In the year 2000 John Freyer started an online performance project called Allmylifeforsale, selling the entire contents of his apartment on Ebay, by increasing the value of his items through a connection with popular culture and his life. The ads John placed on Ebay changed the way people felt about the items he listed, making them popular with internet enthusiasts and pop culture collectors. Painting pictures with words about the items, John described his interactions with them, and how he felt about that experience. The descriptions John wrote in his ads were in the subjective writing style, whereas the majority of other ads on Ebay used an objective writing style. For instance, his ad of National Geographic Magazines, informed us how
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The addition ofa personal written history of each item John sold, offered the buyer more value beyond what they could obtain for a similar item listed on Ebay. For example, John’s subjective style ad of the National Geographic Magazines would appeal to someone wanting to assist in saving the magazines, or to participate in his life and his project. In Contrast, the objective style ads about the same magazines would appeal to someone who is looking for specific volumes, issue numbers, or articles, and basing the value of the item on that alone. Primarily, the visual, subjective writing style that John used in creating his Ebay ad descriptions, shaped a vision of his reality surrounding the product, sharing his history with it, changed how others viewed his item. Thus each item had more appeal to the buyer, by choosing John’s magazines more was received than that just the ink and paper that the magazine was printed on. There was an item with history, personality, and a shared purchasing experience included with John’s items, to be a part of the story that John created. Therefore, the establishment of a history for each item offered more than the item, it offered a chance to participate in popular culture through a shared buying experience with others and the connection to John’s life, others ads only offered old
The addition ofa personal written history of each item John sold, offered the buyer more value beyond what they could obtain for a similar item listed on Ebay. For example, John’s subjective style ad of the National Geographic Magazines would appeal to someone wanting to assist in saving the magazines, or to participate in his life and his project. In Contrast, the objective style ads about the same magazines would appeal to someone who is looking for specific volumes, issue numbers, or articles, and basing the value of the item on that alone. Primarily, the visual, subjective writing style that John used in creating his Ebay ad descriptions, shaped a vision of his reality surrounding the product, sharing his history with it, changed how others viewed his item. Thus each item had more appeal to the buyer, by choosing John’s magazines more was received than that just the ink and paper that the magazine was printed on. There was an item with history, personality, and a shared purchasing experience included with John’s items, to be a part of the story that John created. Therefore, the establishment of a history for each item offered more than the item, it offered a chance to participate in popular culture through a shared buying experience with others and the connection to John’s life, others ads only offered old