With a week left to go in INCITE‘s Kickstarter campaign, we emailed Brett Kashmere, editor of the Pittsburgh film zine which has strong ties to our own reputable Winnipeg film scene. The image above, if you haven’t recognized it, is from Jaimz Asmundson‘s The Magus which is discussed in the upcoming issue which is going to be printed. There’s still plenty of time to become a backer for the mag, like I have, and have an opportunity to get physical copies of the zine that straddles the line between a serious journal and an art zine, as well as receive plenty of other rare incentives, which are also discussed below.
Stylus: The theme of the new issue is New Ages. What parallels have you drawn between today’s use of New Age symbolism and its origins?
INCITE: The theme, “New Ages” is meant to provoke a range of interpretations and readings. Most obvious is the reference to the “New Age” spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century, and which gained mainstream awareness during the height of self-absorbed Reaganomics and the rise of corporate power. While it’s easy to ridicule New Age-ism for being a wishy-washy brand of quasi-religious mysticism, it is also rooted in the concepts of self-improvement, physical and mental health, and environmental responsibility. This duality—of alternative spirituality based in holistic health, environmentalism, meditation, and simple living, and its pop commercialization (i.e. whale music CDs sold in strip malls)—produced a values-based sociopolitical phenomenon that was hard to take seriously.
Over the past decade, there has been a clear renewal of interest in New Age symbolism. How do we account for the current fascination with New Age ideas and aesthetics among many of media artists, many of whom grew up in “New Age” households? As ironic appropriation? As a desire to reconnect with some of the original core principles of the movement, such as non-Western medicine, environmental causes, organic farming, etc? As ’80s-era nostalgia? This is one of the questions that permeate through the issue. The Web 2.0, via services such as YouTube, has made it possible to instantly re-experience the media memories of our recent past or stoke a younger generation’s enchantment with a past not their own. In an era marked by both religious and political fervor and cynicism, it’s hard not to see the positive in reclaiming an inclusive, optimistic, if naive, spiritual movement. Continue reading “INCITE, Journal of Experimental Media”