The Rise of the Janus
The upcoming age of the two-faced bridge builder
Call me crazy, but I predict that in the coming years revolutionary changes will be brought about in art and culture. These changes will counter the currently existing (cultural) monopolies and the reign of tech giants. Such historic changes will have their roots in cultural expressions and art since they cannot come from the mainstream players who are trapped in a system of financial stakes, stakeholders and profit-oriented views.
The changes will be brought about by what I call the “Janus” (hereinafter Januses in plural). My concept of this visionary is based on the Roman deity of all beginnings, gates, transitions, time, choices, duality, doorways, passages, and endings. As my choice for this name already suggests, the talents of Januses lie in their duality and their ability to accept duality, to look in two directions simultaneously and bring oppositions together in a transition.
The Janus is a two-faced bridge builder who is able to place his/her raison d’être and joy above financial motivations.
Please bear with me in my rambling train of thoughts. Let’s draw up a profile of these world changers. What are their superpowers in our times?
1. They live and act in reality
First of all, they know the difference between what is real and what is not. They fathom the beauty of (slow) non-digital life. More importantly, they can distinguish between the benefits and downsides of the digital domain and act on it. They are aware that changes and developments occur in the human realm. Reflection is their primary condition; as a result, they are not addicted to the digital. Nor are they escapists. They face the troubles of their times head-on.
2. They are fearless creatives with improvisational skills
The Janus is a creative with improvisational skills, never afraid to take risks or to fail. A Janus knows how to play and enjoy cognitive fun. They don’t do what they do for financial or personal gain: they do what they do because this is what they do. It is their reason for existence.
As a result, they have a strong opinion and are not afraid to take responsibility for it on behalf of people, especially children and younger generations. This makes them too complicated to be a brand or to be pinned down; they approach the world around them rhetorically. Nevertheless, their fearlessness can make them ruthless and/or manipulative figures (e.g. they might frame their art as something it is not).
3. They defy algorithms
The Western ‘us and them’ dichotomy is irrelevant for the change they aim to bring about. They defy algorithms for that reason. They are not ‘woke’ or boomer, left or right or this or that. They think and give thought time. For everything changes and thought is an extension of this. To be silent on what is not on their path is part of this. They don’t express an opinion on what they know nothing about. They will think and be honest in thought and action. They strike a balance.
Never do they reduce their vision to one-sided content. Their vision is their life, and life is like water. They live in the now. The now is all there is. In the now their acts, thoughts, words, art and work are the beginning and the end.
They know that the world will always be in a state of difference and indifference, but Januses are also aware that they are John the Baptist-like figures, whose actions are transitional.
A Janus does not shy away from taking on such a transitional - or supporting - role.
4. They are patient
Life experience and age are their invisible crown of past and implied future. They can wait and anticipate and know that waiting is a crucial part of acting. They know the fun of failure and are not afraid to be bored or do nothing for days. In other words, they are strange according to today’s standard. This makes them unsuitable for exploitation.
5. They care for the soul and the aura
Above all, they are aware of the human soul and the aura. Now I will spend more articles on Walter Benjamin’s concept of the aura in the future, but for this article the most concise summary will do: the aura is the uniqueness of a piece of work that can only be found and experienced in its presence. Its presence in time and space.
The Janus knows this and knows that the “holy grail” of digital progress is a fake. Anything binary can never be holy.
The situations in which humans and to be human have become subordinated virtual accessories have proven to be physically and mentally unhealthy. More even, the digital realm and religion undermine aura, they undermine the human soul. The demand of digital exploitation of culture will always cause the cultural expression to become the opposite of what it set out to be. After all, taking part in digital distribution requires the artist, maker or audience to comply with its corrupting demands.
6. Their work cannot be eaten by AI
The changes that will come about through Janus counterculture will take place in the human dimensions of the tangible. Of the true and real.
Another important reason why upcoming Janus counterculture will not be digital, is the surge of AI; the summum of digital usurpation. Whenever culture is placed or published in the digital domain these days, it moves into the arena of monopolies, tech giants, dangerous terms and conditions and algorithms.
Most crucially: it consents to be devoured by AI.
7. They will attack the digital to reshape it
Janus artists do not want to express themselves with the danger of being usurped and then exploited and re-used, recycled without their soul or aural consent forever. Art and culture do not exist for reproduction, exploitation or self-affirmation.
This is why, Janus artists will attack and move away from the digital and ultimately change the digital domain forever.
I know this sounds hard to believe but think of it: is counterculture possible in the digital domain? Believe me. The first shocks of Janus counterculture will be brought about offline. Its foundations are place, time and soul. It is inherently offline, analogue, cognitive, tangible, direct.
Human. For the holy is human, the human is holy. Unpredictable, endless, but with an end.
Will you Janus along?
UPDATE: I have answered questions regarding this article. You can find this article below.
Janusing in Short
My recent article on the Janus generated some responses and new subscribers for which I am grateful. There were also some questions, which I understand, given that the article was intended as a fairly radical exposition.
here.