GLACIAL SURVEY 01
Clout Re-imagined - New Imagination - Ambient Wokeness
Introducing an extension of Iceberg Anthro. For now it shall be called Glacial Survey. Pulling on the narrative of ever-shifting glaciers and the need for mapping these constant movements, we dive into the evolution of culture within this anthropological capsule. In the same vein of the interviews, this survey is meant to act as a capsule for the cultural ebbings and development that have been witnessed. A record of trends, nuances, and new directions that have grown from a mere drip into a tangible flow slowly carving new social norms, formulas, and outcomes into the NYC landscape.
The first rumbling to report is one that has been bouncing around conversations and recently came to light in the must-read scene report EXIT THE CLOUT MATRIX by Michell Lhooq. We are seeing the idea/embodiment of “ambient wokeness.” A term originating, at least in my world, from friend, podcaster, and scholar Matthew Donavon. A quote by Matthew from EXIT THE CLOUT MATRIX, which has been stuck in my mind since reading, goes: “It’s queer/trans POC or people with no clout working to make an outsider space without signifying it’s radical for recognition from the wokes,” they said. “It’s radical by assembling people who aren’t represented in a scene, but also aren’t given token mentions for their identity. It seems to be a rise of ambient wokeness.”
For anyone just joining us, this development of ambient wokeness is important/notable due to the fact that New York City’s most recent and notable cultural export has been a sort of reactionary, at some times controversial, transgressive, and generally self-referential Cloutmaxxed group/image emanating from the internet and manifesting in the physical location of “Dimes Square, which those part of the ambient woke runoff such as the Neoliberalhell Pod refer to [redacted square].* A place that was built and torn down by the internet, similarly to the destruction of the tower of Babel.
*If you need/want more backstory and context be sure to read In Heaven, Everything’s Alright by Sasha
So what is ambient wokeness? Is it reactionary fallout out disguised as post-left rhetoric? Is it a byproduct to our fixation with labels? its simply a question with many answers, some that I cannot give as I am in the learning process as well. Through observation, participation and many conversations, there are several themes that tend to reoccur. The first being a rejection of Identity politics. Now before you roll your eyes into the back of your head, this isn’t to say there is a rejection towards actual identity, recognition of identities, nor addressing the issues they face. It’s actually something that feels quite opposite to this. This rejection of identity politics seems to come from the understanding that people and scenes are more complex than distillation into token identities or boxes and the institution of identity politics has little to do with it’s originators conception. It potentially is less of distillation of identity but more so a sterilization of identity that strips any fertile soil for subculture to grow within. It also seems to be a response and understanding that these “identities” have been used far more for separation, fueling vitriol, simplifying complex problems and humans, and captured in the idea Elite Capture. It is a rejection that is shown through action. For anything new to occur, culturally that is, it requires a mosaic of ideas, personalities, and overlap and in the same way that elites have formed backdoor deals–new cultures have formed secret alliances across identity lines as a quiet recognition of unity. This sort of understanding and youthful breakthrough leads and builds on the next tenet.
“It’s radical by assembling people who aren’t represented in a scene, but also aren’t given token mentions for their identity. It seems to be a rise of ambient wokeness.”
-Matthew Donavon
Nuance is really the foundation for much of what ambient wokeness encompasses and embodies. The understanding that the life we live and people we are around experience vastly different and constantly changing experiences, and that’s ok. Weirdly enough this nuance can be traced to the space left over from the implosion of the reactionary and sometimes transgressive culture of [redacted] Square. The space that has allowed such transgression also accepts many other voices. It’s a place that is open to new ideas and not quick to judge someone pushing against cultural norms, whatever those may be. It is also these reactionary moments and hyperreal-ironic-schizo-shitposting culture that trolled past the point of delusion, sometimes alleged suicide, and spurred a collective horseshoes that reached a point of critical re-engagement. Things are not as they seem. Multiple ideas and identities can be held and must. Through this nuanced understanding we are seeing groups and scenes collide to create something new. Something that rejects the nihilistic irony and reactionary takes for the sake of shock value. Something that needs new terms and definitions. Instead, there is a renewed spirit of optimism, which is something to dive into later.
Lastly, as it's hard to say whether this is a “theme” or more a byproduct but, there is a unification and understanding that work and mission comes first. Not only does it come first but it is what builds and validates reputation or in the scene alongside hiphop what is referred to as clout. The work, whether a concert, reading, art show, or event, is sacred and should be given our utmost respect. This respect is garnered through one part output/creation and one part orchestration. The orchestration aspect leads us into the next area of this Glacial Study.
