October 30, 2006 at 06:31 | Posted in Musings | Leave a comment
Jacques Derrida had been the first person to walk on the moon?
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October 30, 2006 at 04:43 | Posted in Anti-doomsday, Musings | Leave a comment
So, let us depart from the notion that both time and space are infinite. Because they are infinite the ways in which we understand them do not necessarily convene with the extent of their functions; time and space operate in ways that we cannot conceptualize. One way of looking at this is to think of every event as being simultaneous: your birth and death are occuring at the same time, along with everything in between them. Now, within this quasi-continuum of time what happens if we are the aliens that we’re looking for? What if humans of the ‘future’ were to return to an Earth of the ‘past’ (our present)? If this is true then the question, “Are there other intelligent life forms,” is unimportant, especially since it seems that we haven’t found any other forms of life yet; we don’t need to find them, because we are them.
Imagine us being able to interact with the earliest known human beings–we would certainly seem as ‘aliens’ do to us.
Wouldn’t we?
October 30, 2006 at 04:07 | Posted in Documentation of things, Grad school update, new york, Things related to critical theory, Things related to John Cage | Leave a comment
I am doing a project in my musical ethnography course that looks towards the human event of hearing in hopes of uncovering some insights into the trace of a phenomenological interface with unmediated sound. By taking various instances of aurality and combining them into a single signifying matrix I hope to render some sort of artifact that can provide a mimetic conceptualization of unmediated sound; it’s paradoxical, but it’s fun. Friday morning Chris Tabron and I went out to do some field recordings. Here are some photos from then.
October 25, 2006 at 04:28 | Posted in Grad school update, new york, Things related to critical theory, Things related to John Cage | Leave a comment
I continue to work on/develop/think about body theories. School has been a bit slow the last week or two. My musical ethnography class hit a bit of a lull as our equpiment order has been sitting in limbo, and my Affect Terror Biopolitics class has been difficult for me to navigate. I feel like the discussion in class often focuses solely on the shortcomings of the texts that we read, and that conversation rarely revolves around points of dispersion, or integration. I don’t know why this is such a difficult thing for me to get over because I seem to spend so much time lately talking shit about my peers, but nonetheless I don’t think too fondly of my own digressions either.
It’s starting to get cold here in New York. For the first time in eight years I haven’t been sleeping well–it’s strange. I rarely sleep through the night, and if I do I don’t wake up feeling rested.
I took some splendid field recordings at the Southside Seaport last Friday night with Chris Tabron. We wound up with some great sounds. Of specific fascination to me were recordings of a footbridge (about forty feet in length) going from a dock to a boat. The bridge had wheels at its dockside base, and beneath the wheels was a large metal plate. As the boat shifted in the port’s water the footbridge moved back and forth slightly on the metal plate producing a massive squeaking sound; unique. I also got some great sounds by placing stereo contact mics on one of the steel support beams for the FDR overpass.
I met with Richard Shcechner today to talk about my bodily theories and he brought up some interesting points about genetics that I hadn’t thought of. I also met with Jason Stanyek today in order to discuss some concerns about my project for musical ethnography. I had originally planned to do an audio documentray on skateboarding, but scrapped that idea when I hurt my foot. My new project involves field recordings from all over New York edited together in a way that attempts a mimetic performance of New York’s unmediated sonic body. This project mimics my Body project as it is predicated on the notion that the individuated body exists only in its occupation of multiple parts of a larger whole. Individuated aurality takes place as individuated bodies accumulate a method for navigating collective aurality by focusing on certain sounds, frequencies, rhythms, et cetera, and then codifying these facets into a map that is continually transposed onto the immediate aural geography. My concern was that the project may not be focused enough and I may wind up with nothing but a mess on my hands. Jason suggested that instead of simply going out and recording, that I speak to some people about their notion of sonic New York, record the conversations, record their versions of sonic New York, and then edit the whole thing together. Such amazing advice. The dilemma of my aesthetic process is that in order to conceptualize a methodology I identify and occupy the polar opposite of anything that can be empathized with. In most cases my efforts work, but in this case the human identity provides a crucial aspect in the produciton of aurality, and thus must be integrated rather than expelled. Jason’s response was enlightening because he saw my concerns when I couldn’t.
I got a new job at Arium tea lounge. The job is great. I love being around tea, and people drinking tea.
