!
3.1!New!Modes!of!Production! ! ! ! ! ! !
3.2!Recuperation!of!artistic!practice!!!! ! ! ! !!
3.3!Workerist!critique! ! ! ! ! ! !
3.4!Digital!Humanism!! ! ! ! ! ! !
3.5!Prosumerism!as!Free!Labour! ! ! !!!!! ! !
!
In!this!section!I!will!contextualise!the!emerging!field!of!prosumer!critique!within!
broader!theories!of!how!the!labour!of!looking!and!flexible!labour!–!modelled!on!
artistic!practice!Y!has!been!recuperated!by!capitalism!over!the!course!of!the!twentieth!
century.!I!will!address!how!various!productive!forms!of!viewing!derive!value!and!ask!
what!parties!are!best!situated!to!address!these!new!modes.!!
!
3.1!New!Modes!of!Production!
!
In!establishing!prosumerism!as!a!new!mode!of!production,!I!will!look!at!several!
theories,!both!of!the!labour!of!looking!and!also!of!how!artistic!practice!has!been!
recuperated!by!capitalism.!But!before!I!look!to!contemporary!theories!of!looking!as!
labour!and!recuperated!artistic!practice,!it!bears!acknowledging!two!different!key!
sources!upon!which!much!of!this!contemporary!theory!rests.!The!first!is!Marx’s!labour!
theory!of!value,!and!the!second!is!Debord’s!theory!of!the!spectacle,!or!perhaps!more!
relevantly,!how!Debord!depicts!the!spectator!within!the!spectacle!as!newly!productive.!
Debord’s!spectator!puts!into!new!context!distinctions!between!productive!and!
unproductive!labour,!distinctions!with!which!Marx!had!grappled!a!century!before.!!
!
Marx’s!adopted!and!adapted!the!labour!theory!of!value!in!order!to!test!out!the!
fundamental!inconsistencies!of!capitalism’s!exploitative!mechanisms!for!profit.!!In!the!
labour!theory!of!value,!a!commodity!should!be!objectively!measured!by!the!number!of!
hours!of!labour!taken!to!produce!that!item.!In!principle,!therefore,!the!labour!theory!
of!value!should!be!able!to!value!of!all!commodities!including!that!which!the!workers!
sell!to!capitalists!as!a!wage,!or!‘labour!power’.!Labour!power!should!be!relative!to!
labour!hours!calculated!that!would!provide!the!worker!the!means!to!afford!their!basic!
human!needs.!However,!if!all!commodities!were!to!be!sold!at!prices!that!measured!
their!true!labourYhours’!value,!then!how!would!capitalists!enjoy!profit?!Marx!used!the!
‘labour!theory!of!value’!to!show!how,!in!order!to!gain!profit,!capitalists!must!be!
extricating!surplus!value!from!workers!in!order!to!enjoy!profit!themselves.!Therefore,!
negotiating!and!analysing!at!the!level!of!the!worker,!Marx’s!politicoYeconomic!theory!
shows!the!capitalist!system!to!be!calibrated!in!favour!of!the!capitalist,!who!owns!the!
means!of!production!that!brings!commodity!to!market,!and!is!therefore!capable!of!
exploiting!the!worker.!Marx!thereby!distinguishes!two!kinds!of!labour,!productive!
labour!and!unproductive!labour,!the!former!of!which!derives!profits!for!the!capitalist!
and!the!latter!of!which!does!not.96!He!writes,!‘productive!labour,!in!its!meaning!for!
capitalist!production,!is!wageYlabour!which,!exchanged!against!the!variable!part!of!
capital!(the!part!of!the!capital!that!is!spent!on!wages),!reproduces!not!only!this!part!of!
the!capital!(or!the!value!of!its!own!labourYpower),!but!in!addition!produces!surplusY value!for!the!capitalist.!It!is!only!thereby!that!commodity!or!money!that!is!transformed!
into!capital,!is!produced!as!capital.!Only!that!wageYlabour!is!productive!which!
produces!capital.’97!Crucially!here,!it!is!only!wageYworkers!of!productive!sectors!of!the!
economy!who!produce!value.!
