My new acquaintance/friend (the friend I was introduced to at the free McCarren Pool party on Sunday) summed it up rather well. Hailing from the UWS, he remarked on how he felt he just wasn't able to pull off hipster trends and felt out of place in his khaki and plaid (but these, if worn ironically, are hipster... Plaid, actually, is quite the hipster trend). He ruminated, "You know, I just can't pull off that cap to the side look with the big sticker on the rim." Then he told my other friend and me a story: "You know, I ask them where they buy their hats sideways and popped out like that, cos I see them in the store, and they only sell them straight forward. They tell me, 'Easy, man, you just gotta turn the cap to the side and pop the rim.' " [pause to smirk] "They didn't even get that I was making fun of them," he said. "No....!?!" my friend and I simultaneously responded, both flabbergasted and skeptical. People didn't really take that "how do you get your hat sideways ...?" kinda question seriously... did they? That's the thing about us young urban folk, hipsters or not: when to take any of us seriously?
And when to tell when someone is or isn't a hipster?...
I stumbled upon another blog the other day, "Stuff Hipsters Don't Like," in which the writer flat-out admits that while writing from an uber-critical perspective of hipsterdom (particularly Williamsburg hipsterdom), she may be one herself. Noting that a qualifying facet of being a hipster is not admitting that you are one, she dedicates her blog to insights and analyses of hipster life and culture. The blog explores the stereotypes of hipsters as people who eschew corporate jobs, don't smile, and try to refrain from making meaningful protests. Yet it seems by her obsession that possibly she is trying to be a hipster, or at least understand what she supposedly "is" because she loosely appears to be one. (Fine, I sympathize with this.) Similarly, Youtube hosts a plethora of hipster-focused videos, from the famous "Hipster Olympics"
and other satires to interviews exploring the definition of hipster.
I am ready for people to start throwing out some new terms, or being more in-depth with their labels. Within the "hipster" label are a plethora of others: the scenesters, the emo kids, the indie kids, the art kids, the fashionistas... In college (I graduated '02), the term 'hipster' wasnt yet in wide circulation, at least not yet in Oberlin, and the term we used for the kids with the skinny jeans and black-rimmed glasses were the "po-mo's," meaning the postmodern kids. These were the students seen as self-consciously intellectual; they were the chain-smokers and the music kids, and a lot of them, I believe, hailed from... you guessed it... NYC. But really, can we start differentiating with labels here?
Showing posts with label hipster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hipster. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Hip(ster) Semi-Stasis
Perusing over blogs last night, I came across the Gawker article, "Lawsuits: Racist Hipsters Schooled by Ex-American Apparel Employee," yet one more example confirming the stereotype, and even the ideal for some, that hipsters tend to be both white and racist. This example also further condemns the general mindset of American Apparel, where sexuality - and some might say sexual exploitation - is a fundamental part of the company's ethos. "Living On The Edge At American Apparel" an article published in June 2005 in Businessweek, examines the controversy surrounding Dov Charney, the CEO of American Apparel.
Charney, whose company has become a hipster empire for its stylish, sexy, unlabeled American-made sweatshop-free clothes, considers himself a bohemian, free-spirited individual unconstrained by traditional corporate policies, including not to have sexual relations with employees. He argues that as long as the activity is consensual, it is unproblematic and private. Similar to Charney's risque attitude towards sexuality in the workplace, he considers offensive and crude language just par for the course. A 2006 NBC article, "Sexy marketing or sexual harrassment?", details Charny's responses on deposition video, in which he claims that derogatory language is generally welcome at the workplace and the term "slut" is often endearing rather than offensive. As Businessweek concludes, Charney's primary obstacle in his search for worldwide commercial success may ultimately be himself.
From the 2005 Businessweek article:
Charney's attitude perhaps embodies the epitome of the prevailing hipster attitude: to embrace one's personal beliefs with complete disregard to what is considered professional or PC. And thus he still reins successful in the commercial and hipster spheres, with ads featuring images of scantily clad, sexualized young adults parading all over the media, both in print and online.
