Jean Baudrillard, R.I.P.
I’ve just learned that Jean Baudrillard died earlier this month. I was/am a fan of his writing an although his approach seems to be falling out of critical favor at the moment, I do think he was probably the most accurate/interesting of the Semiotext(e) writers. His theories have seemingly held together longer and his insight seemed clearer than most.
His theories on Hyperreality and Simularca, are to me, the highlights of his thinking.
Stardust Hotel
March 13th, 2007 both of the Stardust’s (I’m taking about Las Vegas here) towers were imploded. In Vegas this kind of thing is happening all the time now, so I guess it’s no big deal. However I do think of these as archetypes of the new American landmark. The Stardust was given a truly Vegas style send off with 10 minutes of fireworks before the building was imploded.
Isn’t that perfect – we celebrate the fact that we are tearing it down.
Anyway, I was able to photograph the sign before it was taken down this fall. The Stardust sign will be moved to the Neon Museum on Fremont Street. It’s going to cost $80,000 to move the it to the museum. I know that the Neon Museum is in fundraising mode right now for a number of things, and I’m sure they could use your help.