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One of the typical representatives of Generation Now
is my friend, Trupthi, a second year student at LSR. She recently introduced
me to a website with loads of attitude that she identifies with, and
visits regularly. When I logged on to www.getunderground.com,
I realised what she meant. The website’s slogan is ‘creative
resistance designed for the emancipation of the human spirit”.
It is a sub-mainstream arts and culture community dedicated to the free
expression of the creative global underground.
When I dug deeper, I discovered that Get Underground is a robust professional-level
community in design, consistency and content that features literary
articles, columnists, art, music, and poetry on a bi-weekly basis. Its
"HotSpots" section is perhaps the only continuously updated
national database of performance poetry venues in the United States.
Get Underground was founded by Shlomo Sher in May 2001. Since then,
it has continued to evolve and has collected in its fold, some outstanding
attitudinal writers and a community of committed readers. It’s
interesting how Shlomo, ‘an aspiring philosopher and writer for
whom life is a continuous struggle between bohemian ideals and practical
creature comforts’, describes Underground.
He debunks the common misconceptions that "Underground" refers
to the rave/electronica scene, is not mainstream, and is something that
people don't know about. He sees underground culture as overlapping
certain sectors of rave, hip-hop, indie, punk, goth, modern tribalistic,
poetry/spoken word and art-scene cultures. Each of these scenes/aesthetics/expressions,
Shlomo says, have certain elements that are and are not underground.
He suggests that “underground values” that glue it all together
are quintessentially reality, sincerity, freedom of creative expression,
art in itself, and creative pursuit “for love, not money.”
Underground goes to certain lengths to hide itself, in order to keep
itself "pure" of outside "pollution".
One of the most outstanding sections on the site is called Poetix,
which features new age experimental poetry and is deftly edited by Ratpack
Slim who has been rocking the LA poetry scene for about three years
now.
The site is interested in experimental writings and arts related to
personal impressions and experimental visions, as well as political
and social investigations. Global contributors of copy and multimedia
are offered a creative space for expression and promotion. Contributions
are submitted directly to the site and contributors can edit their submission
on the site through its web interface. You can post your creative work
on the site’s many forums. Says Slim: “I want to feel your
prose in my gut.”
Get Underground is an online platform that propels us towards creative
possibilities. If you are keen to keep your creative spirit alive and
kicking, simply dig in.
Carry on surfing!
strehan@hindustantimes.com
