“Almost by definition, real hipsters are not artists. They’re curators and critics, re-mixers and designers, the copywriters and “prosumers” who trail in the artists’ wake. At best, it seems, they’re art students: aspiring cultural savants who collect the names and slogans of past avant-gardes to hoard or brandish conspicuously, like capital.”
“What are we not talking about when we’re talking about the hipster? For example, criticizing the hipster is often a way of discussing gentrification and neighborhood change — while exempting oneself from the process. Figured as scapegoats, hipsters ruin neighborhoods by driving up rents with their parental subsidies, while the non-hipsters just … live there. Which is a totally ridiculous conceit.”
Get yours here on n+1 if you are into urban sociology (or owning a book with a pink cover).
