Songs of Interest// The Culture Crisis: Consumer Existence

My interpretation of Eden for the Casey and Eliot sharing back in July. I dislike the generic western Bible story painted portrait of Adam and Eve... so I thought, since I have so little time to paint a picture and so much to put into it, why don't I stylize it and make a blend of Japanese ramen packaging style with Art Nouveau and a bit of surrealist Escher? And why does Eden have to look 'real' anyway? Who knows what Eden looked like. Maybe God grew lollipop trees and cotton candy clouds- we don't know that. If you saw it in person, I incorporated a unicorn in there. :P It was wiped out after the flood. hahaha...

Songs of Interest

Do you remember this old school song?:Time After Time
Quiet Drive did another rendition of this and it's so awesome. I love it. It's one of those songs that I'd blast in the car, driving down the highway. Back in Toronto that is. :P However it's got this long intro so go into exactly one minute of the video to hear the actual song. :D It's so good.

Another song I just recently was introduced: 'Let Love In' by the Goo Goo Dolls. Such a good song. The video itself pathetically tries to heighten global issues awareness by splashing words across the screen. Otherwise, it's a great great song and I'm in the process of killing it. 61 times and going up.... :P

Robyn will like this one, but I recently just heard Starfield'sShipwreck. Amazing song. I love the piano and the lyrics are so beautiful.

...
I spent my time
On the empty and the fleeting
I spent my life
On much less than I'd dreamed
But I'm reaching out to you
To make me new

'Cause I am just a beggar here at Your door
I am just a shipwreck here on Your shore
I come empty handed
Ready to see
Your life in me changing who I've been
To who I need to be

I highly recommend all those three songs.
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I just have to say this....
SECOND SEASON OF HEROES IS THIS COMING MONDAY!!!
Go Peter Petrelli and Hiro!
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The Culture Crisis: Consumer Existence

What is culture?

I hate that word- we talk about it constantly in class and it's killing me. There are the more obvious ones based on ethnicity: Spanish, Japanese, French, Italian, Chinese, Cuban etc. But what I'd like to get at is when it comes to subcultures, what defines each subculture? We have skateboard culture, hip hop culture, sneakerhead culture, anime culture, yoga culture, comp geek culture, gaming culture...
The questions that I am struggling with are:

1) Is it possible to even place people in a specific culture anymore?

2) Is it possible to buy yourself into a culture?


I was standing at the customs area in the airport coming back to NY. On my left was a short line of Canadians and on my right was a long line of Americans. Since I thought Americans could get through faster, I wrote myself as an American on my customs card. Big mistake. I contemplated swapping over to the canadian side but alas, the officer stopped me.
For the first question, I'd like to say that, no, we can no longer place people in certain cultures. So how do you define those who live and breathe the hip hop culture as opposed to anime culture? Is it not possible to have a person who embodies both? There is constantly a cross-pollinization of sub cultures: a person who you thought to be a geek is actually a charismatic drama queen.
I guess we have a desire to maintain a sense of mystery and unpredictability in our personalities. Who likes to be easily labeled as one thing? No, we each have character and depth that is beyond the ability of a stranger to pinpoint.


2) As for the second question, at first glance, we'd all like to say "no of course not, it takes time and work to integrate yourself into a subculture. It can't be bought."

But if we think about, let's say, Mac culture (versus PC culture), are not the things you buy the things that define you as a Mac user? Are there not people who spend thousands of dollars on Ibooks, Itunes, Ipods, Iphones. They're not just buying into functionality, they're buying into a certain aesthetic and way of life defined by the advertisements and the other consumers?

One of my classmates studied sneakerhead culture- urban, young hipsters who purchase and collect sneakers. Now in this case, are you part of the sneakerhead culture if you collect shoes? Is there anything else, beyond consumerism, that defines you as a 'sneakerhead'?

Even kids who like to call themselves a part of the hip hop culture. Baggy jeans, oversized t shirts from Ecko, 'bling' and listen to 'hip hop music'. It's all part of a persona that we show others to identify with a certain subculture.

On a more personal level, back when I was visiting my favourite vintage store near Guelph, the owner was looking at me and asked me, "are you one of the types that likes to buy clothing not to wear, but just to collect?"
I guiltily said yes- I love collecting clothes that are beyond necessity and if I don't end up designing, I'd love to own a vintage store just like hers and collect and sell beautiful garments.
I love a well made garment- the construction is incredible. Even more so, I love looking at garments of the past that were entirely hand made from every stitch to every shard of lace to the fragment of unraveling ribbon sewn onto the edges. That piece of clothing has survived time despite its fragility. They speak so much of the person who created them- every stitch there's a story. Why did they decide to construct it like this as opposed to this way?
During the summer I was in Value Village I was closing my eyes and running my hands through the crammed racks of dresses. Our fashion teachers like to say that you should train not only your eyes to see what is good, but our hands to identify quality when it feels it.
Well my fingers felt something different on one particular garment: the fabric was startlingly sheer, soft but with a good body. I pulled it out- it was definitely homemade- an iridescent emerald green dress with long sleeves that had invisible zippers with ruching, and an intricate belt that had to be done up with many hooks.
I took it to my sewing teacher to get it analyzed. It was a work of art. The sleeves were hand done- slip stitched so you couldn't even see the thread unless you took it apart. It was cut on a bias which costs more and the fabric was a European silk.
She asked me if I would mind telling her how much it cost.
$12.
I can't wear it- it's too small for me, but I love it because it has a history behind it. In a world that cares for mass production, cheap labour and impersonal products just heightens the beauty of these finds.

But purchasing clothes for no reason despite my 'identity' in the fashion subculture, has created this question: can we ever be more than just consumers of culture? Do I only exist in the culture of fashion because of what I wear? Because of what I buy?

The sad truth to all this is that we have just become consumers of our world and not makers. As a result, nothing in this world changes because all we know how to do, is consume.

Our teachers love to tell us that us designers have the power to change the world. That we can save this world from its self destructive ways. Yet I go to a school of girls (and gay guys who act like girls), who purchase expensive luxury goods in order to identify themselves with the label. They don't make, they make when they have to and when it's graded.

But what are 'makers' anyway? And how do we 'make' things that are good- and does that mean everyone has to consume in order for us to be good makers?

Thus lies the dilemma that has been bothering me the past day. Anthropologically speaking, objects are clear testaments of both the way we live and our values, yet can we define ourselves within any culture that has little to do with consumption, but of creating? This is not limited to just art and design, per se, but into the realm of philosophy, literature, engineering and medicine.

The question is, how can you transcend from just mere consumption to creating, rethinking and reshaping this world?