Austerity after prosperity

[imomus]

In my blog column for the New York Times this week I attempt to convince my readers that there's intelligent life after prosperity, calling, as evidence, on a range of Japanese lifestyle magazines which promote beautiful visions of austerity.



Talking of austerity after prosperity in Japan, can anyone tell me why the following websites are down?

The official Cornelius website
The official Kahimi Karie website
The official Chocolat website
Studio Voice magazine website

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Momus, you have written some of the nicest melodies. Do you ever find yourself whistling back your own songs, when you're doing house chores etc?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Yes, I do. And I even find myself whistling songs I've never released. For instance, when I was driving to Manifesta last month I had this song stuck in my head, a song The Happy Family rehearsed but never recorded back in 1982. It's called "Too Busy Living" and it's sung by a lorry driver:

You sleep in the cab
Wake up feeling glad
You've set yourself free of the American Dream
You check on the load
Then swallow more road
This mechanical body shows your spirit fresh scenes

The business is hauling
But this driver ain't falling
In love with the crap at the back
Only a loser attacks
And I'm too busy living for that!

It has a lot more verses, but I can't remember them. It's obviously influenced by The Fall's Container Drivers. But I find it interesting that this catchy song only exists in my head, and has been there for 24 years! It's also amusing that a real lorry driver reverse-rammed into me while I had this song stuck in my head last month. He obviously wasn't in love with "the crap at the back" either; he didn't even look before reversing.

[pulled-up.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

The beehive house is lovely! I am all for championing thrift and slow-life movements. The curator at Peacock and I have been discussing running workshops with people on things like growing your own food, understanding the current economic climate, skill swapping (through a program called LETS)... This article is nice inspiration for some things to include, thanks!

[(Anonymous)]

Austerity doesn't have to be drab, Mr. Momus! Why, look at all the colorful robes in medieval paintings and tapestries! I say we ought to return to wearing robes! Who needs to see precise point at which my buttocks breaks from my thigh, anyway?

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

I do.

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

It has a strong whiff of prim, assless, worthy Norhern Euro roundheadness about it, though!



These guys (http://lord-whimsy.livejournal.com/2008/06/24/) make more interesting models, I think.

I have to go bury a great blue heron (http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/BEN/AB40004~Great-Blue-Heron-Posters.jpg) today. Not looking forward to it. Very sad.

[drywbach.livejournal.com]

Do you remember the 70s oil crisis and resulting economic problems which saw increased popular interest in knitting and crafts and frugality? I guess those interests are on their way back for similar reasons. At any rate, it's a positive, creative response to economic downturn.

My parents still have a collection of craft partworks from back then. I should see whether there are any good ideas in them.

Those web sites seem fine at the moment, btw. Can you view them now?

[drywbach.livejournal.com]

Yes, it must be. Poor heron.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Yes, I remember the 70s oil crisis! We actually emigrated to Canada in 1973, so we missed the 3 day week and all that.

Are those websites working for you? None of them respond at all to me!

[kumakouji.livejournal.com]

The problem with presenting these glossy lifestyle magazines as examples of austerity is that you don't actually know how much money was spent achieving this aesthetic. Rustic isn't synonymous with austerity. You're focusing too much on the sentimentality of what you're being presented with, and you're failing to ask vital questions about cost.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's my role, as "The Post-Materialist" to, you know, "ask tough questions about how ecological so-called ecology really is". That strikes me as the same kind of gesture as saying the ICA should be subject to tough scrutiny to see whether what it presents is really subversive, or whether it doesn't just promote a chic subversive pose. In other words, you're bringing the "tough audit" rhetoric which basically makes all these movements collapse under the weight of internal contradictions. I don't think that's very useful.

It also wouldn't be very interesting to "ask vital questions about the cost" of "rice soup, hiking in the mountains, Elein Fleiss’ simple wardrobe, home as a life base, organic cuisine, homemade bread and ecologically-friendly ways of cleaning clothes". I mean, I can just see the headlines now: "Study reveals hidden costs of rice soup and hiking in mountains".

[drywbach.livejournal.com]

Yes, they're all there. How strange. No other problem sites? Have you tried clearing the cache and refreshing the page?

[kumakouji.livejournal.com]

"you're bringing the "tough audit" rhetoric which basically makes all these movements collapse under the weight of internal contradictions."

These movements wouldn't be riddled with contradictions if their ideologies were developed and promoted via logic rather than emotion.

This is entirely my point -- without a core basis of shared values and specifics defined and agreed upon, ideas like this remain as pie in the sky. Art is exempt from this tough auditing as you put it, because whilst you can scientifically define whether your consumption is sustainable, you can't scientifically define what's artistically new.

You can't present these magazines as evidence of austerity without first defining in fiscal terms what that even means.

But yes, it's all very pretty.

[(Anonymous)]

Sites are workan fine here, too.

-r

[kumakouji.livejournal.com]

Oh and without tough auditing you end up with shit like this:

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Well, the basic thrust of my piece is this: in the West, when we talk about "austerity chic", we mean black couture by Prada, Chanel and Balenciaga with massive pricetags. So why not have a gander at another kind of austerity chic, the kind promoted by these Japanese Slow Life magazines? Not only are the things they're talking about cheaper, they're rather more sensual and life-affirming too, proving that there is intelligent life after prosperity, and that it doesn't need to be too painfully austere.

Now, within the context of a consumer style mag (the Times' T magazine), it doesn't take much proving that the kind of stuff being talked about in Kurashi No Techo is cheaper and more sustainable and better suited to post-prosperity lifestyles we need to adopt than the conspicuous consumption represented by Chanel and Prada.

I'm not going to dilute that message by nitpicking about how much carbon is emitted by getting to the mountains before you can hike in them. That's the rhetoric of the enemies of post-materialism, and it falls into the trap of hypocrisy thinking (http://imomus.livejournal.com/362894.html).

[merrow-sea.livejournal.com]

;-)


Austerity is soothing; not constantly scrambling for things and money (for more things) gives us time. Which is sensual and creative and the most valuable thing there is.

[count-vronsky.livejournal.com]

[kumakouji.livejournal.com]

Is slow-life cheaper, eco-friendlier, and more sustainable than a life of luxury designer brands? Absolutely. But what relevance does that have in the real world where most people aren't filthy rich and able to indulge in designer brands? That's what I'm curious to know, this has nothing to do with hypocrisy.

Damien Hirst really isnt that rich or greedy compared to Bill Gates. Do you see what I'm getting at here?

aloha Momus

[monsterafruit.livejournal.com]

Aloha momus

This is Tomas writing from Hawaii
here is my music:

www.myspace.com/scarredfigs
www.myspace.com/dracsgifs

do you like it?
would you tell me what you think?

Thank you
Tomas

[(Anonymous)]

Is there any link you can post with more information about that beehive house and its architect? Also, I foggily remember a post some time ago about a commune in Germany with self-built shacks. This was you, right? Please provide a link if so. Thanks for writing a post nearly every day, by the way.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

The image of the house is from a Japanese book about Kenji Kawai called Operating Manual for the Buildings and Surroundings (http://www.acetate-ed.net/bookdata/008/008.html). There's information (in Japanese) and more images there.

The self-built piece you mention is probably Your inner hippy lives in Lohmuehle (http://imomus.livejournal.com/310291.html).