“The Mass Ornament”

Abstract

An analysis of the nature & characteristics of the mass ornament. The bearers of the ornament are the masses because ornaments are patterns & humans become components of a pattern only when they are part of a mass, never when they conceive of themselves as individuals formed from within. The ornament is an end in itself. In the example of the Tiller Girls performing company, the ornament is drained of its erotic significance & becomes a simple linear system. The ornament, apart from its bearers, is susceptible to being understood rationally. The ornament's structure is a reflection of the social system which generates it because it features uniformity just like the mass of workers which the capitalist system breeds to be used wherever needed in the world. The ornament, like capitalist production, is also an end in itself. In spite of the condemnation of some intellectuals, the esthetic experience afforded by pageants such as the Tiller Girls, is legitimate. S. Karganovic.