by Andrea Bartz
First published 2010
Andrea Bartz ventures into Brooklyn's Williamsburg dive bars and San Francisco's Mission District alleys to decode the hipster mindset. She moves past the obvious markers of fixie bikes, worn shoes, and PBR cans to examine what truly drives the perpetually apathetic urban cool crowd. Through field research, illustrations, and data visualizations, Bartz catalogs the passionate hatred hipsters harbor for mainstream culture. She documents their romantic aversions to buying drinks for others, monogamy, and prompt text responses. She charts their fashion contempt for high heels, muscles, and tattoo inquiries. She maps their lifestyle rejection of steady employment, financial awareness, and genuine enthusiasm. Bartz reveals the irony at hipster culture's heart: these seemingly indifferent individuals maintain incredibly strong opinions about everything they claim not to care about.
Genres: satire, humor, contemporary, social-issues, comedy, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, satirical, thought-provoking
Tropes: cultural-critique, social-commentary
Setting: Brooklyn, Mission District, San Francisco, Williamsburg
Period: 21st Century
160 pages · Paperback · Ulysses Press