First, thank you for the inspiring conversation. I love the idea of creatives working against limitations being the catalyst for ingenuity– necessity is the mother of invention. So easily here in modernity we get comfortable having everything at our disposal at any given moment. That way of living requires far less thought and creativity than we are capable of, and it’s a shame to waste a good creative train of thought.
I’m a fan of good questions.
I wrote a novel in response to yours.
In regards to why the modern musician–or aesthete in any field–is looking to the past for inspiration, my gut reaction is there are two touchpoints: Safety (or some ideal of it) and television (the birth of pop culture).
The global political climate was such in the 60s, 70s that the threat of full-scale land war was lower than it had been in the first half of the 20th century. Even with the Cold War and Korean and Vietnam conflicts, the average American was not living in perpetual fear of obliteration or the threat of dictatorship. America was safe, by and large, even as our young men were facing conscription though the 1960s. The feeling of safety was imbued by family television and the advent of TV itself. Our brains were given a visual united front of the world. It is impossible to be stressed while watching The Andy Griffith Show.
The 60s and 70s were particularly fruitful and colorful, avocado appliances and orange linoleum included, as the whole world watched the birth of rock n roll, fashion from around the world became accessible to even the rural reaches of the nation (even if it was great Aunt Ophelia sewing the pattern), and movies were changing how we talked to each other (and saw the future). Cultural touchpoints that still remain today came from sci-fi dreams like 2001: Space Odyssey, Alfred Hitchcock’s oeuvre, and the spaghetti westerns. I’m not making the argument that the best years of our popular culture conversation are behind us– way, way behind us– but I do think the biggest boom of development is fairly well encapsulated in the 1960s-1970s.
Will we be able to dare to dream so big looking forward? I don’t know. We have to have a renewed sense of faith in humanity at large before we trust ourselves (and each other) to bring about another colorful cultural revolution. Maybe a real space invasion will unite our sensibilities, or we will hand the matriarchy our wars and conflicts and be amazed as humanity wakes up to a tender approach to diplomacy and relationships. Who knows? I stand on the hope against all evidence to the contrary that we will as a species return to love as a good reason to be (and not money, land, God, stuff, or IG likes).
I will keep my eyes and ears open for the revolution that will usher in the next era.
First, thank you for the inspiring conversation. I love the idea of creatives working against limitations being the catalyst for ingenuity– necessity is the mother of invention. So easily here in modernity we get comfortable having everything at our disposal at any given moment. That way of living requires far less thought and creativity than we are capable of, and it’s a shame to waste a good creative train of thought.
I’m a fan of good questions.
I wrote a novel in response to yours.
In regards to why the modern musician–or aesthete in any field–is looking to the past for inspiration, my gut reaction is there are two touchpoints: Safety (or some ideal of it) and television (the birth of pop culture).
The global political climate was such in the 60s, 70s that the threat of full-scale land war was lower than it had been in the first half of the 20th century. Even with the Cold War and Korean and Vietnam conflicts, the average American was not living in perpetual fear of obliteration or the threat of dictatorship. America was safe, by and large, even as our young men were facing conscription though the 1960s. The feeling of safety was imbued by family television and the advent of TV itself. Our brains were given a visual united front of the world. It is impossible to be stressed while watching The Andy Griffith Show.
The 60s and 70s were particularly fruitful and colorful, avocado appliances and orange linoleum included, as the whole world watched the birth of rock n roll, fashion from around the world became accessible to even the rural reaches of the nation (even if it was great Aunt Ophelia sewing the pattern), and movies were changing how we talked to each other (and saw the future). Cultural touchpoints that still remain today came from sci-fi dreams like 2001: Space Odyssey, Alfred Hitchcock’s oeuvre, and the spaghetti westerns. I’m not making the argument that the best years of our popular culture conversation are behind us– way, way behind us– but I do think the biggest boom of development is fairly well encapsulated in the 1960s-1970s.
Will we be able to dare to dream so big looking forward? I don’t know. We have to have a renewed sense of faith in humanity at large before we trust ourselves (and each other) to bring about another colorful cultural revolution. Maybe a real space invasion will unite our sensibilities, or we will hand the matriarchy our wars and conflicts and be amazed as humanity wakes up to a tender approach to diplomacy and relationships. Who knows? I stand on the hope against all evidence to the contrary that we will as a species return to love as a good reason to be (and not money, land, God, stuff, or IG likes).
I will keep my eyes and ears open for the revolution that will usher in the next era.
Artists will lead the way.
YESYESYES.