The theatre of authenticity
In an age of repetition and imitation, we crave authenticity more than ever. We want to sense, feel, experience and possess what is genuine. Authenticity of this kind is highly subjective: perhaps we are more attracted to the feeling of authenticity than to what is actually real. Goth eagerly pursues a sense of authenticity and is not afraid to evoke it artificially.
Marnix Schmidt, “Cosplayer op het Elfia Festival, Haarzuijlens”, 2019. C/o Marnix Schmidt.
The subculture is rooted on the one hand in the romantic tradition of invented ruins and imaginatively restored castles, which lives on today in things like role-playing games and fantasy festivals. A fairy-tale in which we ourselves play the leading role might be an invention, but it can feel more authentic at times than the chaos of everyday life. On the other hand, Goth also relies on the dark tradition of terror and horror that we find in the Gothic novel or the horror film. This strand likewise conveys a message about authenticity, but it is a much more ominous one: our society may appear to be bright, orderly and logical, but its true face is, perhaps, only revealed in our nightmares.
“We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.” — Horror author Stephen King, Danse Macabre, 1981
The constant interplay between real and fake gives Goth an uneasy relationship with modern commerce and marketing. The subculture is searching, after all, for a life more real than our insipid society has to offer. This sense of authenticity can, however, also be imitated, packaged and sold. The authentic often has its own design language with specific ingredients: natural or even earthy materials, say, a craft finish or explicit traces of intensive use. Some artists and designers deliberately exploit this in order almost to surpass reality – a kind of ‘hyper-authenticity’ in response to the oppressive entanglement of real and fake.
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Identity and community
From the exposition: goth is a battleground for the great issues of identity, individual and community. Now, and already in the nineteenth century.
The dark mirror of the soul
From the exhibition: a sublime nature in this sense features prominently in the Gothic tradition, not only as a setting for elusive mysteries or unspeakable secrets, but also as a protagonist in its own right.
An invented past
From the exhibition: in the Gothic tradition, historyis exaggerated, twisted or straightforwardly invented. The past on which Goth is based is an intoxicating mixture of fantasy and reality.
Atmosphere over form
From the exhibition: The Goth tradition allows you to mix imagery, symbols and styles to your heart’s content. The result is an emphatic atmosphere, which stimulates the imagination and creates darkness. Goth isn’t a style in the traditional sense but a feeling.
Dark technology
From the exhibition: new technologies help to visualize the dark sense of life in constantly changing ways, although it is frequently the shortcomings of such technology – scratches on the film or fading of the photograph – that give a ‘Gothic feel’ to an image.
The haunted city
From the exhibition: the threatening, impersonal and all-consuming metropolis shaped the Gothic imagination of this uncertain period. It is a form of the Gothic where fear of the future becomes entangled with the dread of the past.
Alternatieve stereotypes
From the exhibition: the Goth subculture experiments like no other with gender, sexuality and style, finding new meanings for old stereotypes through endless combinations.
