Re: [microsound] the smooth and the cooked

[Sean Cooper <scooper@xxxxxxxx>]

one vastly reductive description might go something like this: smooth and
striated are two terms the authors use to characterize the experience of
concepts or ideas as the raw material of perceptual phenomena. something
that is "smooth" is being used conceptually (by an artist, say, or even
by the person viewing/hearing the art) in a way that dislodges the
concept or idea from certain systems of meaning or representation with
which it is closely associated. something that is "striated" is locked
into a system of associations that overdermines its
meaning. the term "deterritorialization" marks the process by which (among
other things) something striated is made smooth. these concepts typically 
apply to conceptual "syntheses" happening at the level of individual
perception and "recording" (another d&g concept that would take some
time to describe), but a this-listy example might be lifting a sample from
a well-known track, processing the hell out of it, and then using it in
another track. this describes the process by which something
"striated" (the sample as it originally existed in the track from which it
derives) is made smooth; "deterritorialization" is the means by which
this process is accomplished, and it is always combined with
"reterritorialization" (or, the sample as it is used in the new track
after the hell has been processed out of it).

as for your other question, it's hard to say why deleuze and guattari are
so popular among the e-music set, and there is certainly no one
answer. it's probably partly to do with how intimately connected up with
notions of improvisation and experimentation their concepts are (the 
above description, as sketchbook-y as it is, might help make that 
point). it's also probably partly to do with the fad value of
poststructuralist theory in general. certainly, the fact that one of the
key labels releasing music in this genre was named after one of deleuze
and guattari's major works ("mille plateaux") helped. also,
deleuze committed suicide in 1997 after a long battle with cancer, an
event which mobilized artists and labels familiar with his work to release
compilations in tribute to him (two appeared through sub rosa, and one
through mille plateaux), which undoubtedly contributed to the "meme
effect" that has produced a sharp rise in awareness of his work in the
last few years.

those interested in reading about deleuze and guattari might check out
brian massumi's "a user's guide to capitalism and schizophrenia," or go
directly to the texts: "a thousand plateaus," "anti-oedipus," and
deleuze's "the logic of sense," among a number of others. this is
down-and-dirty philosophy, however, and most of it has more to do with
age-old questions about being, the nature of knowledge and perception,
the nature of the state and political power, etc. "a thousand
plateaus" is probably the most useful to the non-philosophical reader as
it concerns a number of concepts and descriptions related to aesthetics,
culture, ethics, resistance, etc., but it's still pretty heady
stuff. buyer beware.

sc


On Tue, 31 Oct 2000, Gord & Alicia wrote:

> 
> 
> "the smooth always posseses a greater power of deterritorialization than
> the striated."
>    - Deleuze & Guattari
> 
> can someone, perhaps kim, explain (in english) what the hell this statement
> means and why i see these names brought up so often in regards to current
> electronic music?
> 
> thanks!
> g.
> 
> 
> 
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