!
This!theory!comes!under!duress!when!the!productive!mode!in!which!it!finds!context,!
the!industrial,!changes!and!the!forms!of!labour!within!them!adapt!accordingly.!It!is!
necessarily!revised!when!brought!forward!a!century,!into!different!political!and!
economic!circumstances.!Guy!Debord’s!‘Society!of!the!Spectacle’!proposes!a!new!
productive!mode,!the!new!agent!of!which!is!the!spectator.!Here,!the!spectacle!is!the!
term!for!a!society!at!large,!where!everything!has!become!mere!representation.!This!
productive!mechanism!by!which!the!‘social!relationship!between!people![…]!is!
mediated!by!images’,!is!a!relationship!that!is!produced!by!and!productive!of!advanced!
capitalism,!where!all!that!was!once!lived!has!‘become!mere!representation.’!The!key!
qualifying!feature!of!the!spectacle!is!that!it!communicates!visually,!that!its!‘job!is!to!
cause!a!world!that!is!no!longer!directly!perceptible!to!be!seen!via!different!specialised!
mediations’!and!so!it!must!‘elevate!the!human!sense!of!sight!to!the!special!place!once!
occupied!by!touch;!the!most!abstract!of!the!senses,!and!the!most!easily!deceived,!sight!
is!naturally!the!most!readily!adaptable!to!present!day!society’s!generalised!
abstraction.’98!!
!
What!Debord!proposed!was!that!by!meddling!with!our!perception!of!the!spectacle,!
capitalism!was!not!just!a!financial!system!but!a!dominant!state!of!alertness,!that!
intervenes!in!our!daily!lives!through!the!immediacy!of!our!senses;!powerful!primarily!
because!it!is!visual.!In!contrast!to!Marx’s!labour!theory!of!value,!Debord’s!writing!
proposes!that!in!the!allYencompassing,!allYengrossing!spectacle!penetrating!us!through!
our!visual!perception,!experience!and!labour!are!commodified!as!material!goods.!The!
spectacle!is!united!and!divided!in!its!appearances,!often!conveying!a!sense!of!
disruption,!only!for!that!to!be!settled,!and!reYinstrumentalised!once!more.!Through!the!
appearance!of!disruption!and!the!vocabulary!of!liberation,!the!spectacle!retains!its!
control.!This!is!a!capitalist!strategy!of!‘recuperation’,!where!capitalism!seizes!(or!
produces!in!‘sham!battles’)!examples!of!social!and!political!critique!and!then!swiftly!
reassumes!and!commodifies!them!back!into!the!mainstream,!deactivating!any!
instances!of!disobedience!or!civic!discontent.!!‘Spectacular!consumption!preserves!the!
old!culture!in!its!congealed!form,!going!so!far!as!to!recuperate!and!reYdiffuse!even!its!
negative!manifestation;!in!this!way,!the!spectacle’s!cultural!sector!gives!overt!
expression!to!what!the!spectacle!is!implicitly!in!its!totality!–!the!communication!of!the!
incommunicable’.99!Debord!aims!to!counteract!these!control!mechanisms!through!a!
critical!methodology!he!called!‘détournement’,!which!is!in!direct!contrast!to!the!forces!
of!‘recuperation’!already!at!play.!I!will!return!to!Debord’s!oppositional!strategies!of!
‘recuperation’!and!‘détournement’!later!in!the!writing.!!!
!
Principally,!many!contemporary!theories!around!the!‘labour!of!looking’!carry!forward!
some!basic!elements!of!the!productive!aspects!of!Marx’s!labour!theory!of!value!before!
analysing!new!means!and!modes!of!production!when!many!forms!of!online!labour!and!
