"Cultural Circut"
morocka
Posts: 26
I would not call this art, but its a paper I did in college on the "Evolution" video.
Basically we had to pick a cultural artifact and show how it related to the five process of the "Cultural Circut"
Confused Yet? Well, read on......
***this is an abridged version the original was to long****
Jeff B.
Sociology 370
Dr. Williams
Fall 2002
Evolution and the Circuit of Culture
Over the last twenty years no other medium has had such an impact on the music industry then the music video. With the advent of MTV music television in 1981 video finally had a place to call home. Since then many other networks have sprung up, VH1, CMT, and Much Music are a few, to help foster the video revolution. This gave artists a new connection to their fans as well as another creative outlet to express themselves. It also added to the overall aesthetic of the rock spectacle. Like anything that is considered a cultural artifact, music videos are conceived and understood through the circuit of culture (du Gay et. al.). The video that I have chosen for this analysis is the Peal Jam music video for the song “Do the Evolution”. In this paper I will attempt to show how the “Do the Evolution” video relates and articulates with the circuit of culture.
The circuit of culture reasons that: rather than one single phenomenon, there are five processes, that together provide an explanation of meaning for a cultural artifact. The five major processes of production, consumption, representation, identity, and regulation, form the circuit, through which I will try to derive a more complete meaning from this video.
I will start with the process of production.
The song “Do the Evolution” is from Pearl Jam’s 1998 album Yield, and was never formally released as a single. The accompanying video first aired in the US on MTV’s 120 Minutes on August 23, 1998 (Peal Jam: Synergy). Pearl Jam has only made five videos in their eleven-year history. Four of the five were from their first album Ten released in 1992, “Alive”, “Even Flow”, “Jeremy”, and “Oceans”, the later of which was never released. The final Pearl Jam video made up to this point has been “Do the Evolution” some five years and four albums later.(Representation). The “Oceans” and “Evolution” videos were later included on the Touring band 2000 DVD.(Consumption). The video was fully animated by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, and the band did not appear in the video.(Representation, Identity).
McFarelane also directed “Do the Evolution” along side Kevin Altieri. TME, or Todd McFarelane Entertainment produced the video. His efforts were supported by a Grammy nomination for Best short form music video. McFarelane was the creator of the hugely popular Spawn comic book which later spun off into an HBO animated series and live action movie. McFarlane was tapped to do cover art for Korn’s 1999 album Follow the Leader and also did animation for the albums second single and video Freak on a Leash, which won a Grammy and two MTV video awards.
The second process in the Circuit of culture model is the representation process. “Do the Evolution” is a song that explores the concept of evolution. The themes in the video elaborate more upon the themes of the song. Many images focus on the fact that evolution is not just a progression that has occurred in nature, but it has also been used as a social and moral justification within human society in the form of Social Darwinism. This video shows that Social Darwinism has manifested itself in many different ways throughout human history. It was in its original form Aristocracy and lived on through the years to become Imperialism and the bourgeois exploitation of the working class. Much of the time this is fueled by the self-perpetuation of the military industrial complex and the effects of new technologies in the hands of free citizens.
“Do the Evolution” starts with a series of events that signify the evolutionary chain as we know it. The big bang, planets form, a comet hits earth and starts evolutionary cycle, single celled organisms form in the water, crustations, fish eats crustation, shark eats fish, dinosaur eats shark, comet hits earth. Flash to monkey, bigger ape kills monkey, Neanderthal with biggest stick kills ape, cave men with more advanced weapons (sling shots) kill Neanderthal, then a modern looking young women flashes on the screen. This is where the natural aspect of evolution leaves off and the Human distortion and justification of the concept begin with multiple reoccurring images.
The first recurrent theme is the image of the young woman. The first time we see her is briefly, almost subliminally during the opening explosion of the video. The second appearance is when the evolutionary cycle has supposedly been completed. She is a slightly Goth looking, techno-punk woman. She has her hand over her eyes and gives us a “peek-a-boo” and then smiles. The next time we see her she blows a kiss to the audience. Then we see her after a series of war scenes wearing an army helmet and giving an “Uncle Sam wants you” gesture then points and shoots at the audience with her finger. The next time we see her she is dancing on the screen during the song’s instrumental breakdown while her face oscillates between flesh and skull. Then we see her kissing an ape scull. Then she is shown screaming into the flashing screen before the guitar solo. The next time we see her it is again subliminal during a series of flashing scenes towards the end of the video where she is standing in the trenches during a war smiling and shrugging her shoulders. Finally, as the video ends the earth is engulfed in an explosion and her face encompasses the screen while her eyes glow with fire. Because of these images it leads me to believe that the woman represents Mother Nature and her indifference to the human condition. She could also represent the ideology of the evolutionary process or Humanity itself.
