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Society has turned Cool...

2007-12-15T19:38:00.000Z

...or this is what we get from most of the current news, art and typical society hobbies.

Cool is an evolving notion, referring to what's fabulous, different and uniquely smooth...and conveying an idea of the one specific trend that is relevant to "cool" people at any time.

Until recently, Cool has been a lot of things that were rather unrelated to what you can see on the standard news and more related to a specific attitude, most of the time an attitude that reflected something different and against the typical flow of culture, politics, affluence, and all the other variables that are "wedded", shall we say, to the evolution of society.

For example: being a punk or a hippie, an anarchist or a revolutionary has always had its Cool and still remain part of the Cool spirit today.

What we have seen most recently however is a tendency for us to conform more to the rules of a new society where even, say, a rock star will evolve through what society can bring to them and not the other way around.

The 2000+ Cool

1. Rappers are the most obvious example with the evolution of bling bling and how in fact, it's become cool to be rich. For them, it's become a sign of success in society, which should be embraced and not the other way around....

2. Fashion is the coolest form of art. No matter how new and original it can get, it will always be about dressing people up and reflecting specific attitudes, which most of the time for that matter will be both cool and conveying an idea of high achievement.

3. Architecture and city scapes....or my preferred form of art. Let's take Tokyo for example. Please go ahead and see Hirakawa - if I remember the name well, it's an area full of plastic-like buildings over and over again along a long road with no trees. Last time I walked there, I had a headache and I felt like I had been physically immersed into a 1980s video game. Now come to Aoyama, my best pick in Tokyo and also my favorite area in the whole world, and we will feel like we're walking in a living, exotic and extreeemely cool two thousand and something real life museum.

Society has adapted to Cool. Because Cool has constantly set the bar for it by being so provocative and inspiring over and over again.

We have seen a lot and reached a level of diversity in society habits, culture and Coolness of things that is higher than ever before.

Money and success, with the addition of the highly linked popularity of people and brands, have become another new way of measuring what's and who's Cool at any time.

Yes, society standards are now just tools for Cool.

Hopefully, the inspiration to be Cool will push more and more people to be successful in proving what's Cool to them.

That way, we can all contribute to a prosperous and sustainable world while having the most fun we can, by doing what we want, when we want, where we want and with whom we want.

It may sound crazy but I am an absolute addict of such a world.

The Earth And Its Diversity Needs Peace And Democracy

2007-02-05T09:21:00.000Z

Is this just another peace statement on humanity?
Yes and No.

Yes: I don't mind making just another statement on world peace because we still need it. We talk every single day about world peace and how to fight poverty once and for all, but do not seem to achieve much more than the few efforts done by a handful of great but two few pro-active and influent people. We need another statement from another person every single day until the day we are all making a difference in our lives.

Humanity is a whole body made of human beings, and human beings go through the following steps to make progress in their lives:
1. Analyzing the problems
2. Researching and Testing on what can be done
3. Making the Decision to do it
4. Doing it and being persistent
5. Being successful at it and keeping doing it as a habit
Are we actually going through those steps or are we only remaining somewhere around steps 1-2, with an endless series of fairly successful tests, done by a small proportion of the population only, ever and ever again? With the growing efforts to build a world at peace, it is common sense that we are likely to turn at some point in the near future into trials that actually work that will move us swiftly into realization and success. And maybe if we haven't manage this yet, it is because we did not have the means to go forward to steps 3 and 4. My second answer below describes how I think we WILL do it.

No: This is not just a peace statement but a realistic denouncement that in 2007, we are still a world very much based on nationalism. Back to step 1 above. If we think of the new generation, people like me, my friends, and even better, my younger brothers and sisters, we tend to think beyond patriotism and nationalism. Of course as anybody should, we respect the values of the nations we come from, but deep inside, and sometimes also on our very faces, we strive for something that crosses those borders. In many ways, it is so backward to think in terms of one's nation only. I chose to think of the world, if not the universe, as "one great nation". It's not only about discovering or helping the foreigner, it's much more being equal to him or her, being a fellow citizen with the rest of the planet.

I am a strong advocate of cultural differences across the world. And also, I think we should capitalize on those great differences that make every culture and every region so rich and different. Art should and will also reflect this constant, purposeful, diversity clash that makes the earth such a wonderful and diverse place to be in.

Do we need just another peace statement on humanity?