‘communication’!are!now!unremunerated!and!reconciling!this!with!the!productive!
aspects!of!Debord’s!spectator.!To!be!clear,!there!are!vast!differences!between!the!
theorist’s!works!on!productive!labour!–!Marx!did!not!theorise!the!affective!modes!of!
capital!production!and!did!not!understand!recuperation!in!Situationist!terms:!
recuperation!or!retaliation!was,!for!Marx,!revolution!by!seizing!the!very!means!of!
production.!But!for!the!purposes!of!a!broad!introduction,!both!political!theorists!
theories!of!productivity!are!brought!to!bear!in!a!number!of!writings!by!contemporary!
theorists!regarding!how!viewers!or!spectators!have!become!the!late!twentieth!
century’s!new!agents!of!capitalist!production!in!PostYFordist!or!digital!labour,!analysing!
their!various!modes!and!means!of!production,!their!capacities!for!implementation!and!
their!vulnerability!to!exploitation.!Various!writers,!many!of!whom!I!will!detail!across!
this!chapter,!assert!the!difficulties!in!distinguishing!between!‘productive’!and!
‘unproductive’!labour,!as!Marx!divided!them,!when!occupations!such!as!prosumerism!
present!new!forms!of!often!voluntary!labour,!which,!even!if!they!are!not!deriving!
wages!for!the!lookingYlabourer,!are!generating!profits!for!companies!like!Google!and!
Facebook.!!!
!
Jonathan!Beller!approaches!the!‘labour!of!looking’!through!a!Marxist!materialist!
analysis!of!both!its!means!and!mode!of!production,!which!he!updates,!reY
contextualises!and!rephrases!as!the!‘Cinematic!Mode!of!Production’!(CMP).!Here,!he!
situates!a!new!period!of!productivity!through!attention!to!the!‘cinematic’,!when!and!
where!the!image!establishes!itself!as!the!new!form!of!capital.!Beller!proposes!that!his!
CMP!began!in!the!‘cinematic!spectatorship’!of!the!late!19th!century!when!cinema,!
‘surreptitiously!became!the!formal!paradigm!and!structural!template!for!social,!that!is,!
becomingYglobal,!organisation!generally’.100!His!use!of!the!term!‘cinema’!is!incredibly!
broad,!encompassing!early,!avantgarde!and!experimental!cinema!right!up,!‘[to]!its!
succeeding,!if!still!simultaneous,!formations,!particularly!television,!video,!computers!
and!internet,!deYterritorialised!factories!in!which!spectators!work,!that!is,!in!which!
they!perform!value!productive!labour.’101!Beller’s!theory!spans!the!full!twentieth!
century,!from!experiments!in!early!cinema!by!the!Lumière!brothers!in!1895,!to!
developments!in!eYcommerce,!his!recent!example!being!Google’s!monetisation!of!
online!‘content’.!He!regards,!!
!
[the]!method!of!gathering,!weighting,!and!bundling!little!pieces!of!attention!
more!and!more!thoroughly!distils!units!of!abstract!time!to!a!universe!of!time/!
attention!buyers.!This!computerised!advance!over!the!niche!marketing!practiced!
by!film!and!TV!is!linked!to!the!practice!of!what!Google!calls!the!monetisation!of!
content!–!where!every!instance!of!content!on!the!web!can,!in!principle,!be!
treated!simultaneously!as!a!commodity!and!a!medium.!This!means!that!every!
page!view,!every!image!if!you!will,!is!slated!to!be!sold!as!a!medium!of!labour!
power.!Google!has!found!its!true!function!in!the!sifting!and!parsing!of!not!just!
data!but!of!human!subjective!activity.!Under!the!guise!of!making!information!
available!to!users,!Google!has!made!these!users!available!to!capital!and!thus!
have!made!them!productive!of!capital.102!!
!
In!a!brief!synopsis,!he!writes,!‘what!the!accretion!of!gazes!on!the!surface!of!the!imageY commodity!shows,!precisely,!is!that!the!gaze!is!an!economic!medium,!its!lingering!is!
productive!of!value.!The!gazes!of!others!create!this!value:!to!look!is!to!labour.’103!!
!
