Baudrillard-II

Based on Baudrillardian’s ideas, there is no authentic reality. “When the real is no longer what it used to be, nostalgia assumes its full meaning. There is a proliferation of myths of origin and signs of reality; of second-hand truth, objectivity and authenticity. There is an escalation of the true, of the lived experience; a resurrection of the figurative where the object and substance have disappeared” (1994: 6-7). One of the most perplexing questions which everyone deal with is “what is real and what is not real?”.

However, our group did find a real media, clay, to break away his view of the simulacrum and hyperreality. The materials and means of production are authentic since clay artifacts must be hand-formed, hand thrown using clay from the designated region. In addition, the clay arts comprised the interrelated cultural meaning in today society. Every culture has systems of meaning embedded in the clay artifacts. Baudrillardian pointed out that “in the US… culture is space, speed, cinema, technology. This culture is authentic, if anything can be said to be authentic” (1988: 100). Thus, clay artifacts can be a representation of an authentic culture at different stages of human history. In travel and tourism, we also talk about the authenticity of the trip experiences. International travel provides people the opportunities of interacting with different cultural backgrounds for local residents. Looking for experience and authenticity is an important motivation for traveling. When one travel to a tourism destination, he/she like to purchase clay artifacts, while providing the opportunity to exhibit conspicuous consumption and also allowed he/she to participate in the authentic experience of the culture.