Legacy
noun
the long-lasting impact of particular events, actions, etc. that took place in the past, or of a person’s life.
"he left us a rich legacy of buildings that are both innovative architectural creations and genuine works of art"
adjective
denoting or relating to software or hardware that has been superseded but is difficult to replace because of its wide use.
"integration with legacy systems has been cited as a problem by over half of respondents"
Nostalgia is a really weird thing. As folks get older, romantic notions of “the good old days” tend to start taking up mental real estate. This phenomenon is not intrinsic to older generations though; there is a general appreciation of what can be considered vintage across all age groups.
Culturally, we tend to glorify new things as much as the old, and I often find that one follows the other. As we are overwhelmed with the immediacy of modern technology and social media, the realization that a lot of this shit is superficial tends to creep in. Trends are transitory but you never know what will be a forever thing. Escaping into nostalgic aesthetics and memories are, in my opinion, subconscious tributes to things that transcend being trends by holding sentimental value.
Now when I say trends, I am going to go out on a long ass limb here and just guess that most of you thought of internet trends. #trending amirite? Well that’s not entirely what I was talking about, though it is certainly a part of it. I would like to remind you that trends existed in different ways long before the internet and social media algorithms made us remodel how they work.
Let’s go back in time for a minute. In 1979, Sony dropped the dopest thing an entire generation thought it would ever own; The Walkman. A portable music player! Holy fucking shit, you can pop a casette in this mfer and walk around with some dope ass (read: shit-ass) headphones on and blast music whenever the fuck you want without bothering anybody else. You can bet your ass this was a trend at the time, and it continued to be so for 20 freaking years.
The Walkman evolved to play different media formats, from casettes to CDs, to even MiniDiscs. Shit I remember in the mid to late 90s, House and Trance DJs were rocking these little MiniDisc players like it was the pinnacle of civilization. That didn’t last very long, and I’m actually very happy about this considering how much un-recyclable trash this bullshit created.
Still, the trend continued in the form of portable music players, and eventually we got that monstrosity called the Zune from Microsoft, and the now legendary iPod. NGL, the nano was dope as fuck. And you know what, this was also the age of cell phones shrinking in size. It was trendy to have the smallest possible cellular devices. Motorala made some of the most absurdly tiny and compact cellphones we’ve ever seen, such as the StarTAC. And later on, before flip phones totally ate shit in the face of touch screened smart phones, the RAZR family - which, ironically, continues to be a thing somehow! Damn. Definitely not trending though. LOL.
The point may be that all of this stuff is temporary, nothing really lasts, especially as technology moves on. Fashion, cars, art, you name it; everything moves forever facing forward into an unknown future, always trying to be cutting edge, perpetually trying to discover the next big trend.
»But wait, that’s total bullshit!«
It’s all happening in cycles. Retro Futurism blowing up in Fallout on and off for decades. Alexander McQueen tipping his hat with a new collection every season to literally every era of fashion, in the short 41 years he lived on this earth. The retro, pixelated art of Crypto Punks becoming the iconic face of NFT culture and decentralization. And yes, even the glorification of motherfucking disco 50 years after its heyday. Somebody turn that last one off please, it hurts and I don’t like it. Or at least play it on your portable media device with some headphones on ffs.
Nostalgia is not a trend; it is simply an escape from the noise of the modern age to a “simpler” time. Or at the very least, to things that remind us of time periods where we didn’t have the same stressors we deal with today. Social media: stressful. Having to keep up with fashion trends: exhausting. Feeling the need to get the latest greatest apple-chomp chump-device every fucking year: stupid. We all do shit like this, and it gets old really, really fast. And not in a way that it ages well either. Make it stop, I want off this ride the older I get.
Now given the context of my blog here, these are types of societal insights that inform the way I approach my work. I have two primary creative mediums I currently work with: body suspension, and generative art. One is created entirely in an analog manner, and is primarily intended to be experienced physically, in person. The other is created entirely in a digital way, based entirely in code and digital editing tools. There are a few layers of irony to both for me.
Firstly, I’m pretty much the only person on the blockchain that is exploring what the bridge between body suspension, and digital formats. And nobody does what I do, the way I do it in the world of body suspension either. On the web, I am trying to present something extremely real through extremely virtual interfaces. I want to take people back to feeling their humanity, almost tearing them away from technology long enough to forget about it, and the culture that comes with it. Look inward, feel your feelings, think about your physical health and potential. Why does this make you uncomfortable? What does it make you feel? Can you see past the intense visual context? You are capable of so much more than what some influencer bullshit is telling you you are, you multi-dimensional spiritual flesh driver you.
