We’re losing our Shared Artistic Experience. Here’s how
Closed clubs are killing our Collective Expressions
If it was so hard to maintain the integrity of the experimental clubs before the pandemic, you can imagine how hard it will be once society goes back to “normal”.
Art can be interpreted in many different ways. One way I often find is overlooked:
Art as a means to stimulate personal expression through shared experience.
This is different from art as a means of personal expression by the artist. I see art that stimulates audiences to express themselves collectively as group therapy.
Perhaps the most beautiful expression and the manifestation of this collective creation is the art we make together in clubs.
It is regardless of genre. Whether it’s HipHop, RnB, Salsa, or any type of electronic music —I think everyone can attest to its therapeutic, uplifting, medicinal, and cathartic qualities.
I believe we all (not so) secretly have this little artist inside of us.
An artist that uses performance and expression as a way to experiencing closeness and inclusion with other human beings.
The artist that perhaps finds it difficult to go onto the dance floor, has some issues letting loose at first, but once in motion is like part of a pendulum of human joy and expressiveness.
A pendulum made up of all kinds of strangers, swinging back and forth on the music and the rhythm. Not just the rhythm of the sounds, but of the crowd.
It is eclectic, undeniable, and addictive: once the music takes a hold of you, no one can deny its firm grasp.
Everyone’s got loose hips.
My life and pursuits have brought me to all kinds of clubs, all over the world.
I’ve been to little salsa clubs in San Sebastian in Spain, barefoot beach parties in Thailand, rooftop bars in Sao Paolo, and even the underground bunkers of German techno — we all have that one thing in common:
We want to create and express ourselves together.
That first verb cannot be overstated: we don’t just express ourselves, we create ourselves on that dance floor.
I think everyone who facilitates this kind of collective creation is facilitating the making of art, culture, and group philosophy.
Think of the onset of hip-hop culture in the United States, Electronic Dance culture in places like Ibiza and Berlin — each of these places has had a profound and lasting influence on a generation of youths creating a shared culture.
Values, norms, and traditions have been created in clubs that carry over to daily life in ways that an older generation often can’t even notice or understand until years later it pervades the general landscape through the adoption into the mainstream.
Let us never forget that the emancipation and adoption of all creatures outside of the norm started in dark, shady clubs where people found mutual love and respect.
I’ve personally seen self-love and self-respect grow in a person as a factor of love and inclusion experienced through club culture.
It’s the music and dance we share together that makes us feel like we're the same.
And right now, this form of inclusion is becoming increasingly difficult.
I fear we might forget how important this has always been for us.
Closed clubs are currently making it much harder for us to make this kind of art together.
The kind of art that creates a shared expression through performance.
This is not a rant on government policy.
This is a reminder for us all, myself included.
Let’s not underestimate what we stand to lose.
Regardless of the negative connotation clubs and club culture has, remember this:
Clubs are like little safe havens for anyone searching for a sense of inclusion. And oddly enough, our species values these places all over the globe.
Let’s hold on to that.
Why this is important
Once upon a time, I had the privilege of being part of an organization that strove to realize these kinds of shared experiences and collective expressions.
It was a club called JACK, right here in Amsterdam.
For a while, I considered it to be the safest and most inclusive club in the Netherlands.
Unfortunately, it had to close its doors.
I remember first hand how difficult it was to create a safe place to experiment, to express, and play without losing the integrity of becoming too commercial.
Let me be clear: there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a commercial club.
However, commercial clubs will be the first to concede that they’re focused on the mainstream and draw their inspiration from the experimental.
They’re two different animals. They draw different crowds to their zoo.
There’s always a fine line between artistic expression and commercial capitalization.
It was a fine line for which JACK eventually paid the price.
If it was so hard to maintain the integrity of the experimental clubs before the pandemic, you can imagine how hard it will be once society goes back to “normal”.
This article is aimed at reminding us of something that a late and great Dutch poet once said beautifully:
“Everything of value is defenseless” — Lucebert (Famous Dutch Poet and artist)
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