Capitalism, 2009
video loop, 1’18”
The video offers a critical intervention into the visual language of mass entertainment by replacing the iconic opening texts of major Hollywood studios—Universal, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, and Columbia—with a single word: Capitalism. This substitution recontextualises these familiar cinematic logos, unveiling the underlying ideological structures that often go unquestioned in mainstream media. By mimicking the aesthetic precision and grandeur of these original animations, the work doesn’t merely parody studio branding—it strategically co-opts it. The result is a reflection on how the spectacle of cinema serves as a vehicle for capitalist ideology, seamlessly blending entertainment with systems of economic and cultural control. These logos, originally designed to evoke awe and credibility, are revealed here as mechanisms of soft power, reinforcing dominant narratives under the guise of neutrality and entertainment. The video invites viewers to confront the often invisible entanglement between cinema and capitalism—how mass media not only entertains but shapes desires, identities, and worldviews. It calls into question the notion of cinematic 'innocence,' drawing attention to how these institutions function as ideological apparatuses that continuously reinforce the status quo. Ultimately, the work exposes the myth of objectivity in visual culture and challenges us to rethink the role of aesthetics in sustaining systemic power. It asks: what are we watching when we see studio logos on screen? And what ideologies are we consenting to, simply by accepting them as the default language of cinema?