Forwarded from Cool Guides
Okay, so back in the waybacks, David Foster Wallace speculated that the reason the rise of post-modernism occurred in the first place was because of the rise of television. Basically, the main activity went from active doing into passive observation of doing, which was reflected in the art of post-television existence. Now we exist in the era of social media, where a similar change is occurring. The main ontological state for people is no longer being, but the cultivation and creation of identities. Now, we see this reflected in our politics with the increased prevalence of gender conversations and, I suspect, it will become increasingly relevant in our art, which will focus not on the subverting the metanarrative, but rather the metanarrator.
Posting my theory about the next great art movement here, because I typed it out anyway and I may as well share.
Ye, but even the idea of individuality has been co-opted by the right into the idea of self reliance rather than self expression.
This also relates to the conspiracy mindset, where the person is made an individual by having access to the "one truth" rather than the formulation of ideas.