Why > What: Making Sense Of The Modern Cultural Landscape
Now that anyone can make anything ~ the value of everything will be found in the 'why'.
Hahko here ~ literally here right now typing these words right now that you’re reading. Really think about that ~ I am a real person really writing these words that you’re reading now. Im literally writing to you right now. And you’re reading right now. It’s real, Im a real person here - literally its me, Hahko. Here. Tell someone about my work today ok? Id like that, truly. Click a share button, click a subscribe button, repost me on social media. Literally it’ll be like two clicks, 30 seconds, its such a tiny easy thing to do. I wrote all these words. Im still writing these words, these ones. And this one. Im a real person and Im really here. Defeat the apathy. Just click a button.
Are you oscillating between intense boredom and extreme panic over the AI lead creative crisis we find ourselves in? Me too.
Fake Drake songs, doomsday Ted Talks, Grimes and her artificial alter-ego. I find myself unable to tell if this is a social panic or societal apocalypse. I still have no idea.
Something I have thought about it is how we can move through the consequences of this gigantic shake-up ~ how we make sense of the rapidly evolving cultural landscape.
Spot The Difference
Q: Both Are Artificially Generated But The Metro Mag Art Is Good And The National Party Ad Is Bad ~ Why?
A: Because when you have the tools to create anything, art will be judged by intentions not the execution. The judgement for value will be increasingly meta-contextual.
Metro Mag’s use of AI art is good because its taking a driving force of the creative crisis its exploring and recontextualising it to make a point.
The National Party’s use of AI art has no deeper meaning, it was most likely a way to save time and money and therefore is bad.
Meta-Context In Music
A recent musical example of the importance of ‘why’ is the use of viral electronic track ‘Country Riddim’ by both Four Tet and Tiesto.
This works for Four Tet because it’s a subversion of expectations on two levels ~ both what song is coming next and what kind of music Four Tet would play in set.
Why it comes off cringe for Tiesto to do exactly the same thing with exactly the same song is because its a confirmation of expectations that mainstream artists just capitalise on the cultural work of others or whats popular.
Its not about the what its about the why!
Culture Doesn’t End It Evolves
We can work ourselves up into a frenzy worrying about creative displacement by technology but thats based on the fallacy that what exists now will always exist.
We constantly shift what we find valuable and while sometimes thats an active process most of the time its reactive. AI will devalue and dilute the ‘what’. When everyone can do something it’s just not as fun anymore.
We will react culturally by valuing intentions over execution. Ideas and artistic statements will gain even more power.
The artistic landscape will appear increasingly chaotic and confusing until you see it through the lens of ‘why’ not ‘what’.