Samson Young vs Mark Fisher: cancellation of the future

Samson young showed us some great examples of how he incorporates huge installations to partner with his sonic work; he has an ability to combine political attributes with futuristic ideas blew my mind. His ‘Utopia Trilogy #3: Houses of Tomorrow (feat. Michael Schiefel)’ (2019) show to me a current movement of experimental work.

In juxtaposition to this when reading about Mark Fisher and his ideas on the cancellation of the future I felt the urge to argue examples such as Young and his work.

“The slow cancellation of the future has been accompanied by a deflation of expectations” – Mark Fisher 

Mark Fisher’s theory of cancelled sonic futurism tries to portray a light where music will no longer improve. His arguments comparing The Beatles and other musicians who were seen ‘before their time’ are prominent throughout his interview. It can be said that during the rush of change in 1971, music did take a swerve in advancements; synthesisers being invented, polyphonic sound systems and endless tape loops. However, despite the rush of technology, I believe strongly that this was only relevant to the westernised world. America and England were facing the wave of the Civil Rights movement. The hippy movement was upon them; racial attitudes were beginning to change, and protestors were standing up to war… I believe that although Fisher has a point in his comparisons it has to be noted that socially the Western world was changing causing inevitable developments within pop culture. 

It’s important to argue that Fisher is a white straight male who grew up in this era and geographical location. His arguments stay biased to what he knows. I see his arguments as very one-sided and almost uneducated. Samson Youn is a Chinese citizen who in the modern day is producing work based on the political governing of Hong Kong. With his use of installed materials and sculptures, his creativity is beyond anything in the past. Changes within music have taken place all around the world and still are every single day. Racial groups, different genders, cultures and other sexualities have created new sounds and communities all over the planet. Just because Fisher’s genre has had a halt in differences that does not mean it can be said for the entire world’s sonic movements.