The second theme is the perpetuation of Social Darwinism throughout history. The first time we see this theme it is shown as Roman soldiers whipping slaves/ workers as they pull large stones. Overseeing the process is a Cesar looking figure with his son standing stern and proud. This emphasizes the line from the song “admire me, admire my home, admire my son, he’s my clone”. The scene then flashes to a field filled with crucified people. The next time we see this theme it is virtually the same scene transposed into an industrialized factory where workers are making weapons on an assembly line. Overlooking the toxic landscape is the factory owner standing with his son. This theme is also visited when we see a slave owner whipping an African American slave. Another instance of this theme is when we see a person at a computer inside a cubicle. The computer attacks the person, making him a zombiefied servant. The screen then pans up to show an infinite number of cubicles. This emphasizes the idea the panopticon society where we never know who exactly is manipulating our perceptions and our move toward an automated society. The last time we see this theme is in a futuristic setting where scientist are overseeing the “production” of babies as they are rolled out on an assembly line and stamped with bar codes on their foreheads. This shows the idea of Social Darwinism taken to the extreme. Like in a scene form a “Brave New World.”
Another recurrent theme is the idea that we ultimately exercise the idea of Social Darwinism through war and that it will eventually lead to our self-destruction by the perpetuation of the military industrial complex. This is first shown by flashing an image of a medieval knight. Then we see what appears to be WWII as tanks roll through open fields. Nazi-like soldiers march across the screen, people throw books into a fire, and people are herded into death camps. The second time this theme is emphasized we see scenes of WWI where soldiers fire gantline guns, and mortars, wear gas mask, and fight trench warfare. The next time we see a fighter jet bombing villages and a baby crying in what seems to be Viet Nam. In the next scene the pilot of the jet fighter removes his mask to reveal only a skeleton face laughing. The last time we see this theme is at the end of the video when zombified people marked with bar codes watch as a plane drops hundreds of bombs on a metropolis an quickly engulfs the city in an explosion the only noticeable rubble is the Statue of Liberty rising through the explosion. This is when the woman’s face encompasses the screen.
The last recurrent theme is the theme of the crosses throughout the video. We see the first cross on the knights’ helmet. Then the scene segues into the KKK watching a cross burn. The third instance is the roman crucifixions. This scene segues into a man selling crucifixes on the street for five dollars. The next instance of the cross is when a missionary is holding up a cross behind a Native American who is quickly ravaged by disease. The last time we see the cross is on the popes hat when we hear the line “I’m a thief, I’m a liar, here’s my church, I sing in the choir”. These scenes depict the contradictions and bigotry that accompany the idea of the “white man’s burden”.
The video as a whole represents Peal Jams' social consciousness and their unwillingness to conform to current industry standards. By not appearing in the video they are still staying withdrawn from the frivolousness of video culture and rebelling against the artificial aesthetics of the industry.
The third aspect of the cultural circuit is the process of identity. This process is closely related to representation except that it comes from the audience’s perspective rather then the people directly involved. The biggest element of identity for the audience lies in Pearl Jams’ lack of presence in the public eye over the years. This is signified by their vow to stop making videos after their first album. That very fact that they made this video was suspect in some fans minds. Pearl Jams’ distain of making videos reflects the bands concern with many public issues. They have taken a stand against the supposed Ticketmaster monopoly and refused to use the vendor during the early nineties.(Consumption). This further hampered their public presence because of lack of venues and alternative vendors. They also supported Ralph Naders’ 2000 presidential campaign, and have spoke out on many other issues such as the right to choose, and lead singer Eddie Vedder’s current Mohawk worn in opposition to the ongoing massacre of people overseas.(Representation). Many fans, or “jammers”, feel that it is in their nature and best interest to stay informed of that public conscious and of public affairs. This awareness is one aspect of what draws fans to the band. Because of this fans can read “Do the Evolution” more easily then by others who may just see the video as violent and grotesque. This video expresses many views that are held within the “jammer” community.
