https://27-club-in-memoriam6.webnode.com
Like human culture itself, the human approach to death has evolved with the advent of new technology. Of particular note is the perception of death at the turn of the 19thcentury, or as coined by scholar Philippe Ariès, the age of the death of the other. This era of death is largely characterized by a rapid increase in public memorialization of the deceased, focusing on the experience of the bereaved and a “certain romanticisation of death” (Graham, Arnold, Kohn & Gibbs, 4). A shift in thought similar to that of the 1800s is occurring in our generation, with the new phenomenon of online memorialization which has emerged within the last 10 years. Just as public memorials during the 19thcentury expanded the grieving experiences to wider circles, online memorials are transcending the boundaries previously set in place regarding death and mourning. These memorials, which take form on various social media platforms and websites dedicated to remembering the deceased, are de-sequestering the grief process to remove the temporal, spatial, and social boundaries which previously contained and restricted the personal grief process, along with the death of the individual themselves (Brubaker, Hayes, & Dourish, 15). In this way, the phenomenon of death has become less individual, but communal; less temporal than enduring. These online memorials “support ongoing interaction between the living and the dead (‘an enduring and expanding space for the deceased’) …” as the “engagement of the senses by online memorials mean less exertion of the imagination by the living when memorializing, mitigating the lack of proximity between the physical body and the memorial” (Graham et al., 6). The ease with which an individual can “interact” with the deceased is much greater through an online memorial than through approaching a burial site. Further, as strange as it may be, part of the loss which is felt by the bereaved is the lack of presence of the deceased on digital platforms. However, this loss is minimized via online memorials, as they resemble communication with the living and “express continuing bonds with the dead.” As put by Graham et al. (2015), through online memorials, the dead are “playing a social role in society because of the internet and democratized memory-making.” Thus, the aesthetics of online memorials not only break down temporal, spatial, and social boundaries, but also give the dead a renewed “life” of their own. With this in mind, consider the meaning behind the memorial page at hand.
The present work, a memorial page dedicated exclusively to the 27 club, aims to highlight and reveal the strangeness of both the 27 club itself and the phenomenon of online memorials. Before discussing the design of the memorial page, however, it is necessary to examine the 27 club as an entity in its own right. There exists a purely coincidental mass of young, influential artists and musicians who have tragically died at the age of 27. Many of these members either lost their life to drugs and alcohol or took their own life through suicidal means. The notional club is not recognized by any organization, nor are there official parameters for induction. However, a certain degree of fame, following, and artistic influence seems to be implicit in becoming a member of the club, and obviously, dying at far too young an age. The irony of this club emerges in its exclusivity, in that it seems almost desirable to be inducted, despite the morbid qualifications. After the death of her son, Kurt Cobain’s mother reportedly said, “Now he’s gone and joined that stupid club. I told him not to join that stupid club,” (Sounes, 12) suggesting that there was talk of becoming a member before his death. In the case of Cobain and his suicide, this premeditation may seem plausible, but in the case of other “accidental” deaths, many speculators have interjected their own theories about induction into the club. In his book 27: A History of the 27 Club Through the Lives of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse, Howard Sounes speaks to how this “flippant, vulgar” term has come to be widely understood and is source of intrigue for many. The author mentions that while journalists are the biggest perpetrators of speculation and gossip, some fans have claimed that this club is not due to random events, or a pop culture rampant with drugs and mental illness, but rather that there are higher, supernatural powers at play in selecting and grouping these prominent artists. This intrigue of tragedy and death is not new, but rather fits the mold of the death of the other as described by Ariès in the 19thcentury.
This romanticization of the 27 club death is further investigated in a senior thesis at Tulane entitled “Sells like Teen Spirit” by Bryce Berman, as he speaks about the ways in which those who survive these deceased figures have taken the club, and made it something of their own. As mentioned earlier, there seems to be an intrigue and cultural fascination with tragedy. Fans have come to conceptualize the deaths of these figures as honorable, “idolizing them for ‘dying for their art’ and for public consumption” (Berman, 10). This romantic ideal of dying for a cause, specifically their music, seems to dress up the death and mourning of these young artists despite their heat-breaking end.
