Great insights here, I'm inclined to agree with the off-putting nature of overt messaging. Lord of the Rings continues to be such a Cultural Powerhouse of Roman Catholic Teachings specifically because it's not in your face about being Catholic Art telling a Catholic Story teaching Catholic Lessons, and yet it is still extremely Catholic when one steps back and evaluates it at a 30K ft view. I would argue that the Lord of The Rings is Right Wing Art at its finest
I’m an artist my whole life. While reading your essay, I thought immediately of a once-famous painting, “The Raft of the Medusa” by Géricault. A naval shipwreck that resulted in cannibalism as a result of deep-set corruption in the French government, it was VERY political and newsworthy. So the artist went to create it without a commission. At the first showing which caused huge stir, the subtext was clearly political. But, because he didn’t sacrifice the quality of art for politics, his painting still have legs today while those that were explicitly political become dated as the newspaper wrapping a fish dinner.
And that’s the key. Art is a emotional media. It tell its story indirectly. It seduce. It is not logical like an essay. It allows for ambiguity and tell much by implication. This is why girls love art and novel, it allows them to engage their imagination and their skill in reading between the lines. The story or art must stand on its legs alone. It must be a compelling story or image first. The characters should be easy for reader or viewers to invest themselves in to make it worth their hours of time. When picking the text or subtext, always go with the story first. If politics get in the way, cut it out. The subtext will find its way into it because politics is ultimately about the artist’s attitude toward life.
I miss the ol' vaporwave days. I think it kind of lost its power when it became "sincerely nostalgic" - the ghosts of pre-9/11 America it was alluding to were still very much in the air during its heyday, but now have mainly dissipating, making vaporwave itself a ghost (as opposed to merely alluding to them). When I first heard Floral Shoppe, it felt like something "almost graspable". I felt like there was something being referenced yet I couldn't place my hand at the time whether it was mockery or pastiche.
Nowadays if I put on Floral Shoppe, I just get sincerely nostalgic for 2011. Nothing about the music changed but the ethos changed.
I'm ambivalent on the fashwave thing. I get the explanation that it beat people over the head with something that would've seeped anyway had the right been a bit more patient (and as a result, it got ditched), but I still unironically enjoyed a lot of it and felt it moved the Overton window a hair in our favor. Had it not happened, I don't think much would've changed, though.
This is a really interesting perspective. I suppose certain things are in time loops, you’re nostalgic for something, and then nostalgic for the nostalgia.
Strangely, I didn’t really get into the scene until it had faded from its heights in the 2010s. As I say, I was exposed to it through Dissident Right content, that made these ideas more attractive as I associated them with ‘Reactionary Modernism.’
I find it funny how Little Dark Age is also an inverted to its writer's intent. Bemoaning reality in comparison to the past is explicitly anti-enlightenment, for it implies progress can go wrong, and that society can matter more than the individual.
New thought. The enlightenment produced a dim rainbow in place of the sun.
I’ve dug vaporwave going back to about 2005 or so. Interesting to me is that most of the creators at the time (and the best of them) were Japanese. I wonder what it was in that society that created that interest to start utilizing 80s American culture.
My husband was really into vaporwave. The appeal was something he described as remembering something pleasant he never actually experienced but wanted to.
You and Walter have a point about the right being a little light in the loafers when it comes to crafting effective metapolitics. We are at times humorless and take ourselves too seriously. It often feels like the left has the appeal of a candy bar and we're the adults in the room. To quote a fren, we're being assailed at every angle by an evil concrete borg. So I understand our lack of pep.
I personally think it's actually a Berg, (or Stein, Witz, ect., you get the idea.) Packaging that into a non-alienating, digestible message is challenging. Humor and art are tools in our modern crusade. 'Democracy' and palatable mass media happens now with clicks of a mouse or at barrels of guns, sobering but true.
Your husband has good taste. This is exactly how the music feels to me as well. The line ‘homesick for a place I’m not sure even exists’ sums it up perfectly.
I think characters like Apu the Frog are comedic genius personally, because he has the cuteness and fun factor that the Right often lacks, whilst also having a relatability to him. Apu sort of has this comedic ‘we’re living in clown world but we have each other’ that is very effective. I posted the Littke Dark Age video because to me that is the epitome of great right-wing meme content.
Taking the Apu zeitgeist a step further, I also believe there is a subtle implication that a lone frog is sad but gather enough together and they'll fuck up pharaoh. We need our frens, wildly varied though they may be. Let the rains come as we're waiting for the storm, the kraken, whatever Jewish political shenanigans are down the road. The autistic characteristics and neoteny of Apu are being directly influenced by chemicals turning the fricking frogs gay, but we can address those issues later. For now the frogs can peaceably assemble to discuss all these things and that's a start.
I feel almost destined at this point to be part of a cultural and economic movement that funds are political side. It's there, on the cusp of being brought about and yet I just lack the manpower and the skills that it comes with to channel them into positive movement for us.
I know I can create a company that appeals to people beyond those of us already in this movement and its great to see others who are aware of how pragmatic we ought to be. Showing compassion to others instead instead of immediately purity spiraling will bring more to our cause.
