In a world dominated by inescapable principalities and webbed systems the only viable alternative to nihilism or revolution, is subversion. But how exactly how do we subvert the obstacles that stand before us?
Largely, I think the answer is allowing our lives to be influenced by an different narrative. A life which disregards what The Web says we should want, or like, or do. A life which culminates in doing things that people trapped in The Web think are weird.
And while discussing what subversion is can be helpful, its also worth discussing what subversion is not. And notably, subversion is not an endless stream of critical projects or pieces of media. In fact, an over emphasis on criticism is often a distraction, a way to artificially check subversion off our lists. A method of kicking the bucket of subversion down the road just a bit further.
In a way, criticism is the opposite of subversion. Criticism is loud, obvious, and short-lived whereas subversion is quiet, sneaky, and takes a life-time. True subversion is a daily decision. A never ending exercise in finding a different narrative to help us frame our decisions. A legitimate choice to do something different.
So while criticism and subversion are often conflated, and are in turn, conceptualized as opposing ends of a double edged sword, they should remain distinct tools in the kit of the disagreer. Criticism is not essential for subversion, and subversion is not essential for criticism. Keeping this in mind helps to ensure that whatever path we choose, whether it be loud and obvious or quiet and sneaky we do so regardless of how frequently it’s traveled.