Wednesday 14 April 2010

MANIFESTO ANTI MANIFESTO [ADENDA 1]



POETRY - {index of obsolescent ideas:}
Might be captivation------------------------------FASCINATION /
Metal scrapping on feng shui--------------------ZEN TECHNO /
Artificial life [captivation again in the shades of phrases, obsessions, biographies;]
or the
Introducing of ideas [subjectivism = alienation of reality;] lofty; distant.
and of particular oddity (dream thinking, abusive order of logic) - ORPHEUS* and its MYTHS.
A BOOK OF ANACHRONISMS: The music of Johan Sebastian Bach sounds strange in space. Vater Unser Im Himmerlreich Freut Euch, WAS DANCING NAKED, THE LITTLE BREASTS PULSATING IN THE WARM AND RAISINS, THE BEATING OF DRUMS – ALL AT ONCE, THE MEMORIES OF GOLDEN FAREWELLS. (These words don’t make any sense. Like everything else in this HORIZON. I REALISED THE EYES BEHIND THE SCROLL FOLDING WERE Classical music from centuries ago. But he made me listen to Indian and Tibetan music and I found COLOURS, A MAZE OF INDECIPHERABLE PLAN – CHANGES GIVEN FORM
FUTURE GATES
And everything that he had seen and felt danced in front of his eyes. Outside, he could see through the window, the sun was rising behind the mountains, and he said to himself:
SINGING MY NAME SLOWLY, IN A MOROCCAN ALIKE LULLABY, THE VOICE shit, I’m tired, leave me alone, FUCK.
TRUST THE DJ
THIS IMAGINED OASIS OF SINGING NAKED GODDESSES AND FOLDING.
You refuse to mix, why?

 EXAMPLE (from Aeschylus’ ‘Agamemnon’)
Eyes brimming with condolence
Where no true sting of sorrow pricks the heart,
So now some harsh embittered faces, forced
Into a seemly smile, will welcome you,
And hide the hearts of traitors
Beneath their feigned rejoicing.
STATING:
Psychological dimension +
Myth (mythology) +
Stance + Political and Human Scale +
Collective Rules +
Form + Images +
Autochthonous origins.
HERE THE POEM SHOULD START, crucial link between the technique and the EROS surveying the layers of what the author wants to communicate. Something about the Roman Catholic Church should be explained at once, preciousness; this in order to reveal the apparent paradoxes (transcribe some folklore amalgamations, werewolves, homosexuals, aristocrats, even the presence of a God. A distant ancient art form, copulation COLLECTIVE SCHIZOPHRENIA + a taste of blood.)
[… written things are written things to be read. To be printed and read. A writer’s a writer, the one who writes, the one who uncovers the mysteries of oneself and wonders at it, not himself, but at the words of surreal life, the unsurpassed love for signs and enigmas written to be read… op. ct.]



THE METRONOMIC QUALITIES OF LIFE, WHERE IS THE BARD?
MAKES NO SENSE DETERIORATING LET’S TALK OF LABYRINTHS
COMPLETELY ABSURDITY * LABORIOSA AD ENTRANDUM MORTUARY TEMPLE SOS (+) LABORIOUS EXITUS DOMUS
SPONTANEOUS PERCEPTION A WHITE FILM
SCHEMATA OF PAIN A WHITE PALER HOUSE
TO BE IMPRISONED IN
• A LAUGH
• CARDIAC ARREST
• PARADOX OF SORTS
• EIDETIC RECOLLECTIONS
• A STILL LAKE
• A DRUM,
• MATRIX OF LEAVES / DREAMS
• AN ECHO
VOCABULARY OF KNOTS
HAS TO BE THE WEIRDEST
OTHER SIDE OF GLASS (+)
TO REACH THE CENTRE
UNTHINKABLE
SELF /.