Beller!historically!aligns!his!cinematicYeconomic!theory!to!three!fundamental!
movements!in!market!capital!as!identified!by!Ernst!Mandel,!‘the!stage!of!imperialism,!
the!stage!of!neoYimperialism!and!the!stage!of!what!one!might!call!neoYtotalitarianism,!
respectively…!the!cinema!has!its!origins!in!the!shift!from!market!to!monopoly!and!
reconstitutes!itself!in!the!shift!from!monopoly!to!multinational!capitalism.’!Beller!
makes!no!distinction!between!digital!and!analogue!images!but!asserts!that,!‘another!
useful!index!of!the!character!of!these!transformations!in!the!evolving!logic!of!
capitalised!production!and!circulation!is!the!mode!of!image!making!itself,!the!
indexicality!of!the!photograph,!the!analogue!electronic!signal,!and!the!digital!image.104! This!shift!underpins!his!claim!that!the!commodity!has!become!dematerialised!to!the!
point!that!it!exists!primarily!as!image.!!
!
His!theory!anticipates!many!recent!developments!in!social!media!and!networking!
platforms!outlined!in!the!previous!chapter!and!the!CMP!is!situated!as!simultaneously!
the!production!of!a!new!kind!of!subjective!experience!of!images!and!a!new!mode!of!
capital!production,!those!two!developments!perpetually!reconstituting!one!another.!
We!have!passed!thoroughly,!Beller!claims,!from!an!industrial!mode!of!capital!
production!to!a!cinematic!one!where!basic!economic!processes!are!newly!mediated!in!
and!by!the!‘cinematic’.!Beller!attempts!to!establish!a!whole!new!‘visual!economy’!
mediated!through!images.!In!setting!out!its!basic!principles,!he!returns!to!many!of!the!
basic!economic!processes!of!Marx’s!political!economy!and!often!quotes!‘Grundrisse!
der!Kritik!der!Politischen!Ökonomie.’!(1858)105!Beller’s!new!economy!is!based!on!the!
extraction!of!value!through!surplus!labour!as!exploited!by!capitalism.!In!Beller’s!
version,!Marx’s!‘labour!theory!of!value’,!the!commodity’s!value!relative!to!the!labour!
required!to!produce!it,!becomes,!‘the!attention!theory!of!value’!as!the!labour!of!
looking!is!harnessed!and!exploited!to!generate!profit!or!value!in!a!new!productive!
mode!of!capitalism.!Cinematic!spectatorship,!or!lookingYlabour,!is!extracted!from!
those!in!regular!contact!with!screened!images,!on!television,!video,!cinema,!the!
Internet!or!advertising!hoardings.!Labour!therefore!extends!well!beyond!office!hours,!
into!the!hours!and!homes!of!people’s!personal!lives;!their!‘attention’!is!the!commodity!
sold.!!
!
The!exchangeYvalue!of!the!imageYcommodity!is!something!like!its!aesthetic!appeal,!or!
the!value!it!derives!as!a!brand,!as!an!object!of!prestige!or!emulation.!Beller!proposes!
that!the!commodity!increasingly!tends!to!the!status!of!an!image.!‘In!perceiving!the!
fetish!component!of!the!image,!we!also!perceive!the!value!accrued!to!it!from!the!looks!
of!others.!Thus!the!media,!as!a!deYterritorialised!factory,!has!become!a!worksite!for!
global!production.!The!value!of!our!look!also!accrues!to!the!image:!it!sustains!the!
fetish…!it!is!an!innovation!in!productive!efficiency.’106!Through!and!because!of!this!new!
mode,!social!relations!become!mediated!through!images.!‘As!cinema!mediates!the!
apparent!world,!it!also!structures!perception…!The!generalised!movement!of!
commodities!through!the!sensorium!and!of!the!sensorium!through!commodities!is!
cinematic.!Thus!cinema!means!mediation!between!the!world!system!and!the!very!
interiority!of!the!spectator.’107!As!commodities!become!mediated!through!images!
(from!basic!items,!to!celebrity!identities,!to!branding,!etc),!he!maintains,!we!develop!a!
new!relationship!with!the!image!itself,!imageYcommodityYfetishism!generates!new!
image!appetites,!and!attention!is!remunerated!by!the!‘pleasure’!derived!from!those!
images.!!
! !
According!to!Beller,!the!cinematic!mode!of!production!is!regulated!through!cinematic!
consumption!of!any!screened!image.!Neither!production!nor!consumption!of!this!
imageYcommodity!are!separate!events!but!rather!bound!in!a!selfYperpetuating!circuit.!
