The Ideological Ambiguity of Internet Art: Vaporwave, Yugowave and Serbwave

Tisa Jukić

doi:10.51191/issn.2637-1898.2019.2.3.55

The Ideological Ambiguity of Internet Art: Vaporwave, Yugowave and Serbwave

Authors

Tisa Jukić Academy of Arts, Novi Sad, Serbia Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51191/issn.2637-1898.2019.2.3.55

Keywords:

hauntology, cultural memory, cultural trauma, vaporwave, yugowave, serbwave, Yugosphere, Yugonostalgia

Abstract

This paper concerns the recent internet-based music genre of yugowave. I first analyze the relation of this genre to its original Western model, vaporwave. Differences between the two, in terms of subject matter, ideology, and aesthetics are discussed, along with the complex question of the memory of the SFRY and Yugonostalgia in yugowave. Introducing serbwave as a relation of yugowave, the encounter in praxis between the in theory politically neutral genre of vaporwave and propaganda is also discussed. Finally, I offer two possible readings of serbwave: either as one of several current neo-nationalistic appropriations of the vaporwave aesthetic, or, possibly, a way of processing cultural trauma caused by the wars of the 1990s.

Author Biography

Tisa Jukić, Academy of Arts, Novi Sad, Serbia

Tisa Jukić graduated from Faculty of Music in Belgrade, department of Musicology, in 2018. While completing her undergraduate studies, she showed active interest in the field of publishing, becoming a part of the team of editors of the students’ paper Musicum Impressum, and participated in the comprising and editing of one of the Faculty’s publications, an anthology of best students’ seminar papers from the academic year 2012/2013. The same year she presented a paper at the 14th International Conference of the Department of Musicology, hosted by the Faculty of Music of the University of Arts in Belgrade, titled “Avant-garde Art for the Masses: Arseny Avraamov’s Symphony of Sirens in the Context of Soviet Mass Spectacle”. She is currently completing her master’s studies, course Music and Media, at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. Interests include a broad selection of topics, most importantly observing the intricate connections between society, culture, and art.

Cover of the INSAM Journal No. 3. Design by Milan Šuput

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Published

15.12.2019

Issue

No. 3 (2019): Retro Tendencies in Music, Art and Theory

Section

Articles

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How to Cite

The Ideological Ambiguity of Internet Art: Vaporwave, Yugowave and Serbwave. (2019). INSAM Journal of Contemporary Music, Art and Technology, 3, 55-68. https://doi.org/10.51191/issn.2637-1898.2019.2.3.55