Peter York on Trumpery
Peter York

• Tuesday 13 June 2017, 7.40PM to 8.30pm
• Free admission
  Booking required
• RCH/037, Ron Cooke Hub, University of York (map|getting to campus)
• Wheelchair accessible

Event details

President Donald J. Trump is a style icon and an international brand.  He means different things to different people but he is meaningful to everyone. Join author and broadcaster Peter York as he explores the brand of Donald Trump and Trumpery and the messages they’re sending to the world.

As a noted analyst of appearances, Peter takes a look at the semiotics of Trump; the president’s clothes, houses and entourage and asks what they could possibly mean and whether he is on his own message.  He starts by spelling out the nature of the Trump brand, its appeals and its incarnations over the years in condos and casinos, shirts and steaks.  And in perceptions of Donald Trump himself from a business and social phenomenon to a reality show superstar.  He will look at the ‘bridge and tunnel’ divide between Queens and Manhattan.  Against this context he examines how he’s developed into a political brand; what is he promising and to whom. 

Peter will then examine the surfaces – the visual messaging in the President’s clothes, his houses and his entourage.  Why are the President’s clothes so big – the opposite of his slender predecessor?  Why does he wear that shiny red tie all the time?  What exactly is his hair colour called?  What are the stylistic roots of the President’s Trump Tower apartment and how does it parallel those of other leaders like Gaddafi and the Ceausescus?

Finally, Peter turns to his entourage – the White House women and how they embody the Trump message with their interesting grooming choices.

About the speaker

Peter York is one of Britain’s pre-eminent social commentators, a prolific broadcaster and writer. He co-authored the best-selling The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook in 1982. He has presented many TV and radio programmes, including BBC2’s Peter York’s Eighties and The Rise and Fall of the Ad Man. He is a Visiting Professor at the University of the Arts London and former Trustee of the Tate Members’ Council. 

Peter’s lastbook, Authenticity is a Con, was published in October 2014.  He performed his one-man show, How To Become A Nicer Type Of Person, at the Edinburgh Fringe and London’s Soho Theatre in 2015.  His latest BBC documentary Peter York’s Hipster Handbook was shown on BBC4 in October 2016.  He writes a weekly column on design for the Sunday Times and is working on a new book about British iconography.

Waterstones

Books will be available to buy from the Waterstones' stall at this event.

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