4. > RENIFORM PULS (section 1)
/ let’s decorate tomorrow, sheathe it with sterling pounds bank notes and settle anywhere, drink Egyptian black coffee, hieroglyphic beverage of kings, let’s decipher the empire and collect materials for our excuse, raise your right hand and heil to the present cancer, all tomorrow parties under the pure flame of stars, let’s break beautiful statues of gods, let’s break all the isms, let’s be modern! We are ripe and ready to die for the nation, the symbols and our faith. Long live the sterling pound and the dollar! / from a fascist manifesto, 1935.
/ BLUE DANCE KIDS PIERCING VIOLETS CRAZILY ON A DREAM like house luminous blue dance kids, unclothed smiles and nothing but a palimpsest of joy violet dance kids remembering cunningham’s silence or a cage interlude violet dance ephebes pulling branches riding glittering horses on spring moon dance boys of gold pubescent genitalia adoring Bacchus and phallus – parenthesis: burroughs on a street of london through the invisible lens of the snake jarman’s hold, shattered glass blood shit cut-up reality, medusa’s head, ivy dipping dope, slit wrists, scrying sages on a black alley, the screeching of homey and rum on some sailor’s crotch, oh, oh, vidal smiles and smokes a cigarette (around 1948 in paris), almada’s nakedness on a pedestal rising pederast narcissus of egypt and wooed by imbeciles, reflexes on the river’s muddy waters balancing dreams and forgotten flames [enters orpheus crying for a lost Clepsydra:]
/ the end of a story wandering (or wondering?) immortal flesh proud in sorrow praises of liars twilight of desires, flesh immeasurable HEAVENS… / gold dance men kissing cocteau’s mirrors on a bright garden of silence golden dancing satyr fornicating ariel’s oak quietly startled. / black nubian dance man erecting genitalia ejaculating stars, black egyptian god dancing around a fire of flying poems: I salute the foolish man and woman, ashes of ashes! / obliterating the angels oh, what a strange ADAGIO depending on laughter and a queue of symbols forced upon one, what a strange oblivion, TRANSFORMATION
TRANS
FORM
ACTION a machine destroying time! / typewriting the future. /
• Differentia - a distinguishing mask, especially between species within a genus;
• Dementia – a not very well distinguishable mask among humans;
• ALL SYSTEMS GO;
• Imperfect Objective - deletion with the sharp blades of thinking all the words inscribed in the skin with fire;
• Nothing can be invoked;
• To nominate is an Art.
• A fork is a fork, a stone a stone, a fire a fire.

thy cataloguists, 2005
adenda 1

Saturday 10 April 2010

suna aktas imaginary (and reality)


I was born east of the world, not very far. They called it Middle East and I called it Middle Earth. I was very slim and tiny when I was going to primary school. Therefore, my parents forced me to take cod liver oil tablets three times a day. Since then I believe my emotional side is more developed than the others sides of my brain!

Growing up with the war news and cruelty of human beings all around the world and my country forced me to look at the other side of the planet. I dreamed of going out, outside the circle I was born within.




When I was at Primary School, I had unforgettable memories! Pupils at my class were telling the teacher, they would like to be a doctor, engineer, nurse, teacher or whatever… when it was my turn I told them I wanted to be an adventurer with excited voice. They went silent for a second and they all laughed at my answer! They advised me there was no such an occupation. Since then I decided not to share my opinions with anyone who is not special for me.

When I was at secondary school, I started to collect photographs from newspapers with a little help of my small scissors; generally, they were sad with war reports or with people’s happy moments. I made four albums of them. I cut them, paste them on pages of my special notebooks and I hid them on a special secret place in my home, between the broken bricks of the roof. One day for no reason whatsoever I burned them all.




I passed many exams and won a place at university to become a journalist. I worked almost five years as a photojournalist and I covered many situations, people and places. I experienced happiness, bitterness and cruelty… A few years after my best friend left Istanbul I told myself it was time for me to feed my childish adventurer side and I came to London with my two suitcases and a bag of dreams. I sacrificed most of my dreams and I lost my belief in tales. I understood there is no more fairy tales… instead, there was the transformation of people and my of my own in a bad way. I understood Kafka…




Loneliness, cold sticky unhappiness have accompanied me most of the days of my life in London. I understood what Kavafis meant in his poem, unfortunately. I wish I never understand… Long time passed with struggle and questions of WHY I tried to go back where I used to live in Turkey. Then I realised my soul is hanged between places and there is a big distance between peace and me. I do not know where I belong or where should I settle and grow my roots. My roots are friends of wind.




