Dark Euphoria
A visualisation of Brue Stirling’s notes
on the cultural temperament of the
coming decade: Reboot 11

Where did the future go?
• We’ve known since the
12th century what
progress is: Master
nature, more security,
better health.....
• What we’re going to get:
No money, scarcity,
financial collapse, low-
intensity global warfare,
and a climate crisis.
• We’re deliberately
moving backwards.

the cultural temperament of the coming decade
• Aging Baby • Gen x:
Boomers. things falling
Have the apart,
votes. everything
is possible
Crisis Gothic
Capitalism High Tech
Shock of Dark
the old Euphoria
Emergent
Favela
countries Chic
• BRICS, • Gen x:
fundies- action is
globalising but cheaper
not progressing than control

Who is? What is?
GOTHIC HIGH TECH

Steve Jobs
•brilliant but dying of
something secret and horrible
•got both hands on the
steering wheel
- but death is waiting

a heroic 18th
century gothic
novel
brilliant
poly-ethnic
with no
ideology

will cheerfully
campaign against themselves

no lie holds sway
-but nothing
holds

position
themselves
in the narrative
rather than
build any
permanent
infrastructure

cheerleaders not leaders

why are gen x goths?
why do they like to dress up like dead
people?
don't blame me
because
I'm already dead
don't blame me
I'm a vampire

And on the flipside
FAVELA CHIC

lost everything
material-
everything
they've built and
every thing they
have but
wired to the gills

no children
no relationships

but big
on facebook

Facebook is a favela- the
whole thing is going south,
no civil rights, you can't
make money there,, you live
there until they pull the plug

an emergent structure
action is cheaper
than control

you can't insure it or
get title to it
-no inspections
-it's a slum that you
built yourself with
play labour

a civilized squat a stuffed animal:
a smokestack
industry,
repurposed

there isn't
any other
place to go
the old new
an urban intervention

References IMAGES
• Bruce Stirling’s Closing Key note Dark 1. Your Personal "Flying Carpet”
Euphoria- the cultural temperament of the http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollywoodplace/3016264752/
2. "buy this new thing, suckers"
coming decade: Gothic High-Tech and http://www.flickr.com/photos/jarod_uses_film/2576845129/
Favela Chic 3. The Watchers Ruin:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mwest/215218600/
• “It is neither progress nor conservatism 4. Confrontation?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jarra/1350029316/
because there's nothing left to conserve
5. Banksy http://www.flickr.com/photos/simon-
and no direction in which to progress. So crubellier/147034740/
what you get is transition. Transition to 6. Lobbyists for McCain
http://www.flickr.com/photos/darynbarry/2831975838/
nowhere.'" 7. cheerleaders
• http://video.reboot.dk/video/486788/bruc 8.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/earthdog/31471319/
eat the people who piss me
e-sterling-reboot-11 off.http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitca/2280075391/
9. Electrical http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurman/2199563743/
• He defines four quadrants for the coming 10. My social Network on Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and MyblogLog
decade and neatly discards this half as http://www.flickr.com/photos/luc/1824234195/
11. James, I think your cover's blown!
being irrelevant for the audience (which http://www.flickr.com/photos/23912576@N05/2962194797/
equates to the majority of the world's 12. The moon belongs to everyone...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mauronascimento/2606241050/
population): the financial crisis of the
13. Jumping into the new dimension
Boomer generation, the BRICs, the http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterhack/2328014257/
emerging economies and the 'fundies' of 14. always in beta
http://www.flickr.com/photos/russelldavies/375434178/
all persuasions 15. http://www.treehugger.com/2008-01-14_110939-TreeHugger-
wigglesworth1.jpg
• length 45 minutes 16. http://steampunkworkshop.com/stunning-etched-brass-
modular-synth