Vaporwave started as a part-joke, part-meme, part-audiovisual movement nearly a decade ago. It couples a DIY attitude with the tools of the internet age, producing one of the most democratic creative impulses in recent times.
Anyone can put together a basic vaporwave video. Here's one possible recipe: Stretch and mangle an existing music track. Sprinkle with visuals reminiscent of 1990s PC software. Add some VHS-like image deterioration. Perhaps some Japanese script. And last but not least, upload to Youtube.
Et Viola!
When it first appeared, Vaporwave was seen as an important form of counterculture by some. As a fad by others. But I'm not convinced it's just another form of meaningless escapism. Vaporwave never really went away. Thousands of people still make it. And without the need for a grand scheme or manifesto. Or marketing.
All of which makes me think: Could the secret of the movement's success be its DIY-style scavenging of discarded elements from the recent past, turning this "cultural garbage" into a meaningful alternative to the status quo?
In other words, the present as it could be. Not as it is.
Macintosh Plus - Floral Shoppe
Lucien Hughes - "Sunday School"
