Leemonster:Is Avant Garde Dead?

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Is Avant Garde dead?
by Leemonster
The experimental risks being taken by artists and musicians seems to have gone downhill ever since
radio and television were sold to people‘s interest by the companies that make money from it. Is it
because ideas are running out, or the creators and fans of such work are running weary of new ideas?
Avant Garde is argued to be many things, but mainly it is agreed to be the boundaries crossed in the form
of arts and pop culture. It is pushing the envelope and creating a format for the sake of creating a new path
rather than trying to impress others or receive a paycheck. Avant Garde is recognized as the idea that always
doing the right thing or what is considered normal will never lead to any new experiences… you will always
be repeating the same thing. Whether it is visual or auditory, the need for something new has always
been what has kept the mind accelerating.

As you look at the transition between pop culture and art now compared to the 1960s to early 90s,
you can tell that there is a decreasing number of new ideas and an unoriginal approach to creativity.
One thing you can compare to this trend of format that offers generic structure now is the number of corporations
that has a strong say in what goes on air or through the media. As expression-fueled crafts such as music
and artwork were noticed by those who could cash in and make money off of it, almost each generation
can take note in some who could be called “sell outs” or “fakes.” First, I’ll make an example using the genre
and lifestyle Hip Hop.

Hip Hop is a culture mostly known for inner city area graffiti style and music. When it first came out,
all formats supported each other; break dancing, MCing, DJing, and graffiti art. The 1970’s were the
start of the culture, and many united together through the passion and dedication they had for the art.
Many hip hop artists did it for the fun, intellect and expression and it was not yet noticed by the
giant labels and advertising companies. Graffiti was seen as appalling to some, a complete lack of respect
for the system, and it was viewed as a rebellious art to others, something that was sly and breaking barriers.
Ironically, graffiti is still seen as disgusting and frowned upon by authority, yet part of the hip hop culture
that can be profited off can be seen on giant billboards from some of the mainstream successes.
MTV was launched in 1981,almost twenty years after hip hop originated. The company called Viacom
(they own a few companies!) bought MTV. Viacom also owns Paramount Pictures, CBS, UPN, VH1,
Showtime, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Comedy Central, CMT, BET, etc. After bringing up Viacom, one of the
five corporations that handle a gigantic majority of what is dealt with through the media outlets of tv, radio,
news and movies. I’d like to bring up the declining intellectual use in mainstream music, using hip hop and
rap as an example. When hip hop began, many styles and music production methods were introduced.
Pioneers of the culture were Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, KRS-One, graffiti writers TAKI 183
and Seen and anybody willing to put new ideas and style into the lifestyle. It was about being original and
coming up with your own ideas. Slowly businesses started realizing they could cash in on the culture that
counteracted the way of corporate lifestyle. Thus, the full hands of companies like Viacom and General Electric.
If you look at most of the formulas for mainstream hip hop/rap music today, they all contain the exact
same format. Usually involving violence, sexism and the same song structures.

Of course there is exception, and there are still many artists pushing the limits and keeping originality over
paychecks. KRS-One still records to this day, along with Public Enemy, and newer to some ears are
Dead Prez and Sage Francis. Ironically from what I have studied, you can write songs containing violence
aimed towards those in your own community and have it be a hit, but if it points fingers at authority or starts
to ask questions then you start to get tackled by lawsuits. Ice T recorded the song “Cop Killer” and his
album was taken off shelves and even brought attention by president at that time George H. W. Bush. At
this same time, the PMRC was created to “protect listeners from harmful material.” The punk band Dead
Kennedys were also targeted for their material, as well as musician Frank Zappa. They all challenged and fought
back either by releasing new songs or trying to get a say in the media over the issues, which of course was
easier back then than now with the number of “fair and balanced” networks.

Opposing the goal to create new ideas and formats of music are those that become famous for usually a
short period of time and then get worn out as a new fad comes in to replace them. Some of the causes for
the lack of creativity involving mainstream artists is that they won’t get anywhere if they don’t follow the same
format that their managers, labels, or producers want out of them. That is a major difference in itself - the
fact that a lot of material that is generated doesn’t even concern the true opinion of the artist, but of the ones
distributing the music and what they think the fans will like. It is like the musician is a mannequin with a
microphone taped up to it’s mouth, shouting out what is expected to hear to higher record sales and
please fans with materialistic catchy rhythms. The risk of losing record sales is too high so nobody will try
anything new and daring, which keeps the audience at some sort of patient state of mind while hot hit after hot
hit come and go monthly. This might explain why many artists don’t even have an endured career in the
mainstream; they’ll either get dumped off for trying to change the route and create something new, or they’ll
get real boring real fast and the fans will need something fresh and new.. with the exact same sound, look,
persona and media package. Compare someone like Pink Floyd to most rock bands nowadays. They were
able to risk bad record reviews to try new ideas and still kept a large fan base. Their music videos were very
conceptual and had well thought out albums, some with story lines and plots intertwining through songs
like the album The Wall. Bands of earlier generations could speak to people and appreciate diversity.
Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Blondie, there are many to name.. but they are all in the past.
Maybe I am just bitter, but what names do we have nowadays to mark a generation, to represent a people,
and break the idea of “norm” with new style? Paris Hilton? Green Day? 50 Cent? It all seems like novelty
acts anymore and true passion fell through the roof as soon as money took the place of creativity.

The more control an artist seems to have over their medium, the more the barrier of bland seems to
break. Take Punk Rock for example. Much like Hip Hop, punk rock was a genre of music and counter
culture created from scratch using influences from past music and ideologies. It was unheard of at the time,
fast noise, blatantly political lyrics and imagery as far as the eye could see. People hated it, the press couldn’t
understand it, but those who were involved didn’t care what others thought.. They were aware of the
unacceptance the media cast down, and that only made it better. Bands like Crass created flyers, video
collages, pranks on the media and energetic live shows all around their strong political messages. It was
neither “left” or “right”, so there was nothing to endorse it, and they didn’t do it for the money, so the media
couldn’t bribe them away. Compare this to nowadays where some artists will be able to trade a political
statement for a record deal. Crass had no representatives but themselves, just the same as Jello Biafra of the
Dead Kennedys, Ice T or Frank Zappa.

The experimental risks being taken by artists in this generation is something that is slowly declining. Whether
it be the fans, musicians, media, or maybe there are just no new ideas left in this small world anymore. When
you look hard enough, you can see something interesting, but from the short glimpse and televised overview,
everything just seems to be repeating itself. While new ideas are being hidden behind barriers and the approach
to a new format of art is lifeless on a hospital bed, it is up to our culture to decide if our lives are just a quick fad.
We can either create material to merely satisfy those around us, or we can do it for ourselves to experience the
success in being satisfied in your own work, style and approach.

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