Flash Genres
Now and then new genres emerge that go against everything established by preexisting genres. But many of them fade away quickly and what felt fresh only a few years ago suddenly seems very old. I was reminded of this as I stumbled across a book illustrated by David Carson, The Book of Probes (via Melanie Goux). As I looked at some of the illustrations in it, they felt very old, very far from the freshness and newness of his work at the beginning of the 90s. The same goes for his recent work presented on his website.
Another genre that got old very quickly is drum and bass/jungle music.
It’s as if the possibilities the genres invent for themselves aren’t flexible enough. Once they have all been tried, the expressions get predictable, there’s no surprise, everything about them is old.
But there must be loads of examples of new genres, in art, music, literature, etc., that were “revolutionary”, but which managed to stay new. I can’t think of any that I have experienced in my lifetime, though. The only one that comes to mind is rock and roll, which still today manages to do new things, and which must have been a radical departure from the music of the time.