Dr. Thanatos of Ann Arbor
A “reciprocal interaction” model of our culture suggests that it is possible to predict historical developments by closely studying the current line of “products”. A product can be viewed as disposable items bought by consumers. Unfortunately, books and tracks are included on this list as consumers are constantly searching for the next “big thing” and frequently discard yesterday’s “hits”. Two popular products─cyperpunk fiction and industrial music─ are purposely prophetic as they are meant to serve as a warning about the bleak future ahead. Yet, these products from the “dystopian genre” reflect our present as well. This article reveals the future by defining the elements which constitute a dystopia and calls for action to prevent it.
If the dystopian genre can be summarized by a single plot line, it would be as follows. A small government (e.g., a fascist state) controls their large populace (e.g., poor and uneducated masses) using a rare technology (e.g., retinal scans). Abuse of the system (e.g., greed) causes a societal decline to the point of apocalypse (e.g., global warming). A group of “rebels” arise from the masses with the aid of an outside hero. These rebels often re-vitalize an under-used technology to overthrow the totalitarian state.
The role of technology is crucial in the dystopian genres. Not only is technology used by the leaders to control the masses, it is ultimately used by the rebels to overthrow the state. The importance of technology reflects the time period in which most of these artworks were created─the industrial revolution. Early in that era, technology was considered a sign of “cultural progress”. Many amazing inventions such as the telegraph, the phonograph, and the telephone were discovered during this time. These inventions eventually became consumer products in high demand. This increase in demand then generated a need for greater efficiency in their production. Assembly lines were created, and jobs once requiring skills became simplified to the point of routine. When workers were stripped of their skills, they felt dehumanized and viewed technology in a different light. The “cultural machine” increasingly came to be feared as was predicted in the earlier legend of “John Henry”.
Art typically mirrors life, so creative endeavors during the industrial revolution followed a pattern similar to that of the culture: an initial embracement of technology followed by a betrayal. Futurism was an early artistic response to mass production. Artists such as Pratella and Russolo declared that art should reflect society, and since society was becoming a machine music should as well. Music thus became increasingly similar to noise. Related movements such as constructivism also celebrated the “machine aesthetic” with references to technological developments like search lights and projector screens omnipresent. However, subsequent art styles like dada and surrealism took a more negative view of the “machine metaphor”. In fact, these styles often mocked the “logic” of futurism by introducing random elements. Poems were made with words drawn from a hat (q.v., Tristan Tzara, 1976) and music was made with balls dropped into toy railroad cars (q.v., Dr. Thanatos, 2007).
Because tanks and guns were used to prolifically kill, disenchantment with machines increased during the great depression and both world wars. And post-war artworks continued to attack the “rationalization” of modern times. Science fiction films introduced space aliens and other elements outside the realm of conventional theory as an “escape” from machine-induced monotony. Outer space themes also allowed the re-appearance of utopian works. Life on earth had become automated, so the only way to escape this drudgery was to visit some far-off realm.
Two dystopian subgenres collided with this development of “ethereal fiction” as insipient industrial music became the soundtrack for the first outer-space films. The “cold” sounds of primitive synthesizers offered a perfect accompaniment for the appearance of machine-like robots. These early synth lines paved the way for artists such as Kraftwerk to establish industrial music as the force it remains today. And with industrial music, the machine metaphor remains prevalent.
Yet the apocalypse has not occurred, so what history has been revealed by modern dystopian art? As noted, a consistent dystopian theme is alienation by machine and fear of technology. Why should we fear technology? The future is clearly visible if we stop and look around us. Yet, the machine has become so powerful that we’ve started to forget we are its cogs. And we ignore or rationalize away the evidence for this fact. It’s almost like we already live in “The Matrix” and we’re oblivious to a “secret world” happening above us as we lie paralyzed below in our beds.
The machine has accomplished this feat using the exact same model outlined in dystopian arts: A totalitarian elite controls their un-informed masses. Today, 60 world leaders control 6,000,000,000 obedient people! And while we have the internet as a powerful tool to educate and unite, we fail to take advantage of the technology and thus remain ignorant and alienated. This situation has not occurred by accident as the machine hides many secrets from the populace by using obscure texts (e.g., scientific journals) written in arcane language (e.g., legal documents).
Continuing the dystopian plotline…it is now time to start thinking about introducing the rebels aided by an outsider. That change could begin with us as we can make a difference. And we can do it today! It starts with education and continues with action. I’ll close with brief review of a trend found in some of those obscure texts written in arcane knowledge. Please use this “dark secret” as motivation to demand changes in our society before it collapses as predicted by dystopian fiction.
Xenotransplantation is a rapidly growing area of biomedical research. The relatively new field even has its own eponymous journal which is based in Denmark. The xenotransplantation technique involves medical grafting of tissue from one species to the body of another. The most common transfer is from pigs to humans. Such procedures have quietly occurred in Russia, Sweden, Mexico, and China. Interestingly, these xenografts will be allowed in the United States sometime in 2008. The rational for these unusual transfers is typically something like “we must pursue the creation of novel organisms because the demand for organs is so much greater than the supply”.
Today, a theoretical paper by C. Moran was pre-released to the subscribers of Theriogenology, a journal concerned with reproduction which is based in the United States. The author of this article called for an increase the use of pig-human organ transfers to enhance human reproduction. The author’s rationale was that (1) the risk from the xenograft procedure was low and (2) the pigs used often have reproductive difficulties and thus would make a good research model.
Obviously, the arguments for xenotransplantation do not justify either the unknown risks of creating “medical cyborgs” or the ethical dilemmas resulting from the untoward treatment of both humans and nonhumans. Yet, this research quietly continues in obscure laboratories around the world.
Notes
Tristan Tzara, 1976. Primele Poeme/First Poems. New York: New River's Press
Dr. Thanatos, 2007. http://www.frequencymutineers.org/words/Duchamp.pdf
