Seven Years Golden (1997) Pt. I : JFK and Cobain
Self-destruction in capitalism, idolatry, and cult value: Analysis of Art Chantry`s design for The Thrown Ups.
If we consider the mass production and reproduction of album designs/artworks, such as in the form of promotional posters, the CD becomes the ultimate symbol of politicised art.
The compact disc (CD) was launched in 1982, from 1985 sales of CD format started to increase massively, which correlated alongside the development of grunge into the mainstream. It became the most popular device for music consumption. In 1988, CD sales overtook vinyl and overtook cassettes in 1989. Only in 2003, CD sales began to decline with the release of iPod and music player devices, due to the increased interest in digital music. If we look back at Origins Of Grunge Design : Art Chantry Pt. I and theorist Walter Benjamin`s Mechanical Reproduction ideas, the CD is based on the practice of politics. Nevertheless of the design’s symbolic messages, it cannot be viewed without a political perspective.
Issues of capitalism are important for the discussion of grunge designs.Walter Benjamin in The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1935) commented about the Marxist and Fascist relationship with art, more specifically mankind’s
‘’self-alienation has reached such degree that it can experience its own destruction as an aesthetic pleasure of the first order. This is the situation which Fascism is rendering aesthetic. Communism responds by politicizing art’’ (Benjamin, 2010,pp.40-41).
He suggests that aesthetics are important in political goals and destruction has become an aesthetic pleasure. Furthermore, romanticization of destruction of oneself has become an aesthetic pleasure. This can be exemplified in the Nazi propaganda documentary film Triumph of the Will (1935), which avoids the explicit discussion of politics, creating images of order and totalitarian control of ‘aestheticize politics’ through visual metaphors. In the case of grunge music, even though drug-culture and alcohol addiction was present long before in rock music, grunge musicians’ constant glamorisation, romanticism of addiction and death encouraged self-destruction to appear fashionable. At least it was presented and appropriated or crafted as such by the mainstream.
This is evident through Alice in Chains songs ‘’We Die Young’’ (1990), ‘’Junkie’’ (1992), ‘’Check My Brain’’ (2009). Also through Chris Cornell’s musical repertoire featuring constant metaphorical and direct references to death and suicide in a romanticised, poetic exhibition. Songs such as ‘’Like Suicide’’ (1994), ‘’Boot Camp’’ (1996), ‘’Zero Chance’’ (1996), ’’Pretty Noose’’ (1996), ‘’Black Saturday’’ (2012) come to mind. Self-destruction is glamorised in grunge music. Screaming Tree`s frontman Mark Lanegan in Sing Backwards and Weep: A Memoir (2020), constantly discussed the drug fuelled scene, whilst glamourising his heroin addiction with Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley. Lanegan after meeting Layne at the same place he had bought heroin before recalled that: ‘‘Layne hooked me up with a new, better connection in the same building where I’d already been scoring. It was, as they say, the beginning of a beautiful friendship’’ (Lanegan,2020,p.83). The beginning of a beautiful friendship which was bound by drug use is remarked in a stylised way. Nirvana also stylised depression, for example, Nirvana song ‘’Lithium’’ (1991) includes lyrics:
‘’I'm so happy 'cause today I found my friends; They're in my head;
I'm so ugly, that's okay, 'cause so are you’’ (Cobain, 1991).
If we analyse the lyrics, singer Kurt Cobain of Nirvana suggests in the first line of Lithium (1991), that he does not have a physical friend and is ugly, connoting alienation, depression, and loneliness. The line ‘They’re in my head’ also connotes an alternative world separate from the reality (made up by the narrator) which accents the feeling of loneliness, at the same time indicating a mental disorder. The last exemplified line carries the essence and theme of depression as it indicates that there is nothing beautiful about human beings and with the indifferent sounding vocal performance of such verse, pessimism is suggested. Another example can be identified in grunge band’s Soundgarden album Louder Than Love (1989) in song ‘’I Awake’’ (1989), it opens with the statement:
‘’Woke up depressed, I left for work’’ (Yamamoto H. McDonald K.1989).
Just like Cobain, Chris Cornell depicts the issue of depression and normalises it. Suggesting depression as an inescapable part of one’s daily routine, in such paying no important significance to it. Considering the mentioned Alice in Chains songs and the exemplified songs from Nirvana and Soundgarden, self-destruction is normalised and being ugly is transformed as fashionable, when considering all the mentioned musicians mainstream popularity. This indicates that the theme of self-destruction is not only found in fascism as Benjamin had concluded but in capitalism itself.
