Draft:Milleniumpunk Aesthetic

• Comment: None of the references actually mention this by name. Stuartyeates (talk) 17:44, 5 December 2023 (UTC)

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The Milleniumpunk Aesthetic is a form of aesthetic expression in media and arts, such as movies, videogames, litterature and music. The main founding figure behind Milleniumpunk as a concept is probably Greek author and publisher George Valentine. Milleniumpunk is inspired by other genres and aesthetics, but it has its roots in hauntology, the Cyberpunk Culture and Mark Fisher's theory on the "Lost Futures", covered in his book, Ghosts of my Life.

Milleniumpunk

In pop culture, the "punk genres often blur the lines between different types of speculative fiction. They also share a lot of common themes, such as antiauthoritarianism and disestablishmentarianism. The commonality of these themes is largely responsible for the use of the word 'punk' in their names."

Just as with other aesthetic movements and punk sub-genres, such as Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Vaporwave and others, Milleniumpunk combines elements to create an alternative universe in which humanity is forever stuck within the principles of the Y2K and late 90's and basically, never moving to historical events, such as the 2007 - 2008 financial crisis and the COVID - 19 outbreak, since humanity is forever stuck in a universe that takes place between 1996 to 2006, with a few creative freedoms, chronologically speaking.

In this dystopian and simultaniously utopian alternate reality, people haven't experienced the problems of the late 2000s, so they live within the bubble of the Y2K era, dreaming about a prosperous and hi-tec future, similar to something out of a Frutiger Aero themed wallpaper, a Dreamcast game environment or an old early 2000s advertisement. However, as dreamy as this might sound, humanity and the bubble itself are in a constant threat of moving towards real life events, as the reasons for the abandonment of the Y2K movement appear as invisible threats, making anyone involved with preserving the society of each nation of said alternative universe, face the real dystopia of the shadows that form around the bubble. For said reasons, any form of Milleniumpunk art can explore either vivid and optimistic themes or very dark and noir ones, even at the very same time.

The principles of a Milleniumpunk universe are making the universe appear like a set from an early 2000s movie with futuristic elements, but still able to be identified as a product of that era. In litterature, where this aesthetic first appeared, characters of the book Three Dimensions (Τρεις Διαστάσεις) appear wearing cybergoth outfits, hanging out in punk and cybergoth clubs, using emails and SMS as their main form of communication and in later books of the same author, characters are seen using phones of that era, being way too attached to gadgets such as the i-pod and PDAs and while smartphones and modern devices seem to have been invented and people use them, most people seem to ignore them, as inferior devices, even using modern functions on older phones and gadgets overal and in some cases, using devices, such as a PlayStation2 to browse the internet, something that would be possible with much later consoles.

However, it's entirely possible for a Milleniumpunk themed universe to simply be more or less dependent on showing exagerating forms of time having stopped and simply using only few of its discussed themes, such as a futuristic optimism or the threats surrounding said universe.

Another topic that's slightly shown within this aesthetic or genre is preservation. Preservation in arts, via digitalisation, preservation in videogames, via emulation etc. Humans want to preserve their identity, their beliefs, even their individuality, thus creating forms or media that translate whatever materialistic into digits and a reality existing inside a different dimension, only visible to humans through their computer or phone screens. It's through this preservation that modern humanity keeps going forward, as if digitalisation is key to survival of the human race.

With the previous in mind, Milleniumpunk also delves into topics and forum-like philosophical discussions, such as the lost media and anything associated with them, from a nostalgic point of view, such as photos with filters and frames that make them look like old internet forums, media that try to recreate the original 2-chan and 4-chan talk and imageboards and more.

Milleniumpunk is an aesthetic that most of the times uses other aesthetic movements or litterature / film genres in order to achieve its form. The most obvious aesthetics appearing within a Milleniumpunk artwork are notably the Y2K aesthetic, the Frutiger Aero and the Dreamcast Aesthetic. However, on its dark cide, Milleniumpunk can often be viewed as a more 90s themed cyberpunku genre or a Neo-Cyberpunk genre, hence Milleniumpunk is also called Y2Kpunk and Meta-Cyberpunk. It's not uncommon for genres and aesthetics such as the Vaporwave, Dreamcore and Weirdcore aesthetic to make their appearance, or even aesthetics such as the liminal spaces, especially if they appear to be of places within that specific timeframe, as they add to the threatenind and dark side of Milleniumpunk's discussed fears.

Having first appeared and intentionally conceived in litterature, Milleniumpunk can be found in other media as well, although most of the times completely unintentionally until today.

In photography

Many Instagram users often create photos, adding filters that remind of old DvD films or add Windows 2000s stickers on said images. At the same time, many of these photos portray cars of that era or brands and shops that have since become synonymus with that specific era and true to Milleniumpunk being all about preservation, these photos could either be concidered as products of the Vaporwave Aesthetic, should they make somewhat of a critisism on the struggle to disassociate pleasure and fulfillment from artificial environments, such as shopping malls and virtual realities, but it could also potentially be considered a form of Milleniumpunk artwork, should it be more connected to preservation of that time and era from what has innevitably happened in reality. Such artworks can be found within the JDM culture and pages of JDM fans.

In music

Considering that Milleniumpunk touches topics such as the Lost Media, songs like Like the Wind, more commonly known by the title The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet, or The Song that Doesn't Exist could be considered a Milleniumpunk song, considering the fact that it was made available in the year 2000, long after it was first aired in the early 80's, with nobody ever able to find out any solid information about the song, as if it never existed.

In movies

The Fast and The Furious - Tokyo Drift is arguably a solid example of the Milleniumpunk aesthetic appearing in movies, even considering the fact that the movie takes place in 2015, as later concluded by the seventh instalment to the franchise, although everyone within the Tokyo Drift universe appear to be using technology and listening to music from the early 2000s. This is also unintentional, since the movie was not filmed with the concept of Milleniumpunk and its Aesthetic in mind, but so happens to be a great example of a world stuck in the 2000s.

Die Another Day is another example of an unintentional creation of a Milleniumpunk themed universe, where a highly optimistic 2000s world with eyes on a bright future is suddenly threatened by the villain.

Gamer is a film with a glimpse in a future when technology has enabled humans to control other people's bodies for entertainment, however the setting is clearly a satyre and exagerated depiction of the 2000s, with people dressed accordingly, using technology of the late 2000s, without the appearance of smartphones or later gadgets and also playing games that mostly depict game behemoths of that time, such as Ths Sims and Second Life, with the main protagonist's game being more likely a depiction of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer, Counter Strike or the similar themed, cult classic Kill Switch.

In videogames

Every Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell game before Conviction could fit the description of a Milleniumpunk universe, given the fact that more futuristic technology and themes are often discussed, although limited by a universe that appears within the limits of the 2000s. Sam Fisher's goggles, seem to add to the futuristic element, confined by the limitations of the 2000s technology and what that technology was capable of, with a sense of futuristic optimism.

The videogame Kill Switch is arguably a great example of a Milleniumpunk themed game, as the main character exists in an early 2000s universe, being controlled, however, by an evil corporation through computer technology that turns him into the ultimate cyber-soldier.

External links

• k-punk
• Mark Fisher | libcom.org
• Y2K | National Museum of American History (si.edu)
• 2000s | Timeline | Virtual Museum and Archive of the History of Financial Regulation (sechistorical.org)
• Timeline of the 2000s | Britannica
• EconPort - The dot-com Bubble