Throughout modern popular culture there are recurring trends of certain symbols. People are posting them on their blogs, carelessly marking them onto surface areas around incorporated municipalities or even inscribing them onto their bodies. These symbols haves appeared more and more through many designers and illustrators works of late, on t-shirts, album artwork and various other products. Studying the practical use and effects that submerge from using these symbols within what they create I hope to answer why these symbols are so popular in modern sub-cultures? Is the use and perception of these symbols in any way connected to their origins. How are these symbols effected within popular culture and people? How/why sub genres use symbols as identification? These questions do need to be answered as it is worrying that these symbols are played around with too much and if they are re-created over and over within certain contexts then it is possible that they may lose their meaning.
The inverted cross (see fig.1) is appearing more often throughout modern illustration and design. It seems to appear mainly on apparel designs which the young people of today are parading it everywhere and are wearing it proudly (see fig.2), whether they understand what the symbol means or not. "An Upside-down Latin cross that commemorates the martyrdom of St Peter, who was crucified upside down" (Mark O'Connell, 2007, p.92). St Peter felt unworthy of being crucified in the same way that our lord Jesus Christ was crucified. It is also a symbol that is associated with an anti-religious and satanic attitudes.
"Until The Light Takes" is a documentary that follows two Norwegian black metal pioneers Gylve "Fenriz" Nagell and Varg "Grishnackh" Vikernes. Gylve played in a band called Darkthrone (see fig.3) and Varg played in a band called Burzum (see fig.4). Their artwork and other bands artwork, released around the same time, featured heavily the inverted crucifix. Some bands like Mayhem incorporated it into their logos (see fig.5). In the documentary Vikernes explains: -
"There is more war, chaos, and pollution now than ever before. In our recorded history. Of course we might have known a period with even worse conditions, but Christians burnt all the records that could tell us about it all anyway. Like in the library of Alexandria. Wherever the Catholics or Protestants or Christians came they destroyed the culture. They ruined the culture. They burned the culture. They burned the records of these cultures. That includes the European cultures. That Includes African cultures, Asian cultures, American cultures. They destroyed everything. They want to replace our culture with Americanization, with the Judeo-Christian cultures. Christianity is the root to all problems in the modern world." 35:05 - 36:00 (see fig.6)
Here he was telling the interviewer all of this when he was serving time in prison for burning down several churches starting in 1992. He states in the documentary that he did not do this for "Satanic" reasons, but because of what he is saying in the quote above. His music and the movement of Black Metal was created to rebel against the Americanization of his own culture that he and all the people he knew belonged to. This is why they use they particularly used the symbol of the inverted cross. The music itself is also a rebellion from what was being produced in the west. By creating something raw and true to themselves without having any influence of Satan within the contents of their lyrics.
Many young people are now being exposed to Black Metal, as the Internet is now a gateway to exploring all kinds of sub-cultures and trends and after the release of "Until The Light Takes Us". People now fully understand the reasons as to why these certain bands first started and are now exposed to their music:
"I think kids have a shorter attention span now, or people that are listening to music now have a shorter attention span and a bigger need to categories things now. That's why you have so many kinds of different music. Whereas in the 70's, 80's or even 90's there were still four different food groups of music. And I think now kids needing to belong to things are looking for their own uniqueness, build these sub-genres that are really no different from any other type of music. But it helps to have something that's your own." 0:44 - 1:19 (see fig.7)
It is stated here in this quote that the kids of today are now constantly looking for something new to belong to, constantly moving from one sub-genre to another. These trends and fads are usually not very long lasting and always get people to jump on the bandwagon. So to show that they are involved in and apart of these "unique" sub-genres, people are always looking for something to showcase to other people to show their own uniqueness. Clothing companies are recently seeing that these types are "into" this certain sub-genre and are also jumping on the band wagon to make products for the individual to wear, so they can feel apart of and to show that they are apart of this sub genre. This is explained here, "Cultural products may be defined tentatively as "nonmaterial" goods directed at a public of consumers, for whom they generally serve an aesthetic of expressive, rather than a clearly utilitarian, function." (Hirsch, 1972, p.127) Companies like Drop Dead (see fig.8) were once producing clothing garments that used to look like this (see fig.9) and are now employing illustrators like Michael Shantz (see fig.10 & fig.11) to create apparel designs (see fig.12) for their company that have no association with Black Metal bands. The use of the inverted crucifix within these designs is to fundamentally show the significance of their individuality and to showcase it to the world.
Like the inverted cross, the eye of providence (see fig.13) is also another popular symbol that has come to my attention of recent times. "The occult third eye, sometimes called "eye of the heart", symbolizes the eye of spiritual perception, associated with the power of Shiva and the synthesizing element of fire in Hinduism with inner vision in Buddhism, and with superhuman clairvoyance in Islam. Although depicted on the forehead of Shiva, it is an inner eye." (Tresidder, 1997, p.76) I see it many times being produced over and over whether it being a piece of illustration or graphic design or even a tattoo design.
The all Seeing Eye is also associated with the secret society of being both real and fictitious called the Illuminati. There are many conspiracies that are connected to this organization and in recent years the organization has been pushed into popular culture and into the publics eye. Even though these conspiracies have been around for many years they have recently been pushed towards a younger generation. In episode 213 (#36) of American Dad! (A popular American cartoon) Steve uncovers a secret society under the name of "Illuminuti" (see fig.14) after following a trail from first sighting a mysterious symbol on the side of a peanut butter jar. A lot of movies have also projected the name Illuminati and the conspiracies into mainstream culture. Also some of the things that are tied to the Illuminati within the conspiracies have also brought the name of Illuminati into the light. Many people believe the Illuminati are behind the death of Michael Jackson and the uprising of such performing artists such as Lady Gaga and Rihanna (see fig.15 & 16) who are both frequently photographed with one hand over one eye, which apparently represents the all Seeing Eye. As far fetched as all this sounds, various viral videos and word of mouth are spreading to people’s eyes and ears.
