06/10/2025
What is subculture? What is the underground? What does it stand for? I've often thought that our musical underground functions as a kind of “subconsciousness” for society. It's where new artistic forms bubble up, where free associations happen, where the rules of government and mainstream society don't apply. In the words of Hakim Bay they are “Temporary Autonomous Zones” where we can move, act and create with fluidity, a rhizomatic network that survives deep beneath the surface of the Earth.
Within such a model, it stands to reason that the “conscious” mind of society is expressed by social norms, governments and now in the modern age, multinational corporations. I'm troubled sometimes by how these corporations, such as Instagram have infiltrated our Temporary Autonomous Zones, and I think we need more of a critical awareness around them. They portray a reality of transparency, for example, when you take a picture and post it on Instagram, it seems harmless right? However, there is a reason why successful events the world over maintain a no phone/camera policy. There is something special happening in these places which stays in the moment, in lived experience. They are free from the corporate gaze and as such, resist commodification, mass consumption and maintain their potency.
What are your thoughts about the intervention and use of social media in subcultures?