RE: [microsound] The 'quest for newness'...

[Gunnar Garness <ggarness@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Wise words.  I couldn't agree more.  In the last 15 years the phenomenal
growth of cheaply produced and distributed media (and this includes the
internet of course) has proved itself a double edged sword and has only
worsened this situation Christopher speaks of.  On one hand, it is wonderful
that the distribution of music and many other arts has been taken out of the
hands of a privileged few who decide what gets heard or seen and what
doesn't.  On the other hand, how do we now weed through all the half baked
garbage to find the great undiscovered artists out there?  Exactly how many
self-proclaimed "experimental" or "avant garde" electronic artists can the
world actually support?   There has got to be something more that separates
truly inspired works from mediocre ones than merely fiddling with the latest
software to produce novel sounds.  I seriously doubt great work is going to
arise solely out of the novelty of the "new."

While I am truly excited by many of the new artists producing beautiful and
interesting minimal music, I would say that at least half of what gets
passed of as "experimental" or "avant garde" these days is some kid diddling
his new powerbook software or playing with effects.  The thing that
separates the former from the later is that they, in Christopher's terms,
strive for "excellence; in both thought and execution."

Gunnar Garness
ggarness@xxxxxxxxxxxx


-----Original Message-----
From: Christopher Murphy [mailto:chris@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2000 7:07 AM
To: microsound
Subject: [microsound] The 'quest for newness'...


Dear All,

It's not often I come out of my shell to communicate, but...

There is something worryingly flawed with this 'quest for newness' that has
been hinted at here recently (witness all the Oval-Centric originality
debate). I've never quite understood this obsession with being 'the first to
do something' or the 'originator', etc.

Certainly it's nice to think that one's work might have nudged things on a
little or subtly altered the course of events. I think though, that in this
day and age, nudging and shifting are the best we can ever hope for.

It's hard to rupture the past. Our spheres of influence are shrinking so
rapidly as (digital) communications hyper-condense the world. We are exposed
to so much that there is a certain inevitability that whatever we produce -
be it image, text, audio, whatever - will only ever be a re-configuration of
what has gone before.

What I think we can - and should - strive for in these circumstances is
excellence; in both thought and execution. There is so much ill-considered
and conceptually-flawed work unveiled to great fanfare under the banner of
the 'avant-garde' it worries me.

If we all just spent a little more time thinking and a little less time
doing I think we might end up with some very worthwhile results. I for one
can quite happily live with that.

Take care,

Christopher @ Fallt


=?=?=?=?=?=?=?=?=?=?=?=?=?=?=?=


An anthology devoted to small boxes, such as chests and caskets, would
constitute an important chapter in psychology. These complex pieces that a
craftsman creates are very evident witnesses of the need for secrecy, of an
intuitive sense of hiding places.
Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space

http://www.fallt.com  |  info@xxxxxxxxx

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