My final destination during my travels in North America was Vancouver Island. Decision about going there and spending a few days in a charming cabin by the ocean, not too far away from a little town called Sooke, was made very spontaneusly. I was very lucky to get an invitation to that little echosystem from a friend of a friend, whom I met earlier on in mentioned already Montreal. It is actually very interesting how and where we met and how my stay on the island changed the context of it completely. I first met Mimi in Montreal, she is a student there. She does writing and she is into fashion. She is very creative and arty looking. And even though she DOES HAVE A CLUE, and she hates pretenciousness just as any reasonable person does, my feelings about the whole situation were very mixed. Until I saw and experienced the environment she comes from . . . That makes the whole lot of difference, all of the sudden all the reactions and opinions and the whole mannerism, all of it is justified. Just normal, the only possible. But Mimi, her house and the whole place is special. Almost impossible to imagine. Everything there is just very natural, very organic, simple and very sophisticated. Dripping with creativeness and beauty. Those people turned their lifes into a piece of art and they didnt need blogs or any kind of approval to do so.
The whole thing started with Mimi's mum generation. people from all kind of places who migrated there in the 70's and decided to do things their own way. Now a lot of things changed. The infrastructure of the place itself changes as Vancouver Island becomes an expensive alternative for people living in Vancouver. But they still keep their communities and their ideals. And even though their children move to cities and experience more "polluted" version of things, they still know who they are. And that's what I found amazing about the people and the place. After experiencing that it almost feels like sticking to nature is the only way to stay true . . .
Soon after I got interested in hipsters and their impact on modern art/media, a film dedicated to Alan Ginsberg and the rest of the Beat Generation was released. "Howl", as well as the exhibition (showing hipsters of the 70. in photographs) I saw a few months later, back in London (Hipster Angleheaded at National Theatre), made me want to learn more about the history of this phenomenon. After a little bit of research I learnt that hipsters have been around for much longer than I thought. The first time this term was used in 1950's and even though it refered to a completely different group of people than today, certain elements definitely stay the same. And that what makes the subject even more interesting. Knowing the genesis of hipsterism is also very useful when it comes to investigating it and describing it.
Another thing that I learnt while researching all those different periods and the trends is a very heavy presence of the 70's in the most recent fashion collections (Marc Jacobs, Gucci, Sonia Rykiel . . . ). It seems like it's not only "the streets" and art galleries that turned their eyes on the period that belonged to the Beat generation.
Another destination during my stay in Canada was Montreal. Magical place I always wanted to see. People say that Montreal is the most European city in Canada and that is the main reason why everyone wants to go there. To me Montreal was very interesting historically and culturally but in it's on way. I could see why it seems "so European" to everyone but to me it was something different, something I haven't seen before. People speak fluently and without accent in both: English and French, everyone seems very open minded and knowing how to leave their lives fully and happily, something that has been forgotten in places like London for example. To me Montreal was also about my friends, beautiful and very spacey apartments, bagels, Leonard Cohen and . . . hipsters. It was really shocking to see that the trend travelled that far and has affected a place thats been always known to be very protective over it's own authenticity and special character. Exactly the same styles, opinions and interests as wherever else. The more simmilar the better. Very specific about things that are cool and the ones that aren't. Os so unpractical and radicolous. Omnipresent and just off putting. All of them involved SOMEHOW with photography . . .
p.s. only later on I found out that VICE MAGAZINE has been created in Montreal.
Another very important stop on my journey was the exchange I did in Canada. I spent the first four months of my final year in Windsor, small town in Ontario, right on the Canadian border withStates, just across the river from Detroit.
It was a very interesting experience; I met lots of different people, I traveled across Canada and America and I was also able to study subjects that were completely new to me, like for example drawing. It was during my exchange when I first visited Detroit and met my family that lives over there.
I was really pleased to be there and see how the place is like with my own eyes, instead of being completely reliable on the rumors. It was a very interesting time, even more so as members of my family are artists themselves and were able to show me around and help me understand the city and it's people better. During my trips to Detroit surprisingly I met a lot of foreigners, especially people from England, Sweden, Netherlands and Germany. Some of the came to Detroit for the same reason as me - curious to see what's the real face of this place. However, there were many of them looking for a cheap sensation and ways in which the city could be exploited. It seems like Detroit is just before a big explosion of trendy people flooding the place, taking over it's characteristics and covering it up with a little bit of New York, a little bit of London, a little bit of Berlin, a little bit of EVERYTHING IS THE SAME.
why? why ? why? is it that industrial feel that characterizes all those locations? is it the fact that those places start off cheap and empty as if they were waiting for something to come and over take it?
maybe.
Whatever it is, it's good I made it on time. I am lucky to see that raw and true version of Detroit. I am even more lucky to see it seconds before things dramatically change.