Eduardo de la Fuente and Peter Murphy explain that ‘’modern capitalism rests on the premise that supply creates demand. But this already entails an aesthetic premise: that production must sustain interest. Just as important as economic cycles are the stylistic and affective cycles of capitalism’’ (Fuente and Murphy, 2014,p.2). The affective cycle is a reflection of the society, specifically its desires, emotional state and ideology. The capitalist society aims to generate income considering the affective cycle`s attributes. In the case of grunge, its appropriation in the mainstream as well as its mainstream success, suggests that grunge is a reflection of the society. It's aesthetic and lyrical ideas which contrasts 1980s, remark a change of values in the American society. Art Chantry as the originator of the grunge aesthetic is an important figure as his ideas had become mainstream. This is especially significant, as Chantry had expressed ideas supporting the Democratic party, as previous blog posts detail.
Seven Years Golden.
CD release for The Thrown Ups Seven Years Golden (1997), designed by Art Chantry. Co-designed by Leighton Beezer, Marla Katz and Judah (Lasky, 2001, p.116).
The Thrown Ups was a Seattle grunge band, on the line-up featuring Ed Fotheringham (who later became an illustrator, creating artwork for Mudhoney, Love Battery and Elvis Castello); Steve Turner (Mudhoney); Mark Arm (Mudhoney); and band’s founder/bassist John Leighton establishing the band in 1984. Mark Arm and Steve Turner committed fully to Mudhoney, with The Melvins bassist Matt Lukins, the band diminished. Yet recorded one of the most memorable album Seven Years Golden (1997), featuring design by Art Chantry. This design is important to discuss as it is a great example of Chantry’s recycling approach, which at the same time uses photography of an important political figure in the United States. In such the protest element of recycling and collage, has been enhanced by photography.
This was also identified in Origins of Grunge Design Pt. III : Give Peace a Dance (1988) poster featuring USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev and former US president Ronald Reagan dancing polka. Unlike the mentioned poster design which compares two political leaders, Seven Years Golden brings a comparison of former United States President John F. Kennedy with the grunge icon Kurt Cobain. Kurt Cobain and Nirvana became the biggest band in the entire world with their release Nevermind (1992). Considering the cult following that remained after Kurt Cobain's death, his power and influence extends beyond music and entertainment. Bassist of Nirvana Krist Novoselic in 1988 stated about idolatry that:
‘’after the end of Nirvana, after the dust settled a little bit, I learned profound lessons on the nature of the human collective…I recognized idolatry as a human attribute that manifests in the structure that we call media, I am struck by the power of the creation of idols, deities, and messiahs, and I’m wary of the structures built around them…I guess that my involvement in politics is a remedy to fretting about idolatry’’ (Martens et al., 2016,p.180).
Whilst Novoselic acknowledges how unavoidable idolatry is in the media, he highlights and confirms the political protest element in grunge. Novoselic had established the Joint Artists and Musicians Political Action Committee in 1995 in order to protest against Seattle City Council`s Teen Dance Ordinance bill (1985) which restricted teenagers from going to rock concerts in Seattle. He had joined the board of FairVote and in 2008 was appointed chair. For an interview with ReasonTV, when asked about Cobain as an iconic saviour he explains that ‘’Apotheosis is the word. There’s just this human phenomenon when somebody dies, Che Guevara there’s that photograph, that iconic photo that just captures imaginations…they create a deity’’ (Reason TV, 2014).
[It would be worth watching the interview down below, Novoselic is extremely significant when exploring grunge politics]
Cult value is present in photography, because ‘’the cult of remembrance of loved ones, absent or dead, offers a last refuge for the cult value of the picture ‘‘ (Benjamin, 2010, p.16). Photography in such carries an important cult aspect which is enforced with the subject’s death. Walter Benjamin identifies that art is valued in two ways, in one ‘’the accent is on the cult value; with the other, on the exhibition value of the work. Artistic productions begin with the ceremonial objects destined to serve in a cult’’(Benjamin, 2010,p.16). The cult value is appropriate for the CD as the design of it is constructed to appeal and serve the fanbase, which can be perceived as a cult. Especially, with fandoms, a religious cult following aspect applies particularly for deceased celebrities. Considering that there are fans collecting 'sacred' items that belong to their rock gods and the pilgrimages to rock festivals that take place (Lee, 2009,p.77). It is important as it reflects the musical scene, subculture, and artists as a brand and ideology. Instead of prophets and God, the most idealised idol from grunge and 90s is Kurt Cobain- who was regarded as a voice of a generation. In such, the CD as the artistic product is serving cult fans of Cobain.
