IN THE REALM OF THE MIDDLE (I-V)

I

Strained howls of triumph

– Temporary job security –

when the first poll results come in,

on which a lot of money was spent,

offset against the artist’s license income.

Puppets on the string of quotas.

Rope teams of a different kind.

Competitions for votings.

Auctioned poles at the point of sale.

The famous “as well as”,

the prescribed search for the “golden mean”

but which

exciting

sexy

unique

sensational

never been there before

should be.

There are specialists from the

product management, the

marketing, the

visual communication.

They provide the artistic packaging of a

successfully emptied of nothing.

Constructors of success.

They always do a “great job”.

For whatever. It doesn’t matter.

But when

Votings and Quotings,

Research and polls,

Surveys, polls and

Ratings

did not allow it,

then only one is the loser:

the originator of the product,

who now also

The originator of the failure, which is now

ashamed and with forced looseness

Vowed to do better

for the next time, if there is still a

next time for him.

The workplace is in danger.

The center wasn’t centered enough, was it

too centered,

too much both, too little as well

or

too little Both and too much As well

or what ?

II

Magic formula.

Oracle-like,

unpredictable like a force of nature,

this golden mean,

which quickly becomes a yawning void,

which cannot be a lesson to anyone in business, because

the controller’s balance sheets,

the plans of the Supervisory Board and

the expectations of shareholders

say otherwise.

The golden mean, is

the golden calf,

the divine fleece,

that everyone is looking for voluntarily.

Think tanks of free individualists,

Purchased experts,

Maker

of taste

with a nose for it,

what arrives.

What could arrive.

Must arrive.

about an opener

is to become a customer.

They use the same codes of their own free will.

They decide completely independently of each other

exactly the same.

Freedom is always the freedom of those who agree.

Contents

free

from

Dedication,

Sympathy,

Personality,

Irritation,

contradictions,

Bulkiness,

Confrontation,

Criticism,

Vision,

Courage,

Chutzpah,

Courage,

Desire,

Esprit,

Emotion,

Mind.

at the very most:

Sophistication,

Cunning,

Shrewdness,

intuition,

Professionalism;

well calculated,

cleverly dosed,

wittily presented,

clever or cheeky

stirred together.

Met the requirements,

meets the requirements,

with precise naturalness.

Relaxed and dogmatic-innovative-dynamic

recognized the signs of the times.

In other contexts, people used to talk about:

Loyalty to the line,

Subject spirit,

Submissiveness,

Cadaver obedience,

Synchronization,

prescribed art,

Apparatschicks,

One hundred and fifty percent,

vicarious agents.

Prohibition.

Dictation.

Censorship.

Today that is:

be at the cutting edge,

deliver what people want,

the signs of the times and

the challenges of the market

and act accordingly.

Take part in the competition.

Be successful.

They call it:

make the world a little more beautiful,

III

The dictates of an economy,

who are otherwise incessantly

Freedom,

Personal responsibility,

Mobility,

Willingness to take risks,

Innovation and

Independence

rambles.

What remains:

Efficiency in the sense of capital growth.

Little else.

Always talking about the center,

which we then call

have to endure the best of all worlds,

entirely voluntarily,

because we have a choice,

because we decide

about what dies and survives in competition.

And suddenly they are talking about constraints, laws and realities,

which must be recognized,

when they talk about the free market,

would be inconceivable without the freedom of the individual.

Always finding the golden mean is difficult,

becomes art

to the art of the modern, civilized – democratic – casual

Tommy Hilfiger – Duck mousiness:

Just don’t use the wrong word,

Just don’t make an unbalanced statement.

Always do everything right,

so don’t make a mistake –

which in reality means:

just pretending to have your own opinion.

Opinion simulation.

Lead images for the album of the

Panini pluralism.

The few remaining ones can be seen in the pictures.

The many others can collect, swap and stick them in.

And dream of becoming an album picture themselves.

Commercial,

an increasingly manic search,

an insane compression.

Social,

an increasingly brutal crumbling

this

Golden

Center.

Magic words that are nothing more than coded regulatory commands:

Political correctness

Pluralism

Tolerance

Respect

Balanced judgment

Competence

Civilization

Community of values.

IV

You, the interpreter,

who first

and

should sound like

it’s all great and beautiful.

From the makers in the background to the best

be-guess

supported,

re-touched,

built up,

stylized,

up-lifted.

Until you believed it yourself,

that this is the case.

That you are like this –

Because everyone is like that.

Because all

represent like this-

if they want to be successful.

If it wasn’t enough,

when the market has spit you out,

you stand there naked.

The public is merciless.

When the red button is pressed.

The worst humiliation.

If you have to listen to the contemptuous whispering behind your back,

when you have to look into the painfully loud, direct malice of the bored or jeering mob,

which was already in the papers the day before,

when all the slogans – however well-intentioned – fit the image,

become a boomerang.

Then you are

no longer

“the sensation”,

“the new shooting star”,

“the best thing since XYZ”,

but

a laughing stock.

The last straw.

Committee.

It is difficult for you to understand,

You are finding it difficult to reorganize yourself,

because you cannot overwrite your face.

Now you have to reintegrate,

without a probation officer,

to the 2nd class.

A downgrade from a dizzying height.

They didn’t buy it.

You had your chance.

You didn’t use it.

Or ?

That was fair.

Or ?

Not everyone can stand at the top.

Or ?

Because then there would be no top.

Or ?

No top and bottom.

Or ?

And where there is no top and bottom,

there is no freedom.

Or ?

Because equality and freedom,

that doesn’t fit together.

Or ?

Either or.

Or ?

So,

where there is no top and bottom,

There is no freedom there either.

And consequently no golden mean.

Or ?

V

The wasteland in the Middle Kingdom.

party landscape,

Television landscape,

radio landscape,

Newspaper landscape,

Opinion landscape,

Product landscape.

Evening series,

Gossip columns,

Quiz programs,

Election events,

Pedestrian zones,

Referendums,

Debates,

Competitions,

Industrial estates,

Land consolidation,

Hotel chains,

Chain stores,

recycling chains,

Company family,

Product families,

Discounter,

Leisure paradises,

Airport halls,

Edification literature,

Event culture,

adventure parks,

Long nights,

Lounges,

Sundays open for business,

Special offers,

Structural design,

Corporate alliances,

Advertising slots,

Financial injections,

Service

Price performance,

Customer friendliness,

Info Center,

Service Center,

Call Center,

Wellness Center,

Smart Design,

Product Design,

Think Tanks,

Coaching, Consulting, Commerce and more,

all in one,

all inclusive,

pay one, get three,

get it all,

hot line,

great free,

feel free,

feel the difference,

make the difference,

think different,

be different,

be yourself,

be real,

just be,

lets make things better,

for a better world,

better price, better look,

we care,

we understand,

we love you,

I love it.

(October 1, 2006)