Simulacra, according to Jean Baudrillard (1998), are representations, symbolic placeholders of an idea, which may or may not exist in an original form. For example, the Loch Ness monster is depicted in endless variation, but does not represent a known original. Similarly, the Disneyland castles are simulations referencing an idea, but there is not an ancient, historical site that they represent. Baudrillard’s work examined modern society’s (over)use of simulacrum as depicted through mass media, and our dependence on simulations in our daily lives. Such simulations are so pervasive and normalized, that we often fail to recognize them in our environments as human-made constructions.
Surrealist painter Rene Magritte often toyed with the audience’s perception of his images, using juxtaposition to stimulate response. In the paining, Ceci n'est pas une pipe, the audience can see a pipe, but is at once confronted with a contradictory text “This is not a pipe.” Indeed, it is not a pipe. It is a painting representing a pipe, a simulacrum. The title is painted below the image, as part of the image, intentionally creating conflict in order to reveal truth. While some of Magritte’s work revealed such truth, he was much more interested in creating the mystery that inspired thought. Truth was extraneous to the critical thinking process.
Many of our daily simulacra are intentionally rendered inconspicuous, normalized so as not to invite examination. It is this unexamined acceptance, use, and proliferation of simulacra that Baudrillard warns of. If populations passively accept these simulations instead of critically examining them, societies can be manipulated by those individuals creating the symbols. Societies can become so preoccupied with the simulation that they forget how to function without them.
