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A lot of this results from an underlying consumerism, I think. The notion that you can buy anything, whether that be coolness, meaning, social standing, or arti

A lot of this results from an underlying consumerism, I think. The notion that you can buy anything, whether that be coolness, meaning, social standing, or artistic skill. You can be anything you want, and you only need to buy something to get there. Hence the hipster concept, which is fundamentally about representation and not being. The life that Kerouac lived, for example, would make most contemporary upper-middle-class hipsters shudder in horror. I recommend an old anthology for similar stories to this one called On Bohemia: The Code of the Self-Exiled.

lotsofpulp 6y ago
I think it’s more an inevitable consequence of technology and efficiency gains. As more information is easily available, there are fewer arbitrage opportunities. For example, the reader that asked the article’s author: >A reader reached out to me with a query. He and his wife and three daughters are in search of “a slower, more nature and community bound life, but without leaving behind people who read books, et cetera. I'm forever looking for where Henry Miller's Big Sur is today, or Provincetown, or even the Upper West Side of 1960, or the San Francisco of the early 90s. We have some money, but we don't want to be around people who are money driven.” Everyone else is looking for that too. And since it’s easier to find those places (or was) they get bid up as all things do with lots of demand and relatively low supply.
- keiferski 6y ago
  I don’t think that’s the case at all. None of those places were actually difficult or expensive to make and could easily be replicated today. The difference is that today, there is an army of hipsters with disposable income ready to buy their way into the ‘cool’ subculture. The rich kids of 1980 weren’t eager to live in an abandoned warehouse, whereas today they’ll gladly do so - provided that it’s remodeled into a comfortable condo.
  - TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
    It's theme park Bohemianism. Real Bohemianism means hanging out with drug dealers, prostitutes, pimps, alcoholics and junkies, people with mental health issues, gallery owners, critics, and other undesirables. Some of them may happen to make art. But if you want "safe" - a bit of culture but not too much - Bohemia is not for you.
- konjin 6y ago
  >Everyone else is looking for that too. And since it’s easier to find those places (or was) they get bid up as all things do with lots of demand and relatively low supply. These people want the benefits of insanity with none of the drawbacks. If they were to meet any of the great artists they think were great they would try and cancel them for being *ist. This is first hand experience, I ran an artists commune after I dropped out from my phd for about a year.

lotsofpulp 6y ago

I think it’s more an inevitable consequence of technology and efficiency gains. As more information is easily available, there are fewer arbitrage opportunities. For example, the reader that asked the article’s author: >A reader reached out to me with a query. He and his wife and three daughters are in search of “a slower, more nature and community bound life, but without leaving behind people who read books, et cetera. I'm forever looking for where Henry Miller's Big Sur is today, or Provincetown, or even the Upper West Side of 1960, or the San Francisco of the early 90s. We have some money, but we don't want to be around people who are money driven.” Everyone else is looking for that too. And since it’s easier to find those places (or was) they get bid up as all things do with lots of demand and relatively low supply.

keiferski 6y ago
I don’t think that’s the case at all. None of those places were actually difficult or expensive to make and could easily be replicated today. The difference is that today, there is an army of hipsters with disposable income ready to buy their way into the ‘cool’ subculture. The rich kids of 1980 weren’t eager to live in an abandoned warehouse, whereas today they’ll gladly do so - provided that it’s remodeled into a comfortable condo.
- TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
  It's theme park Bohemianism. Real Bohemianism means hanging out with drug dealers, prostitutes, pimps, alcoholics and junkies, people with mental health issues, gallery owners, critics, and other undesirables. Some of them may happen to make art. But if you want "safe" - a bit of culture but not too much - Bohemia is not for you.
konjin 6y ago
>Everyone else is looking for that too. And since it’s easier to find those places (or was) they get bid up as all things do with lots of demand and relatively low supply. These people want the benefits of insanity with none of the drawbacks. If they were to meet any of the great artists they think were great they would try and cancel them for being *ist. This is first hand experience, I ran an artists commune after I dropped out from my phd for about a year.