Hiding: Volume 1996

A positive alternative to Baudrillard's dim view of the postmodern condition can be found in Mark C. Taylor's 1997 book HIDING--a philosophical re-visoning of our contemporary Western society that instead of clinging to vestigial epistemic notions of depth and foundationalism, embraces a holistic, worldwide web view of social structures. By way of an extended, elaborate metaphor that describes our ontological condition as being intimately related to our embryonic development (we are nothing more than layers of skin upon layers of skin, ad infinitum), Taylor suggests a new epistemic outlook that no longer makes an issue of depths, but rather focuses upon the complex relationship of interactive, interacting phenomena--in his phrase, "the profundity of surface." Emergent, virtual technologies retroactively point to our own socially constructed "reality" as always-already virtual itself, and to get caught up in the trap of defining contemporary phenomena in terms of outdated analytical models will only succeed in an inescapably circular logic; as he puts it, "After (the) all has been said and done, the question that remains is not `What is virtual reality?' but `What is not virtual reality?' (267). This shift in focus allows us to give our undivided attention to the realm of practice, to aesthetics, to surface; like Slavoj Zizek in TARRYING WITH THE NEGATIVE, Taylor would have us interface with things-in-themselves, allowing us to become aware of our positioning within a complex web of relations between phenomena, as well as what that positioning will allow us to do.

I first resisted Hiding. I wanted to disapprove of its subject matter (skin, mystery novels, fashion, Vegas, and on!). I really tried not to like it. But it's grown on me in ways that I find quite challenging. And that challenge is what's best about it. There was a review in BookForum about Hiding that couldn't let go of the central tenet of this cunning book: surface is not to be underestimated. Surface (as opposed to depth) is not simply a dead-end but the beginnings of a new worldview. While older worryworts and curmudgeonly librarian types may protest this premise, sorry, I've got five words for all of you: Sean "Puffy" Combs, Grammy Winner. The layout of the book is as provocative as its content: our current state of affairs. Supermodels are celebrities, COPS is reality television, Las Vegas is a family getaway, tattooing is our youth's version of long hair. All of these topics get brought up and explored in studied and thoughtful detail. Yet, Taylor doesn't dissect these cultural changes from a sterile laboratory atop an ivory tower -- he digs right into it. His section on fashion reads like it's a special pullout to W magazine (let's see that happen!) and you don't need a dictionary to make sense of the fundamental mysteries being wrestled with throughout this fast-paced tome. It can be difficult, at times, to make sense of some of the more poetic or lyrical moments but then I also don't care much for rap or French cinema. All in all, I'd put this (quite beautiful to look at) book right up there with anything Barthes has written -- with the added bonus that this is an enthusiastically eclectic and sincerely postmodern collage.

This book provoked consumer behavior for me. I am shopping for a good coffee table on which to place it. _Hiding_ is marvellous to look at, as well as to read. Taylor offers a sequence of interrelated inquiries into perceptions of the relations between the surface and the "realities" underneath. These inquiries are concerned with phrenology and eugenics, body piercing and gold-card fashions. This book may not emerge as the most important in recent postmodern theory, but it is one of the more enjoyable reads. With it located on the coffee table, your guests will believe you're hip to the latest theoretical fashions, your children will wonder what you're thinking, and your housekeeper will quit smoking to read during breaks.