October 13, 2006 at 02:44 | Posted in Documentation of things, Grad school update, new york, No Politics, Things related to critical theory | Leave a comment
Time is not even a recognizable process as I seem to acquired such a multitude of tasks that they exceed the perceivable engagements of my socio-somatic existence; somewhere amidst the activities that engulf me my life transpires. Within the bedlem I seem to have effectively lost track of most of the known methods for orienting myself in quotidian affairs so that I feel a bit unstable. It’s somewhat comical because that was my ultimate intention in coming to graduate school, to put myself into a situation that would challenge me thoroughly while simultaneously removing the majority of places,persons, and practices that constitute my safety net; mission accomplished. I am not stable amidst this restructuring, but I seem to be sufficiently oriented, so I can’t be far from stability.
Now, I have not–for some time–thought of myself as religious until recent weeks. In my studies I have had my apathy confronted repeatedly, and I have had to truly consider where it comes from and why it exists. I have arrived at the conclusion–not one that I crafted–that religion is any device that allows a human being to disengage the chaos of the conemplation of unresolvable existential crises in life. I am a religious person. My religion is not so much a thing with a name as a plasticine method informed by what can easily be refered to as taoism. I am not a taoist, and I am not apathetic, it just sems that way. I willingly accept–and in ways craft–my inability to assume an overt agenda, or the disposition that I should be the supreme governonr of my body and its engaged systems. Thus, in my current academic setting I am finding my ‘religion’ pitted against a system that posits its rupture so I must either re-constitute my religion or re-form it. While my initial response is a sliver of panic the ultimate outcome of this challenge is that I have reached a point wherein the methods that I use to interact with Earth life are insufficient, which is necessairly the predicate of change, specifically change that reveals a vaster finitude. The thing about tstructures is that they only exists for as long as we remain within the realm that constitutes the structure, thereby any measure of ‘growth’ necessarily calls for deconstrution/reification in order for the structure to continue in its applicability. Alas, while I piddle about this life-matirx migraine that I have created I am engaged in the very thing I need most. Perhaps my smile is in my navigation.
October 6, 2006 at 18:32 | Posted in Documentation of things, new york, Performances/Exhibitions | Leave a comment
On October 15th a show of my drawings will start at Ai Ai Gasa in Brooklyn. I will have more info soon.
On October 19th I will be perfroming the second half of Years Later Starfish Meeting Room: How to Meet One’s Self. in Brooklyn at The Event Center.
October 3, 2006 at 17:24 | Posted in Documentation of things, Grad school update, new york, Performances/Exhibitions, Things related to John Cage | 2 Comments
My contributions to this blog have been less than regular of late.
I recently moved into a studio apartment hwere I live by myself; the kitchen is clean, and so is the bathroom. they will stay this way.
My last performance as interesting to say the least. I have discussed it with a few people of late so I think I have an adequate perspective on it.
This was the performance:I had a sneaker. Inside of the sneaker was an ipod shuffle that was playing my latest composition, Not my Brilliance., and a stereo contact mic. The ipod was connected to a set of headphones, and the mics went to a PA. I had a small sign that gave the title of the performance and asked audience member to use the headphones. I was drawing on the sneakers. Most people did not realize that I was performing, many people performed while I performed, and music was played through the PA while I performed. While all of this was difficult for the normatized conception of artist/performer that resides somewhere within me, it was at the same time quite enjoyable. My performances have gradually transformed from a situation where I present a supposedly captive audience with an emobdied artifact/ideology, to situations where I am making equal demands on both myseld and the audience to access the performance. By access I mean that the performances I have created of late do not neccesarily contain any agency tha allows them to becomes spectacle, or even rise to the din of their setting; I have essentially located myself/myperformance within a quiet ontology. The performance becomes challenging for me because I ahve to deal with the fact that no one realizes that it’s going on, and people are even sitting on/standing on portions of it.
Today I spoke with Nelson Hallonquist about this notion of a quiet ontology and he pointed out one common aspect of performance that has always disturbed me: the congratulatory audience. As Mr. hallonquist so deftly pointed out, a quiet ontology provides agency against congratulatory practices, which is a relief, and in some sense a goal.
I will be performing the second half of this work next month, however this time–after Shimpei Takeda–I will add a live feed of the illustration to a big-screen television. I am not entirely sure how this will affect the perceptibility of my performance, but I look forward to it.
Selling beer is a job that I have.
Holler at your boy.
Not Bored in New York 