Secondly, I am diving into the deepest end of creating code generated art, as well as digital manipulation of outputs through various softwares from Photoshop and After Effects, and even cycling those videos and images back into code driven processes. And guess what, I am obsessed with finding a way to display these purely digital creations in the physical world, as immersive experiences. I want folks to look at mind melting, or brain massaging trippy pieces of art, that detach them long enough from their social media and technological routines, that they can breathe without any mental noise encroaching on the moment. Enjoy it on your own terms.
Furthermore, body suspension is ancient. It’s never really a “trend,” because it is permanently rooted in ancient practices. My modern day explorations are not always spiritual, and I do not facilitate rituals from other cultures that involve hook suspension, however there is a timeless spirit to the medium that we all tap into. It is a shared space for any practitioner of suspension, and I find that no matter how strikingly “new,” or “unique” my art may be, it will never be born of a cutting edge technology or movement. In fact, even though we use cutting edge media tech to capture and share the experience, and the visuals that we create with it, the final product is something that invariably falls outside of what one can consider mainstream.
In addition to this, and in contrast, generative art is relatively new, considering computers and programming languages capable of outputting visual graphics are so new. In fact, this year is the 60th year since the first ever actual computer art was ever published. Efraim Arazi had a piece he created on a computer that made the cover of a magazine called Computers and Automation. Check out the entire thing by clicking here! And here we are, in cycles that glorify “old” computer art. There is nothing old about it, that shit is brand new in the grand history of human made art.
Lastly, there is a shared irony between both, and I find is common to most art of practically any audio, visual, or written genres. These are things that are heavily embedded in community models, that result in very personal, individual experiences. How fucking wild is that? It takes a highly experienced, and mentally in-tune group of people to safely facilitate an impactful body suspension experience. At the very least, the person suspending and their primary facilitator must have a bond sharing vulnerability and trust to make it work. And with generative art, well, if you know nothing about this medium, I can tell you that more than half of the game is having really good Google-Fu to find solutions to your problems, finding tutorials to figure out how to use your tools, and connecting with other devs and artists just to discuss how the fuck doing any of this stuff is even possible half of the time. In fact, I would argue that only 1% of all code is actually ever unique and not recycled copypasta.
So my plan for the next few months is to explore this space of legacy aesthetics and cutting edge technology. I will sum it up in a list of what is coming, and why you should keep your eyes peeled (but not literally, that’s fucking gross dude).
I will be minting and listing some of my best body suspension work to date, on Foundation. This includes but is not limited to my seminal piece with Jeanelle Mastema, “Tether,” and a fresh collaboration with Morgan Shay & Adam Courtney, “Void Passenger.” These are part of my legacy in the world of body suspension.
I will be focusing a great deal of time on my generative art project, Iterative. It will be a very different take on digital collectibles on the Ethereum blockchain. These will not be PFPs, but math based objects that can be burned sequentially, in exchange for a custom replacement. They are intended to be calming brain massagers, that also come with a narrative that explores a fictional universe I have created around them. The aesthetics for this project are based in legacy technology.
I will be dropping a number of collaborative projects with other artists that also sell NFTs, and have their own unique styles. My contribution to these will be pixel mapping isolated elements, and further enhancing the animated loops with advanced video editing methods. I intend to create collaborative art with cutting edge digital creators that have a penchant for creating legacy vibes that are outside of our understanding of this time continuum we are experiencing IRL.
Ultimately, I believe everything becomes obsolete eventually. If we some day evolve beyond our physicality in these fragile meat vessels we inhabit, hook suspension and the wildly unique bio-chemical experience that we have through it will become obsolete. If something like AI generated code and art eventually becomes a mainstream tool that even toddlers can utilize, a lot of code generated art will eventually become antiquated, enter a legacy state, and inevitably vanish into obscurity, effectively rendering it all obsolete, as it will be be easily replicable to a point where we forget the original creators in the wash of time.
Fine Art may never be obsolete, but I will remind you that all physical items eventually decay, and/or get destroyed in one way or another. Even digital art is entirely dependent on physical storage devices continuing to exist. Nothing is forever, except maybe, our memories of things. And even then, as we pass our stories on to future generations, and people forget how VHS tapes work, the truth behind what it felt like will be lost forever. Good riddance, I never want to fish tape the VCR ate out of a flappy slot hole ever again, what a nightmare. Fuck that bullshit.
And that, in and of itself, will add value to past art, as nostalgia overrides our need for instant gratification with a shiny thing. Even our past frustrations seem amusing in retrospect.
What are you nostalgic for? I hope you revisit something from the past soon, and that it brings you some joy.