Clout as a unit is an idea that has been begun to be verbalized and quantified within this certain cultural sphere of NYC. According to knowyourmeme.com, clout originated in 1972 from the chicago based journalist Mike Royko. He used it as a term to describe influential politicians, business and community leaders of the Chicago area. Since then clout has permeated popular culture to be the crown jewel of social standing. Along with this history, “clout” has largely been an individual pursuit and metric but this is where ambient wokeness steers us down a new path. Clout is no longer an individual unit but one that can be hijacked/shifted to synthesize powerful collaboration. The biggest artifact and propellant of this idea within the current “downtown subculture” is The Host Manifesto by Angel Prost. Here is an excerpt from the document that is only available by emailing Angel directly:
According to Angel’s pioneering dissertation on Host vocabulary and best practices (2022’s “Going Host”), a Host should be thought of as a floating signifier, a collection of symbols and schema that comprise a mostly hollow message whose power lies in its mere presence, rather than its content. McLuhan’s “medium is the message” philosophy can be extended here into Dean Kissick’s “persona is the message”, which can be extended into Angel’s “the host is the medium, and the message doesn’t exist”. This doesn’t mean we can pick just anyone as host though. Actually, we CAN pick anyone as host, but we SHOULDN’T just pick any old name that comes to mind. Lucky for you, Angel has also devised an ideal class of hosts that’s sure to deliver you the most balanced, impactful Host list for your event.
While Angel's idea of hosting parties allows for us to re-evulate what it means to create a party, what types of clout we want, and overall, innovates the concept of fun itself. We should show how hosting has given rise to the idea of having a larger guest list for parties. The use of a larger guest list has enabled more individuals to participate in parties, but traditional venues like the Bowery Ballroom, where Matthew and Angel hosted their New Year's Eve celebration, do not align with the principles outlined in the Host Manifesto. The Bowery Ballroom limited attendance to a select group of close friends and partners, excluding journalists, cultural commentators, musicians, and others, operating as if it were just a New Year's Eve party with limited guest lists. This approach goes against the Host Manifesto's goal of fostering a sense of community and inclusivity. What if we consider how the guest-list is another gateway to the ways that we create culture and allow cultural actors to have access to their friends events? This is what Matthew is asking here.
This is where the nuance comes back into play because within these carefully orchestrated hosts you see clout from people and groups who neither come from the same scene or beliefs. You’ll see members of the [redacted] square old guard and hosting with a DJ collective from Ridgewood, Queens. Two groups that have immense ideological and identity based differences. But that's what’s beautiful and the main reason we are seeing the “sub-culture '' grow and expand past its reactionary roots and played out geographic location. There has been an awakening in terms of the sum being greater than the parts. Through this usurping of social power, the future can be orchestrated in a way that is more inclusive of a spectrum of different ideas, people, and scenes.
Lets zoom out for now and look at the state of mainstream culture that ambient wokeness and subculture are operating within. We are constantly presented with this “fact” of impending doom and societal destruction. The last few years have been nothing but a nihilistic age of mass doom on the horizon. This feeling of impending doom was then lived out online through terminally-online-hyper-ironic- schizo-shitposters. You know “post thru it all.” This irony soaked age of hyper trends has been labeled “post-this”, “post-that”, and “post-post-whatever the fuck” and hence, the complete falling out of the meaning around this with the rise of “post-post.” Our only way to define the future has been through the adjectives and movements of the past.
Yet again, in our perpetual cycle of cultural expansion, the “vibe has shifted.” Unlike the last “notable” vibe shift, we are not hurtling towards a reactionary explosion. It's actually quite the opposite. Dean Kissick recently tweeted that “the contemporary obsession with suffixes signifies a breakdown in descriptive language. A CRISIS of adjectives.”
What if this crisis is actually one of the greatest opportunities facing us? What if we are moving beyond-post? We have been stuck in a cultural washing machine lacking any sort of creativity other than regurgitating past movements to define future possibilities. The spark of creativity and optimism has been lost or so I thought. Through this newfound ambient wokeness and clout shifting we are seeing overlaps and connections being made that are impossible to label. This has prompted a whole scene and many of its participants to ask “How do we define this?” The irony soaked rhetoric has been dropped and replaced with an air of endless opportunity. Opportunities to create new worlds, ones that are full of life, creativity, and friendship. Opportunities that lift others up and give microphones to new voices. If you were at a party a friend invited you to and you had a chance to speak on a subject that would be on a widely held podcast or platform, would you feel like you finally had an entry point into culture? This seems to be one of the largest issues with contemporary culture is the idea that everyone can express themselves but no one has access to scenes. What new potentials could this bring to intensify the amount of voices part of the conversation? A constant ebbing and flowing catalyzing new energy, direction, and ultimately a new world.
Through the idea of gonzo-anthropology, I have been lucky to participate in and see new ideas develop before my eyes. The future is bright. The future is yet to be defined but, I'm here to tell you there are people/groups thinking and expanding our vocabulary to articulate how things are remembered. The breadth of our adjectives are growing by the day and so are the possibilities of our future. Through the collapse we find new inspiration and ultimately see the world in ways that were not possible before. Embrace ambient wokeness. Embrace nuance. Embrace optimism. Embrace our future.
I would be remiss to leave out the people and groups who have led to this essay. Explore at your own risk of imagining something new.
Contribution and editing from: Matthew Donovan