Awesome Article on Toon Town, Circa 1992

From hyperreal.org comes this reprint of an article that appeared in The Examiner (back when it was a real paper) from 1992. Written by Cynthia Roberts in a slightly sensationalistic style, it describes a legendary Toon Town party and the state of the rave in San Fracisco during the rising tide of ecstasy and PLUR coming from Europe. Ah, remember how it felt when the Berlin Wall came down and we all thought that it would be tea and crumpets, kitties and puppies, from there on out? Back then rave was an expression of the euphoria that spread across Europe with the collapse of the Soviet Union and a belief that war was over, now was the dawning of a new golden age of virtual reality and the borderless world of cyberspace. Perhaps the demise of the current regime will be greeted with the same enthusiasm and we can all remember how good it felt to be on the dancefloor together. Here's my favorite bit, from the very end. It would be nice to feel this optimistic, hopeful, and naive again, wouldn't it?

For Mapes, Hughes and his fellow ravers represent more than just another new underground scene; they represent hope. "These are evolved kids, it's real important to tune into that. This is where art and technology and evolution are all linked. We evolve through our art and technology."

That evolution, Mapes believes, will lead to a more enlightened future. "We're laying the foundation of a 21st-century society and things like the rave are an expression of it. Think about New Year's Eve - 7,200 people and no fights. That's incredible. That's a lot of people who were harmonious with each other. And for them, it's an experience in living in the world they want to live in -- a microcosm of a possible future world. For a moment in time, hang out with a large number of like-minded people and you're grooving with them. That's very evolutionary. That's very healing."