READING:
The Origins of the Urban Crisis - Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit by Thomas J. Sugrue, Princeton University Press; Revised edition (August 1, 2005)
Devils Night: And other tales of Detroit by Zev Chafets, Vintage (October 1, 1991)
Detroit Lives (Conflicts in Urban and Regional Development) by Robert H. Mast, Temple University Press (October 20, 1994)
KICK OUT THE JAMS:DETROIT'S CASS CORRIDOR 1963-1977: the Detroit Institute of Arts, July 13-September 14, The Institute (1980)
Another part of this whole journey through authenticity and lack of it is me re-discovering Berlin. Re-discovering simply because I grew up just round the corner from Berlin (my hometown - Szczecin - is about 2 hours drive away from the German capitol). I always thought I knew Berlin quite well. For me, and for most of the people in my hometown, it was just an extension of what we already had and knew way too well.
Grey, concrete and heavily influenced by war and comunism, Berlin is just a bit bigger version of my hometown. Exciting, as exciting as can be for a capitol. I was always quite skeptical about the place (probably we just had too many fieldtrips over there). All of the sudden Berlin became a cultural capitol and the most trendy destination possible. It definitely took me quite a lot of re-discovering. I guess again; Berlin seems to be a cheaper and less crowded substitute for London. With it's very industrial landscape, Londoners treat Berlin almost as their home, or at least a more affordable version of it. So now the phenomenon that I first discovered in London and started properly understanding in New York, arrived also to Berlin
.
I will be really interested to see how the city progresses oer the years and how does that change Berlin's economic situation aa well the atmosphere of the place.
After my first trip to New York I started an internship in one of the biggest and most professional photographic studios in London. It was a groundbreaking experience, the first time I saw with my own eyes, how all those big and impressive productions happen. I could properly feel the atmosphere of it and what is more, I could meet people standing behind it. Some really amazing talents, impossible creativity and professionalism.
And on top of that: many many hipsters. People who talk and make appearance. What is the purpose? Doesn't really matter, as long as they know how to do it. That is enough to get yourself accepted among artist and media people. Nothing new, there was always a big demand for posers who are there simply to reflect modern trends. Accept for this time, these trend reflectors are actually making impact. They are there making sure that the crowd looks identical enough. And that's what happens. Real mixes up with fake and in the final outcome it might be really hard to distinguish or identify what is what.
I did some reading and a little bit of writing and that's what I come up with:
"Almost by definition a real hipster isn't an artist. The hipster is the cultural figure, who understands consumers purchases within the familiar categories of mass consumption (but still not available to everyone; only to the hip consumer/rebel consumer) – the right vintage T-shirt, the right jeans, the right food, the right photograph – to be a form of art (subculturation of consumer capitalism). They might be called critics, re-mixers, curators or the copy-writers who follow the actual artists but they are never artists themselves. At best, it seems, that they are art students; people who aspire to create art (hangers-on, poseurs, rather than art makers)."
READING:
N+1, What Was the Hipster?: A Sociological Investigation, Harper Collins, Inc. (26 Oct 2010)
It was during my trip to New York, last Spring, when I first came across term "HIPSTER".
It wasn't only the word, it was the phenomenon in general that was new to me.
That was the firs time I traveled that far and the first time I realized how unified people and their opinions are, no matter where you go. Especially when it comes to art, design or people who work the media industry in general.
It wasn't only that unification that cought my attention. It was also the pretentiousness, online omnipresence and superiority of those people that shocked me the most.
All of the sudden it felt like everyone, everywhere in the world is an artist of some (the same) kind and that artism and creativeness can be best expressed in the same, very strictly described way. The only possible way.
Everyone now is a little bit of a charismatic rebel, quiet introvertive artist, creative media designer, adventurous traveler, fashion designer, fashion model, fashion photographer, fashion inventor, fashion re-inventor, fashion victim . . . visual victim !
Is it just me or is it something bigger? Does it affect me?
How can I distinguish modern hipsters from fashion victims or simple snobs that were always out there?
How does that affect me? How does that affect everybody else? Is it worth our attention at all?
It affect everybody on a very small scale as hipsters take over with their pretentiousness all the nice places and spaces in town.
It becomes quite big problem once we realized what they did to photographic cameras. Hipsters turned them into the most desirable fashion accessory on earth. Somthing (ideally a plastic lomo) that could be worn instead of a handbag or a pair of shades . . .
But that's still fine. Up until the moment when they not only decorate themselves with holgas and dianas - they also start using them!
Now, everyone is using them. Now, it's photography. Now it's picture + taken with a fashion accessory = fashion photography.
And that's when it becomes my problem in a big way.
And that's how a hipster - the visual victim first comes into shape, enters both; my vocabulary and my concieusness. Becomes an idea for my shoot and an interesting subject to investigate with my symposium project.
