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At the limits of creative culture.

Article Excerpt
The shift from citizen to consumer has occurred alongside a rise in populist politics: the ordinary individual is celebrated at the same time as their rights and freedoms are being hollowed out or removed altogether. From the celebration of the 'battler' (who is now free to struggle outside the 'oppressive' framework of union culture), to the ubiquitous message that 'your call is important to us' (while you are being diverted to a New Dehli call centre), to the rise of DIY culture and the makeover of the house and yard (a homogenous creativity courtesy of your friendly multinational superstore), the traditional labours and struggles of the ordinary person have been reconstituted within the framework of the market so that they only retain a vestige of their prior meaning and significance.

Part of this commodification of the everyday is evident in the way our culture is in love with a particular idea of the amateur. Television, for instance, has managed an uneasy but successful hybrid of the spectacle and the ordinary by jazzing up the dreams of the amateur with programs like Australian Idol, Next Top Model, Operatunity, and So You Think You Can Dance? The idea of these shows--that a 'nobody' can magically rise to the top--has long been a myth of capitalism. Elsewhere we see a similar trend. Time magazine's 2006 person of...

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