The presentation of familiar music presented in a slightly unfamiliar way. To me, this allows it to invoke a surreal sense of ‘pseudo-memory’; we feel a sense of familiarity listening to it without having a specific instance to reminisce about. It is a memory that belongs to all and none of us.
The Portuguese word saudade seems appropriate to use in this context. It helps to convey the sense of bittersweet longing, the pang of nostalgia we feel, knowing we can never experience the past again.
It also makes use of the fascinating effect mass commercialization and capitalism has on our collective memory and sense of self. It becomes easy to identify with advertisements, company logos and other seemingly innocuous pieces of the zeitgeist.
It is interesting that it is the minutiae of everyday life that recalls the strongest sense of nostalgia; the curvature of a vehicle, the sneakers on our feet, the bedspread in our room – all transport us back to a time without a date or year. It is simply ‘yesterday.’
Vaporwave culture depends heavily on the mall of yesteryear – a place that creates a sense of excitement, familiarity and joy. Tantalizes all senses, particularly smell. The sweet and savoury scents that waft from the food court, a whiff of perfume from the nearby department store, the smell of leather goods, the chlorinated scent of the water fountains.. Everywhere around you are visual delights – shiny tile flooring, green foliage, a mass of content people on the casual hunt for the latest and greatest.
VW encapsulates an era of economic prosperity and unprecedented individual choice. A time with boundless optimism for the future. We now look back at a time seemingly poised on the precipice of greatness, not realizing that those would be the times we look back fondly onto as the best.
The slowing of the music samples make you feel as though your in between states of time; have I just woken up? What year is it? How old am I?
Commericials for a Japanese sportscar, a high-end personal stereo, sunglasses. We find ourselves wanting these things because they appeal to our desire for personal expression.
We could see this as inherently shallow, allowing so many of our memories and the perception of our selves and identity to be based on commercials, etc.
We could also choose to see this as the ability of the human spirit to instill deep meaning into even the most mundane human experiences. These are, after all – merely a reflection of ourselves.
Learn more on Wikipedia