Yes and No.

Efforts for peace and democracy are going to spread to the population at large, because they will become a priority; but this will require a new belief in new paradigms that cross borders, cultures and current systems.
This may be frightening at first, and seem unreal to others, as any true change is; but when it comes to politics, the economy and global social exchanges, it really seems that we are getting closer and closer together, and, particularly for the youngest demographics, that we refute the values of nationalism, and life within borders, for a life that crosses all borders, making all of this earth's human beings fully equal and considerable, citizens of the world.

Pop Culture or How the World is Fascinated by Nothing

2006-11-26T14:36:00.000Z

For all we know, pop culture aka the culture of the people consists of a mainstream form of entertainment, of popular art and lifestyle that have appeared along with mass media and mass consumption in Western civilization and across the world for now over a century. Pop culture is the equivalent of the ancient folklores, which before mass media appeared, were specific to the people and their respective region and differentiated from elitist ''high culture" reserved for the privileged classes of society.

A notable aspect in the evolution of pop culture over the years is how it has been vulgarized greatly over the past century, from a higher quality stream of creative flow towards something much more superficial and only instinctively appealing. At the start of mass media for example, the movies were focused on the quality of narrative, on character and relationships, and on the quality of writing and dialog. When we watch some of the new commercial movies, sometimes we wonder where this has gone. To some at least, it can be a complete world of instant gratification but longer term boredom.

Music is an obvious example for this. Not that long ago, when records were first manufactured, Classical music used to form the bulk of the music industry. Records were reserved to an educated elite, who recognized the genius of its creators and performers and who understood the value of pieces and their performance and was therefore willing to spend their money on it. When rock music appeared, music consumption evolved and music as an art was suddenly vulgarized to a lower type of consumption good, still respectably valuable, but not as intellectual, not as elitist. Demand increased and prices dropped. The whole western population would buy records and the people saw the value in the genius of rock and pop idols. This pop phenomenon has endured strongly and has amplified itself over time and throughout all forms of art and media until our age.

We all know that mass media has changed the face of culture, worldwide, probably for the good since overall, the cultural intellect has spread to the global population and on average, the human spirit has probably elevated itself to a high level of cultural awareness. Since the dawn of the twenty-first century however, a further kind of vulgarization has appeared. The new generation, roughly 25 year olds and below, are now not even interested in specific icons of a particular form of art or entertainment. We don't see the value in talent in as a logical way as it used to be seen and recognized. What we see today is the quality of an approach to an audience, the context of culture. Stars are blind and don't necessarily have a link to their art. It's all down the how they are marketed, and they may be eligible to be on our playlists.

Examples are numerous and there is no need to mention this or that, it's obvious that music is now perceived as a consumption good among many, and that the magic and idolatry of rock is now far gone. For better of for worse, brands and labels have taken over geniuses and icons.

Some refer to this as dumbing down or the age of the Post-Intellectual era. Clearly, there's a great need for education, if not, awareness in terms of culture. While we have never been so spoiled, we have never been so bright either, and so quickly able to learn, progress and to act. Additionally, we have never had suck an easy access to information and to immediate production of cultural goods.

In fact, in the same way mass media initially vulgarized the idea of consuming art, listening to music, watching TV or going to the movies, the web aka the new generation in mass media has vulgarized even the concept of creating art. Also, the value is briefly transferring itself from artists to products. When the artist, and the medium are becoming commodities, what's left is the result of those commodities: the product, whether it is a track, a film, an article, a book, a concert, anything you may think of... What's more is that we have direct access to all of the above. Slowly, art itself is becoming a commodity. It is free, it is simple, it is direct.

Pop culture is everywhere, from its creation to its consumption, it has overtaken every home in the world, and the world itself has become a spoiled audience, hungry for cheap commodities, passionate about nothing.

Sounds new? It is. What's next? What's after the vulgarization and demystification of anything creative? Other forms of creativity... Forms that will not be seen as commodities and with which people will be surprised again, start dreaming again from a deeply rooted standpoint, rather than an instinctive envy. Most certainly... in the meantime, we are here today and waiting, creating, diversifying, experimenting, exchanging, consuming, flying, knowing that most of all, what matters is the necessity to realize that what's there cannot be taken for granted, has infinite potential and is all the reasons to remain positive.

2006-11-06T23:01:00.000Z