engineered in institutions as different as film animation and special effects houses,
virtual reality games, exponents of light shows, producers of extreme sports, and
those who construct theme park rides. Increasingly, in particular, this knowledge
is projected through objects which are based on maximizing movement experi-
ences through the application of particular sequences of movement which engage
the visceral sense as well as the proprioceptive and fine touch, rather like hiero-
glyphs of the kind found in dance and other performing arts (Thrift 2000a). For
example, roller coasters are now often described in specifically choreographic terms.
Then a final purchase is, as already prefaced, memorabilia. Memorabilia both
encapsulate and string out experiences. Most experience businesses mix
memorabilia into what they offer. Memorabilia are becoming more sophis-
ticated as objects can increasingly be customized. For example, guests’ credit
card signatures can be digitized and transferred to objects like clothing, sports
equipment and photographs, often next to the signatures of appropriate
celebrities. And, increasingly, memorabilia are being played for affective
capacity. For example:Hillenbrand Industries of Butestaffe, Indiana, developed a new memorabilia
capacity for the funeral industry. The concept emerged from the practice in
many funeral homes of producing memory books for display at viewing and
memorial services. Hillenbrand sought to bring greater efficiencies to the
process but also to preserve the kind of one-of-a-kind collages families now
put together to commemorate the lives of lost loved ones. Hillenbrand does
this by developing a proprietary system to digitize, merge and print mass
customized collages to both paper and video output media.
But these life space collages serve merely as a prop for the experience
Hillenbrand really offers, A self-guided kit that walks a family, group of friends
or co-workers through a series of steps to create their own memories. ‘What
we sell’, says Gary Bonnie, who handled the initiative, ‘is the life scaping
experience of gathering with others, rummaging through old photographs
and other mementos, and recalling fond memories. The collage gift happens
to be the outcome; the value is experienced in going through the process
we’ve helped script.’ Accordingly, Hillenbrand charges for the kit experience,
whether or not people actually buy the collage.
(Pine and Gilmore 1999: 58)So, what we see is bare life laid bare and anatomized, and put together again
as saleable, immersive experiences. Through history, of course, landscapes have
been constructed and experiences have been put up for sale but I think the new
developments which, by engaging all the senses, produce new realms of experience
to exchange should give us pause. It may be that ‘the history of economic progress
consists of charging a fee for what once was free’ (Pine and Gilmore 1999: 6 7 ).
Alternatively, this maxim can be seen as simply another rationalization of the
neoliberal order, one which entails a significant broadening and deepening of
economic relations through much more sophisticated means of interpellation.^14
Still life in nearly present time 73