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20161018

Learning about choreographer Jérôme Bel after Pilvi’s recommendation (The Kettlebell Choreography I guided for her at NPTurku entitled me to call myself a choreographer, so I have to learn the ropes). “Step-by-step guide to dance: JB” on the Guardian gives an overview of his practice and in a lecture “About ‘The Last Performance’ (1998) 1-4” the artist discusses the development of his “The Last Performance” piece from 1998 in detail. The themes of sampling and recycling as a basis of artistic production (or un-production) are appealing and I comply with his thinking. In an other short video were he talks about his practice “Rehearsal Matters interview with JB” he comes off as a rigid and flamboyant artist persona. I don’t agree with his definition of improvisation being “an attempt to free oneself”. I’ve always seen improvisation as a tool to illustrate the confinements we forced to comply with: Improvisation is about articulating confinements and vocalising the ideological positions sites/situations encapsulate us into. Trough improvisation we can see the boundaries of the working body. His rigid view on improvisation is in alignment with conservative and craft orientated mindsets of orthodox-artist, who search for a canonised and mystical order trough styles and beats (I’ve come to understand that Hip-Hop is a conservative cultural movement. Sampling is a form of prayer).

Copying what others have done can be the most effective way to make something new. #ॐ

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20160908

Youtube lecture of Herbie Hancock presenting the Fairlight CMI. Midway the video (7:45min) he says that new instruments are tools when they allow users to choose if they are used for good or bad. This is a really interesting way to describe what a tool is: It is something we can effect to world with, which does not limit how (and by whom) it is used! He compares the Fairlight CMI to an axe which can be used to build a house or slaughter a neighbor. The power of samples in a sentence.

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20160517

If a band consists of only multi-instrumentalists it’s not a band. #ॐ

Found some tools and a tutorial (from 2013) to advance the idea of using Novation Circuit groovebox as an external controller for FCPX or Premiere Pro.

All sampling is a form of cultural appropriation. The technology used in sampling superimpose a worldview that everything can extracted from their context, scrambled and reused. Sampling has nothing to do with samplers – Sampling is an approach to others. It’s musical roots are in notation which was a technology used to appropriate gregorian chants and folk art, all for the service of centralized regimes.

Samplers serve the modernist status quo. They are anti-taboo and make a mockery of religious and cultural orders which maintain their ethos by disallowing remixing. Samplers serve capitalism. They flourishes on the idea that nothing is too holy to be chopped to bits and resold in new packages. Samplers are totalitarian, you are either all in, share everything or get marginalised.

The remix-culture does not give a voice to the oppressed – It is extracting voices and compiling them to samplepacks and styles that can be easily analysed and controlled. The profits gather to an elite which benefits from having access to a quantized, processed and simplified data.

The open source, copyleft movement only benefits silicon valley. Besides the big companies, only open source evangelists make profits from open source. Majority of the people making profits speak English. Technology is not shared for free, it is distributed to subjectivity users. Richard Stallman drafted his manifestos in the same universities that innovated the musical sampler technologies.

Samplers serve a conservative cultural movement which stores, categorizes, appreciated and remixed iconic sound. Samples are a mockery of nature because they cling on the past. The museum is the ultimate sampler.

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20160514

As a celebration of the Grey Cube Gallery documentation gig and as a result of a manic WSG building phase I bought a Novation Circuit (A B-stock unit from Thomann). I feel a bit out of control. This month I’ve used a sum equal to a month’s housing maintenance charges (which is high where we live) and kindergarten payments into synths/electronics. In total I’m 800€ into music and I now have a electro-acoustic music production studio. I don’t expect this hobby to pay it’s self back (Even though Pietari confirmed that we’ll get a fee for the gig we made for Kontula Electronic festival).

Wonder if I could use the Circuit as a midi controller inside FCPX or Adobe Premiere? If it would speed productions up I could justify the spendings. I’m such a novice to music production that I doubt I can use my own music in the upcoming videos. The Circuit has a limited sampler feature which I plan to use in future lecture-performances (Together with the Kaoss Pad 3) and we’ve had the idea to make an EP with Ore.e Refineries. But we haven’t practiced enough or composed any songs yet (I do have some nifty ideas for that up my sleeve).

Revolutionary, Post-Revolutionary but Re-Revolutionary.

As a terrorist I’d pose as a performance artist, lure the decadent audience close to me and ignite the bombs.

Visiting Là-bas “Kuilu: Sirpaleet syvyydessä” performance festival at Kaapeli by recommendations and invitation of Janne Rahkila. A great evening! Even had to write down names of some performers in order to follow them on online. In particular I enjoyed Siiri Nevalaises presentation, Sara Kovamäkis trash-piece and Peter Rosviks pure comedy without joke. These self-confident performers re-calibrated me to the art and I feel assured that there is sense in delay, repetition and the audacious claim that artists can see the world as it truly is.

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20160405

Post Ihme-days. Waiting for my talks to come online on their youtube and depressurising from the busy weekend by watching Tron Legacy and playing techno. The KP3 can only play 7s long samples which makes it limited as a sampler.

We got organized with Antti, Pietari ja Timo and formed a study circle where we’ll read “In the Flow” by Boris Groys. I’ve read the intro and first chapter (and build by talk for Ihme-days on that basis).

Called artist Jorma Puranen and interviewed him about a vinyl cover he made 1974. The cover shows the Record Singers group. He was excited to talk about his involvement and confirmed majority of details I had heard about the cover. The way he spoke was inspirational and I also learned how he got to study in Pentti Kaskipuros class. Kaskipuro is a key figure in the post-postmodern movement in Finland. Self-educated but traditional, crafty but spiritual. I had the pleasure to meet him a couple of times.