For most of the last century, America’s cultural landscape—its fashion, art, music, design, entertainment—changed dramatically every 20 years or so. But these days, even as technological and scientific leaps have continued to revolutionize life, popular style has been stuck on repeat, consuming the past instead of creating the new.
endless past
"stasis" vs. "dynamism"
Cultural dynamics
"It is possible to chart a strong historical narrative through the history of Western classical music from the Renaissance through the mid-20th century. To conceive of such a narrative is to indulge in historicism which may not always match historical reality on the more local scale. But the forming of such a historical narrative does allow one to view vast swathes of musical and cultural development and thus formulate a philosophy of Western classical music, which can explain why it is that things are as they are now. Such a narrative, which advances and regresses at turns, follows a line of development from the gradual formalization of the tonal system to the emancipation of dissonance and the later formalizations of music into forms such as serialism, in the early 20th century. This master narrative followed developments in other art-forms, philosophy, and socio-political movements, from the breaking down of European feudal societies, the forging of republics, industrialisation, the growth of the middle-class, fascism, and the rise of neo-liberalism in the 20th century. The constituent parts of music were essentially the same throughout this period and I wish to explore this in depth in this paper. But in the 1960s certain composers turned their gaze from the high Modernism of the classical tradition and looked to jazz and Indian music as their models. Composers such as Terry Reilly and La Monte Young forged a musical language which valued repetition and consonance, simplicity and directness above mathematical constructs. John Cage also brought the experimentalism of artists such as Andy Warhol into music: the Brillo Box of Warhol would see an analogy in the conceptual music and sound objects of Cage."
Cultural change is effected via a dialectical process: a thesis encounters its antithesis, with a result: synthesis. Conflict is followed by resolution and change. In a diverse and pluralistic society thesis and antithesis exist in in the comfort of their own protected niches. No conflict means no resolution. A society which supports infinite diversity should expect infinite stasis.
postmodern mindset (PDF)
Martindale the end is near (PDF)
The metropolis and modernism (PDF)
queries on cultural Capitol (PDF)
Comment Discussion on the OP : "This is interesting and reminds me of something I read that I think was about "hipster" ethos. The idea was that the current generation does not want to alienate people or isolate itself because with the advent of social media, individual "branding" is a desirable goal; the interest in artisanal coffee, beer, bicycles, clothing, jewelry and everything else links neatly with a personal brand that can be promoted online via fb, twitter, instagram, etc.
According to this article, the current counterculture is one where people are interested in rebelling against the corporate culture by making their own alternative versions of things; however, the idea that they want to then sell it to others means they have to be careful to present a friendly, or at least non-threatening image.
I guess this extends even to musicians and artists, though I don't see why it necessarily should."
Steve mentioned foodieism being an exception which i see characterized above as hipster ethos, that is part of a rejection of big food corporations from the instant cake 50's-60's that we grew up with. Now we have better choices in (cann1b1s cup quality) weed, craft beer, home baked bread, single malt scotch and all sorts of wine!
I don't agree with everything in the article, (haven't finished it either) if you take away the internet and ipods some things do look different than they did twenty years ago - there weren't many foodies or decent restaurants or big beards. But I think the author makes a good point. As far as music goes, for better or worse, techno seems to me to have been the last real stylistic change or evolution.
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- bill 3-21-2015 8:56 am
endless past
- bill 3-21-2015 10:31 am [add a comment]
"stasis" vs. "dynamism"
- bill 3-21-2015 10:43 am [add a comment]
Cultural dynamics
- bill 3-21-2015 10:47 am [add a comment]
"It is possible to chart a strong historical narrative through the history of Western classical music from the Renaissance through the mid-20th century. To conceive of such a narrative is to indulge in historicism which may not always match historical reality on the more local scale. But the forming of such a historical narrative does allow one to view vast swathes of musical and cultural development and thus formulate a philosophy of Western classical music, which can explain why it is that things are as they are now. Such a narrative, which advances and regresses at turns, follows a line of development from the gradual formalization of the tonal system to the emancipation of dissonance and the later formalizations of music into forms such as serialism, in the early 20th century. This master narrative followed developments in other art-forms, philosophy, and socio-political movements, from the breaking down of European feudal societies, the forging of republics, industrialisation, the growth of the middle-class, fascism, and the rise of neo-liberalism in the 20th century. The constituent parts of music were essentially the same throughout this period and I wish to explore this in depth in this paper. But in the 1960s certain composers turned their gaze from the high Modernism of the classical tradition and looked to jazz and Indian music as their models. Composers such as Terry Reilly and La Monte Young forged a musical language which valued repetition and consonance, simplicity and directness above mathematical constructs. John Cage also brought the experimentalism of artists such as Andy Warhol into music: the Brillo Box of Warhol would see an analogy in the conceptual music and sound objects of Cage."
- bill 3-21-2015 10:58 am [add a comment]
- bill 3-21-2015 11:47 am [add a comment]
postmodern mindset (PDF)
- bill 3-21-2015 11:58 am [add a comment]
Martindale the end is near (PDF)
- bill 3-21-2015 12:03 pm [add a comment]
The metropolis and modernism (PDF)
- bill 3-21-2015 12:07 pm [add a comment]
queries on cultural Capitol (PDF)
- bill 3-21-2015 12:23 pm [add a comment]
Comment Discussion on the OP : "This is interesting and reminds me of something I read that I think was about "hipster" ethos. The idea was that the current generation does not want to alienate people or isolate itself because with the advent of social media, individual "branding" is a desirable goal; the interest in artisanal coffee, beer, bicycles, clothing, jewelry and everything else links neatly with a personal brand that can be promoted online via fb, twitter, instagram, etc.
According to this article, the current counterculture is one where people are interested in rebelling against the corporate culture by making their own alternative versions of things; however, the idea that they want to then sell it to others means they have to be careful to present a friendly, or at least non-threatening image.
I guess this extends even to musicians and artists, though I don't see why it necessarily should."
- bill 3-21-2015 2:37 pm [add a comment]
Steve mentioned foodieism being an exception which i see characterized above as hipster ethos, that is part of a rejection of big food corporations from the instant cake 50's-60's that we grew up with. Now we have better choices in (cann1b1s cup quality) weed, craft beer, home baked bread, single malt scotch and all sorts of wine!
- bill 3-21-2015 2:44 pm [add a comment]
I don't agree with everything in the article, (haven't finished it either) if you take away the internet and ipods some things do look different than they did twenty years ago - there weren't many foodies or decent restaurants or big beards. But I think the author makes a good point. As far as music goes, for better or worse, techno seems to me to have been the last real stylistic change or evolution.
- steve 3-21-2015 7:28 pm [add a comment]