I've been looking into vaporwave, particularly philosophical and cultural theory analysis of it, and an idea that kept constantly coming up was this idea of 'hauntology'.

coined by Jacques Derrida in 1993, Hauntology examines the cultural feeling of stasis that we find ourselves in, and while written in 1993, this concept has only become more relevant in our era due to the rise of the internet.

Mark Fisher, prominent arts writer, explored this idea of hauntology specifically through the lens of art. Fisher examined multiple pieces of modern artworks that, whether intentionally or not, allude to this feeling of cultural stasis, either through a focus on the styles and aesthetics of bygone era's, or through other means, such as extreme repetition in music, abstracted, dark, and timeless cityscapes in painting or film, or the use of 80s synthpop, abandoned malls, and Greek busts in the vaporwave aesthetic.

data dreams, or, ivixxi.dreams, is a concept that was birthed as a response to these ideas. Where vaporwave has a focus on sampling that directly pulls your attention towards our collective longing for the past, data dreams actively disorients the listener through it's extreme use of sampling, giving you no sense of nostalgia, and very little comfort to settle into. Instead, you are left to meditate on the sound that I have arranged, the ideas surrounding it, and the potential influence it may or may not have on music, and sound art in the future.