Erick Valle
ENG 2150
3/2/19
Prof Graves
First assignment
Controversy draws a crowd like no other in today’s society. The attention brought from controversy is usually due to an inflammatory subject that is magnetized from multiple fronts. Attention is then circulated by the constant chatter and buzz of the subject, so no matter how you look at a controversial subject if there’s talk about it, there’s fame being built upon it. Let’s take two current and relevant examples such as the brand Supreme’s pieces/ collaboration, and the insta-famous celebrity Danielle Bregoli. Supreme is a clothing brand from Soho, New York that has gained a reputation for being generally inflammatory to market towards their intended audience, skater teens. They emulate this rebellious culture that skater teens would have through their clothing pieces and collaborations, such as the Piss Christ tee which was a collaborative piece that is a commentary on anti-institutional sentiment. Danielle Bregoli, on the other hand, is a girl who started out with her appearance on the Dr. Phil TV show due to her flagrant behavior with her mother and her famous catchphrase “Catch me outside how bout that”. She has then since evolved into an internet personality and has put out rap songs featuring mainstream artists. Both of these pieces commentate on how attractive inflammatory material is to the viral nature of a subject. Both artifacts challenge a social norm which garners them constant attention. This is because of the constant buzz that surrounds the subject which allows it to thrive in the minds of the public. And with today’s media, the scope as to which someone can become viral is more widened and faster than ever before; the general public has the ease of accessibility to these subjects and countless more. Social media can even open up doorways to other forms of viral status, as shown by Danielle’s career and Supreme’s boom in business.
Danielle Bregoli, when she first appeared on the Dr.Phil show, was 13 years old and was brought on to have an intervention about her behavior. During the episode, she is shown to have this sort of “thuggish attitude” despite her not really being about that life. The episode then carries on into her 15 seconds of fame when she says her famous line “Catch me outside how bout that” which in layman’s term means that she’s willing to fight anyone who has a problem with her attitude. People were quick to then turn her into a meme and with the help of social media, made her blow up. People seemed to find her disrespectful attitude as humorous due to the fact that she doesn’t really look like the type to live the life that her attitude insinuates, nonetheless, her follow count increased on Instagram and she was granted a follow-up episode on Dr. Phil. Groups of people began to question as to why she was famous, to begin with. They found her rebellious attitude to be the delusions of a young teen and were actually unattracted to that inflammatory subject. What that group of people failed to realize is that they just answered their own question. The general crowd in today’s age is attracted to inflammatory items, and contrary to what the “haters” are thinking that they’re doing, the “haters” are also throwing fuel to her famous reputation. As long as people even remotely give her attention, she will remain viral, regardless if that attention is positive or negative. She has then had the doors open to her when that same infamous reputation got her sponsorships. Then she moved on to a full rap career and networking with other media outlets and celebrities.
Another inflammatory viral subject is the clothing brand Supreme. They make pieces, outfits, and accessories since 1994 in New York City. Their main audience is young teens, skaters, and street fashionistas, which they market to by emulating this rebellious culture and oddly enough those rebellious pieces are the most notable and famous from their brand. This rebellious attitude is parallel to that of the typical teen skater. The message and vibe of the pieces are usually presented through devices such as symbolism, irony, and allusion. For example images from the Spring/Summer collection features pieces such as the “Motherfucker Towel”, that exhibit an awesome and glorified tone of the word motherfucker, the symbolism of this word is a purposely inflammatory statement all fit into one word. The shock value of this piece is fitted with the irony that something as soft and nonchalant as a towel is paired with a provocative word. Another piece, The “Cops Jacquard pocket tee” from that very same collection presents a conceit through its design. The tee shirt has words that compare individuals to the cops, such as “Doctors are cops, Radios are cops, Cameras are cops..” this is a commentary of the over surveilled nature of the U.S. after the 9/11 attacks and Snowden leaks, it alludes to the measures taken by Homeland Security and various other government agencies to prevent home based attacks such as collecting general and private information about you through medical records, phone camera surveillance, etc. The rebellious undertone of the message is very anti-institutional and that’s the beauty of the piece. So Supreme has already had a reputation for being inflammatory, especially through their picks in collaborations; back in their FW 2017 collection, they included a collaboration with artist Andres Serrano. Serrano is an American artist who is widely famous for the content and messages of his art pieces. They were deliberately confrontational and included obscene figures such as bodily fluids, sex, violence, and death. These art pieces would gain opposition from conservative art critics. A piece from his Supreme subcollection was a tee shirt that had a print of Serrano’s infamous photograph that is titled “Piss Christ”. The original photograph shows a plastic cross with Christ submerged in urine. At face value we can obviously see why this piece would be regarded as controversial, however, it was so controversial that it is regarded as the “flashpoint in what became known as the ‘culture wars’ of the 1980s and 1990s in America.”