NEW YORK NEW YORK
Everybody seems to love it, they all talk about it.
Did I get lost in translation somehow?
A couple of things struck me though as different and important. First the money thing. Money moves much faster in NY, it comes and goes, detached somehow, competely devalued and yet absolutely dominating. People get paid more (at least the freelanceing friends that I talked with, I guess this is not the case for poor chefs and "backstage" workers) than I would ever get in Sthlm, but their rents are higher and their life costs as well. So somehow they still seem to have a more nervous relation to money than I do, barely breaking even. (...) Second its a very cool and self-aware place. I have always felt awkward with that, I can't identify. Third - and for sure the most interesting notion I had: So, I always look for the authentic in places. I know how retarded that sounds, and that it comes with its own form of exploitation, but this said I think there are some people who enjoy being a tourist and some people who don't. I don't. Lieven de Cauter writes in The Capsular Civilization about how we all turn into tourists in the postmodern city, including the permanent residents, and the cities becomes themeparks... Anyway; we found a diner around the corner of the hotel (Ok so we stayed only a couple of blocks from Times Square). It was a neat place, basic, felt authenic, very American (I have seen these types of places in innumerable movies - reality and hyperreality mixes so well). A friend of a friend, who was there at the same time, recommended another place - The Broadway Diner - and we went there to have breakfast one morning. The place was, in my head, less authentic. They played 40s jazz and names of famous people who had eaten there were inscribed in plaques lining the walls. I didn't feel anything when I saw those names except more difficulty in claiming my own experience. What takes the place of my experience of the location, is the narrative attached to the names. And don't get me wrong, I love 40s jazz. Its the names I don't get. I have also never been to Madame Toussauds, I dont get that either. The interesting thing was, that when comparing my own position concerning the authentic American, and that of our friend of a friend, I realized that his choice of diner was probably more authentic American than mine. A couple of days later I bought "Travels in Hyperreality" by Umberto Eco at the Strand:
from amazon site
"From Library Journal
This smorgasbord of 26 pieces ultimately focuses on the boundaries of realism as exemplified by the"hyper reality" of American phenomena like the Madonna Inn, wax museums, San Simeon, theme parks, etc. Though his tone is witty, Eco's purpose remains that of the semiologist. He is concerned about "the systems of signs that we use to describe the world and tell it to one another," and aims both to expose the "messages" of political and economic power and of "the entertainment industry and the revolution industry" and to show us how to analyze and criticize them.I haven't started reading it though.
Stockholm,
12-10-22