Interestingly, the Gawker article on hipster racism links to a New York Times article about Vice Magazine with an eerily similar title to the Businessweek article on American Apparel: "The Edge of Hip: Vice, the Brand." This 2003 NY Times article discusses the Vice construction of the hipster as an upper-class, dirty, Pabst-Blue-Ribbon-chugging, college-educated kid, probably living in Williamsburg, who achieves rebel status and street cred by assuming a working-class image and borrowing from its lifestyle. Vice, which unabashedly voices its un-PC opinions, promotes a brash form of counterculture that simply argues, according to the article, that the current generation is immune to the sting of ethnic slurs and considers it all a part of our contemporary cultural posturing.
And these articles, written from 2-5 years ago, all still ring true today. Perhaps that Adbusters article scathingly denouncing hipsters as vapid cultural consumers and regurgitators, was really on to something after all - at least, unfortunately, in some spheres of our culture.
Charney, whose company has become a hipster empire for its stylish, sexy, unlabeled American-made sweatshop-free clothes, considers himself a bohemian, free-spirited individual unconstrained by traditional corporate policies, including not to have sexual relations with employees. He argues that as long as the activity is consensual, it is unproblematic and private. Similar to Charney's risque attitude towards sexuality in the workplace, he considers offensive and crude language just par for the course. A 2006 NBC article, "Sexy marketing or sexual harrassment?", details Charny's responses on deposition video, in which he claims that derogatory language is generally welcome at the workplace and the term "slut" is often endearing rather than offensive. As Businessweek concludes, Charney's primary obstacle in his search for worldwide commercial success may ultimately be himself.
From the 2005 Businessweek article:
Charney's attitude perhaps embodies the epitome of the prevailing hipster attitude: to embrace one's personal beliefs with complete disregard to what is considered professional or PC. And thus he still reins successful in the commercial and hipster spheres, with ads featuring images of scantily clad, sexualized young adults parading all over the media, both in print and online.
Interestingly, the Gawker article on hipster racism links to a New York Times article about Vice Magazine with an eerily similar title to the Businessweek article on American Apparel: "The Edge of Hip: Vice, the Brand." This 2003 NY Times article discusses the Vice construction of the hipster as an upper-class, dirty, Pabst-Blue-Ribbon-chugging, college-educated kid, probably living in Williamsburg, who achieves rebel status and street cred by assuming a working-class image and borrowing from its lifestyle. Vice, which unabashedly voices its un-PC opinions, promotes a brash form of counterculture that simply argues, according to the article, that the current generation is immune to the sting of ethnic slurs and considers it all a part of our contemporary cultural posturing.
And these articles, written from 2-5 years ago, all still ring true today. Perhaps that Adbusters article scathingly denouncing hipsters as vapid cultural consumers and regurgitators, was really on to something after all - at least, unfortunately, in some spheres of our culture.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Cultural Implications of a Mid-20's NYC Life
What does it mean - if anything - to be in my mid-20's and living in NYC?? To partake of many of the cultural events and institutions of the city? Does that classify me as hipster, does it mean I am more inclined to have a certain affinity for culture, money, hustle-and-bustle, nightlife, challenge? Yes, I have chosen to live in this urban jungle come playground, to root myself here over the past five years and develop friendships and networks, despite my lack of economic security over the years.
Yet again, for the umpteenth time, I am without a full-time job and will, at the end of the month, again be without health insurance. I plan on continuing to live here for some time, despite my rekindled appreciation for smaller, mellower cities, and despite the glaring state of our economic situation that is predicted to decline far more before it improves. What do these decisions say about what kind of person I am? My actions may suggest nothing less than an addiction perhaps, a love-hate relationship I have grown dependent on, to the hectic anything-is-possible vibe of NYC.