Todd McFarlane’s involvement also lends to the identity of the video. McFarlane and colleagues in the comics industry are considered somewhat revolutionaries in their own right. After finding success at Marvel Comics and setting new sales records with his own monthly series (Spiderman), Todd became frustrated with the lack of creative control that the large comic companies imposed upon its artist. Todd soon began to lay plans for his own publishing company. According to Spawn.com, in May 1992, McFarlane along with several other Marvel hotshots including Jim Lee (X-Men), Rob Liefield (X-Factor), Mark Silvestri, Jim Valentino, Eric Larson, and Whilce Portacio left Marvel Comics to form their own independent company called Image Comics. Each artist would now have total creative and financial control over the characters that they created and published. Each artist developed their own separate publishing company that was housed and distributed under the Image Comics moniker. McFarlane has had the greatest success thus far. Since then McFarlane's enterprises have grown into three separate companies, Todd McFarlane Productions, McFarlane Toys, and Todd McFarlane Entertainment. McFarlane being such a high profile independent entrepreneur was surely taken into consideration by the band. This is another reflection of Pearl Jam’s resistance to conform to the conventional media standards. (Representation)
The next process that I will explore is the process of consumption. To show their appreciation for their fans Peal Jam released seventy-two, live double-disc “bootleg” recordings of their 2000 world tour. (Identity) This included every performance of the tour except for the Roskilde Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark where nine people were trampled to death. The DVD, Touring Band 2000 compiled the North American leg of the tour, montages of the European tour, videos of “Oceans” and “Do the Evolution”, and several other bonus items. Pearl Jam broke billboard records by placing “five records in the Billboard 200 simultaneously” (Rolling Stone.com), with the release of the European bootlegs.
While the market for audio recordings has been a lucrative business for many years, the business of music videos has been quite different. Music videos have never had the market that audio has had. Nor are they subject to as much critique or review as other media, much less so then movies, television, or records. One reason is that videos have been seen as only supplemental to the actual recording its self. Another reason is that ever sense the advent of MTV videos have been show for free and were mainly a marketing tool to push the recording. In light of this, the very network that fostered the video revolution is now gravely devoid of videos themselves. Finally, videos are now most often offered as part of DVD collections that usually also include live performances or documentaries about the bands, such as Touring Band 2000.
The last process that I will focus on is the process of regulation. The version from the TB2K collection is the same version that is shown on MTV and other stations. This video was made before the new TV ratings were implemented, but this video would fall into either the teen or mature audiences category. The Yield album was not issued with a parental advisory sticker.
With this paper I hope to have shown how all areas of the Circuit of Culture relate to the Pearl Jam video “Do the Evolution”. There were many different components that went in to making the video and the events that led up to its marketing and consumption. All these factors influenced how the audience received the artist’s representation of the video. Through this process I hope to have created a better understanding to what this video is and its meaning as a cultural artifact.
Basically we had to pick a cultural artifact and show how it related to the five process of the "Cultural Circut"
Confused Yet? Well, read on......
***this is an abridged version the original was to long****
Jeff B.
Sociology 370
Dr. Williams
Fall 2002
Evolution and the Circuit of Culture
Over the last twenty years no other medium has had such an impact on the music industry then the music video. With the advent of MTV music television in 1981 video finally had a place to call home. Since then many other networks have sprung up, VH1, CMT, and Much Music are a few, to help foster the video revolution. This gave artists a new connection to their fans as well as another creative outlet to express themselves. It also added to the overall aesthetic of the rock spectacle. Like anything that is considered a cultural artifact, music videos are conceived and understood through the circuit of culture (du Gay et. al.). The video that I have chosen for this analysis is the Peal Jam music video for the song “Do the Evolution”. In this paper I will attempt to show how the “Do the Evolution” video relates and articulates with the circuit of culture.
The circuit of culture reasons that: rather than one single phenomenon, there are five processes, that together provide an explanation of meaning for a cultural artifact. The five major processes of production, consumption, representation, identity, and regulation, form the circuit, through which I will try to derive a more complete meaning from this video.
I will start with the process of production.
The song “Do the Evolution” is from Pearl Jam’s 1998 album Yield, and was never formally released as a single. The accompanying video first aired in the US on MTV’s 120 Minutes on August 23, 1998 (Peal Jam: Synergy). Pearl Jam has only made five videos in their eleven-year history. Four of the five were from their first album Ten released in 1992, “Alive”, “Even Flow”, “Jeremy”, and “Oceans”, the later of which was never released. The final Pearl Jam video made up to this point has been “Do the Evolution” some five years and four albums later.(Representation). The “Oceans” and “Evolution” videos were later included on the Touring band 2000 DVD.(Consumption). The video was fully animated by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, and the band did not appear in the video.(Representation, Identity).
McFarelane also directed “Do the Evolution” along side Kevin Altieri. TME, or Todd McFarelane Entertainment produced the video. His efforts were supported by a Grammy nomination for Best short form music video. McFarelane was the creator of the hugely popular Spawn comic book which later spun off into an HBO animated series and live action movie. McFarlane was tapped to do cover art for Korn’s 1999 album Follow the Leader and also did animation for the albums second single and video Freak on a Leash, which won a Grammy and two MTV video awards.
