twenty year rule
The twenty year rule states that trends resurface around twenty years after their conception. These trends or styles can belong in various mediums, including fashion, music, movies and technology. For example, the rebooting of old films; there are countless instances of films that are suspiciously rebooted around the 20-year mark. Of course, this rule is not perfect. It's behavior is akin to Moore's Law in the sense that it is helpful to estimate patterns but not to approximate exact numbers.
I believe that this rule is based on the cyclical interval of twenty years because that is roughly the time difference between childhood and adulthood. This rule thrives on the nostalgia of one's childhood. As children grow and mature, their naive notions of the world are juxtaposed with new ideas and styles. Once they mature into aduls and have more power to influence others, their nostalgia for their childhood emerges, and with it, a subconcious revival of the past at a cultural level.
This last year, my nostalgic indulgences of early 2000s culture have eveloved into an infatuation. I have found myself yearning for the zeitgeist of the 2000s. And I can't help think: what happened? What happened to the mesmerizing translucent electronics like the Game Boy Advance or the iMac? What happened to the hypnotic rhythms of techno and trance? What happened to the outstanding boldness in design, the blissful optimism for the future, and the boundless promise of the Internet?
At first, I dismissed this as some elaborate form of escapism. I thought that as I get older and more resentful over the state of the world, it would make sense for me to want to return to a simpler time. However, I have found that there are many people that concur with these feelings. I assume that you feel the same way.
It seems to me I am living two lives. Outside of the Internet, I live a life in the present year. But online, I am twenty years in the past. This website is conclusive evidence for this separation. perfectn0ir is the amalgamation of these thoughts and nostalgia of the 2000s. When I started this website, I thought I wanted to rebel against social media and find a new way to express myself. However, I now understand that this website was created out of an internal necessity to figuratively relive the early 2000s.
I whole-heartedly believe that this epiphany of mine is a good sign for the future of this blog. I honestly don't understand how I hadn't noticed earlier. But now that I have, I can begin to truly express my love for this era.
If you feel the same way, I strongly encourage you to start a website to voice your thoughts. Consider this: how many people use Instagram to write extended blog posts (or anything remotely creative)? Or many people use Twitter to talk about their music or art? Or, dare I say it, how many people use TikTok for anything that is not brain rot? The harsh truth is that social media is designed to kill and obscure creative expression. If you are looking for a place to be yourself and express yourself, display your art, or in my case, relive the 2000s, make a website.
Appendix:
https://www.webdesignmuseum.org/exhibitions/y2k-aesthetic-in-web-design - collection of early 2000s websites
https://archive.org/details/metalheart0000lind/ - seminal art book of the 2000s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nONsDtHZk5Y - modern trance mix emulating 2000s trance
https://www.w3schools.com/html/ - everything one needs to start a website