Explore the symbiotic relationship between music and visuals during the rave scene of the 90’s
Throughout history there has been a symbiotic relationship linking sound over visual elements which compliment each other. This can be seen in eras as early as ancient Greece, where theatres would have passages built under the audience to have stones rolled down, which would be used to mimic the sound of thunder to give certain scenes emphasis and drama. This later spans onto the use of music being played over and film and could be seen in silent movies, where music would be used as an alternative to dialogue. The results of forms of sound being put over visuals have always been a tool to heighten the emotions of an audience. Nowadays this relationship is used in a variety of ways. My exploration will focus on the rave scene of the 90’s. Although camera presence was scarce at these events, the subculture attracted a small creative crowd who ended up capturing an integral part of British history, of which has been influenced by many external aspects. I was particularly inspired by the SWEET HARMONY exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery: “An immersive exhibition devoted to presenting a revolutionary survey of rave culture through the voices and lenses of those who experienced it”. This took my interest because upon observing the experiences and influences of the people who attended these parties, I could see the way in which it had fed into the massive party scene nowadays and the diverse visuals which often accompany these to make them spectacles to an audience.
An argument raised about the presence of visuals in 90’s raves is whether or not they were important at that time. The contrary outlook is that these parties were about unity of people and music. Due to the technology of the time, equipment like projections and, in some cases, set building for visual purposes would have been scarce. The Documentary, Everybody in the Place - an incomplete history of Britain 1984-1992, Artist Jeremy Deller summarises the mood of Britain at that time. He calls upon Karl Marx’s German ideology of 1845 and his theory of alienation, saying “The Class which has the means of material production has control at the same time over the means of mental production”. Although Marx had no correlation with the rave scene, Deller’s point was that at the time, people were creating for themselves both in producing music and throwing parties as a means of making income, thus transcending the normal working class lifestyle. This rebellious attitude has no significance to the importance of visuals being played over music, but rather how the scene was about people creating something for themselves. In a way, Deller largely summarises the purpose of rave culture as “illicit underground groups of people who were whipped up into frenzies by music and sound’.
The beginnings of this massive movement largely started in the black community, who at the time were still shunned from some walks of life, resulting in the creation of their own party scene. Large sound systems would tour around the UK, utilising spaces like schools and community centres, a source from Jeremy Deller’s documentary comments on the “big boxes, booming bass, ganja smoking”. Such events can still be seen nowadays. I have experienced first hand the touring Iration Steppas sound system, which demonstrates exactly what is described, with intentions going no further than music, freedom of expression and unity. From witnessing this I recognised how visuals were certainly not essential to the mood and atmosphere because the room would be dominated by the enormous sound systems and characterised by the people who attended. Despite the people’s primary intention for raves being to have a release through music, I found it hard to believe visual elements played no part in creating the euphoric atmospheres which people describe. I designed a short questionnaire with my queries about the creative involvement of such events to be sent to the generation who spent their youthful weekends dancing to acid house music . A reply I received from a source who attended and curated parties such as Spiral Tribe (one of the raves which took place in the prime of British rave history), commenting that “lasers would come down and touch the dancefloor and people would put their fingers up to touch it. The DJ had the ability to coordinate music, lights and visuals which pushed people to near frenzy”. Here one can see how the rave scene had developed as it became more mainstream. Incorporation of equipment like sound reacting light shows became a far more prominent feature of raves in the early 90’s.
Looking back on the scene from the present shows the attraction creatives had to this subculture both at the time and resonating to the present. The recent SWEET HARMONY exhibition demonstrates beautifully the relationship between the rise of the acid house scene and the creatives who were inspired by it through a number of mediums. A room which took my interest had a wall decorated with an array of psychedelic posters and diary entries of the ecstatic youths and their experiences. The posters struck me as an integral part of the culture, all of which poured into them the vibrancy and excitement of what the parties were to be. A source from my survey explained how “there was always visual stimulation. In the early days it was quite homemade but there was always visual creativity at raves.” The images of these posters illustrate this well:
From the art of these posters, one can see how the visual aspect of raves transcended the accompaniment of music and visuals to advertising them with visually enthralling artwork. These posters would have been supplied to the public in various ways and became like collectors items, some of which sell on Ebay for fortunes. Clear influences of such work come from Victor Moscoso, who designed similar posters for rock concerts only a decade before the rave scene began. “Moscoso, Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley and Wes Wilson were the Big Five of what is now called the psychedelic art movement”. Their work seems very alike to the ideals discussed earlier about means of production. Moscoso’s ideals of self promotion are apparent in Robert Urquhart’s article about the Artist: “I always treated the job as if I was a plumber. Would you ask a plumber to fit a toilet for free? No. So don’t ask me. I call myself a graphic designer, that’s a practical and useful role in society.” Much alike to what was happening close after this, artists were creating posters bursting with colour to line the streets, attracting a crowd through visually pleasing imagery. This strikes me as the primary way people would incorporate visuals into these parties and is evidence that despite there being limited technological resources, psychedelia within these posters was present throughout this era in Britain as a way of attracting a young crowd to attend.
