Week #12 ->
Internet Continued & Thanksgiving Rest
Did you miss last week’s post? Go here <–
Have a nice Thanksgiving break!
I’m grateful for our class and our learning experience together!
Class recording from 11/23 –
Passcode: iN==.bp9
A Few Important Due Dates to Watch:
- Final Term Paper Draft due (3-4 pages) – preferably due now – 11/30 (send via e-mail)
- Final Term Paper –(6 pages – NOT including the bibliography page) preferably due between 12/7 – 12/15 – (send via e-mail)
- Final Course Assessment / Reflection – 1-2 pages – due 12/15 (send via e-mail)
Class Discussion:
Let’s have some fun – > Last week we took a dive into the history of the Internet. But, the Internet, as we well know, is a very deep place and a space.. it is the birthplace of many underground sub-cultural aesthetics and micro-genres. VaporWave has crossed through and been recycled by cultures all of the world through the power of the Internet.
VaporWave is one of them. “Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music, visual art style, and Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s.”
Let’s screen this video together on VAPORWAVE.
This week’s class assignment is optional. No discussion board response is necessary unless you would like to share your thoughts, reflections and comments, you can view this as an extra credit response with a rolling deadline.
🙂
Further Resources:
VAPORWAVE – the wiki definition
VAPORWAVE – Aesthetics Wiki – Extensive List
Internet Art – akak NET-ART – Reddit wiki
I had no clue what Vaporwave was before this video but I’m glade I watched it to find out. The visuals and music was compiling it kept me entertained. The guy narrating remined me of someone in a movie about high schoolers narrating a house party. The 80s and 90s looked fun, free, original, and entertaining. Now a days everyone seems unoriginal, and confirmative with the excepting of few that go against the grain, live to stand and not blend in.
VAPORWAVEEE! Reminds me of the first class before this one, we learned about Synthwave, another beauty of electronic music, since before I was hooked and still am now. Towards Vaporwave though, the history behind it is quite interesting and the result of having this subgenre now is beautiful because its an embracement of the past, the 80s retro aesthetic is truly phenomenal because not only does visuals of a vaporwave clip give us 80s or 90s vibe, but the retro tone of the music is also nostalgic. Some recommendations in terms of synthwave I would say are “Kavinsky- Nightcall”, this one is my go to when I do my drive to work in the morning, since my drive begins somewhere around 3 in the morning, this one is truly a banger for the empty highway occasion, and an album I would recommended is “Back to the 80’s-Marvel83’edition”, truly a brilliant album, enjoy!
The emergence of vaporwave is quite intriguing and reveals a lot more about the 2010s. Many people were still suffering the consequences of the 2008 recession when the 2010s got underway. When we are going through a difficult time in our lives, we frequently think back on a previous period. The 20-year nostalgia cycle is a phenomenon where each decade has a general yearning for 20 years ago. For instance, films about the 1950s were frequently produced in the 1980s. It’s not always accurate, as seen by vaporwave and other subcultures. They nearly seem like a deformed mixture of both the 1980s and the 1990s at the same time.
A recurring motif in Vaporwave is how it incorporates many of the themes of rapacious capitalism that were popular in the 1980s as well as subtly referencing the economic boom in Japan during that time through language and marketing. Soviet waves make a fascinating contrast to Vaporwaves; whereas Vaporwaves remark on the past as it is, Soviet Waves comment on the future as it wasn’t.
I think the rise of vaporwave is pretty interesting and says a lot more about the state of the 2010s. The 2010s started off at the endpoint of the 2008 recession so a lot of people were still feeling the effects. Often times when we are at a low point in our lives we reflect back on an older time. There is this phenomenon called the 20-year nostalgia cycle where each decade has this collective nostalgia for 20 years ago. For example, the ’80s often had nostalgic films about the ’50s. Often times it’s not truly exact which can be seen in vaporwave and other subcultures. They have elements of the ’80s and the ’90s, almost like this mutated amalgamation of both eras simultaneously. A theme of Vaporwave is that it inherits a lot of the elements of rampant capitalism that was prevalent in the 80s as well as subtle nods to japans economic boom in the 80’s with text and marketing. An interesting contrast to vaporwave is soviet waves; a vaporwave commentates on the past that is, Sovietwave commentates on the future that wasn’t. Sovietwave often focuses on soviet futurism and attempts to look back at the soviet union through an optimistic lens. Another Genre I can think of is dream core which oftentimes explores surreal minimalist environments, almost nostalgic images, and liminal spaces.