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Re: [microsound] food for thought
From: anechoic <kim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
...coming back to the US after being out of the country is always an
eye-opener...road rage, complacency and materialism are prevelent
everywhere...
Kim, how does Microsound play a part in this culture of materialism? You
just mentioned getting SMS messages on your mobile and in the past you've
discussed the high-tech digital mediasphere as being an integral part of the
microsound aesthetic. If that is the culture of microsound, where does that
leave people who don't have access to laptops and cellphones or those who
aren't the least bit interested in acquiring those symbols of new economy
success?
If the tool is the message and the tool is a powerbook, is the message any
more than a glorified Apple advertisement? Does microsound have any
substance beneath it's high-tech facade?
...the US is sheltered
from how others around the world see us and we need to wake up and start
questioning the political values we embrace and the values we export
through the media...
I know what you are saying here, but perhaps we should also think of the
values embraced by the niche "media" of the microsound list. What does it
mean to make computer music and help perpetuate an industry that thrives on
a rapid cycle of obsolescence and the design of computers as disposable
fashion accessories? Those old computers and monitors that we throw away
and consider junk every couple of years pose a serious environmental threat
and people have died thanks to the constant cycle of semiconductor
manufacturing. What does this mean for some of the people on this list who
at the forefront of the computer industry and also choose to make art that
embraces cutting-edge technology as a complete lifestyle? In the past when
I have tried to raise these questions they went ignored, so I hope that
doesn't mean that I'm coming across as bitchy or rude. I'm sincerely trying
to better understand what philisophical ideas there are behind microsound.
over the last couple of years the microsound list has degenerated into
little more than a trainspotting fan-boy list that has little to do with
what the founders intended: to develop philosophical dialog about (post)
digital/glitch/microsound/etc music...
so in closing, I am not going to answer *any* emails regarding this
post...
Well, so much for a dialogue.
just read it and think about where this list is headed and what part
you want to play (via your posts) in where a potentially exciting sub-genre
of computer music is headed...I think a change is needed in how we think
and conduct ourselves...
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