. “Piss Christ” is a commentary about the shameful view of bodily fluids that is held by the religious crowd and censorship, with an anti-institutional bold tone. A similar but less direct message is brought by another piece from the sub-collection; the blood and semen design. Designed onto hoodies and Vans skate shoes, it includes a microscopic view of a mixture of blood and semen; while not necessarily anti-institutional; it still carries the counter to the social norm that bodily fluids should be regarded as disgusting and taboo. Supreme didn’t just make this choice of collaboration by coincidence but by carrying the rebellious subculture forward. It’s funny to think that a subject that aims to go viral; Supreme; goes about to reach that goal by recognizing a past viral subject; Andres Serrano’s art. Both Supreme and Serrano’s works were established around the same time period, which gives reason to believe that Serrano may have had a hand in inspiring the aesthetic of Supreme. At the time of release, the brand was already a cult classic among streetwear enthusiasts and the hype of the collaboration made the collection sell out in under 30 seconds during its online release of Sep 25, 2017. Throughout the years the popularity of the brand became viral partially due to collaborations with other relevant brands and the widespread appearances in the wardrobes of rappers and celebrities. Their style is very baggy, nonchalant, and scrappy; their lookbooks include photos with models that have a slumped laid back attitude with unregulated hairstyles, and shoot videos of awesome skateboard tricks on often private property in the city of New York. Where there is a subculture of rebellious attitude, street fashion hype, and skateboards there is a Supreme piece to be found nowadays.
Both Supreme and Danielle Bregolli present a commentary on not only their purpose at face value, for example, Supreme’s marketing scheme and Bregolli’s celebrity career, but to the overall phenomenon of controversy towards the virality of a subject. When a subject is presented to society an audience forms opinions about the said subject. Both artifacts convey an opposition towards a set norm which makes the subject inherently different. Difference, includes change which in this case means a change in a social norm. In a society where entertainment and media follow these norms a subject that breaks from this is refreshing content to a consumer. This builds a crowd of people who follow this tendency to break norms, these people are included in the counter culture and are for the most part, in support of the subject that emulates their ideas. Supreme is a prime example of this counter culture consuming a subject that emulates their ideas. Young skaters are correctly stereotyped to be anti-institutional since it is part of their counterculture, this is portrayed by the pieces that were mentioned earlier (“Cops Jacquard Tee” and “Piss Christ tee”). While the controversy portrayed in the artifacts aren’t to the extent of a dangerous and harmful topic, they both present a disrespectful and anti-authority tone towards their audience. These kinds of mildly controversial cultural artifacts are considered wildly inflammatory to an audience of strictly disciplined individuals, for example, older people that carry traditional values. They are obviously against this subject and convey their opinion as to why they are, in hopes that it reasons with the audience that continually consume the said subject. However, this is where the virality of the artifacts come into play. Virality is synonymous to popularity, which is achieved when a subject is given attention by an audience regardless of whether or not if they’re for it. Controversy is widely debated around which forms a conversation about the subject. Danielle Bregolli’s Instagram posts are fitted with a comment section on each post which invites conversation on not only her post but her personality as a whole. Within her comment section, there is a mix of people questioning why she is famous and others praising her for her content. This widespread attention from hundreds of thousands of users is what gives her fame. When Supreme collaborated with Serrano on the FW17 subcollection, the conversation towards the controversy of Serrano’s pieces was reignited which in turn gave the clothing pieces hype and anticipation on their release.
Danielle Bregolli since her beginning as a meme from the internet has now put out multiple rap singles that feature mainstream artists such as Kodak Black and Snoop Dogg; a spoiled little girl from a Dr. Phil episode has turned into a C list celebrity through Instagram and Snapchat. And Supreme has gained increased popularity due to their Instagram account being a major marketing tool to advertise their drops and collaborations. While both artifacts have in common that they use social media as a tool to widely access their audience and vice versa, they also have in common their commentary regarding inflammatory content. It’s the kind of content that draws an audience like moths to the light, and regardless of whether if you hate it or love it, the buzz that comes from the debate is only fuel to the subject’s virality. This has been a truth that is applicable to many moments in history, these artifacts mentioned are no different to that truth, they are just contemporarily viral.
Sources https://www.supremenewyork.com/previews/springsummer2019/tops-sweaters/cops-jacquard-pocket-tee
https://www.supremenewyork.com/previews/springsummer2019/accessories/motherfucker-towel
https://www.supremenewyork.com/news/680/images?image=0
“Andres Serrano Photography, Bio, Ideas.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artist-serrano-andres.htm.
( Danielle Bregolli original video) Phil, Dr. “13-Year-Old Says Mom Will Do Anything To Stop Her From Having Fun.” YouTube, YouTube, 15 Sept. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyUFzNVolG8.