Image from The Face Magazine (Archive)
WORDS BY CORNELIA FALKNÄS
As someone who grew up in a small town, the world opened up in front of me when I moved abroad to a big European capital and saw people dressing differently, partying differently, and living differently. By dipping my toes into subcultural communities, I started discovering new sides of myself, but also new ways of perceiving the world and others. As academic Shane Blackman states, subculture “holds the potential to critically and politically impact on consciousness”.
One of the reasons I started working together with La Fomo is because we share the view that subcultural movements are, and always have been, integral to London – they shape its arts and culture scene and are at the heart of what gives the city its character. As a media outlet that strives to celebrate alternative culture, and create space for the unconventional, we see subculture as something that will be an important part of what we uplift on our platform. For that reason, we’ve decided to dedicate a series of features to celebrating, spotlighting, and delving into past and present London subcultures.
However, we’re not oblivious to the fact that groups, movements and events that belong to the underground might not always benefit from nor want a spotlight directed at them. In this first part of our subculture series, we’re therefore looking to explore questions about the role and state of subcultures in today’s society and their relationship to the mainstream, hoping to promote a discussion about why and how to document them mindfully. To do so, we spoke with Kevin Quinn, who runs webinars about subcultures at University of the Arts London, and is part of their Subcultures Post Grad Interest Group.
What do you think the role of subculture is today, and how has this changed through the times?
I think the role of subculture today is, or should be, the same as it ever was. However, the significant changes in today’s subcultural practices, mediation and consumption have been altered by the impact of both the Internet and the smartphone. The pace and instantaneous manner that a form of supposed resistance can be co-opted, copied and commodified has undoubtedly had an effect upon the nature of subcultures.
Subcultural practice in today’s Webworld feels much less subordinate to the ‘mainstream’, the gaps between and the friction the two ought to produce are much less palpable. The margins, the shadows, the avenues of escape all look differently than they did even 20 years ago.
On the other hand, power structures and systems are never more apparent so forms of resistance, no matter how superficial and weak they may seem, are paramount. The individual who becomes part of a group increases the overall capacity for change.
Credits Taz Blacklaw
How do you think the internet and social media affect subculture's role and existence?
The attitudes, customs, beliefs and values inherent within a subculture can be - and are - expressed or performed very differently. The idea of place and space is key to this.
Knowingness and an understanding of certain codes can be more easily adopted and applied due to there being less of a need to participate in person as opposed to cyberspace. Two similar yet vastly different ways of belonging and being.
Another thing I feel is integral to how subcultures are formed, performed, deformed is the decline of value in popular cultural artefacts. When nearly everything can be accessed at no cost and with barely any time for longing or anticipation to build this can alter the perception of any depth and creates a fast-food way of consuming.
Do you have any thoughts around exclusivity contra accessibility in relation to the building of subcultural communities?
I think subcultures like any social grouping have issues of gatekeeping, hierarchy and ideas around access, acceptance and assimilation. The ‘I was here first … before you were born’ argument reveals more about the limitations and myopia of an individual than it does about a particular subculture. I suspect that this is – and always has and will be – a part of human behaviour regardless of subcultural leanings. Being privy to insider information or esoteric knowledge is part of exclusivity and a major part of the appeal.
What is the relationship between subculture and the mainstream?
I think it’s the tension between what is perceived as a dominant culture such as that deemed tasteful, normal, in keeping with society’s power relations and any opposition to these impositions. Language, dress, style, symbolic and signifying modes of meaning-making can – and arguably should - act as visual and performative rites of passage and lines of distinction.
Again, I think the rapacity in which expressions of ‘alternative’ and ‘independent’ can go from provocation to simply being cheaply brandished on a t-shirt in a high street shop naturally waters down any dichotomy. Choice and variety of ‘images’ is not necessarily a choice and variety in ‘ideas’.
Image from i-D (Archive)
What happens to a subculture when it is adopted by the mainstream?
The media plays a significant part in this. If a subculture is deemed as deviant or at the heart of a moral panic, for example acid house and ecstasy, or mods and rockers fighting on the beach, it can inadvertently glamourise or enhance the appeal of danger and thrill-seeking. More people getting involved will therefore lead to a dilution of the group and negate any threat to natural order.
The Situationists in France in the 1960s had the term ‘recuperation’ in which they articulated how radical or revolutionary rhetoric or imagery is co-opted and absorbed and ultimately drained of its intended power.
In short, the mainstream serves to ‘return’ these miscreants or ‘folk devils’ to the dominant mythology. I think the only major difference today is the speed at which these things occur.
Is it important to document subcultures?
Undoubtedly. The mapping of social worlds and studying and documenting how people act, interact and react is fundamental to moving forward. Social conditions are hugely important and always changing therefore how groups operate within them is always going to be worthy of scrutiny and study.
Ideas of individualism and identity are always changing and subcultural practice is a great site to monitor and observe these processes on conscious, subconscious and unconscious levels – a form of humanthropology.
Reassessing the past and continually testing perceived or received narratives is an essential part of preserving things that have gone before, yet more importantly challenging ‘facts’ that cast new light upon accepted wisdom or knowledge.
Our work at University of the Arts London seeks to analyse and give coverage to those subcultures that have been less written about or documented. Particularly from a non-Western viewpoint or as a platform for new and emerging subcultures to be expressed to a wider audience.
Image from The Face Magazine (Archive)
How does it affect subcultures to get ‘too much’ attention?
Too much attention invariably alters how a subculture is perceived and received and therefore cracks will appear and questions asked as to issues of purity, authenticity, and the inevitable accusations of ‘selling out’.
That said, the paradox is that unless these things are analysed and documented then prospective vital information can be lost and it may not be until years later that specific meanings and messages are read and reassessed.
You have to be aware of - and straddle - the lines between participant and researcher, observer and voyeur and enthusiast and exploiter.
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Ultimately, documenting subculture is important, but at the same time, subculture might be more vulnerable than ever to exploitation and commodification. There are undeniably more questions to be asked about this topic, and while we don’t have all the answers, we’re committed to being part of the discussion and searching for ways to highlight and celebrate subculture mindfully. Sparking thoughts and dialogue around how to do so is part of our purpose, and through our upcoming feature series on subculture we hope to go on a learning journey on which we can bring you along.