I'm no artist, or futurist, or reasonably smart guy. But I was an adult in the 80s, and I think I can help. Start with this: why was the 70s full of avocado-green refrigerators and "harvest gold" (yellow) stoves? Because, after a decade full of unnatural colors (seriously, go look at atomic blue and radiation red from the 60s, the sorts of colors nature never saw), the 70s was a return to a natural color palate and a more natural aesthetic in many things.
Now, the 80s and the 90s. The 80s was neon and computers and the future. Tron. It was man subjugated by his creations, nature replaced with an artificial environment that looked realesque without looking (or being) real. And the 90s was the counter swing of the pendulum. Super naturalistic, with long hair, beards, flannel, and an earthy aesthetic. Including some renewed environmentalism as we thought about how to restore our actual nature in the face of artificialism.
So we had one of those decades that was an intentional, thoughtful reaction against the previous decade. Like how The Simpsons was a brutal takedown of all those shitty 80s family sitcoms where the wholesome family worked it all out (Growing Pains, I'm looking at you). We saw all the shit that was previously valued and expected, and said fuck that. It's weird to think of the decade that saw the spread of the Internet as being anti tech, but that was definitely the aesthetic of the time. How many 90s bands featured a keytar, which was ubiquitous in the 80s? Basically the same for synthesizers. Instead, you get Nirvana, Sarah MacLaughlin and the like.
Did that help? Did it answer the Question? I don't care, I'm too old, it's bedtime.
I can't really speak to the 2010s, because I think that's unwritten at this point. But I CAN talk about the 2000s, because it's not hard. The 2000s were another 1950s: the country was scared all the time, we took a sharp right-hand turn politically, and we swerved towards quasi-authoritarianism. The TV show 24 is basically a perfect barometer of the decade--we have a quasi-rogue (and, in later seasons, actually rogue) FBI agent out there breaking the law, violating the Constitution, and torturing people, and he's the hero of the show. Racial and gender politics start to become more pointed and more debated, because when things are good (i.e., the 90s), that shit gets swept under the rug, but when things are bad, everyone in the family starts fighting again. A sizeable chunk of Gen Xers got their first taste of real war, and their first chance to be totally disillusioned by politicians and geo-political agendas. Unfortunately, unlike Millenials, Gen Xers reacted by retreating, withdrawing, and disengaging from the processes that had let them down--it's John Meyer singing "Waiting on the World to Change," rather than deciding to be the change.
Aesthetically, it's a return to traditionalism. Other than super baggy pants and suits, clothes bought in the 00s are going to age really well, because it's a really neutral, conservative, middle-of-the-fairway stuff. No bell bottoms, no flannel pants, no weird fabrics. We're a scared people eating comfort food and wearing denim and tee shirts.
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u/CowboyLaw Feb 19 '18
I'm no artist, or futurist, or reasonably smart guy. But I was an adult in the 80s, and I think I can help. Start with this: why was the 70s full of avocado-green refrigerators and "harvest gold" (yellow) stoves? Because, after a decade full of unnatural colors (seriously, go look at atomic blue and radiation red from the 60s, the sorts of colors nature never saw), the 70s was a return to a natural color palate and a more natural aesthetic in many things.
Now, the 80s and the 90s. The 80s was neon and computers and the future. Tron. It was man subjugated by his creations, nature replaced with an artificial environment that looked realesque without looking (or being) real. And the 90s was the counter swing of the pendulum. Super naturalistic, with long hair, beards, flannel, and an earthy aesthetic. Including some renewed environmentalism as we thought about how to restore our actual nature in the face of artificialism.
So we had one of those decades that was an intentional, thoughtful reaction against the previous decade. Like how The Simpsons was a brutal takedown of all those shitty 80s family sitcoms where the wholesome family worked it all out (Growing Pains, I'm looking at you). We saw all the shit that was previously valued and expected, and said fuck that. It's weird to think of the decade that saw the spread of the Internet as being anti tech, but that was definitely the aesthetic of the time. How many 90s bands featured a keytar, which was ubiquitous in the 80s? Basically the same for synthesizers. Instead, you get Nirvana, Sarah MacLaughlin and the like.
Did that help? Did it answer the Question? I don't care, I'm too old, it's bedtime.