Tuesday, April 6, 2010

(old old old) that dirty word hipster

(THIS IS AN UNPUBLISHED POST FROM A FEW YEARS AGO... thought i'd just paste it up)

So a few months ago, in meeting with the other P.A.L. guys, we read a few articles. some of them pissed me off, a few kept me really interested, and some i never picked up.

SO i thought i'd share the articles. The reason the articles were brought up because we were talking about consumer cultures and subculture, the fluxus of identity issues, and a few members of the group are obsessed with this term hipster....i don't know ... i'm tired of asking why.

Here are the links to the articles (just click the photos):


Hipster: The End of Western Civilization Article from ADBUSTERS, the article commentary is almost better than the article. In that i can't stop rubber necking the dead bodies on the side of the freeway kind of way...








We read a few excerpts from the new hit novel.... (insert saracasm) Renaissance Generation, the second coming of a Renaissance. This one is based on the intelligent and ever growing young consumer culture.. I will admit I enjoy any commentary or study of consumer culture. I found certain points fascinating, hence why the links are up her. But i went to the authors blog and she throws the term RenGen around so much along with Oprah I kind of stopped reading. She also mentioned starbucks as a counterculture.... yeah. Whatever. The Absolut marketing commentary or just the story is worth reading the excerpts from the book and many points she makes are valid. I need to buy the book and read the whole damn thing, but what i have stolen from the internet so far is pretty interesting.


A few semesters ago I was in a class with Andrea Grover and she was talking about how due to the internet, mass media, and the incredible availability for consumers and marketers to connect. The idea of subculture is ever more affluent, more people are breaking through that "i never heard of it because it has never been available to me barrier," which allows for a more specialized/individualized market place. I'm not quoting her... this is just what i got out of the conversation. SO with that i should probably throw in a link for the Aurora Picture Show. These guys are amazing, if your into video art, participation art, performance art, or just checking out one of the best video art libraries anywhere. Check these guys out:


And the last but not the least....
TimeOut: New York put there two cents in on the whole, hipster thing.

And then they have about a million links of the ongoing blah blah blah blah blah....


Really my only comment is, who gives a fuck? These article are very interesting more because of the obsessive nature to understand these things, analyze them, define someones identity to be so finally crafted that anyone can market to them.

Is is evil or is it good for the greater?

Second thing, what else are a generation or a few generations of young adults to adults suppose to become. A hodge-podge doesn't sound like a bad idea to me.... the whole idea of specified cultural identity based on where your family is from, what sex you are, or your sexual orientation is out the window. Not that these aren't things people should think about, should understand, be aware of.... but i don't care what color someone is, what sex they are, or who they like to fuck.... if i like someone as a person, if i like their work, if i like what they have to say. than hey.... i like them... not their perceived packaging but them. i think people are defined by more than one thing. no one is just a label.... so why should style, interest, and the self be so one dimensionally packaged.

of course in a society with so much technology and capability to connect.... people will be interested in bikes, rap, country, folk, graffiti, sculpture, farming, crafts, scooters, going green, eating tofu, eating Phở, wearing spandex, wearing boots, wearing nothing, or whatever they are interested in.... because they found something...anything that made them smile.




"... a lover i did not betray"

its a great quote from one of the pop-ist teen famster movies i have ever seen.... but it got me thinking about this whole relationship thing.

i remember i did a series a while back of heater prints.

they were about 10 total, they were heaters i printed on thai paper. they were the old comfort living heaters, where you have to push a button to ignite them. they would make a lound crunching/popping sound. i blinked every time i pushed the button. it took about four or five pushes before it would ignite.

i love the way they look...

well i printed them in triplicate and wrote


in the absence of family, machines will keep us warm


Sunday, April 4, 2010

their/there

I fuck it up all the time. Apologies.

one of those days...


it's a margaret mace day!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

tears for two

tooth tattoo





I have a tooth tattoo.... I thought I'd just say it was a random addition to an already random arrangement of birds, blades, and moth wings. BUT... its not. This tiny tooth on my arm reminds me of my mom.

There was always a tube of super glue in the bathroom growing up. Sometimes it had a push pin next to it because the lid was lost and a new hole needed to be punched in the top. It was there to glue my mothers teeth back in. The years of meth and general party way too hard attitude...started showing in her teeth. The repercussions of staying up for a week straight went to straight to her teeth. I'm not saying it didn't have an effect on the general day to day events. It did. A lot. But the little super glue bottle sticks out in my memory more so than anything else. Sometimes i would get so mad at her I would hide the bottle or throw it away. Not sure what good it would of done...didn't make me feel any better.

I have a tooth tattoo that reminds me of my mother. Who I love dearly but never want to walk in her same footsteps. Every time i look at the tiny tooth on my arm... it just doesn't scream DON'T DO METH... it tells me... don't end up caught in a life that eats away at who you are... don't hide your feelings in momentary or week long indulgences. enjoy life... don't let your life keep you from living.

so my tiny tooth tattoo has a big part on my random arm.