Genre
Remix
THAT 70'S GRAM
PARTNERS= SARAH KIRKPATRICK & BREE HUGHES
Genre is defined as “a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like” (“Genre”). This definition emphasizes the artistic aspect of a genre that allows for creativity and development. This being said, we have learned that genres have been redeveloped and remixed over time. The process of remixing genres can vary; however, anything developed from prior experience or influence in any way has been remixed. This process may be viewed in both negative and positive ways; however, the fact of the matter is that this remixing cannot be stopped altogether.
We have also come to find that genres are standardized ways of relating amongst a group of people. For our genre remix, we have combined the modern social media platform, Instagram, with the past decade of 1970s America. These two genres reflect today’s culture and priorities versus the culture in the 1970s. Our goal is to show the culture, events, and aspects of the seventies in a modern Instagram format.
 |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
 |  |
THE ART OF INSTAGRAM
The history of Instagram has evolved over a short amount of time. With its arrival in October of 2010, it has become extremely popular in just five years (Dashburst). Almost everyone today has a smartphone, making this an easy way of accessing social media. Instagram allows people to share instantly their lives with their “followers” through posting photographs and videos. The more followers you accumulate, the more “popular” and successful you are seen as within this culture. Instagram includes a profile tab, a timeline full of photos and videos of those you follow, a home tab, search tab, and a notification tab. The tone of Instagram is very casual, silly, laid back, and personal. Although the tone and atmosphere of Instagram is laid back, there is still pressure for users to reach a certain amount of likes on photos and followers choosing to view your content.
Typical conventions of Instagram include filters, hashtags, captions, locations, likes, bios, and emojis (Dashburst). One reason this social media outlet is so popular is because it allows for even more creativity through the use of these conventions. Individuals can take any picture, place a unique filter on it, come up with a caption, and post it. While this allows for creative freedom, it also creates another large distraction for young adults and teenagers, and can add to the lack of physical communication being made within our current culture.
The 1970’s was a significant and distinct time in American history where war, politics, music, TV shows, and the rebellious mindset of the American people all helped shaped a culture unique to the time. The seventies era is described as a “wonderful celebration of peace following a decade of chaos and turmoil” (The 70’s). Several historical events took place during this era such as the Watergate Scandal, Vietnam War and protesting, Elvis Presley’s death, the Beatles breaking up, Nixon’s presidency and role as a leader, an energy crisis, and so on. Popular conventions of this genre include bellbottom pants, a fierce belief in peace, flower power, anti-war sentiments, platform shoes, tie dye, Happy Days, disco music, lava lamps, and eight-track tape players. In this era, technology and social media weren’t used or thought of. People then weren’t concerned with captions and filters or perfect “selfie lighting”, but instead were enjoying life and dancing to disco music. Even common sayings and slang terms used back in this era were completely different and not as familiar today. People used words such as “rad”, “groovy”, and “gnarly” more freely, whereas today these terms are replaced in today’s vernacular by words such as “swag.” In some ways, the 70s era was viewed as a more peaceful and carefree time, full of individualism and creativity. Overall, the seventies was a period where the culture revolved around how the people expressed themselves in response to their situations during that time.
Our Mashup
The first picture uploaded shows a group of girls and guys displaying the standard look of the era ("What Did Men…”). Their apparel embodies the hippie, peace, and love trend of the seventies from their headbands, beaded scarf, crimped hair, and floral patterns. The contrasting conventions of Instagram lie in the Instagram filter seen applied to the photograph, the hashtag as a caption, and use of modern slang terms; all things that would not have been used in the 70s.
The featured woman is posing in attire commonly associated with the 70s with bright colors, tie dye esque patterns, tall boots, and forming a peace sign with her hand all of these things working to incorporate genre conventions of the 1970s. The photo shows the use of white space and features a caption that includes hashtags and emoticons yet again as a means to incorporate modern times but this time with an Instagram-specific movement as well. “#ootd” stands for outfit of the day and has become a common trending tag for people’s personal pictures and fashion bloggers alike to share what people are wearing and create a space for people to explore and be inspired by other's fashion choices through use of the hashtag on Instagram. Another modern genre specific feature used is white space, many people today include white space in their instagram posts to create and unique and cohesive look to their feed.
In our Instagram and 1970’s mashup, we have created a profile with a feed of photographs that each embody different aspects of both of these two different genres. The consistent combination of the two genres that can be seen in all of the uploaded photos is the formatting of Instagram contrasting with either real photos from the 70s or photos depicting 70s common culture.
The second photo uploaded shows a group of people protesting (Naison). 1970s culture can be clearly seen in this photo because it is a photo taken during the 70s with lower photo quality, black and white coloring, peace signs being displayed, protesters as the subject, and “love not war” text being made the focus of the photo it successfully portrays 70s culture. Instagram’s influence on the photograph can be seen in the written caption again which contains the use of several emojis and hashtags, two ways to communicate that are unique to today’s time and social media. The next photo is of a young girl in a dress ("Hippy Go Go…”).
The use of Instagram as a genre reflecting today’s common culture and incorporating content, culture norms, and history from the 1970s within the feed allowed us to compare and contrast between the two. Similar to how Instagram is being utilized today, we used this account feed as a way to display a timeline of events within this era, along with what was commonly seen and worn. Although the cultures themselves did not share similar priorities and norms, we were able to illustrate what a user in the 1970s would have posted if they had the access to technology and social media like we do today.
CONCLUSION
Another example can be seen in the photo posted of John Travolta ("The Seventies…”). Discos were popular events associated with the 1970s that were known for their recognizable venues, dress, music, and dance. John Travolta displays these qualities through the backdrop with a colorful light up dance floor, the noticeable disco ball scattering light, his dramatic monochromatic suit, and theatrical pose with one finger raised in the air commonly associated with disco dancing. Features common to Instagram can be seen through tagging John Travolta’s Instagram profile, the inclusion of a location that connects to the photo, and hashtags used in the caption. By including conventions that are specific to both genres in one single product we created a remix of Instagram and the 1970s.
