O’Brien treats ads as art objects, which is to say he understands that most of them are meaningless, even if their effects on us aren’t.
"Everybody wants a little luxury in life, whether it’s state-of-the-art high-tops or something large and 24 carat. It’s only human … Luxury is a sign of hope and belief in one’s self,” wrote Glenn O’Brien―the prolific writer, editor, creative director and New York staple―in a 1990 article for Artforum magazine. O’Brien’s words have proven decidedly true, as has much of his writing from the Artforum column on advertising he penned from 1984 to 1990.
With prescience and panache, O’Brien wrote on such diverse topics as advertising in Japan, the Buy American campaign, Burger King, tobacco and alcohol ads, condoms, Max Headroom, computer games, the relationship between advertising and art, and much more. Now collected in their entirety for the first time, the 38 articles are accompanied by a preface by Jeffrey Deitch and an introduction from O’Brien, as well as a previously unpublished dialogue on consumer culture from the same period.
About the Author
Glenn O’Brien is an American writer―largely on the subjects of art, music and fashion―and editor. He was the first editor of Interview from 1971 to 1974, and was a music critic for the publication in the punk era, with the influential column “Glenn O’Brien’s Beat.” O’Brien was featured for many years as “The Style Guy” in GQ magazine, and published the arts and literature magazine Bald Ego from 2003 to 2005. His books include The Style Guy and How to Be a Man.
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