Cinematic!production!is!not!the!beginning!point,!just!as!for!the!earlier!commodity!
Marx!wrote,!‘production!appears!to!be!the!point!of!departure,!consumption!as!the!
conclusion,!distribution!and!exchange!as!the!middle,!which!is!however!itself!twofold,!
since!distribution!is!determined!by!society!and!exchange!by!individuals…production!is!
also!immediately!consumption,!consumption!is!also!immediately!production.!Each!is!
imminently!its!opposite…!a!mediating!moment!takes!place!between!the!two.’108!In!
Beller’s!new!economy,!images!are!produced!and!consumed!as!inseparable!processes.!
The!production!of!the!image!creates!the!motives!for!its!consumption.!He!writes,!‘the!
image!is!productive!in!two!distinct!ways!1)!through!the!labour!of!looking!and!2)!
through!the!selfYmodification!embarked!upon!by!spectators!as!they!retool!
themselves.’109!!Although!the!term!is!not!mentioned!in!Beller’s!text,!what!might!also!
be!said!to!be!emerging!is!a!new!‘cinematic!mode!of!prosuming’.!According!to!Beller,!
production!and!consumption,!vis&à&vis!the!cinematic,!has!become!an!increasingly!
dematerialised!process.!Just!as!profit!was!once!derived!through!the!exploitation!of!
surplus!labour,!now!profit!is!derived!from!exploiting!the!new!cinematic!spectator’s!
surplus!attention.!This!kind!of!labour!is!simultaneously!productive!and!exploitative!of!
cinematic!spectatorship,!which,!Beller,!calls!‘disguised!wage!labour’.110!
!
Beller!looks!at!how!capitalism’s!advances!manifest!in!social!relations!increasingly!
mediated!through!images.!He!refers!to!Debord’s!‘Society!of!the!Spectacle’,!where!
relations!between!commodities!have!replaced!relations!between!people,!where!
production!line!workers!are!so!alienated!from!natural!time,!stimulus!and!other!aspects!
of!human!life!that!they!identify!principally!with!commodities,!as!mediated!by!images.!
Beller!advances!this!so!that!the!spectacle!is!no!longer!a!means!of!commodification!but!
a!mode!of!social!production.!‘If!Debord’s!attention!to!the!spectacular!and!the!visual!as!
the!paramount!field!of!capital!exploitation!is!to!be!properly!understood,!then!that!
which!he!calls!“a!ruse!of!commodity!logic”,!which!over!time!allows!for!the!liquidation!
of!the!specific!materialities!of!commodities!as!it!brings!the!commodityYform!toward!
“its!absolute!realisation”!(as!image),!must!be!shown!in!its!socially!productive!
aspect.’111!Beller!is!concerned!with!the!absolute!dematerialisation!of!commodities!into!
images,!the!change!from!commodityYconsciousness!to!imageYcommodityY consciousness!and!the!cinematisation!or!labourisation!of!the!subject!within!this!
transition.112!He!claims!that!‘if!we!combine!such!a!thesis![as!JeanYJoseph!Goux’s!work!
delineating!the!homologous!structures!of!psychoanalysis!and!political!economy]!
regarding!the!cinematisation!of!the!subject!with!Guy!Debord’s!insight!that!“the!
spectacle!is!the!guardian!of!sleep”!then!it!becomes!clear!that!the!terrain!of!cinematics!
is!at!once!macroY!and!microscopic,!that!is,!worldYsystemic,!economic!and!historical,!as!
well!as!individual,!perceptual!and!psychological.’113!Beller!cites!Debord’s!proposition!
that,!“the!spectacle!is!capital!to!such!a!degree!of!accumulation!that!it!becomes!an!
image”,!as!the!basis!of!his!economic!theory!that,!‘cinema!valorises!this!higher!order!of!
capital!–!it!is!the!organisation!and!extension!of!the!spectacle’:!in!this!sense!cinema!is!
