, the Marx quote in the reading). This might typically be read in terms of life as artifice, where we expect to craft, with technique and technicality, a form of life distinct in style, beauty, pleasure.  Highmore's work interests me in exploring an alternative (and, as I read it, complementary) approach to an aesthetics of living - one that is "descriptive," rather than "prescriptive."  That is, I think Highmore's project is to (lead to the project to) explain what constitutes the everyday in terms of aesthetic forms, as opposed to offering an aesthetic way to live.  I suppose my first question is - what's the point?  Does he explain the utility/value in a socio-aesthetic approach to describe everyday life, as opposed to just a sociological account?  I found it difficult to figure out the direction he was trying to take us in if, at the same time, he was trying to stay away from "the need to make categorical judgments as to the worth or otherwise of routine."  Is his point just that aesthetic forms might more accurately capture (by metaphor) what everydayness looks like?

Towards this end, nonetheless, I think the aesthetics of montage (demonstrated in the activity of cooking by Giard) and of rhythmanalysis ("premised on the understanding that everyday life is a polyrhythmic ensemble of competing and overlapping rhythms" (322)) are very interesting and compelling approaches to framing the everyday in aesthetic terms.  Lefebvre's idea that rhythmanalysis might replace psychoanalysis is entirely appealing to me, although - as, mentioned by Highmore, it's a very undeveloped idea - I wonder what rhythmanalysis as a kind of aesthetic therapy would exactly entail?

Another Step in the Routine

On p. 308, Highmore mentions the way that Chaplin's character brings his "automated response", a routine developed by his industrial workplace, outside the factory. To me, this seems to embody two different ideas. Firstly, the barriers between work and life appear to have been dulled to the point where it becomes difficult to distinguish between them. Simultaneously, we may have been experiencing the comfort of our routines for so long that we choose to replicate those routines even in situations where there is no need to, causing us to react to events in a subconscious, repetitive way rather than engaging with them on an individual level. This latter effect could effectively be seen as a dumbing-down of society due to modernization, which the essay seems to address partly from various perspectives.

Recently I watched a video essay on neorealism, and it made me think of some similarities between cinematic portrayals and analyses of everyday life. What exactly is it that makes an experience stand out from the routines of the everyday? Do we focus only on the things that matter and cause change in our everyday lives? Or should we also pay attention to the absence of change, as well as the empty spaces left behind by change? After all, routines do not develop in a vacuum.

here we go again

In my essay, I used quotes from Highmore to emphasize my argument that humans are alienated in both work and leisure; moreover, there is chaos in every part of everyday life in the search for satisfaction.

An interesting part of Highmore's essay that I want to touch on is his analysis of parent-child relationships and the routine that affects them. "Parents are continually told that routine also provides stability, predictability and most important of all, security. Establishing routines is thus the key to happiness: 'chaos makes us all feel as if we've got no control over the situation. Children are happiest when they have a structured routine" (Highmore 311). He goes on to say that setting childcare routines are not only effective for the children, but more so for the adults. When a parent is exhausted from his or her work day, they want to come home to immerse themselves in leisure time, not deal with a screaming kid. This proves the point that there is extreme difficulty in finding consciousness in our modern world.

"These days, solitude is a luxury too. People are rarely alone; they're either at the office or at home with the family" (Sagan). With the constant innate need to live a productive life, we completely lose our sense of consciousness. Routine, in my opinion, is a distraction from true conciousness and is put in place to prevent complete and total chaos in the never-ceasing everyday life.

Stress, fatigue, and dissatisfaction stem from, as "Lefebvre [suggests,] the contemporary experiences of routine life (mealtime, bedtime, the school run, the commute and so on,) [which] are the outcome of processes of modernization" (Highmore 322). Technology adds to the stress of work life and that stress nevertheless carries on to other aspects of life.