A recent article pointed out to me by a friend in Adbusters really sparked my inner-dialog about this relationship between culture and identity. Entitled "Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization," the piece is a scathing account of how youth culture has been commercialized, commodified and stripped of any meaning or cultural optimism. The article claims that the hipster image is so bleak at its core that no one will admit to actually being one (a phenomenon which I have acutely observed myself) and yet everyone has a similar white-washed image and even lifestyle, from the American Apparel look to the drinking of cheap beer and - yes - blogging.
To say that every remotely hipster generality is necessarily destructive and devoid of meaning is an oversimplification and stereotype that fails to acknowledge the diversity of this "hipster" culture and the varying lifestyles, political bents, education and general level of consciousness of the people who may be categorized as hipsters. As one commenter pointed out, the label of hipster, first and foremost, is about image; yes, it may be affiliated with an interest/involvement in the arts and some level of has sparked a serious commotion and even controversy among the readers, and a glaring question is whether the writer is himself a so-called hipster, which seems to be the case. While I think the article is too inflammatory and reductive, it does give a thoughtful critical analysis of a certain youth culture that while purportedly not mainstream, also feeds into and depends on mass media, cultural appropriation and homogenization. And I will realize and admit that I am not excluded from these trends, yet while remaining conscious that culture and counter-culture are inextricablysocio-political consciousness, and it may have influenced a certain sector of society to look infuriatingly similar, but to believe that anyone who can be labeled hipster is devoid of a meaningful ethos is downright wrong and defeatist.
So I will admit that I have some qualities that may be considered hipster: I live in Williamsburg, I will drink cheap beer from time to time, I blog, I see a lot of live music shows, I even - yes - dress in a sort of hipster fashion much of the time. This doesn't mean I am a brainwashed zombie who desperately feels the need to fit in. I love fashion, and I don't feel constrained to fit or follow a certain image. Likewise, I love dancing and am not afraid to let loose on the dance floor. I blog to hone my writing skills and impart my cultural reflections; sure, it may be a hipster quality, but it's also me. I was hardly a hipster when I was in elementary school, yet my habits were similar: I drew and wrote constantly, I was always dancing and singing at home, and I loved to play outdoors. I was much more shy and more of a loner then, and I didn't drink, but I was always artsy and free-spirited. I think I still remain too free-spirited to really be a hipster, but I do not agree that the label necessarily merits such scathing.
Yet again, for the umpteenth time, I am without a full-time job and will, at the end of the month, again be without health insurance. I plan on continuing to live here for some time, despite my rekindled appreciation for smaller, mellower cities, and despite the glaring state of our economic situation that is predicted to decline far more before it improves. What do these decisions say about what kind of person I am? My actions may suggest nothing less than an addiction perhaps, a love-hate relationship I have grown dependent on, to the hectic anything-is-possible vibe of NYC.
A recent article pointed out to me by a friend in Adbusters really sparked my inner-dialog about this relationship between culture and identity. Entitled "Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization," the piece is a scathing account of how youth culture has been commercialized, commodified and stripped of any meaning or cultural optimism. The article claims that the hipster image is so bleak at its core that no one will admit to actually being one (a phenomenon which I have acutely observed myself) and yet everyone has a similar white-washed image and even lifestyle, from the American Apparel look to the drinking of cheap beer and - yes - blogging.
To say that every remotely hipster generality is necessarily destructive and devoid of meaning is an oversimplification and stereotype that fails to acknowledge the diversity of this "hipster" culture and the varying lifestyles, political bents, education and general level of consciousness of the people who may be categorized as hipsters. As one commenter pointed out, the label of hipster, first and foremost, is about image; yes, it may be affiliated with an interest/involvement in the arts and some level of has sparked a serious commotion and even controversy among the readers, and a glaring question is whether the writer is himself a so-called hipster, which seems to be the case. While I think the article is too inflammatory and reductive, it does give a thoughtful critical analysis of a certain youth culture that while purportedly not mainstream, also feeds into and depends on mass media, cultural appropriation and homogenization. And I will realize and admit that I am not excluded from these trends, yet while remaining conscious that culture and counter-culture are inextricablysocio-political consciousness, and it may have influenced a certain sector of society to look infuriatingly similar, but to believe that anyone who can be labeled hipster is devoid of a meaningful ethos is downright wrong and defeatist.