I am only jealous of good directors and photographers. My favourite directors are Stephan Daldry, Stanley Kubric, Lars Von Trier, Yesim Ustaoglu, Bahman Ghobady… I am still taking photographs and tying to make films in this rainy climate, and forcing myself to believe I am a lucky person, to cheat life. Most of the times I tried to keep my eyes shut, like self-censorship, but sometimes I still struggle about hope: is it torture or is it relief?

I won some awards in photography and I was involved in many exhibitions, in Turkey, Great Britain and around the world. Once upon a time I was chosen as a “Best Student of the Year” at the University in Istanbul. I completed my postgraduate degree with distinction. I completed cinema and documentary courses in London. I am still taking photographs and writing about life.







I am still struggle, if that hope is torture or is it relief. Good Day.








text and photographs (c) suna aktas 2010

Sunday 4 April 2010

orchestra eclettica e sincretista > part 1

the beautiful heart: "le jolie coeur" is a large and growing work by various artists under the collective name orchestra eclettica e sincretista, which builds a diverse collection of variations on a very simple theme, just a few piano chords. this release comprises volumes 1 to 3. the international collaboration of talents was organized by marco lucchi of italy. here is what marco lucchi has written about the project: "le jolie coeur" is the first project compiled by the orchestra eclettica e sincretista, a collective working on shared projects, commissioned by mauro carrera for an exibition of jean cocteau, with hommages to cocteau by some contemporary artists, premiered in milan, 23rd october 2008. this work originated on the ending cadenza of a song by the penguin cafe orchestra, 'now nothing" and it ends the album "broadcasting from home" (released in 1984.) starting from these four chords' cadenza, the orchestra eclettica e sincretista composed tracks or fragments, offering their own interpretation. the whole project was finished and compiled by marco lucchi in the ending days of 2008 and it is dedicated to the lovely memory of simon jeffes. (check links) the orchestra can be found on myspace where its members are from all the corners of the world. it has a facebook page with interaction and news (take a peek.) on this post we checked the artist darren ng on his website.

“chance, conversation, improvisation… ’sonicbrat’ is the ambisonic brainchild of darren ng. as a believer in poetic imperfection, most of his music are performed and recorded on the fly without multi-tracking.”



darren is a singapore based sound artist and music composer whose electro-acoustic sound-bites have established him as one of the most sought after sound and music composer in the local theatre and international film and art scene. his works have been compared to erik satie, ryuichi sakamoto and martin denny by international music reviewers from u.k. (wire: ken hollings), u.s.a. (the silent ballet and bluesbunny) and hong kong (hompy). a multi-instrumentalist trained in classical piano, he has been exploring re-interpretive playing and improvisations on various music instruments, using processed “found sounds” to fuse with his acoustic and electronic compositions. he has also ventured into unconventional live looping and sampling with instruments and object sounds to create textured audiographies. his sound art expositions employ digital and analogue synthesis, field recordings, musique concrète, acousmatic music, live sampling, audio processing and programming; exploring minimalist sounds and psychoacoustics performances and installations. he has also worked and collaborated with many international sound artists and musicians from spain, sweden, germany, france, greece, netherlands, italy, uk, usa, canada, japan, china, hong kong and thailand. to date, he has performed in japan (okinawa), vietnam (hanoi), hungary (budapest; sziget festival), spain (barcelona), austria (vienna) and netherlands (venlo). he was chosen to participate in the 2008 red bull music academy (barcelona) under his solo ambisonic brainchild “sonicbrat” and has been invited to perform solo as sonicbrat in hanoi sound stuff festival 2009 (vietnam), wiener festwochen 2009 (vienna), sonar 2009 (barcelona) and zomerparkfeest 2009 (netherlands).



he graduated from the national university of singapore with a bachelor of arts in philosophy and theatre studies. he has been active in the theatre and sound art scene for almost a decade. to date, he has had 8 nominations in total for his works and had won the coveted award of best sound designer at the 6th and 8th straits times life! theatre awards 2006 and 2008 respectively. he has also received an honourable mention for special achievement, for best sound in the 5th straits times life! theatre awards 2005.



darren is the first sound artist to be commissioned by asian civilisation museum (empress place) to sound design for the closure of journey of faith, art & history from the vatican collections (2005). he was also commissioned to design a permanent sound art installation for the new national museum of singapore (nms) in 2006 – which is now a key feature exhibition in the living galleries for the next five years (food gallery). subsequently, he was commissioned to design sound installations for nms seasonal exhibitions. he has also performed with singapore symphony orchestra (sso) and singapore chinese orchestra (sco) as a synthesizer player and had sound designed for national day parade 2007.



he is currently an associate sound designer for the finger players and resident sound artist and music composer for ecnad.


