Rire de la Meduse
descendents of policity
Hélène Cixous.
almost silence strategies
Hélène Cixous.
Fontana’s River Sounding Installation – A Binaural Interpretation
Bill Fontana began his artistic career as a composer. “What really began to interest me was not so much the music that I could write, but the states of mind I would experience when I felt musical enough to compose. In those moments, when I became musical, all the sounds around me also became musical”
Kristeva, energetic pessimist
Julia Kristeva at a recent talk commented eloquently about contemporary European identity and her theories of the semiotic, democracy, religion and spirituality, and on issues of art and creativity, and public and private among other threads and trains of thought. The event offered a timely reminder of just how valued a thinker Kristeva has been and still is, totally inspiring.
Kristeva in Conversation Part 1 [63:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (90)
Kristeva in Conversation Part 2 [34:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (69)
SoundFjord London: are you listening?
SoundFjord London represents a new dedicated Sonic Art Gallery and Research Unit, based initially in London, but with a scope that aims to connect creative practitioners and researchers throughout the globe through the Sonic Social, which is now open to join.
The official opening of the space is Saturday July 31st, 4-8pm. Get more information by joining the mailing list.
International academics protest at Middlesex philosophy closure Noam Chomsky, Slavoj Žižek and others urge dean to reverse department closure as students occupy campus building
More than 60 internationally renowned academics from across the globe have written to the dean of Middlesex University urging him to reverse the decision to close the philosophy department.
Alain Badiou, Judith Butler, Slavoj Žižek and Noam Chomsky were among those who condemned the decision.
Middlesex University Drops Philosophy Department
Middlesex University Drops Philosophy Department
As I am sure many of you are already aware, in their infinite neoliberal wisdom through a vomiting forth of corporate speak, the management of Middlesex University have decided to cut their entire philosophy department. The Department of Philosophy at Middlesex is an absolutely exceptional place, whose work on continental/European philosophy has been exemplary, with 65% of its research assesment scores that judge the department to be producing ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ work, indeed, it is the highest RAE rated department in the University, as Brian Leiter notes. On this very blog we have discussed the work of Peter Hallward, whose work on Badiou, post-colonialism and Deleuze is among the best in the world, and whose work on Haiti has proved vitally important in understanding recent tragedies there. Only last week noted we their From Structure to Rhizome conference and cataloguing of the influential French journal Cahiers pour l’analyse. Not only will this be a huge loss to philosophy research in the UK, but the entire situation bodes extremely badly for the fate of all research into continental thought, regardless of department.
An attack on one is an attack on all and as far as I am concerned we will not allow this to pass. I ask that those interested in continental philosophy, be they philosophers, theologians, political theorists or sociologists , or, indeed, anyone concerned with the fate of education in the United Kingdom or real education generally under the neoliberal regime, take immediate action by signing up to the Facebook group or e-mailing the Dean of Arts and Education at e.esche@mdx.ac.uk.
Voice your opposition here
Sign the petition here
Overidentification and/or bust? – Stevphen Shukaitis
In 1987, Laibach, the musical wing of the Slovenian art collective Neue Slowenische Kunst (New Slovenian Art, or NSK), released a reworked version of the Queen song ‘One Vision’. Whereas the original 1985 Queen song was inspired by the group’s participation in Live Aid and espoused a seemingly somewhat vague leftist message of unity and world peace, it was vastly transformed in Laibach’s reworking.
Is it possible to live a ’soundless’ existence?
Sarah Tracton was born with moderate hearing loss, but in her early twenties, she lost what little hearing she had.
Sarah lipreads the accents of 68 nationalities following her work at SBS Radio – some people suggest she’s so good at it, she could work for the FBI.
As she had all those years living with some hearing, she has a very strong auditory memory, and a strong musicality. She uses these in the film White Sound to explore the idea of living in a soundless world.
The CrackleBox (’75)
In the 1970’s, Michel Waisvisz whilst working at the STEIM foundation in Amsterdam designed the “CrackleBox“, which has been referred to as ” as the archetype of ‘glitch’ or ‘circuit bending’.”
Critical Strategies in Art and Media
Below is the introduction to “Critical Strategies in Art and Media” the book published by Autonomedia 2010,
is also online as a video in two parts…here.
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In September 2009, the World-Information Institute organized a roundtable conference on “Critical Strategies in Art and Media” in New York City. For a full day, digital theorists and practitioners met to debate the future of art and culture in a fast-changing world and in a shifting economic and ecological environment.
sounds from around
The Sonic Art Oxford Jukebox is not your ordinary everyday jukebox. This jukebox sounds the results of the three days of Sonic Art, Electroacoustic Music and Live Electronics event hosted by the Sonic Art Research Unit at Oxford Brookes University in February earlier this year. click hear to listen…
Sonic arts: an endangered species
The Sonic Arts BA & Masters courses at Middlesex University in London began in the mid 90’s amidst a flourish of anti-elitism, boundary breaking exploration and love of uncategorisable sonic experimentation through the dedication of a small group of educators and researchers that seemed to want to do something other than just provide another commercial platform disguised as ‘vocational education’. The establishment of the Sonic Arts program, within the realm of the Lansdown Center for Electronic Arts, rather than being swallowed within a traditional music department, enabled a broader, more open, even perhaps utopian approach to the often closed doors of music and technology educational institutions. The emphasis was on thinking beyond borders, it was actually considered more beneficial if no knowledge of traditional notation was held by prospective students, as their minds would not already be consigned to the strict halls of tonality. Even so, the learning curve was steep, but fully rewarding, not at all cynical, and opened worlds that have not been exhausted to this day as we, as lucky former students, continue on this journey, playing, making, listening, researching, working in and through sound. So it is with a sense of real unbelievability to hear that the whole Sonic Arts department at Middlesex University is to be closed down, no new places are being offered for either the BA or the MA. Continue Reading »