The cult value is on the celebrity. With this said, when considering what Novoselic expressed about media and idolatry, cult value is superior to the exhibition factor, as capitalism will always materialise on the cult celebrity. This means that regardless of how great the exhibition, aesthetic or appearance of art might be, the construction of idolatry of celebrities is what the consumer will seek. In terms of grunge design and Seven Years Golden the popularity of the aesthetic and the designs relevance is due to the idolatry of figures such as Cobain. Their political and social ideology in a cult setting receive a heightened validity and importance. The Thrown Ups’s Seven Year Golden (1997) album not only capitalises on idolatry of Cobain but enhances the cult value of Cobain through the comparison to former U.S President John F. Kennedy through their portrait photography.
President John F. Kennedy was the first cult-personality to be recognized as one. The cult of personality in politics became analysed with John F. Kennedy (Scott, 2000.p.65). The comparison to the political figure politicises the design. The cult value becomes similar to religion, as by purchasing musician products the consumers gain power which is given to the celebrity but ‘’instead of losing their soul to find it, they just lose their money’’ (Lee, 2009,p.77). This is the case of Chantry`s design in the exemplified CD, which through the political portrait photography and the cult value encourages consumers to buy it. Non-established fans and consumers firstly exposed to The Thrown Ups, with no prior knowledge of the band but with knowledge of Cobain or President Kennedy are encouraged to purchase the CD due to its design featuring the cult celebrities.
It’s important to note that not only Kurt Cobain received a cult following but so did former President John F. Kennedy. Arthurt M. Schlesinger,Jr. argues that Kennedy accelerated: ‘’the transition of America's youth already in progress between 1960 and 1963 from an apathetic, "silent generation" of youngsters "incurious about society"(Hoffman, 2008,p.61). Generation X was born in John F. Kennedy's presidency years. Generation X and grunge musicians’ interest in politics can be credited to John F. Kennedy who was interested in the youth and encouragement of being politically active. This indicates the reason behind the political nature of grunge design and the whole scene in Seattle. John F. Kennedy is one of the most important figures for American society, as in 1962, he proposed the Civil Right Act which provided the right of every American citizen regardless of their race, gender or religion to vote. This Civil Rights Act became effective on July, 1964 and aimed to end racial and gender segregation. His Presidency and this act were controversial, as many Southern States had not supported his presidency and the legislatures, he proposed due to Southern States supporting conservative politics, which wanted to maintain segregation. In such he transformed the American society in a turbulent period yet divided the society.
But in rock music with the presidency of John F. Kennedy musicians representing the youth showed their support for him. For example: ‘’while alive, Kennedy received favourable publicity in "Top 40" songs played by rock and roll-oriented radio stations. This attention was unique. Neither Harry Truman nor Dwight Eisenhower had been mentioned as often as Kennedy in popular recordings.’’ (Hoffman, 2008,p.60). It is worth mentioning that in the 1960s, rock culture was flourishing under the counterculture movement, which itself was a youth movement. This movement was an alternative to the mainstream 50`s, as the counterculture protested against gender expectations even by men growing long hair, which was not perceived as masculine by the 50`s standards. The fact that rock music has applauded Kennedy, showcases how the youth and generation X was supporting his ideas. However not only was Kennedy interested in the youth. Frank Donatelli explained that ‘‘the personality dimension of the presidency blossomed under Kennedy’’ (Walsh, 2017,p.42). He was the first president that took television seriously as an advantage for his presidency. Kennedy with the First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis became targeted by the media.
Not only did Kennedy become the subject of Hollywood scandals such as the scandal with Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe, but Jackie Kennedy had become a respected figure in fashion, a cult fashion icon. Famously, Gucci named one of their handbags Jackie in 1961, after Jackie Kennedy was photographed shielding herself from paparazzi with this handbag model in the 60s. This example showcases that Walter Benjamin`s mechanical reproduction theory not only applies to art but in fashion. Mechanical reproduction of the fashion item is a political statement, the consumer purchasing this Gucci bag is not only buying the display of symbol of wealth, but they are working as an advertisement of the Kennedy`s and the Democratic party. Signifying the importance of cult of personality, not only the President himself is important, but his whole family is in the limelight and has a following.
President Kennedy and his family are not simply political figures, but they are fashion and social icons, identified in cult personalities such as Kurt Cobain. Nirvana promoted Democratic party's ideals. This means that the cult celebrity is not simply a musician or politician but beyond such labels. Cobain`s fashion style was emulated by Marc Jacobs Perry Ellis collection in 1993, extended into Redux Grunge collection in 2018. Similarly, fashion houses have used his wife Courtney Love and daughter Frances Bean Cobain as models for their products such as Marc Jacobs Spring 2017 collection.
