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A pseudo-event is an event or activity that exists for the sole purpose of garnering media publicity and serves little to no other function in real life. Without the media, nothing meaningful actually occurs at the event, so pseudo-events are considered “real” only after they are viewed through news, advertisement, television or other types of media.
An extremely simple example is sitting for a family portrait: the event serves no purpose other than to be viewed through a photograph. Other examples include press conferences, advertisements, media spectacles, and many types of news.
The term was coined by the theorist and historian Daniel J. Boorstin in his 1962 book ‘’The Image: A guide to Pseudo-events in America’’. The term is closely related to idea of hyperreality and thus postmodernism, although Boorstin’s coinage severely predates the latter two ideas and the related work of postmodern thinkers such as Jean Baudrillard.
A number of video artists have explored the concept of a pseudo event in their work. The group Ant Farm especially plays with pseudo events in their works "Media Burn" (1975) and "The Eternal Frame" (1975).
See also
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- This page was last modified on 2 December 2008, at 22:49.
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