The second process in the Circuit of culture model is the representation process. “Do the Evolution” is a song that explores the concept of evolution. The themes in the video elaborate more upon the themes of the song. Many images focus on the fact that evolution is not just a progression that has occurred in nature, but it has also been used as a social and moral justification within human society in the form of Social Darwinism. This video shows that Social Darwinism has manifested itself in many different ways throughout human history. It was in its original form Aristocracy and lived on through the years to become Imperialism and the bourgeois exploitation of the working class. Much of the time this is fueled by the self-perpetuation of the military industrial complex and the effects of new technologies in the hands of free citizens.
“Do the Evolution” starts with a series of events that signify the evolutionary chain as we know it. The big bang, planets form, a comet hits earth and starts evolutionary cycle, single celled organisms form in the water, crustations, fish eats crustation, shark eats fish, dinosaur eats shark, comet hits earth. Flash to monkey, bigger ape kills monkey, Neanderthal with biggest stick kills ape, cave men with more advanced weapons (sling shots) kill Neanderthal, then a modern looking young women flashes on the screen. This is where the natural aspect of evolution leaves off and the Human distortion and justification of the concept begin with multiple reoccurring images.
The first recurrent theme is the image of the young woman. The first time we see her is briefly, almost subliminally during the opening explosion of the video. The second appearance is when the evolutionary cycle has supposedly been completed. She is a slightly Goth looking, techno-punk woman. She has her hand over her eyes and gives us a “peek-a-boo” and then smiles. The next time we see her she blows a kiss to the audience. Then we see her after a series of war scenes wearing an army helmet and giving an “Uncle Sam wants you” gesture then points and shoots at the audience with her finger. The next time we see her she is dancing on the screen during the song’s instrumental breakdown while her face oscillates between flesh and skull. Then we see her kissing an ape scull. Then she is shown screaming into the flashing screen before the guitar solo. The next time we see her it is again subliminal during a series of flashing scenes towards the end of the video where she is standing in the trenches during a war smiling and shrugging her shoulders. Finally, as the video ends the earth is engulfed in an explosion and her face encompasses the screen while her eyes glow with fire. Because of these images it leads me to believe that the woman represents Mother Nature and her indifference to the human condition. She could also represent the ideology of the evolutionary process or Humanity itself.
The second theme is the perpetuation of Social Darwinism throughout history. The first time we see this theme it is shown as Roman soldiers whipping slaves/ workers as they pull large stones. Overseeing the process is a Cesar looking figure with his son standing stern and proud. This emphasizes the line from the song “admire me, admire my home, admire my son, he’s my clone”. The scene then flashes to a field filled with crucified people. The next time we see this theme it is virtually the same scene transposed into an industrialized factory where workers are making weapons on an assembly line. Overlooking the toxic landscape is the factory owner standing with his son. This theme is also visited when we see a slave owner whipping an African American slave. Another instance of this theme is when we see a person at a computer inside a cubicle. The computer attacks the person, making him a zombiefied servant. The screen then pans up to show an infinite number of cubicles. This emphasizes the idea the panopticon society where we never know who exactly is manipulating our perceptions and our move toward an automated society. The last time we see this theme is in a futuristic setting where scientist are overseeing the “production” of babies as they are rolled out on an assembly line and stamped with bar codes on their foreheads. This shows the idea of Social Darwinism taken to the extreme. Like in a scene form a “Brave New World.”
Another recurrent theme is the idea that we ultimately exercise the idea of Social Darwinism through war and that it will eventually lead to our self-destruction by the perpetuation of the military industrial complex. This is first shown by flashing an image of a medieval knight. Then we see what appears to be WWII as tanks roll through open fields. Nazi-like soldiers march across the screen, people throw books into a fire, and people are herded into death camps. The second time this theme is emphasized we see scenes of WWI where soldiers fire gantline guns, and mortars, wear gas mask, and fight trench warfare. The next time we see a fighter jet bombing villages and a baby crying in what seems to be Viet Nam. In the next scene the pilot of the jet fighter removes his mask to reveal only a skeleton face laughing. The last time we see this theme is at the end of the video when zombified people marked with bar codes watch as a plane drops hundreds of bombs on a metropolis an quickly engulfs the city in an explosion the only noticeable rubble is the Statue of Liberty rising through the explosion. This is when the woman’s face encompasses the screen.