I've also long thought we ought to establish a presence in sports like HEMA as well. The aesthetics are obviously right-leaning we just need to seize at the chance, which appears to be the main problem with our movement. So great a critique and yet when the time comes to act we stumble and falter.
Excellent piece. I still enjoy a cheeky listen to certain 'wave' artists like Xurious by virtue of the songs alone. One of the few examples of great heavily right-coded works that actually has subtlety would be 1977's Eumeswil by Ernst Junger. I imagine he is far too reactionary and anti-futurism to be looked upon fondly by this substack however.
On a subject somewhat related to this: I've decided to start reading my way through the fiction works that have come out of the Dissident Right alt-publishing scene. I'm considering starting a blog on here where I review them as I go. I'm curious to see whether this scene, which is always mocking the mainstream conservatives, is any better than them at making art. If you're interested, I'll let you know when my first post is out.
I agree that swasticas are a political dead end, but fashwave was intended for desktop backgrounds, not as outward facing propaganda. I can't agree that 'right-coded' propaganda is better than explicit rightwing ideas. One cannot win a battle that he runs from.
Yeah I do agree with that. I think there's different 'levels' of explicit vs implicit.
The Helper Hyperborea video was political but subtle enough. The examples of effective metapolitics also did address directly political themes and values.
I think you need a balance. 'Art' is not supposed to just be political, but when there is political messaging it needs to be more subtle than what right-wingers tend to be.
I agree, but I think that it depends on the medium too. Nonfiction writers should aim for clarity over subtlety. Films, paintings and novels require more tact, though extremely talented writers can be more direct; George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh come to mind.
Even liberals enjoy Waugh, because he is so funny. (Hilariously, the immorality in his books offended his priest after he converted to Catholicism, while his largely liberal readers took his racism in stride.)
You already have more readers than I, so your views on building audiences are likely worth more than mine.
Nah I wouldn’t say that. I think it was mostly a product of luck.
But I do know that gaining a platform gives me a responsibility to represent people who are ideological fellow-travellers who don’t have that same platform.
I totally agree that the right wing and conservatives specifically cannot make good art (yet). But once everyone so often I think imma enjoy an Uncle H Hawaii shirt vaporwave edit. As a treat!
Great insights here, I'm inclined to agree with the off-putting nature of overt messaging. Lord of the Rings continues to be such a Cultural Powerhouse of Roman Catholic Teachings specifically because it's not in your face about being Catholic Art telling a Catholic Story teaching Catholic Lessons, and yet it is still extremely Catholic when one steps back and evaluates it at a 30K ft view. I would argue that the Lord of The Rings is Right Wing Art at its finest
I’m an artist my whole life. While reading your essay, I thought immediately of a once-famous painting, “The Raft of the Medusa” by Géricault. A naval shipwreck that resulted in cannibalism as a result of deep-set corruption in the French government, it was VERY political and newsworthy. So the artist went to create it without a commission. At the first showing which caused huge stir, the subtext was clearly political. But, because he didn’t sacrifice the quality of art for politics, his painting still have legs today while those that were explicitly political become dated as the newspaper wrapping a fish dinner.
And that’s the key. Art is a emotional media. It tell its story indirectly. It seduce. It is not logical like an essay. It allows for ambiguity and tell much by implication. This is why girls love art and novel, it allows them to engage their imagination and their skill in reading between the lines. The story or art must stand on its legs alone. It must be a compelling story or image first. The characters should be easy for reader or viewers to invest themselves in to make it worth their hours of time. When picking the text or subtext, always go with the story first. If politics get in the way, cut it out. The subtext will find its way into it because politics is ultimately about the artist’s attitude toward life.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raft_of_the_Medusa
Thanks for this long and thoughtful response. I completely agree with everything you say.
I miss the ol' vaporwave days. I think it kind of lost its power when it became "sincerely nostalgic" - the ghosts of pre-9/11 America it was alluding to were still very much in the air during its heyday, but now have mainly dissipating, making vaporwave itself a ghost (as opposed to merely alluding to them). When I first heard Floral Shoppe, it felt like something "almost graspable". I felt like there was something being referenced yet I couldn't place my hand at the time whether it was mockery or pastiche.
Nowadays if I put on Floral Shoppe, I just get sincerely nostalgic for 2011. Nothing about the music changed but the ethos changed.
I'm ambivalent on the fashwave thing. I get the explanation that it beat people over the head with something that would've seeped anyway had the right been a bit more patient (and as a result, it got ditched), but I still unironically enjoyed a lot of it and felt it moved the Overton window a hair in our favor. Had it not happened, I don't think much would've changed, though.
This is a really interesting perspective. I suppose certain things are in time loops, you’re nostalgic for something, and then nostalgic for the nostalgia.
Strangely, I didn’t really get into the scene until it had faded from its heights in the 2010s. As I say, I was exposed to it through Dissident Right content, that made these ideas more attractive as I associated them with ‘Reactionary Modernism.’
