living in a commodity culture

The images are of the new (fashion), yet they are old (the princess); offering satisfaction yet constantly disappointing. It is indeed a magical process. Our desires, wishes and emotions (fear) are wrapped in the dreams (success, holidays) woven by a commodity culture. These dream-like qualities of the visual images of commodity culture are the phantasmagoria of modern cities.

The illusory nature of the modern city in masking the problems within capitalist societies, such as poverty. Industrial capitalism brings about the re-enchantment of the urban-industrial world. This re-enchantment is what the surrealists saw and understood and is now clearly expressed by the fantasy world of Las Vegas.