Wednesday 31 March 2010

matteo marchisano-adamo > a well prepared piano

quod evenit in labyrintho propenperantibus
ipsa illos velocitas implicat. *
si on lit trop vite ou trop doucement, on n'entend rien. **

the strangeness of having a cyber life is that you meet the most extraordinary people that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to, at the click of a button, a strangeness that permeates all our daily lives – mine and all – and a strangeness because you and i are in a hasty course to be here and there, everywhere. doesn’t make much sense, i confess, but this strangeness i am talking about is what it is because i am locked in my living room for the last few days typing obscure poems and listening to odd and beautiful music. this strangeness is well welcomed. i have my own cocoon, protected from the world, but i am accessing it via molecules and electricity (another kind of poetry) and i am alone. in other terms space destroys time and time sabotages space; description marks time, contradicts itself, goes round in circles - the moment (this moment) repudiates all continuity, belongs strictly to the imagination, my own imagination...

like the psychedelic and science-fiction’s travelling without moving. music has that candour and illusion, a proustian moment of transforming the boredom of life in a split second. that is the kind of strangeness i referred, the change occurring inside, and travelling along the lines of memory, history and novelty. sound travels through air coming from the computer, yet from afar. i am listening to an album that came free through the chance meeting on the interether of an artist that found me by accident and that complimented an aural work of mine (...you are an artist, and your music is beautiful! chefs make the best dishes - whether for the stomach or for the ears. :) you do not need to read music in order to create wonderful sounds. one must be sensitive and tell stories through their sounds, he told me!!!!!!) now ‘works for prepared-piano’ is playing on its sixth loop, because of its familiarity, yet completely new and fascinating. this new album by matteo marchisano-adamo caught me unprepared, though i knew some of his work, and, as you already notice, i am lost for words, or more correctly, confused for words. that’s that strangeness again. cyber or not, my life is commanded by the investigation of the weird-beautiful-unsolicited art and lives of others. ‘music for prepared-piano’, allow me to be pseudo-intellectual-snob, ingratiates my curiosity and indulges my ignorance in great measure, there is experimentation, abstract-sound-touches, it is unpredictable, it is sophisticated but lyric, melodic yet not easy (you just have to listen ‘recitativo i & ii, or even better preciousness is the telluric qualities of ‘two pieces: forgotten & while sundays go) – all using a piano, in an album matteo marchisano-adamo gave away freely. i couldn’t ask for more or better. for me, ‘music for prepared-piano’ is a voyage, from beginning to end, a very personal one (and i think my personal voyage shares some of the artist, but we have to ask him): homage and love, divertimento and blues for to erik satie, understanding of a deep bela bartok (the bartok suite in the album), cage (without comments!), and i find astonishing tones and echoes of janáček’s final moments of the sonata 1.x.1905 (tod) – but then i always exacerbate and imagine things when i like something! the five ‘city miniatures’ are full of grace and intoxicated with ideas, appropriation of the city sounds transformed and brought to life on the piano, joyful and sad – the cars, the sirens, the murmur of people talking and walking, the repetitive ordeal of the machines (reminds me of metropolis, and not by chance) – the humour of ‘following the jazz ensemble’ and ‘scissor hands’ is delighted with timbres and little (imagined) bells, sweet brief dances – life, art, strangeness. a beautiful strangeness, yes, that one. that is a voyage of remembering and discovering.

i leave you, just in case your curiosity was awoken by my disorganised scribbling above, with facts about matteo marchisano-adamo. you can find him and his music, as i did, on soundcloud, facebook, etc, etc: make fair use of those molecules and electricity (yes, internet and brain!) and also a review of matteo marchisano-adamo other album (inventions i-xviii). as i say, blessed are the noisemakers, hélas, avanti, avanti! (OH! the humble scribe is benjamim silva-pereira!)



