The culture is not mine - 31.07.24
I’m in France this week, of all weeks. The Olympic fever is filling the streets. Only today, a few days after it actually happened, I watched the FIVE HOUR opening ceremony. Performances from some of France’s finest artists, curated & displayed by some of France’s greatest artistic minds… it is a feast for the eyes & the soul really. When you look back at the grandeur of the World’s Fair, you can see that ambition & dream is still alive today. So what, o what, could that ceremony have me thinking about? & how have I managed to connect the Olympic games to Kendrick Lemar’s deconstruction of Drake? Well…
I’m not much of a hip-hop beef kind of guy. That’s not my world. Kendrick’s music never really did it for me, & I still don’t think I’ve ever listened to Drake on purpose. The internet is a second home however, so of course, the discourse has been beamed into my skull… so I’m familiar with what happened. Based on the opinions of the experts in beef, there’s one thing that was always going to separate Kendrick from Drake, & that’s culture. Kendrick is connected, deeply to hip-hop culture, to the people that it’s for. He’s standing on the shoulders of their giants. Drake is unfortunately an outsider, which isn’t exactly the problem, but he’s an outsider trying to use the aesthetic of hip-hop to act out his personal fantasies. He’s made hip-hop serve his career, while Kendrick has made hip-hop serve the culture.
Throughout all these videos teaching me what the beef was all about, & how the culture works etc… I couldn’t help but compare this to Ireland, to Irish culture. It’s no secret that Ireland is going through another Celtic revival of sorts. Musically acts like Hozier, The Scratch, & Kneecap are all anyone is talking about. Everyone is trying to speak Gaeilge, & our mythology is being retold through the values of today. I see artists contributing to the culture, & I see myself… just on the outside of that. I mean, I have the life experience, I have the culture in my veins. more than most too actually. Growing up with & eventually telling the myths & folk tales… & yet my music, my work, that’s what sits on the outside of the culture.
This is all a direct comparison to the Olympic ceremony though, isn’t it? France is, right now, celebrating the culture. It wasn’t some stuffy old collection of relics looking back on what France used to be, & lamenting modernity. It’s using the past to contextualise it’s modern, progressive & diverse present. It was aiming for the future. When Lady Gaga performed, it wasn’t about Lady Gaga, it was about the culture. When Celine Dion performed, it wasn’t about Celine Dion, it was about the culture. That, to me, was what really stood out. It brought up two big questions.
Is being an artist about contributing to the culture?
If so, what the hell am I doing for the culture?
Obviously, being an artist can be a million different things. There’s always an artistic movement that’s breaking any definition of art. But in some way, all great art is what reaches into people & makes them feel seen. This is how it connects us to ‘the culture’. If you think of someone like Neil Gaiman… he’s not exactly contributing to the culture of the US. (maybe with his ‘American Gods’ series actually) But really, he’s contributing to the culture of teenagers, to the alternative kids, to the culture of children’s horror. That’s a great culture, beyond nationality, beyond boarders. *Actually, only through writing this paragraph have I now understood where I want to stand in all of this mess. For the past while I really felt the need to contribute to the Irish culture. I want to be accepted & respected by the world around me, & right now… Ireland is the world around me, but maybe what I’m after is something bigger. So yes, I do think that being an artist is about contributing to the culture. Sure even those that are breaking the rules of contributing to the culture are actually contributing to the culture of art… so checkmate abstract modernists!
Then, what part do I play? What culture do I truly belong to? What am I adding to? If I was to hazard a guess based on my own loves. I would argue that my culture is that of the dreamers. The utopian thinkers. The magic makers & the inspirations to all. I’m talking about Jim Henson, Danny Elfman, Björk, Hayao Miyazaki… so many great artists who fill your chest with possibility & your head with ideas. I want to build onto that legacy. Taking the magic of circus, the power of music, & the joy of storytelling to make anything that ‘our culture’ will appreciate. To do this though, I really have to remove myself as the focus. Kind of…
You see, all the lights were on Gaga & Celine. All the choreography & staging was orchestrated to make them larger than life. The absolute mastery of these performances & performers is that they STILL managed to make it about more than themselves. They still managed to build onto the culture. That comes from a deep knowledge of our history, of our context. It comes from a deep appreciation & demonstration of what we know to be the best & brightest of our culture.
Armed with this, I’m going to reframe some of my work going forward… & I’m going to figure out how to make my work & myself serve those who served me. & when anyone asks what group you belong to, you can tell them that you’re looking for the rainbow connection.
The Lovers, the Dreamers, & me.
Love youu!
Nathan
