Introduction
“We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning.”
In the world we’ve built (not the one we needed), where overabundance intertwines with a lack of meaning, this quote reflects Jean Baudrillard’s critic of the Consumerism Society and the proliferation of objets and representations. This idea, from his book The System of Objects (1), edited in 1968, describes the way that objects suffer from a loss of their essence. They are reduced to decorative elements, consumerist fetishes that subject us to an incessant commercial eroticization of our desires. This line of thought from Jean Baudrillard resonates deeply in the field of commercial scenography, where the illusion of meaning and beauty collides the superficiality of a show designed to seduce the consumer.
In this context, the scenography is often perceived as a tool that combines both the need to sell and seduce, such that the pursuit of a desirable exhibition includes a significant risk for the scenographer : that of falling into a mere « aestheticization » of the product. An illusion of depth, without truly providing meaning.
This conception of the aesthetic relies on the use of common language where the word « aesthetic » is frequently associated with a simplified, negative conception, perceived as the simple act of making something « beautiful » or « appealing ». This reductive perspective conflates aesthetics with superficiality itself. However, here we encounter a divergence in terminology, because, according to the philosophical definition, the aesthetic is considered to be a reflexion on the judgement of taste and the experience of beauty. Following the work of philosophers like Emmanuel Kant, the aesthetic represents more than the pursuit of a pleasant beauty, it raises questions about the depth of meaning behind the shapes.
Therefore, we can question wether the scenography is truly a creator of meaning, or merely a sophisticated camouflage for a more insidious fetishization.
Can commercial scenography, through its aesthetic approach,
break free form this logic of fetishization?
In what follows, this dissertation offers both a critical reading and a speculative response: a journey through the genealogy of commercial scenography, from the birth of department stores to the sterile Luxury of flagship minimalism—before imagining a world where the dominant models collapse. Between theory and fiction, analysis and invention, it asks: what remains when the empire disappears?
1. Jean Baudrillard, The System of Objects, (translated by James Benedict), Gallimard, Paris, 1968.
2. Kant, Emmanuel. Critique of the Power of Judgment. Cambridge University Press, 2000.