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Re: [microsound] cultural production in a post-oil economy



HI all (my first post in this list),

I posted a message with similar concerns in the CEC-Conference mailing
list. The responses I got showed that some people felt offended and
others sympathetic. The way I addressed this issue was expressing my
own mixed feelings about being an electroacoustic music composer: on
one hand I have this wonderful sound universe that opens thanks to
sound technology and which presents all this new possibilities for
artistic expression, but on the other hand there are the environmental
and sustainability issues related to producing such technology.
Electronic music is completely based on technological developments
which are quite complex (going from the extraction of the raw natural
resources and passing through the design, manufacturing,
transportation, assembling and selling of electronic components and
devices) so I would say that this kind of artistic creation it's one
of the artistic "voices" of this big human achievement (which has
behind the research, work and intelligence of many people). So the
problem is: will this form of artistic expression survive the
sustainability issues that such technology is facing? Is it worth to
continue investing our time and efforts cultivating such art? Should I
just drop my computer and start cultivating the art of performing a
non-electronic instrument? Let's say we are already in a post-oil
economy, If I keep my computer and run it using solar cells but then
the video card crashes, there will be a local computer retailer to
sell me a new one? How can we adapt the whole technology industry so
we can have electronic devices not only available but also affordable
for a musician to use?



Hector




On 2/10/07, Kim Cascone <kim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://alternet.org/envirohealth/47705/

interesting article which my wife forwarded to me earlier today
I found his point on 'canned entertainment' very interesting
(although I find his analysis naive and reductionist overall)

but I thought this might make for a good list discussion

here is his view on culture production:

> 7. The age of canned entertainment is coming to and end. It was fun
> for a while. We liked "Citizen Kane" and the Beatles. But we're
> going to have to make our own music and our own drama down the
> road. We're going to need playhouses and live performance halls.
> We're going to need violin and banjo players and playwrights and
> scenery-makers, and singers. We'll need theater managers and stage-
> hands. The Internet is not going to save canned entertainment. The
> Internet will not work so well if the electricity is on the fritz
> half the time (or more).

any thoughts? opinions? view on how electronic (and all forms of
music) will look and feel in a post-oil economy?




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