Pathological Sublime = the Abject
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/04/a-young-persons-guid.html#more Mark Derry details his new project about the “Pathological Sublime.” Now, I
Taste, Hipness, and White Embodiment – my new article in Contemporary Aesthetics
http://www.contempaesthetics.org/newvolume/pages/article.php?articleID=549 Contemporary Aesthetics has just published its special issue on Aesthetics & Race, edited by the wonderful Monique Roelofs. You should check out my article on taste, hipness, and white embodiment (complete with discussion of James Chance’s “Almost Black”). Here’s…
Rancière and Media Theory
Marshall McLuhan’s claim that “the medium is the message” is a more-or-less foundational tenet of media studies, and it is exactly this claim that Rancière contests. In an insight that is both groundbreaking and re-hashing some 18th-century observations on aesthetics,…
Phase-shifting process music as an analogue for social identitity: or, re-thinking intersectionality via “It’s Gonna Rain”
So, I’m working on am argument that social identities (race, gender, etc.) are mutually constitutive, and that metaphors of “intersection” and “blending” don’t accurately capture the ontology of social identities (as mutually constitutive). As a part of the argument, I…
George Michael fucks gender, wonders “If I Were a Boy…”
So, in spite of her husband’s regressive gender politics (see below), Beyonce had some serious genderfucking onstage last night in London. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. George Michael joined B onstage for “If I Were a…
Death of Autotune, or massive repudiation of perceived effeminacy?
Ok, so, Jay-Z has released a new track titled “DOA (Death of Autotune)”, produced by Mr. Autotune extraordinare Kanye West. There’s a ton of media buzz about the track (which seems to be the purpose of a track which attacks…
steve reich <=> beyonce
Compare: (1) Reich’s “Clapping Music” (one of the phasing pieces) to (2) Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” (sorry, no embed for this one) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mVEGfH4s5g I’m teaching a course this summer on the philosophical, aesthetic, and compositional relationship that tie mid-20th c avant-garde…
Republicans and the one-drop rule, or “He’s too moderate!”
So, scholars of social identity and oppression have long known that the boundaries of and membership in privileged groups is incredibly tightly controlled. Gay men aren’t fully or properly masculine, just as those with even one drop of non-white blood…
Flo-Riding the New Wave? or, Postmillennial Black Hipness
So, Kanye West is pretty commonly recognized as mainstream hip hop’s acolyte of the New Wave (Gary Numan references, what?), but Flo-Rida’s last two singles are totally obvious remixes/reworkings of iconic New Wave tracks. First, there’s “Right Round,” the somewhat…
“Single Ladies” = robots
Beyoncé is an amazingly talented artist who plays around in very subtle and nuanced ways with “serious ideas” – all while singing some damn catchy hooks. It’s REALLY HARD to make delectable pop that also problematizes ideas in ways that…
Recent Comments