In his 1964 work "One Dimensional Man" Herbert Marcuse describes what he believes to be the de-evolution of industrialized society into the single minded pursuit of commerce. Decades later his hypothesis seems even closer to the truth, as much of our social interaction is now based in spaces that are designed to promote consumption. These spaces are in fact privately owned lots masquerading as public space so as to satiate the populace's desire for "public" interaction without sacrificing their effectiveness as places of commerce. The migration of social interaction into these pseudo-public spaces has also further marginalized the city's remaining public space. In his essay "Spaces of Uncertainty" Ken Cupers asks "is it only the sterile places with clearly defined use that we can enjoy today? Is it the designer shops, the fancy cafes, or the commercial promenades that provide our satisfaction? What about the young, the restless, the old, the poor, and the ones having been excluded from contemporary public space and therefore removed from society?" Options for inhabiting public space are limited for those who choose to forgo the theater of commercial space (and those who are forced to avoid it). However there is hope in the margins of our cities. The in-between and left behind spaces hold untold potential as spaces for interaction and expression. The struggle against the pseudo-public space utilizes a three-faceted approach with urban interventions inspired by the Situationists and modern street artists. Each of the interventions will be designed to either, inform, identify, or occupy. First, the city's inhabitants must be made aware of the nature of the pseudo-public space, its effects on our culture and their underlying mechanisms of control. Second, a network of marginalized spaces will be created as alternative spaces for occupation and interaction. Finally an intervention will be organized to occupy space outside the realm of the pseudo-public in a manner that could inspire other such occupations, or at the very least raise awareness as to the potential for non-commercial human interaction in the public sphere.

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To promote their desired national identity, the North Macedonian government funded the Skopje 2014 Project––an initiative including abundant statues, architectural façades, and other structures that depict Ancient Macedon as North Macedonia’s heritage. This project received copious amounts of criticism on two central fronts: first, that its allusions to Ancient Macedon are a false depiction of history; second, that its aesthetic is tacky. While valid arguments are made on each of these fronts, I argue that the latter complicates the former when analyzed in the context of North Macedonia’s precarity. In this analysis, I employ the work of Judith Butler and Liron Lavi as a theoretical backdrop to interrogate the nature of North Macedonia’s precarity. Analyzing political negotiations between North Macedonia and Greece surrounding Skopje 2014, I introduce the term persistent infelicity––a type of precarity in which the validity of an identity performance is made inaccessible for a given entity. Further, the commodification of the Ancient Macedon narrative has transformed North Macedonia’s identity performance from an iterative production to an instantaneous transaction, limiting North Macedonia’s opportunity to challenge its infelicitous state. However, I assert that the aesthetic of Skopje 2014 creates space for subversion even considering these limitations. Expanding upon the work of Susan Sontag, I identify Skopje 2014’s aesthetic as camp and delineate its function in the project as one of subversive compliance. Camp as a rhetorical tool allows North Macedonia to perform a bifurcated identity—one identity that is insincere yet appeases its international audience and another that is more authentic yet controversial directed toward an intra-national audience. While this has modestly empowering implications for Skopje 2014, this analysis concludes that the identity performance of North Macedonia has been propelled into the realm of simulacra—a realm ultimately and perilously untethered to the “real”––and prompts further consideration for other precarious nations whose identities may be fated to persistent infelicity.

Kemikalier utgör en grundläggande beståndsdel av det senindustriella samhället, och en omfattande produktion av kemikalier brukar allmänt anses som en nödvändig förutsättning för teknisk utveckling och ekonomisk tillväxt. I Sverige ledde miljölarmen om DDT, PCB och kvicksilver på 1960- och 1970-talet till inrättandet av ett system för kemikaliekontroll som brukar framhållas som ett av världens främsta. Avhandlingen undersöker detta kontrollsystem och dess logik. Detta görs genom textanalys av propositioner, statliga utredningar, rapporter från Naturvårdsverket och Kemikalieinspektionen, samt genom intervjuer med anställda på sistnämnda myndigheter. Analysen identifierar kemikaliekontroll i Sverige som ett system genomsyrat av motsättningar, vilka bottnar i en epistemologisk paradox som innebär att ju mer kunskap som ackumuleras om kemikalier, desto mer ökar osäkerheten. Den konstanta ökningen av världens kemikalieproduktion, i kombination med kemikaliers epistemologiska komplexitet, placerar kontrollmyndigheterna i en omöjlig sits. Samtidigt visar avhandlingen att myndigheterna är delaktiga i att upprätthålla detta kontrollsystem som till stor del är ett system av simulerad kontroll. Dels förmedlar kontrollsystemet genom sin blotta existens intrycket av kontroll, och dels fungerar vissa centrala regulatoriska begrepp som signaler om kontroll, trots att de visar sig vara ihåliga. På så vis blir osäkerhet inom kontrollsystemet alltid ett undantag, trots att den är så utbredd. / Chemical substances have become an inextricable feature of the late-industrial society, deemed necessary for the welfare, technological development and economic growth that large parts of the world have come to expect. In Sweden, the identification in the 1960s and 1970s of DDT, PCB and mercury as serious environmental threats led to the establishment of a system of chemicals control which is widely held to be one of the most advanced in the world. The thesisexamines this control system, its possibilities, its problems and its logic, through text analysis of state reports, governmental propositions, the reports of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Swedish Chemicals Agency (SCA), and interviews with employees at these agencies. The analysis shows chemicals control in Sweden to be a system pervaded with contradictions, which may be explained by an epistemological paradox at its core: that the accumulation of knowledge only serve to increase uncertainty. The constant increase of chemicals production, in combination with the highly unpredictable character of chemicals in the environment, puts the monitoring agencies in an impossible situation, always working against the tide. The thesis also shows, however, that the agencies are themselves an important part of maintaining a system of control that is to a large extent simulated. This in the sense that the system, by its very existence as well as by the circulation of regulatory concepts and principles within it which are in fact without much substance, always signals control, and constitute uncertainty as the exception.