The rise of this culture and its holistic nature, encompassing people from all walks of life caught the eye of many creatives. In Jeremy Deller’s investigation into rave culture, he comments that “the closest equivalent to the nightclub is the Church where people support each other and share common values”. Although initially, I would be skeptical about his comparisons, he also presents photographs of Electronic music band Kraftwerk introducing their music to the people of Detroit along with others from the same era of musical enlightenment.
These photographs were taken in the mid 1980’s when acid House and rave culture was on the rise. Similar photographs filled the walls at the Saatchi Gallery as a timeline leading to the present day. Deller also compares them to “ contemporary history paintings”, outlining how the photographs marked a period of historical change and the uprising of a new movement. In my investigations, another query I had was whether the people felt it an integral part of history. This got mixed responses... one of which was that “we were just swept up in the moment… as time passes however looking back there were some very significant social changes happening. The proof of that being the changes in law that were made to prevent sizeable gatherings . I imagine that the 60s felt the same as young people took on the Establishment and refused to be bullied, scared or forced in any way to conform to lives that they did not want to live”. The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994 changed the political mood in Britain and brought about many protests. Many members of Parliament considered the culture as antisocial behaviour, which resulted in increased criminal penalisation of those who attended and hosted raves. The conflict brought more media coverage to the issue at events such as the Freedom to Party Demonstration, 1990, where 10,000 people gathered to protest against the stringent new laws. Parties were beginning to be a statement and those involved became in it for more than the music, but to demonstrate human rights. Deller says how “these parties tapped into a pre-Christian chaotic world. The British countryside has always been a site of conflict throughout history, and this was no less the case in the 1980’s, where ideological battles were being fought in fields”. Largely this refers to the “New Age Travellers” who received massive media coverage at events like their pilgrimage to Stonehenge, which was stopped in its tracks by the Police. The publication of such events caught a massive conflict in Britain with seemingly innocent protestors becoming victims of police brutality. Naturally the photographs of such events created powerful imagery which resonates to the present day. Perhaps the history of this culture didn’t have direct impact on visuals within the party scene, but the imagery certainly gives an impression of the holistic nature of the movement in the 80’s and 90’s encompassing politics clashing with people from all walks of life, hence drawing the eyes of a number of creatives. Many of which were involved in this “raggle-taggle kind of army, brought together by loose, anarchic disorganisations”. Tom Hunter is one such creative, who photographed his odyssey across Europe visiting various raves. His photo series Le Crowbar tells the story of his travels “with a group of friends in an old double decker bus, loaded with muesli, Sosmix, baby-foot table and a sound system. Fuelled by selling egg butties, veggie burgers and beer”. People were captivated by the simple story of “ friends on a journey, exploring new horizons and ways of living on the road” resonates today. Clearly the sense of escapism created by such artists was something admired by the public because it makes a powerful statement of independence in the wake of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, 1994.
as many of Hunter’s photographs were in large print at the Saatchi Gallery.
The disarray at the time also attracted the Chapman brothers, who sprung to convey their dark perspective on the matter. Their response was to create “enormous, red Nazi-style banner flags adorned with the smiley face synonymous with rave culture where the swastika should have been. Then in 2013, Dinos Chapman released his debut album Luftbobler, the result of a decade spent experimenting with sound”. By associating the logo of acid house with Nazi imagery demonstrated a somewhat extreme outlook on the police activity against ‘New Age Travellers’. As such a significant chain of events in Britain, encompassing politics, the Chapman brothers were sure to respond, and with all the instances of artists’ attention the matter was receiving, the visual stigma behind rave culture grew. Often with the smiley face being a logo to spur it on. This logo in itself became a powerful visual symbol, which in conjunction with the music became a symbol of the rave movement. An interesting opinion brought up when discussing the topic had been how the music rarely required lyrics. When looking at footage of the enormous crowds adorned with flags, all dancing, the solidarity of the people and music was enough to convey the ideals of the raver and created a powerful message of resilience.
A theme which has resonated throughout my investigation is the power of a crowd. The sense of euphoria at these parties which can be seen both in the footage of 90’s raves and my own experiences of nightlife nowadays which, despite being different visually and socially, carries the same significant sense of harmony. The importance of the music being part of the message was also important. Clips in Jeremy Deller’s Documentary of a group of people dancing to Kraftwerk’s electronic music highlighted to me the sense of identity people could attain at raves, allowing people to act and look in whatever way they wanted with no fear of judgment. Therefore I created animated visuals to be projected over music. I designed a number of colourful characters to decorate the scene and make it steadily grow. Furthermore, to depict the unofficial nature of many raves, arched bridges are also featured to make it look like a form of disused railway track. The visuals were made to be looped over any music. Overall this conveys the message of rave culture through the combination of sound and visuals because of the power of a crowd, motivated and spurred on by music. Furthermore,, visuals were not always incorporated into the rave scene, but almost all instances which have been recorded carry a powerful visual message.
