Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing? - Richard Hamilton

The collage called, What is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing? by Richard Hamilton, created in 1956, is an iconic work of the pop art movement. This collage presents a domestic scene saturated with consumer objects and elements of popular culture, reflecting the rise of consumerism and mass culture in the post-war era. Hamilton used cut-out images from magazines, incorporating commercial products and appliances, symbolizing modernity and the American lifestyle.

The work is an ironic commentary on contemporary society and its values, highlighting superficiality and materialism. The collage is considered one of the first examples of British pop art, a movement influenced by Dadaism and Surrealism, and which in turn influenced American pop art. Hamilton, along with other artists such as Eduardo Paolozzi and Peter Blake, helped define and establish the distinctive characteristics of this movement.

What is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing? is a critique of the cultural dependence on media and consumerism, anticipating many of the themes that would become central in the art of the following decades.