Bakgrund Det som idag beskrivs som e-sport har funnits sedan 1940-talet i en eller annan form. Med teknologiers framfart har detta kommit till att bli en del av den stora globala marknaden och även idrottsorganisationer investerar i e-sportlag som en del i att följa utvecklingen. Syftet med denna uppsats är att söka förståelse kring relationen kring e-sport och sport. Vidare har lyfts vad som händer just inom ramarna för corona- pandemin i sammanhanget. Metod Med etnografisk metod erbjuds här ett perspektiv på hur det kan se ut i samspelet mellan e-sport och sport, för idrotten i allmänhet, och för fotbollen i synnerhet. Data samlades in på ett online-baserat evenemang kallat Stay And Play Cup som arrangerades av EA Sports i tider av corona-pandemi. Analysen gjordes med teoribildningen som Jean Baudrillard står för i sin bok Simulacra & Simulation där han avhandlar relationen mellan verklighet, symboler och samhälle med fokus på kultur och media. Resultat Här bekräftas att de finns en relation kring e-sport och sport som kan behöva tittas närmare på ur ett idrottsvetenskapligt perspektiv. Vidare diskuteras vad det kan komma att innebära för idrott att e-sporten tar mark på en global marknad. Slutsats Fotbollen visar tecken på att bära på kulturella drag där spelandet av FIFA ingår. Strömningar om e-sportens närmare relation till fotbollen bekräftas. / Background What is now described as eSports has existed in one form or another since the 1940s. With the advancement of technologies, this has become part of the large global market and sports organizations are also investing in eSport-teams as part of following developments. Purpose of this essay is to seek an understanding of the relationship between e-sports and sports. Furthermore, what is happening within the context of the corona pandemic has been highlighted in this context. Method With ethnographic methodology, a perspective is offered here of what it might look like in the interaction between eSports and sports, for sports in general, and for football in particular. Data was collected at an online-based event called Stay and Play Cup, organized by EA Sports in times of corona pandemic. The analysis was done with the theory formation that Jean Baudrillard stands for in his book Simulacra & Simulation where he deals with the relationship between reality, symbols and society with a focus on culture and media. Result The result confirms that there is a relationship around e- sports and sports that may need to be looked at more closely from a sports science perspective. Furthermore, it is discussed what it could mean for sports that e-sports take ground in a global market. Conclusion Football shows signs of carrying on cultural traits that include the playing of the game FIFA. Currents about e-sport's closer relationship with football are confirmed.

In the early twentieth century, the modernists problematized ornament in their refashioning of architecture for the industrial age. Today, architects are formulating different responses to image and its (re)production in the information age. In both discourses of ornament and image, surfaces are often the perpetrators: visual boundaries that facilitate false appearances, imprisoning humanity in a shadowy cave of illusion. Such views follow a familiar metaphysical model characterized by the opposition between inside and outside and the opaque boundary that acts as a barrier. This model determines the traditional (Platonic) philosophical approach that follows a distinct hierarchical order and a perpendicular movement of thought that seeks to penetrate appearances in order to arrive at the essence of things. This thesis deploys Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy to advance a different understanding of surface, image and appearance in architecture. Using the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum as a catalyst, the thesis argues that many of the concepts with which commentators and critics analyse contemporary architecture follow models of thought that consider surfaces and their effects as secondary categories. Given the significance of visual (re)production and communication for contemporary society, the thesis proposes a different model based on surface as that which simultaneously produces, connects and separates image and reality. This non-hierarchical approach is inspired by surficial philosophy, which relates to Earth, to geology and topology, conjuring up a diversity of concepts from the thickness of the crust to the smooth fluidity of the seas. The result is an unfamiliar, polemical model of thought that does not define surface as a limit or barrier, rather a medium, a pliable space of smooth mixture. In this model, difference is not in the opposition between the two sides of a boundary line, rather it occurs upon and within the surficial landscape that consumes categories, promoting nomadic movements of thought that offer greater flexibility towards creativity and new possibilities. In surficial thought, images and appearances are not artificial copies of an originary reality, rather they possess a unique reality of their own. This approach allows architectural imagery to be theorised as a positive surfacing of architecture beyond disciplinary lines and the locality of a specific time and place.

