We’ve all heard the old adage “everything old is new again”, a wry commentary on the idea that everything from fashion to fads to old toys comes back around again eventually, but what about “everything new is old again”?
It may not as common an axiom but in the world of Golem 13 it makes perfect sense, especially if you’re trying to make a witty statement about the rather knowing way some people conjure up the past as a way of setting themselves apart from those of us more attached to the present with its messy potpourri of pop culture influences, not all of which will go the distance and be remembered 30 years hence.
“I created these VHS covers for ‘april’s fool day’ pretending a parisian hipster named ‘Stan’ only watched modern films and TV series on VHS.”
His realisation of the make believe Stan works perfectly with the faded covers, the crinkled plastic of the VHS cassette covers which never stood up to the rigours of multiple borrowing hands all that well, and the chunky overall feel of the technology.
It’s all so well done that it makes me all nostalgic, well a tiny bit anyway, for the days of Blockbuster video, with the slow rewinding and fast forwarding and the tape getting sucked at a crucial part of the film, never to be seen again.
Which is probably why, unlike LPs which are getting some justified retro-lovin’ of late, VHS cassettes aren’t enjoying, and aren’t likely to enjoy, any kind of resurgence.
Ah well, not everything old can be new again, but as Golem 13 nicely demonstrates, it’s entirely possible for new things to be old again in the best possible way.
Now if you paid close attention to your French lessons at school, you can enjoy the full article here.
