Flaws & Humanity & Football & The 90s
Kaput Kitsch™ - Editorial
Regarding a photo of Blur singer Damon Albarn & Oasis legend Liam Gallagher on the football pitch for the Soccer Six Charity Football Tournament. The two protagonists are leaning into each other, a sense of ‘about to fight / trash talk’ - but somehow in a friendly way.
Date: 12 May 1996
Location: Mile End Stadium, London, United Kingdom
Some thoughts:
Why is this photo from 1996 giving me such a good feeling?
Is it the fact that it includes two of my most favourite musicians? Or maybe the fact that it shows my favourite sport?
Does this image cuddle me like a loving mum because it’s basically taken a year after I was born? Or is it the late 90s style that we learned to love again?
I don’t know, it just feels real. I believe it, I believe those guys - for some reason. Maybe that’s what feels special. It’s not “perfect”, it's not choreographed, neither made to impress nor to sell more copies, and that’s why it impresses, why it sells more copies.
They don’t seem to take themselves too seriously, they seem like they don’t care. It feels like - maybe - they actually went for beers after the match.
Image: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
Maybe I am just nostalgic and will look back at 2023 photos the same way in (let’s say) 2050, maybe not, I doubt it! Looking at this scene in 2023 makes me wonder, how “real”, honest and human our current world, culture and media feels. It does not feel authentic at all I gotta say. And that makes me sad.
BUT: I am hopeful. I think we will inevitably hit a roadblock. We will be soooo bored (‘BOOOORING!!!’) of anything that feels unreal - algorithms, advertising and media will shift their focus back to humanity, flaws and some actual controversy. Art is supposed to provoke us, make us think and grow as a deliberate society.
I just wanna feel something looking at stuff - thank you, bye.
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PS: I think we might already see a shift towards that direction here and there.
At least there’s hope! :))