Postcards highlight the most invigorating, awesome and memorable aspects of events and places. They serve as mementos to be shared or as a testament to experience, proof that "I was here." While postcards were most widely used at the turn of the 20th century, they are quickly being outmoded by the immediacy of technology. Thanks to digital photography and the world wide web, sharing memories is something that happens almost as quickly as the original event is experienced. The history and function of postcards are not the topics that I will address in this essay. Rather, I will look at how geography and experience influence the formation of memories and illustrate how postcards, in highlighting the most mundane and forgettable aspects of place, can act as a mnemonic device. I will also touch on ideas of the simulacra to explore how the simulation of an event or object can be truer or at least more authentic than the original.

This thesis explores how the aura of the artworks changes in the age of digital reproduction through the empirical experiments conducted in Uppsala Konstmuseum. By employing the definition of the aura given by Benjamin in The work of art in the age of the mechanical reproduction and The arcade project, this thesis conceptualizes the “aura” into eight dimensions and then operationalizes the eight dimensions in order to find whether audience’s evaluation of the artwork changes when they are given different stimulus in the control experiment. From the control experiment, the quantitative data will be obtained from a questionnaire and non-participant observation. The qualitative data will be obtained from the interviews. By also applying the simulacra theory of Baudrillard to the analysis part, this thesis finds that there exists a small difference in the perception of the aura between the people who see a digital copy and who see a real painting. The aura still has its power. However, such power is really weak, as many dimensions of the aura have been weakened by the digital simulacra. Through this study, I suggest the museums to take cautious steps to digitalize their artworks though there is no evidence that virtual museums can replace real museums.

This thesis aims to explore how the idea of American Dream is presented in White Noise, how the Dream is represented as ¡§American magic,¡¨ and how eventually it turns into ¡§American dread,¡¨ the ultimate American nightmare. In Chapter One, I provide a brief historical survey on the concept of the American Dream, the idea that mainly shaped the American nation in history. I turn to Jim Cullen¡¦s The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea That Shaped a Nation and Andrew Delbanco¡¦s The Real American Dream: A Meditation on Hope to explore how the idea of the American Dream changes through the course of American history as well as construct a historical background of the American Dream. Chapter Two explores how the American Dream in White Noise is exposed and transformed into what DeLillo terms in the novel as the ¡§American magic¡¨ via the novel¡¦s extreme emphasis on the issue of mass media, the operation of simulated magic. First, I briefly analyze the American Dream succeeded in White Noise based on my survey of the American Dream in the previous chapter. Reading DeLillo¡¦s ¡§American magic¡¨ as the simulated dream in White Noise in light of Baudrillard¡¦s theory of simulacra and simulation, I argue that White Noise is in fact a novel based on the critique of the American Dream due to the falsehood of the protagonists¡¦ American Dream televised through media and consumer culture. In Chapter Three, by recalling the novel¡¦s emphasis on the protagonists¡¦ fear of death, I aim to examine the true reason for such fatal fear. While many may read White Noise simply as a postmodern representation of man¡¦s uncontrollable natural fear of death, I examine the connection of this major theme of fear towards death to DeLillo¡¦s American magic and point out the possibility of American magic acting both as a cause and reinforcement of this fear as well as relating it to the larger issue of DeLillo¡¦s ¡§American dread¡¨ ¡Xa portrayal of the American Dream and magic brought to its extremity and stirred towards a possible apocalyptic end.

Los Angeles has long been identified as a fragmented city, by nature of its cosmology and those constructed perceptions that constitute it in the collective imaginary. In an effort to articulate, interrogate and understand such a place, we have come to rely on its representations to function as mediators of meaning, delivering through their simulation of the city an experience of the real, lived Los Angeles. As a result, the relationships between the real and the representation become skewed, altering the processes by which we engage with the everyday. To better understand the implications of this dialectic, I examine four representations of the city: Disneyland, David Hockney’s “Domestic Scene, Los Angeles,” David Gebhard and Robert Winter’s A Guide to Architecture in Southern California and the BBC “One Pair of Eyes” installment “Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles.” By analyzing representations of Los Angeles produced in a range of media, it becomes possible to discern the complex relationships between the real and envisioned Los Angeles, and to recognize the constructive force that emerges out of this discursive space. / text