Also, Facebook, and its system of likes, friends, and pokes.
There’s not much artists can do to extricate themselves from this data-driven system as long as they hope to make and display work online. Not that you would want to extricate yourself from the Party, which gives you life and happiness and binds you close to government.
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"Slight Technical Difficulties" [mp3 removed -- later version is on bandcamp]
Another modular synth ditty, with an underlying intrusion of what the modular websites like to call "FM madness." The bass is the same pattern as the chime but with the Doepfer Quad ADSR syncopating it heavily.
"Moon Monitor 2" [mp3 removed]
A brief detour back to the Octatrack sequencer -- was testing out the delay and lo-fi FX using "scenes" and decided this sounded better than a test.
Have been reading about the term "open source" and how it diverged from the "free software" movement.
Richard Stallman, stalwart of the latter camp, explains that "free" is often misconstrued, and that we should think of "free speech, not free beer." The idea that you should be able to play around and tinker with code once you buy it, and the makers of the code should not be trying to control you, is based on ethical principles. Open source, argues Stallman, strips the ethics out of free software and is only concerned with as much openness as is needed to improve a program's performance or functionality.
What does this mean to a non-programmer? You're maybe not so interested in spending the time learning how to rewrite your operating system so it does what you want it to. But you would like for it not to contain scripts that go fishing around in your hard drive looking to see if your software is "genuine," manufacturer-approved code.
Have been looking into Linux operating systems for the non-programmer (e.g., Mint) and am deciding that it's a choice like going Vegan. You're going to need hardware that Linux can communicate with (from a retailer such as Think Penguin)* and there will be many websites with programs or content you want that are Mac and Windows only. A musician friend says Linux isn't an alternative because there isn't enough creativity being applied to music software. Surfing around the graphics and music programs for Linux, you can see they look clumsy and design-challenged: a permanent late '90s homepage style.
But if you decide to lead an ethical life, in your remaining years left, you can probably cobble together a creative setup that works for you. Artists are accustomed to working within defined sets of limitations: the "linux artist" is possibly going to create work that doesn't smell or feel like something made with a tablet app from Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. [to be continued]
*Update: Linux can be booted on a regular PC but anyone who's recently installed, say, Windows 7 on a seven year old machine knows the hell of tracking down drivers and otherwise getting software and hardware to communicate. A non-programmer might want a PC with chipsets designed or optimized for Linux, but then what about printers? Modem? etc. Anyone already worrying about this is probably too large a baby to be going the Linux route. As opposed to say, the person who can get an old computer off eBay and enjoys all the hassles, er, challenges of getting Linux to run it.
Got some reports on the Hyperallergic Tumblr panels at 319 Scholes on Mar. 9. Since many creative people use Tumblr it makes some sense to consider the sociology, tech assumptions, and pathologies of this enormous web host. Having Tumblr as a co-sponsor of the event assured that the data would be as compromised as a global warming study funded by the Koch brothers. As previously noted, the theme of at least two commissioned essays was that we must learn to love compromise and accept the limitations of the platform, because it is your new reality as an artist.
Several dumpers were watching the live stream and giving a play-by-play, along the lines of "that panelist is fucking insufferable" and
that [guy] who is MC-ing [said] that they didn't talk to [James Bridle] because "We think New Aesthetic is too nebulous of a concept to be related to tumblr art"
That says something about how nebulous the New Aesthetic is! Also got some info via email:
Last night, there was huge technophobia happening at the panel and [some] panelists were making an argument that being open was a result of "generational differences," and that adults aren't interested in sharing anything about themselves online.
[Those] panelists were trying to create critical distance by dismissing young artists, saying they didn't understand the platforms they were working in... It was a huge buzzkill, especially since the panels were stacked with "experts" so artists weren't given the opportunity to respond...
Reports were that things improved a mite when two art types who actually use Tumblr came on. Both are writers whose "net art" views maybe aren't so interesting but the witnesses said they "weren't too bad," especially compared to what preceded them. Many thanks to those who watched or attended so the rest of us didn't have to.