Spectacle’s!functioning!currency.!Beller!uses!Debord’s!proposition!to!frame!his!own!
extension,!claiming,!‘the!complete!political!economy!of!the!image!remains!to!be!
written.’114!!
!
Beller’s!theory!is!useful!in!as!much!as!it!diagnoses!our!relationship!to!images!and!our!
appetite!for!viewing!images!as!a!new!mode!of!capitalist!production.!This!mode!is!
related!to!the!kinds!of!‘attention!value’!introduced!in!the!previous!chapter,!however!
he!grounds!his!analysis!of!where!the!cinematic!mode!began!in!specific!examples!early!
avantgarde!film!by!Russian!directors!Sergei!Eisenstein!and!Diego!Vertov.!Specifically!he!
regards!how!these!directors’!deployment!of!the!intrinsic!elements!of!film!puts!the!
viewers!to!work!in!an!altogether!revolutionary!way,!a!way!since!thoroughly!
recuperated!by!capitalism.!Early!Soviet!features!such!as!Vertov’s!‘Man!with!a!Movie!
Camera’!(1929)!and!Eistenstein’s!‘The!Strike’!(1925)!provide!him!examples!of!how!the!
mode!of!cinematic!production!came!into!being,!albeit!for!very!different!original!
purposes.!!
!
Beller!claims!that,!‘for!Vertov,!film!is!the!technology!that!will!provide!the!utopian!
inspiration!and!practical!means!for!the!arrival!of!socialism’115.!‘Man!with!a!Movie!
Camera’!depicts!a!journey!through!a!day!in!the!life!of!a!soviet!city!(an!amalgamation!of!
Moscow,!Odessa!and!Kiev),!‘through!the!production!and!reproduction!of!social!life!in!
general.’116!By!using!a!variety!of!cinematic!techniques!including!acceleration,!
deceleration,!double!exposure,!rapid!montage,!with!shots!of!celluloid!being!edited!and!
the!use!of!both!still!and!moving!cameras,!Beller!claims,!‘Vertov!represents!both!film!
technology!and!montage!itself,!the!concrete!and!abstract!machines!of!cinema,!as!on!a!
developmental!and!conceptual!continuum!with!other!productive!technologies!and!
operations!of!the!period.!Cinema!is!treated!as!an!extension!and!completion!of!the!
general!logic!of!socioYindustrial!production.’117!In!brief,!Beller!claims!that!Vertov’s!film!
incorporates!the!logic!of!its!own!conditions!of!production,!conditions!that!are!
articulated!through!the!formal!and!technical!composition!of!this!film.!This!‘cinematicity!
of!production’!is!the!early!synthesis!of!the!cinematic!and!industrial!modes.!Beller!
praises!Vertov’s!efforts,!to!‘bring!forth!the!repressed!or!unconscious!elements!and!
bring!them!to!the!level!of!consciousness’!through!film.118!!
!
Through!Vertov,!Beller!also!articulates!some!of!his!major!claims.!Here,!capital!is!
cinema,!and!within!this,!‘film!is!like!money!–!an!eloquent,!highly!nuanced,!highly!
differentiated,!multivalent!organising!form!for!giving!expression!to!the!forces!of!social!
mediation!that!develop!out!of!capitalist!industrialisation…!it!is!fragmentary!in!its!
distribution!and!use!and!yet!unified!as!a!medium!–!it!extends!equally!as!far!as!the!
social!extends.’119!Beller!continues,!‘it!is!the!film!frame!(the!screen)!that!allows!the!
images!to!circulate;!film!is!the!money!of!cinema!(and!the!frame!is!the!unit).!The!
affective!dimensions!of!capital!circulation!are!distilled!and!experienced!in!their!most!
purified!form!in!the!cinema.’120In!order!to!actually!understand!cinema,!film!and!frame!
as!versions!of!capital,!money!and!price,!one!needs!to!adopt!an!abstract!understanding!
of!both!sets!as!dynamic!organising!forms!operating!or!circulating!within!a!particular!
tiered!politicoYfinancial!system.!But!through!this,!we!begin!to!understand!Beller’s!
tiered!politicoYfinancial!system.!But!through!this,!we!begin!to!understand!Beller’s!