On the consumption of AESTHETICS
May 28, 2018 9:23 PM   Subscribe

Haute Baroque Capitalism "Accepting the aesthetic as a generative and formal expression of capital sheds some retrospective light on the vaporwave phenomenon, which can be seen as a precursor to baroque capitalism. It shares many of the same sensibilities in terms of using physical manifestations of capital as an expressive tool. But vaporwave considered capitalism to be incapable of providing meaning. Vaporwave attempts to show the lifeless, dead shells of consumer “culture” that capital has left behind." Baudrillard's Consumer Society in a tweetIs Aesthetics Sustainable
posted by mountainherder (10 comments total) 47 users marked this as a favorite
 
What an interesting couple of articles. Really got me thinking. The last one especially- It reminds me of the aesthetics of a Northern California community called the Sea Ranch. All the houses there are built to blend into the surroundings, the outsides only plain wood. Mind you this is a place where very wealthy people retire to- and the rest of us are allowed to rent these houses for a few spare weeks in the summer if we can swing it- but the ethos was from the beginning one of sustainability. For instance non-native plants are only allowed in fenced in areas where they cannot spread, and lighting is kept to a bare minimum to almost eliminate light pollution. I wish more places put a premium on sustainability and let the aesthetics grow from use and planning.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 9:47 PM on May 28, 2018 [3 favorites]


Perhaps, for the coming T R U M P W A V E era, we need a new equivalent of Unhappy Hipsters called something like “Sad Oligarchs”, and showing tanned, tackily bejewelled socialites standing amidst opulence and looking oddly empty and lost.
posted by acb at 4:35 AM on May 29, 2018 [7 favorites]


All really interesting, but it still doesn't quite help me understand the weirdly specific iconography of the vaporwave aesthetic. Much less its apparent successor, Seapunk.
posted by Morpeth at 5:43 AM on May 29, 2018


That first article on current Baroque trends is fantastic. I appreciate them putting all these different styles together in one place, a thing that I keep seeing everywhere.

It's vaporwave that's caught my fascination most though. It seems like an incredibly powerful aesthetic, but also too ironic for its own good. Mostly I'm curious how it seems fully developed and intensely saturated in some media places, but otherwise completely unknown. Like if someone put a vaporwave image up on the nightly newscast, would the audience recognize it? Are there any mainstream vaporwave music videos?

While I'm here, shout-out to tradwave. Also this article about fashwave and trumpwave is worth reading, even if the phenomenon is entirely depressing 岡ワ炎.
posted by Nelson at 6:43 AM on May 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


did somebody say T R U M P W A V E A E S T H E T I C S

(its development followed the usual path of our times, because of course it did: first as farce, then as tragedy)

edit: oops sorry didn't finish reading the linked article by Nelson which includes this
posted by halation at 7:02 AM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


I’ve been saying some version of “The baroque is BACK” for over a year now and it’s nice to know others have well.

Remember the baroque is a symptom of a system in crisis.
posted by The Whelk at 9:33 AM on May 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


To quote the philosopher Edwina Moonsoon: I don’t want more stuff, I want nicer things.
posted by The Whelk at 10:18 AM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


If it ain't baroque, don't fix it.
posted by acb at 1:08 PM on May 29, 2018


If Trump ends up killing minimalism that is one more atrocity to add to his list. (Although the modernist idea itself could use an update) Also, some of those graphic designs are horrific, to say nothing of that unspeakable tower - I almost hope it gets built as the ultimate monument to abominable taste.
posted by blue shadows at 11:06 PM on May 29, 2018


I thought the latest McMansion Hell on possible better versions of HGTV was related:
HGTV needs to reintroduce the viewer’s (and on-screen client’s) sense of agency. The old HGTV shows were full of detailed how-tos: re-varnishing a wood dresser, making your own curtains, decluttering, and repairing scratched floors. Now, the clients go away to some mystical ether, all the hard work is done by heroic individuals, and the clients return to a meticulously decorated wonder-house. But I would much rather know how to properly hang a wall shelf myself instead of disappearing for two weeks while attractive strangers do it for me. Repairing a scratched floor is a skill every renter would love to possess. There could be an entire show about cleaning a place up in order to get one’s security deposit back, or a segment devoted to Ikea hacks.
Impossible given the summary from the Is Aesthetics Sustainable link:
Things you can buy are better than things you can’t.
Things that wear out are better than things that don’t.
Things you get tired of are better than things you don’t.
posted by clew at 12:27 PM on May 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


« Older “We can often miss the forest for the trees.”   |   Getting over the shoulder of the S curve Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments