Recently, while using stumbleupon, I came across an article that really interested me. It was about the modern "hipster" movement, a self described counterculture that went against all things mainstream. Here is a link to the article:
http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html
There are some really valid points raised in the article, namely that through endless photography of themselves and the events they attend, hipsters are making there very culture even more easy to dissect and reproduce by corporations. Even though hipsters as a whole are decidedly anti-corporate and mass production (believing that true "coolness" can never be sold), they allow themselves to be analyzed and taken advantage of through their own narcissism. Brands like American Apparel and others hire "coolness" monitors, whose job it is to peruse photo blogs and pick up on trends that are happening within the hipster "subculture". Such trends are then incorporated into style designs, and sold to the hipsters.
While such things may have happend to counter-culture movements of the past (punk, hippies etc.), I doubt that marketers were able to use the media in such a way to take advantage of a counterculture and make it borderline mainstream in the way that we see today. The success of a counterculture movement is the ability to rally support of individuals who feel that the current "mainstream" culture does not work for them. But what happens when counterculture is instantaneously separated from any political or social activism and sold through fashion and music outlets? The movement becomes devoid of any intrinsic meaning, and is rendered useless, a causality of hyper capitalism.
it's wild that you posted this--just last night I got a subscription to adbusters (it's a great magazine).
ReplyDeletethe article is fascinating. your attuned to the wait this "culture" seems caught in a reflexive media/consumption/cool hunter/photography loop is spot on.
I liked this line (it resonated with our discussion and Bifo's read of the connective generation):
An artificial appropriation of different styles from different eras, the hipster represents the end of Western civilization – a culture lost in the superficiality of its past and unable to create any new meaning. Not only is it unsustainable, it is suicidal. While previous youth movements have challenged the dysfunction and decadence of their elders, today we have the "hipster" – a youth subculture that mirrors the doomed shallowness of mainstream society."
check this out (not related to your post but to the issue of corporations not paying taxes):
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oEkQuz2-bA
Culture repackaged and sold back to society.
ReplyDeleteAdbusters magazine looks interesting. I will look at their website more often. Can you bring your magazine to your office, Professor?