Progress progress progress. We had our first gallery meeting yesterday, and I got to meet the three other students in my group. They were pretty awesome, and we managed to divide up the gallery space pretty quickly and smoothly. Everyone was pretty laid back about it. As I stared at the little corner that I had picked, visions of my installation began to swarm in my head. The wall pieces...the listening stations...the decor (complete with the huge 1980s boombox my dad somehow STILL has)...my name on the wall...it's another step forward, another step closer to completion. And it's an amazing feeling.
I've also finalized my problem statement:
"How can an audio-visual experience that presents the evolution of the genre and the influence of outside genres upon its development draw non-listeners into hip hop?"
I'm basically going to be exploring hip hop's origins and how outside genres have helped shape it into what it is today and the different subgenres that have been born out of it, and how these crossover genres can attract non-listeners that never would have given the genre a chance otherwise. I'll also be exploring attitudes regarding the current state of hip hop, and if it is in fact "dead"...or just further evolved, based on hip hop's history.
As stated earlier, I've begun to make decisions on the form as well...and I'm beyond excited about it. It's going to utilize some awesome skills I learned last semester regarding the new InDesign DPS tools and one awesome playlist. I'm keeping mum for now about most of it since a lot can change in the next few weeks (or even days!). Stay tuned!
And now, for an interesting problem that I've come across...
In my research, it's finally happened. I've come across an amazing, important group, whose influence over the genre can't be disputed, and is respected by a lot of people....
...and I just can't listen to their music.
It's naive to assume that I'll love every artist I come across. I've heard of this group before, but I've never actually LISTENED to their music. Like, dissected the lyrics, etc. I can respect them, sure. They were one of the first groups to pioneer hardcore hip hop in the early 90s. It's a much darker style than the jazz-influenced and sample-driven artists of the Golden Age. This particular group's lyricism uses a bizarre combination of explicit violence and humor coupled with darker instances of daily life. Some of it is for shock value, and a lot of it is pure originality, which I can recognize as refreshing. And it makes me very uncomfortable (which is probably the point). I feel that as long as I can respect the artist, I can push my personal hang-ups aside and extract the pure research to benefit my project. However, it's definitely a strong reality check that reminds me that I can't get too personal with this project, as much as I would like to.
No comments:
Post a Comment