The last recurrent theme is the theme of the crosses throughout the video. We see the first cross on the knights’ helmet. Then the scene segues into the KKK watching a cross burn. The third instance is the roman crucifixions. This scene segues into a man selling crucifixes on the street for five dollars. The next instance of the cross is when a missionary is holding up a cross behind a Native American who is quickly ravaged by disease. The last time we see the cross is on the popes hat when we hear the line “I’m a thief, I’m a liar, here’s my church, I sing in the choir”. These scenes depict the contradictions and bigotry that accompany the idea of the “white man’s burden”.
The video as a whole represents Peal Jams' social consciousness and their unwillingness to conform to current industry standards. By not appearing in the video they are still staying withdrawn from the frivolousness of video culture and rebelling against the artificial aesthetics of the industry.
The third aspect of the cultural circuit is the process of identity. This process is closely related to representation except that it comes from the audience’s perspective rather then the people directly involved. The biggest element of identity for the audience lies in Pearl Jams’ lack of presence in the public eye over the years. This is signified by their vow to stop making videos after their first album. That very fact that they made this video was suspect in some fans minds. Pearl Jams’ distain of making videos reflects the bands concern with many public issues. They have taken a stand against the supposed Ticketmaster monopoly and refused to use the vendor during the early nineties.(Consumption). This further hampered their public presence because of lack of venues and alternative vendors. They also supported Ralph Naders’ 2000 presidential campaign, and have spoke out on many other issues such as the right to choose, and lead singer Eddie Vedder’s current Mohawk worn in opposition to the ongoing massacre of people overseas.(Representation). Many fans, or “jammers”, feel that it is in their nature and best interest to stay informed of that public conscious and of public affairs. This awareness is one aspect of what draws fans to the band. Because of this fans can read “Do the Evolution” more easily then by others who may just see the video as violent and grotesque. This video expresses many views that are held within the “jammer” community.
Todd McFarlane’s involvement also lends to the identity of the video. McFarlane and colleagues in the comics industry are considered somewhat revolutionaries in their own right. After finding success at Marvel Comics and setting new sales records with his own monthly series (Spiderman), Todd became frustrated with the lack of creative control that the large comic companies imposed upon its artist. Todd soon began to lay plans for his own publishing company. According to Spawn.com, in May 1992, McFarlane along with several other Marvel hotshots including Jim Lee (X-Men), Rob Liefield (X-Factor), Mark Silvestri, Jim Valentino, Eric Larson, and Whilce Portacio left Marvel Comics to form their own independent company called Image Comics. Each artist would now have total creative and financial control over the characters that they created and published. Each artist developed their own separate publishing company that was housed and distributed under the Image Comics moniker. McFarlane has had the greatest success thus far. Since then McFarlane's enterprises have grown into three separate companies, Todd McFarlane Productions, McFarlane Toys, and Todd McFarlane Entertainment. McFarlane being such a high profile independent entrepreneur was surely taken into consideration by the band. This is another reflection of Pearl Jam’s resistance to conform to the conventional media standards. (Representation)
The next process that I will explore is the process of consumption. To show their appreciation for their fans Peal Jam released seventy-two, live double-disc “bootleg” recordings of their 2000 world tour. (Identity) This included every performance of the tour except for the Roskilde Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark where nine people were trampled to death. The DVD, Touring Band 2000 compiled the North American leg of the tour, montages of the European tour, videos of “Oceans” and “Do the Evolution”, and several other bonus items. Pearl Jam broke billboard records by placing “five records in the Billboard 200 simultaneously” (Rolling Stone.com), with the release of the European bootlegs.
While the market for audio recordings has been a lucrative business for many years, the business of music videos has been quite different. Music videos have never had the market that audio has had. Nor are they subject to as much critique or review as other media, much less so then movies, television, or records. One reason is that videos have been seen as only supplemental to the actual recording its self. Another reason is that ever sense the advent of MTV videos have been show for free and were mainly a marketing tool to push the recording. In light of this, the very network that fostered the video revolution is now gravely devoid of videos themselves. Finally, videos are now most often offered as part of DVD collections that usually also include live performances or documentaries about the bands, such as Touring Band 2000.
The last process that I will focus on is the process of regulation. The version from the TB2K collection is the same version that is shown on MTV and other stations. This video was made before the new TV ratings were implemented, but this video would fall into either the teen or mature audiences category. The Yield album was not issued with a parental advisory sticker.
With this paper I hope to have shown how all areas of the Circuit of Culture relate to the Pearl Jam video “Do the Evolution”. There were many different components that went in to making the video and the events that led up to its marketing and consumption. All these factors influenced how the audience received the artist’s representation of the video. Through this process I hope to have created a better understanding to what this video is and its meaning as a cultural artifact.
"Give me the ringer dude,chop,chop!"
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