as a child matteo marchisano-adamo studied piano privately with the brazilian pianist ciao pagano. upon graduating from high school he left the us to study music at the liszt ferenc zenemuvészeti egyetem in budapest, hungary with szokolay balazs and rados ferenc. in budapest he discovered atonal, electronic and serial composition. he has been influenced by the music of kurtag gyorgy, ligeti gyorgy, karlheinz stockhausen as well as the la monte young, terry riley, steve reich and john cage. his compositions represent a collision of musical ideas, from classical to post-minimalist to atonal to jazz. at once his music is progressive yet accessible. he is not only influenced by music; he enjoys being inspired by cinema, poetry, literature, as well as visual art and dance.
matteo was born in flint, mi in 1973. leaving michigan at the age of 6, he grew up in many parts of the us, including truth or consequences, nm, frankenmuth mi, douglas and phoenix, az, among others places. he began his musical education as a dancer, performing in festivals. eventually he was granted a scholarship to study ballet in new york city, which was never pursued. his first musical instrument was the violin, however he was disenchanted with the instrument when he did not know of a rock star who played classical violin. soon he began playing the piano. he felt comfortable on the piano and had an inclination to improvise. in 1991, at the age of 18, he left for budapest, hungary to study music. he was there for 4 years. after a brief argument with a young professor at the music academy, he was expelled.
returning to the us, he no longer felt the desire to continue in music. he followed other creative expressions; creative writing and filmmaking were the two most prominent. he was mentored by sekou sundiata in poetry in new york city at the new school university. spending much of his time at the anthology film archives he was introduced to the work of maya deren and other experimental filmmakers. he was heavily into dada art and surrealism – especially the work of man ray, marcel duchamp, and bunuel. it was through the early works of bunuel that he was stirred to make his own 16mm films.
he is an alumnus of the american film institute in los angeles, ca where he received his degree in film editing. he sees his editing work in film as an extension of his music.
he was awarded best editing for the film sundust at the european independent film festival in paris, france, and the ashley amulis award from the american film institute for his editing work.

married to his muse elena-cristina marchisano, a romanian actress, they live in los angeles, ca.



inventions i-xviii (cd baby—800-buymycd)


these 18 inventions are modest but engaging pieces usually involving piano and other electronic sounds. according to mr marchisano-adamo, he performs everything here, so i assume that he uses various electronic devices that are triggered by keyboards. stylistically, these pieces cover a wide range, from the aggressive invention i to the nearly motionless invention viii; many of them suggest a clear pitch center, usually through repetition or minimal pitch material, but often the textures are so transparent that selecting one centre over another proves difficult. it’s also (agreeably) difficult to give any meaningful label to this music. my earlier remark about spare textures and minimalist-sounding pitch material doesn’t do justice to invention iii, which gives the impression of carter or ligeti in its restless virtuosity and pitch language.
elsewhere i hear the elements of jazz and popular music (for example, in invention xi), but these elements are offset by the complexity of the interacting rhythms and novel sounds. there’s also, in most of the pieces, a frankly cagean rhetoric—cagean in its severe attenuation; that’s particular clear in invention xiv, where a wandering, often dissonant piano melody complements drone-like electronic sounds and snippets of speech.
the wide palette of electronic sounds marchisano-adamo employs and the processing of acoustic sounds create a shifting, almost kaleidoscopic variety to these peculiar but compelling compositions; in particular, the complex textures of invention xv demonstrate the full measure of his imaginative use of timbre.


in sum, matteo marchisano-adamo is an artist who, faced by the bewildering number of options available in the early 21st century, manages to build a personality uniquely his own, one that always moves me because it remains connected to an ineffable humanism. (haskins)


now listen this wonder:  recitativo II

* this is waht it happens when you hurry through the labyrinth, the faster you go, the worse you get entangled (seneca)
** if one reads too fast or too slow, one understands nothing (paul de man)

 album available on cdbaby
{all images courtesy of matteo marchisano-adamo}