"The double function of language, as a social/communicative means, and as an individual/cognitive capability, derives from its fundamental property that allows us to internally re-represent the world we live in. This is possible through the mechanism of symbol grounding, i.e. the ability to associate entities and states to the external and internal world with internal categorical representations." (Cangelosi, 2006, p.1)
The last symbol I shall be looking at will be the straightedge ‘X’ (see fig.17), "Straightedge is a 'sub cultural schism' of the punk/hardcore music subculture that emerged in the early 1980s on both the East and West Coasts of the United States and now has worldwide adherents. The term 'straightedge' comes from a 1981 song entitled 'Straight Edge' by the Washington DC band Minor Threat.
I'm a person just like you
but I've got better things to do
than sit around and smoke dope
cuz I know that I can cope
I laugh at the thought of eating 'ludes
I laugh at the thought of sniffing glue
always want to be in touch
never want to use a crutch
I've got the straight edge!" (Patrick, 2003, 64)
The straightedge subculture is a group of people who resist what is seen as promiscuous and self-indulgent acts. It is a rebellion against mainstream culture and it entices young people to engage in destructive acts. Just like the use of the inverted cross, this symbol is used to show that they belong to this certain sub-culture, and to an even bigger extent. Members of the straightedge culture tattoo and cut the 'X' symbol on/into various parts of their bodies (see fig.18. & fig.19) to show their pride of being a part of this sub-culture. "The 'X' is arguably the best visual representation of the straightedge identity in 'real life’. For MeanBug it carried a distinct meaning of resistance and visibly marked her/him off from other youth" (Patrick, 2003, p.67) The 'X' originated back in the early 80's in Washington DC, when at shows, underage people would be marked with the 'X' on the back of their hands to show that they weren't eligible to purchase alcohol. A group of older legal’s that chose not to drink then adapted this for their own. But it seems these days that even this sub-culture is losing its ways and is becoming the opposite on which it was originally based on.
Today straightedge has hit the mainstream! There is now a straightedge wrestler called CM Punk, which stands for Chicago Made Punk (see fig.20). Just like other members he has the various tattoos to show his pride and the 'X' on the back of his hands. He comes out onto the stage in front of millions of people and preaches about his straightedge ways. What effect must this have on the straightedge community. Bands like Minor Threat's records are being sold in Urban Outfitters. The origin of what it is to be straightedge and to wear the 'X' with pride is surely slowly fading. It just seems hopeless now that there’s a straightedge role model for people to look up to and idolize and the pioneers of the movement are now turning into what they were opposing from the get go. Do people now become straightedge because they actually believe in what the movement is standing up for or because you see some straightedge guy on T.V or listen to a record that you picked up in a "cool" shop?
As a keen illustrator and image maker it is fundamental that whatever symbols I chose to use within what I make, that I fully learn to understand what they mean and to not delve into something that I don't fully understand or appreciate. In doing this first I can stay true to the origin of what the origin represents and make sure this coincides with what I am trying to say with what I make. There are many other symbols out there now that are running with various current trends within art and music and let's hope they are never used in vain and their origins are never lost.
Bibliography
Books
Adkinson, Robert, (2009) Sacred Symbols: Peoples, Religions, Mysteries, London, Thames & Hudson Ltd
Jean, Georges, (1998), Signs, Symbols and Ciphers: Decoding the Message, London, Thames & Hudon Ltd
O'Connell, Mark and Airey, Raje, (2007) Signs and Symbols: What They Mean and How We Use Them, London, Anness Publishing Ltd
Tresidder, Jack, (2006), Symbols and There Meanings, London, Duncan Baird Publishers Ltd
Tresidder, Jack, (1997), Dictionary of Symbols, London, Duncan Baird Publishers Ltd
Articles From Web
Bikhehandani, Sushil and Hirshleifer, David and Welch Ivo (1998) Learning From The Behavior of Others: Conformity, Fads, and Informational Cascades, U.S.A
http://marshallinside.usc.edu/Mweinstein/teaching/fbe552/552secure/notes/fads%20paper%20from%20jep.pdf
(21/01/2011)
Cangelosi, Angelo (2006) The Grounding and Sharing of Symbols, Plymouth, U.K
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.65.742&rep=rep1&type=pdf
(12/01/2011)
Copes, Heith and Williams, J. Patrick (2007) Techniques of Affirmation: Deviant Behavior, Moral Commitment, and Sub cultural Identity, U.S.A
http://clt.astate.edu/pwilliams/PDFs/Copes_Williams_Techniques.pdf
(13/01/2011)
Hirsch, Paul M., (1972) Processing Fads and Fashions: An Organization-Set Analysis of Cultural Industry Systems, U.S.A
http://users.ipfw.edu/tankel/PDF/Hirsch.pdf
(24/01/2011)
Williams, J. Patrick (2003), The Straight Edge Subculture On The Internet, U.S.A
http://clt.astate.edu/pwilliams/PDFs/Williams_sXe_style.pdf
(13/01/2011)
Videos
fig.7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeVbwtlHSso&feature=related, Derek Bloom, (2004)
Documentaries
Until The Light Takes Us (2008) Directed by Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell, USA (Documentary, Music, http://www.blackmetalmovie.com/)
fig.1
fig.2
fig.3
fig.4
fig.5
fig.6
fig.8
fig.9
fig.10
fig.11
fig.12
fig.13
fig.14
fig.15
fig.16
fig.17
fig.18
fig.19
fig.20