While fans and followers are the usual individuals to commandeer the death of members of the 27 club, Berman exposes another, less obvious population of hijackers: managers and even the stars themselves. To die at the age of 27 and become a member of the club is to be memorialized and thus “metaphorically exhumed” (Berman, 13) alongside those greats such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones, Amy Winehouse, and Kurt Cobain. It is rare that death would be conceptualized as anything other than the end of a life, as it is still taboo despite cultural fixation. However, by way of Amy Winehouse as an example, Berman discusses how death at the age of 27 may actually be a business strategy. He explains that after the peak of Winehouse’s fame, her death had become “a predictable but compelling career move—a new-age deus ex-machina in which death can save the celebrity from disintegrated into the cultural abyss” (Berman, 17) Thus, Winehouse’s death, while still tragic, was “the perfect end to a scandalous life and the beginning of cultural exhumation by the media” (Berman, 17). The key word here, aside from “cultural exhumation” is “media.” The deaths of figures such as Hendrix and Joplin were consumed and appropriated by the public through newspaper, radio, and word of mouth. However, for those members of the club who have died in this generation of technology, the commodification of their death is significantly more apparent. With the phenomenon of online memorialization, not only can fans grieve all the more publicly and maintain their ties to the famed figures, but also managers and the stars themselves will experience massive publicity and media consumption.
I have attempted to create an example of such commodification via this online memorial page dedicated to the members of this exclusive 27 club. The home page of this website opens with the faces of the most prominent members of the club, reminding you immediately that they are within a club, and you are on the outside. As you scroll down, you will see the featured club member of the week, Jimi Hendrix (much like an employee of the month). There are YouTube videos specifically about Jimi and his performances, a few featured pictures, and a poll where visitors to the page can vote for their favorite Hendrix song. The pictures and videos are typical of online memorialization, as they allow for individuals to reminisce and relive performances through a lens. However, the poll (although I could not figure out how to make it work) is a way in which, even after the artist has passed, the public can still impose their opinions on their art. This is both an example of the “death of the other,” as it is not so much about the artist as it is about the fan, and the commodification of death, as these top-rated songs are that by which the artist will be remembered andthe songs which fans are most likely to purchase/listen to. Other tabs are dedicated to conventional aspects of memorial pages; A biography page outlines Hendrix’s life, a discography page documents his lasting legacy as a musician, and a memories page on which fans can post their experiences regarding the artist. The memories page, of course, is again for the fans and those who grieve Jimi’s death, demonstrating further the death of the other and the emphasis of the experience of those whom the artist left behind, rather than the deceased himself. Finally, the VIP access page, is the ultimate example of the commodification of death as manifested by online memorial pages. In order to be a part of an exclusive group, in a way similar to that of the 27 club, viewers must register for a monthly fee. This money-making strategy capitalizes off of the grief of fans, their need to demonstrate their fandom, and their desire to be a part of an exclusive group.
In sum, online memorialization has produced a process of centophisation, or a shift in “beliefs about death and how the living should engage with the dead… ‘so that in their new state of being dead, the deceased can be envisaged as in life; doing and being, in familiar or longed-for places that the bereaved can also envisage and may share” (Graham et al., 4). This is exactly the purpose of the online memorial page for the 27 club which I have created, as fans are able to re-experience their memories, or quasi memories, through media. What is unique about my memorial page is the demographic of the deceased who are featured on the page. The core irony lies in the exclusivity of the 27 club—that in order to be inducted you must die tragically at the age of 27. The 27 club itself may be a business strategy, commodifying the death of young artists who have no better career move. However, the nature of the club paired with the phenomenon of online memorialization highlights not only the shifting, and strange attitudes regarding death in our society, but also the infiltration of greed into the one of the most sensitive aspects of human life: death.
References
Berman, B. (2018). Sells like teen spirit: The commodification of the addicted artist. ResearchGate. Tulane University. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20320.17920
Brubaker, J., Hayes, G., & Dourish, P. (2013). Beyond the grave: Facebook as a site for the expansion of death and mourning. Information Society, 29(3), 152-163.
Grahman, C., Arnold, M., Kohn, T., & Gibbs, M.R. (2015). Gravesites and website: a comparison of memorialization. Visual Studies, 30(1), 37-53.
Sounes, H. (2013). 27: A history of the 27 club through the lives of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix,Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse. Boston, MA: Da Capo Press.