microsound as net.art

[Glenn Bach <gbach@xxxxxxxxx>]

> And to reiterate Kim's question: is microsound net.art?

I think that the microsound remix projects serve as an example of
collaborative curatorial activity possible only because of the internet.
The fact that samples are freely shared as viral agents inspiring entirely
new work is, I believe, an exciting aspect of internet music culture.  I
know that tape trading has been going on for a long time, but the digital
transmission of raw elements is unique, and I think microsound has tapped
into that quite extensively.

> How open is microsound to appropriation by the hip wing of the
> software industry?

Aren't the lines blurred already?  The close relationships that users and
developers share in PD, MaxMSP, Supercollider, etc.  People writing and
sharing patches . . .

> Are us microsounders less concerned than we should be
> about the appropriation of our work by advocates of the free-trade
> version of the "information economy" or by people with less-than-holy
> agendas?

I don't think there is anything anyone can do to prevent appropriation by
the larger overground community, although when it happens it's usually the
stylistic trappings of the music (glitch type sounds in TV commercials)
rather than the deeper issues of microsonic analysis or critique of the
digital utopia.  So, while the characteristic clicks and pops and stutters
might get trendy (if they aren't already), the core issues of microsound
(electroacoustic or lowercase in general) will not.

And then the databenders will always be a few steps ahead, pushing and
pulling and tweaking the software and hardware in ways developers still
haven't anticipated.

I'm looking forward to seeing the evolution of microsound after its telltale
sounds get co-opted, perhaps a further exploration of its spiritual and
poetic underpinnings.

G.

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