The Church of Consumerism
Ivy Kurniawan
Every era leaves behind a trail of artifacts that capture its core values, beliefs, and way of life. For centuries,
religious artifacts—churches, relics, statues, manuscripts—served as windows into the spiritual lives of past societies.
Today, in an age of exponential consumer growth, the artifacts are of a different kind: they are shopping malls,
receipts, price tags, and packaging. Consumerism has become not just an economic force but a cultural ideology central
to daily life, rivaling traditional religions in the rituals it inspires and the devotion it demands. My thesis analyzes
and critiques our contemporary hyper-consumerist culture by exploring artifacts of consumer culture in parallel to
religious relics, with the aim of uncovering what they reveal about human nature, societal priorities, and the evolving
search for meaning in our everyday lives.
Consumerist Manifest