So I will admit that I have some qualities that may be considered hipster: I live in Williamsburg, I will drink cheap beer from time to time, I blog, I see a lot of live music shows, I even - yes - dress in a sort of hipster fashion much of the time. This doesn't mean I am a brainwashed zombie who desperately feels the need to fit in. I love fashion, and I don't feel constrained to fit or follow a certain image. Likewise, I love dancing and am not afraid to let loose on the dance floor. I blog to hone my writing skills and impart my cultural reflections; sure, it may be a hipster quality, but it's also me. I was hardly a hipster when I was in elementary school, yet my habits were similar: I drew and wrote constantly, I was always dancing and singing at home, and I loved to play outdoors. I was much more shy and more of a loner then, and I didn't drink, but I was always artsy and free-spirited. I think I still remain too free-spirited to really be a hipster, but I do not agree that the label necessarily merits such scathing.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
S. Williamsburg Evening: Mixel Pixel/Dam, Stuhltrager Gallery
After I met my friends at Rose Bar, a cute, semi-hidden bar on Grand and Marcy with regular live music, we proceeded to an art gallery I hadn't previously known of, on Marcy Ave and Hooper St., described by my friend as the store-front with an old Coca-Cola banner up top. The gallery, which I later learned is called Dam, Stuhltrager Gallery, consisted of a series of rooms with captivating and well-done -- if generally somewhat generically post-modern and hipster -- sculptural/installation art (see pictures above).
After wandering alone in the inside of the gallery while my friends had made a beeline to the outdoor area where the crowd waited and mingled and the band was preparing to perform, I made my way 20 minutes and several pictures later to find my friends (with some difficulty) outside. The band, Mixel Pixel (www.mixelpixel.com), soon began; and their giant projection onto a brick wall behind them, initially displaying a psychedelic black-and-white spinning image foregrounded by a "LOADING" logo, soon showed similarly psychedelic, avant-garde, disjointed video clips. After a short detour away from the intensity of the scene, which was fun but slightly overwhelmingly crowded, warm and loud, I returned to relax more and absorb -- and appreciate -- the music and video clips. I was taken aback when I realized how intricately the videos were designed to perfectly correspond to and complement each song. While the music was pure pop-fun and somewhat endearing, it was the videos that most blew me away. www.youtube.com/mixelpixelvideos The specific video/song combination that impressed me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wdvU-oPfL8
I asked two friends how they would describe Mixel Pixel's music after having pondered over it for a bit myself and deciding that they sounded like a contemporary, hipsterfied version of the B-52's, with vague hints of similarity to current bands like CSS and Sonic Youth. Without first telling my friends my initial impression of their sound, the first one responded, "Um, electro-pop?," to which I agreed and told him my own analysis. He agreed on the pop-music label but wavered on the B-52's attribute, saying that he would argue that it sounded like something derivative from the Cure. This comment was punctuated with: "But then, doesn't everything?"
A while later, I asked my other friend there the same question; incidentally, she hadn't heard our discussion yet so far. She seemed a little uninterested in answering and then replied, "Um, post-modern?" So, finally: Mixel Pixel is: a post-modern, electro-pop hipster band with hints of the Cure and the B-52's. According to their Myspace profile (www.myspace.com/mixelpixel), their band's style is "freestyle"; and according to their Youtube profile, their style is "mariachi."
I didn't see any of the other bands that performed that night, though after checking out the gallery's website tonight, I learned that the music performances and parties are a regular summer feature there. If you have interest in checking out local, indie and under-the-radar bands and visual artists, as well as enjoying a low-key gallery/outdoor party, I recommend checking out future events at this space. By the way, the title of the summer music series: garden of earthly delights.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)