Good article good points.
I find it funny how Little Dark Age is also an inverted to its writer's intent. Bemoaning reality in comparison to the past is explicitly anti-enlightenment, for it implies progress can go wrong, and that society can matter more than the individual.
New thought. The enlightenment produced a dim rainbow in place of the sun.
Didn’t know about the history of the song, just googled it. Thanks for telling me.
I’ve dug vaporwave going back to about 2005 or so. Interesting to me is that most of the creators at the time (and the best of them) were Japanese. I wonder what it was in that society that created that interest to start utilizing 80s American culture.
My husband was really into vaporwave. The appeal was something he described as remembering something pleasant he never actually experienced but wanted to.
You and Walter have a point about the right being a little light in the loafers when it comes to crafting effective metapolitics. We are at times humorless and take ourselves too seriously. It often feels like the left has the appeal of a candy bar and we're the adults in the room. To quote a fren, we're being assailed at every angle by an evil concrete borg. So I understand our lack of pep.
I personally think it's actually a Berg, (or Stein, Witz, ect., you get the idea.) Packaging that into a non-alienating, digestible message is challenging. Humor and art are tools in our modern crusade. 'Democracy' and palatable mass media happens now with clicks of a mouse or at barrels of guns, sobering but true.
Your husband has good taste. This is exactly how the music feels to me as well. The line ‘homesick for a place I’m not sure even exists’ sums it up perfectly.
I think characters like Apu the Frog are comedic genius personally, because he has the cuteness and fun factor that the Right often lacks, whilst also having a relatability to him. Apu sort of has this comedic ‘we’re living in clown world but we have each other’ that is very effective. I posted the Littke Dark Age video because to me that is the epitome of great right-wing meme content.
Taking the Apu zeitgeist a step further, I also believe there is a subtle implication that a lone frog is sad but gather enough together and they'll fuck up pharaoh. We need our frens, wildly varied though they may be. Let the rains come as we're waiting for the storm, the kraken, whatever Jewish political shenanigans are down the road. The autistic characteristics and neoteny of Apu are being directly influenced by chemicals turning the fricking frogs gay, but we can address those issues later. For now the frogs can peaceably assemble to discuss all these things and that's a start.
We'll kill the pharaoh yet.
I feel almost destined at this point to be part of a cultural and economic movement that funds are political side. It's there, on the cusp of being brought about and yet I just lack the manpower and the skills that it comes with to channel them into positive movement for us.
I know I can create a company that appeals to people beyond those of us already in this movement and its great to see others who are aware of how pragmatic we ought to be. Showing compassion to others instead instead of immediately purity spiraling will bring more to our cause.
I've also long thought we ought to establish a presence in sports like HEMA as well. The aesthetics are obviously right-leaning we just need to seize at the chance, which appears to be the main problem with our movement. So great a critique and yet when the time comes to act we stumble and falter.
Excellent piece. I still enjoy a cheeky listen to certain 'wave' artists like Xurious by virtue of the songs alone. One of the few examples of great heavily right-coded works that actually has subtlety would be 1977's Eumeswil by Ernst Junger. I imagine he is far too reactionary and anti-futurism to be looked upon fondly by this substack however.
On a subject somewhat related to this: I've decided to start reading my way through the fiction works that have come out of the Dissident Right alt-publishing scene. I'm considering starting a blog on here where I review them as I go. I'm curious to see whether this scene, which is always mocking the mainstream conservatives, is any better than them at making art. If you're interested, I'll let you know when my first post is out.
I agree that swasticas are a political dead end, but fashwave was intended for desktop backgrounds, not as outward facing propaganda. I can't agree that 'right-coded' propaganda is better than explicit rightwing ideas. One cannot win a battle that he runs from.
Yeah I do agree with that. I think there's different 'levels' of explicit vs implicit.
The Helper Hyperborea video was political but subtle enough. The examples of effective metapolitics also did address directly political themes and values.
I think you need a balance. 'Art' is not supposed to just be political, but when there is political messaging it needs to be more subtle than what right-wingers tend to be.
I agree, but I think that it depends on the medium too. Nonfiction writers should aim for clarity over subtlety. Films, paintings and novels require more tact, though extremely talented writers can be more direct; George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh come to mind.
Yeah, I do get you.
But I think a challenge is; how do you get across messages to people who aren't already convinced? Will they even give your work a look?
Memes are good at this, but they can often be extremely crass.
Even liberals enjoy Waugh, because he is so funny. (Hilariously, the immorality in his books offended his priest after he converted to Catholicism, while his largely liberal readers took his racism in stride.)
You already have more readers than I, so your views on building audiences are likely worth more than mine.
Nah I wouldn’t say that. I think it was mostly a product of luck.
But I do know that gaining a platform gives me a responsibility to represent people who are ideological fellow-travellers who don’t have that same platform.
I totally agree that the right wing and conservatives specifically cannot make good art (yet). But once everyone so often I think imma enjoy an Uncle H Hawaii shirt vaporwave edit. As a treat!
‘Uncle H’.
Lol.