Showing posts with label audio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label audio. Show all posts
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Jacaszek
This is not video - but audio with a still photo. Let the song go and enjoy the sound of Michael Jacaszek. This is a stunning work.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Great Cities of the World
Quite ironically, I was listening to yesterday's mentioned Kunstlerkast on my commute to work this morning. It is ironic because the one I was listening to was about parking garages and the influence of the automobile on our lives. In the discussion, James Howard Kunstler said, "You know, one of the upshots in America is that sure, we all have our own cars at our disposal all the time, but because of that, there’s almost no place in America that’s worth being in or going to. That’s one of the unintended consequences of mass automobile use is that you actually destroy the terrain so voraciously that nowhere is worth driving to."
Monday, June 2, 2008
James Howard Kunstler
I've noticed that lately I've been posting more about audio than painting or visual art. I suppose that is because I'm trying to finish up preparing for my show and I'm doing a lot more listening than looking right now. On last week's road trip I listened to a podcast from Humanist Network News that spoke with James Howard Kunstler about the "human habitat". He's very entertaining and informative in the interview, and I'd highly recommend listening to it:
I was especially interested in the emphasis that Kunstler made in the interview to criticize a lot of the hypocrisies or fallacies in modern environmentalist thought. In particular he notes that the current push to find new liquid fuel sources like ethanol shows the reluctance if not refusal to let go of the automobile and embrace other modes of transportation and urban planning. The description to one of his own podcasts sums this up well saying, "The problem in America is not that we're driving the wrong kind of cars, per se.The trouble in the United States is we're driving incessantly. We're driving every kind of car there is, incessantly. And we've got to find a way out of the incessant motoring and a way to live without it, and a happy way to live without it—not a punishment way to live without it, but a way to be happy and do it. And it means, really, a completely different paradigm for everyday life."
His book, The Geography of Nowhere is also highly recommended:
He's recently started his own weekly podcast called the Kunstlerkast - which you can find here.
I was especially interested in the emphasis that Kunstler made in the interview to criticize a lot of the hypocrisies or fallacies in modern environmentalist thought. In particular he notes that the current push to find new liquid fuel sources like ethanol shows the reluctance if not refusal to let go of the automobile and embrace other modes of transportation and urban planning. The description to one of his own podcasts sums this up well saying, "The problem in America is not that we're driving the wrong kind of cars, per se.The trouble in the United States is we're driving incessantly. We're driving every kind of car there is, incessantly. And we've got to find a way out of the incessant motoring and a way to live without it, and a happy way to live without it—not a punishment way to live without it, but a way to be happy and do it. And it means, really, a completely different paradigm for everyday life."
His book, The Geography of Nowhere is also highly recommended:
He's recently started his own weekly podcast called the Kunstlerkast - which you can find here.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today marks the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr's assassination. A tragic loss for our nation and for the world. I was reflecting on some of his speeches this morning and came across "Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence" (you can download the mp3 to listen to the speech) delivered on this very day, exactly one year before his death. The speech makes many points that parallel our current war in Iraq. Writer Juan Cole outlined his analysis of King's stance against the war in Vietnam with what he assesses as "10 Things Martin Luther King would have done about Iraq" here. Below are some very wise, forthright, and challenging excerpts from King's speech:
"But they ask -- and rightly so -- what about Vietnam? They ask if our own nation wasn't using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government."
"Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy's point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition."
"If we continue, there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind of the world that we have no honorable intentions in Vietnam. If we do not stop our war against the people of Vietnam immediately, the world will be left with no other alternative than to see this as some horrible, clumsy, and deadly game we have decided to play. The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. It demands that we admit that we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure in Vietnam, that we have been detrimental to the life of the Vietnamese people. The situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply from our present ways. In order to atone for our sins and errors in Vietnam, we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war."
King closes with a statement of hope, eloquently saying:
"If we will make the right choice, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our world into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood."
"But they ask -- and rightly so -- what about Vietnam? They ask if our own nation wasn't using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government."
"Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy's point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition."
"If we continue, there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind of the world that we have no honorable intentions in Vietnam. If we do not stop our war against the people of Vietnam immediately, the world will be left with no other alternative than to see this as some horrible, clumsy, and deadly game we have decided to play. The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. It demands that we admit that we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure in Vietnam, that we have been detrimental to the life of the Vietnamese people. The situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply from our present ways. In order to atone for our sins and errors in Vietnam, we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war."
King closes with a statement of hope, eloquently saying:
"If we will make the right choice, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our world into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood."
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Marcel DuChamp Mp3s
great desgin by flickr member Chris I was just browsing UbuWeb and looking at the various interviews and musical compositions by Marcel DuChamp availble as (free and legal) mp3s. I've had renewed interest in DuChamp lately. Personally, I believe he is the most fascinating, complex, and important artist of the 20th Century. And if there were such a thing as (art)'rock stars' in the early part of the century I think DuChamp would have been the Sid Vicious of the swing era. Also - check out "Making Sense of Marcel DuChamp" - a great interactive site to learn more about him.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Scratch the Earth
Via "We Make Money Not Art" I found out about the G-ONE sonic surfing by satellite. From the G-ONE website: "The G-ONE (Global Orbit Navigation Engine) invites you to virtually hop on a satellite and scratch across the Earth's topography, just as the needle of a record player scratches across a record." The results can be heard on their podcasts - and amount to different variations of white-noise. So the audio of the line or "scratch" between two place is somewhat dull, the idea is really interesting. And in April you can actually have custom vinyl records made of the journey of your choice. I like to imagine each custom created vinyl record with tiny microscopic bumps representing a building or mountain or street or something. It reminds me of that old Lauren Hill video for "Everything is Everything."
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