View current page
...more recent posts
GIF from fUSION Anomaly enlarged, cropped, sped up
GIF from fUSION Anomaly eight times
Individual GIF from fUSION Anomaly 144 times
Spreading the acid house gospel... exorcising the demons from the laptop... playing "air theremin"...I forget which. (photo - artMovingProjects) Lecture/Perfomance notes
McCain Criticized by Fellow Graduation Speaker
This is inspiring--from the New York Times article "Graduates at New School Heckle Speech by McCain" (By David M. Herszenhorn, May 20, 2006)
The jeers, boos and insults flew, as caustic as any that angry New Yorkers have hurled inside Madison Square Garden. The objects of derision yesterday, however, were not the hapless New York Knicks, but Senator John McCain, the keynote speaker at the New School graduation, and his host, Bob Kerrey, the university president.I say put the kids in charge, fire the adults.
No sooner had Mr. Kerrey welcomed the audience to the university's 70th commencement than the hoots began to rise through the Theater at Madison Square Garden. Several graduates held up a banner aimed at Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican and likely 2008 presidential candidate, declaring: "Our commencement is not your platform." Other students and faculty members waved orange fliers with the same message.
Mr. Kerrey, a former Democratic senator from Nebraska, was unapologetic yesterday about inviting Mr. McCain, his friend and fellow Vietnam War veteran, to speak. He noted early in his welcoming remarks that there had been intense media coverage of Mr. McCain's graduation speech last week at Liberty University, headed by the Rev. Jerry Falwell, in which Mr. McCain strongly defended the Iraq war.
"Many predicted that his speech today would not receive as friendly a reception," Mr. Kerrey said. "The expectation is that — and that expectation has already been realized — that some of you in this audience will act up to protest the senator's appearance."
The first student speaker, Jean Sara Rohe, 21, said she had discarded her original remarks to talk about Mr. McCain.
"The senator does not reflect the ideals upon which this university was founded," she said, to a roaring ovation. "This invitation was a top-down decision that did not take into account the desires and interests of the student body on an occasion that is supposed to honor us above all."
Noting that Mr. McCain had promised to give the same speech at all of his graduation appearances, Ms. Rohe, who was one of two students selected to speak by university deans, attacked his remarks even before he delivered them.
"Senator McCain will tell us today that dissent and disagreement are our civic and moral obligation in times of crisis, and I agree," she said. "I consider this a time of crisis, and I feel obligated to speak."
She continued, "Senator McCain will also tell us about his strong-headed self-assuredness in his youth, which prevented him from hearing the ideas of others, and in so doing he will imply that those of us who are young are too naïve to have valid opinions.
"I am young, and although I don't profess to possess the wisdom that time affords us, I do know that pre-emptive war is dangerous and wrong," she said.
She added, "Osama bin Laden still has not been found, nor have those weapons of mass destruction."
As Mr. McCain came to the lectern, dozens of students and professors stood and turned their backs on him. Many waved their fliers.
Before his speech, Mr. McCain thanked Ms. Rohe "for that CliffsNotes version of my address."
Mr. McCain seemed uneasy, but stuck to his script and did not acknowledge the barbs. As Ms. Rohe had predicted, he spoke about the importance of civil discourse, and he reiterated his defense of the war.
"I believe the benefits of success will justify the costs and risks," he said. The protests grew louder and more frequent as he spoke. Some graduates walked out. Others laughed. When Mr. McCain returned to policy after briefly quoting Yeats, someone shouted, "More poetry!"
At another point, someone yelled, "We're graduating, not voting!"
The heckling continued when Mr. Kerrey returned to the lectern, with one audience member shouting, "You're a war criminal!"
Mr. Kerrey, a Medal of Honor winner, has admitted to leading a mission that resulted in the deaths of 13 to 20 unarmed civilians.
"Drum Machine": Notes for my lecture/performance tonight, Friday, May 19, 8:00 pm, at artMovingProjects, Williamsburg
In the '80s the Roland TR-808 and TB-303, failed drum machine and bass genie, were scarfed up cheap by kids and "acid house" was born.
"People's music" - affordable tech for credible psychedelic party - Dionysian, anti-"control system" - different view of Modernism - apolitical vs opting out - "who controls the pleasure?" (The Man or the kids?)
Current soundmaking tech divides functions of the Drum Machine:
--sound generation is mechanical (voltages or digital signal processing is "sculpted" to make percussive noises)
---composition/sound design is done in the Sequencer
* Grids of MIDI notes - musical Mondrian
* editing of waveforms
Both are visual. Visual artists have a "home court advantage" (ear also helps)
"Drum Machine" video. (May describe, not show--it's a bit somber)
Doubly ironic:
--all sounds are "bent" from conventional drum sounds - spacy, not realistic
--visual elements *do not correspond* to sounds - problematized, anti-MTV
Live performance of 5 demo songs played with a sequencer (on laptop) controlling Vermona drum machine (subbing for TR-909) and Sidstation (subbing for TB-303):
Clip City
Godhopper
Protest Song Variation
Suite 6
ArtMoving (new, composed this week)
Increasing interest in creating sound/image combos. Play the following videos:
--End Notes (w jimpunk)
--Sensor Readings
--Ninja Elements
Detail of architectural rendering for 808 Columbus development, via Curbed. This is pretty how much how most of the New York metropolitan area is looking to me these days. I moved (back) here from Dallas 11 years ago this month, and that city followed me up here. One question I have is, how can New York City have so many banks? Every time a family-owned deli or hardware store closes it is replaced by a bank. My theory, without doing the research, is that the banks are buying the real estate (a la Starbucks), and those people sitting at desks behind the glass windows trying to look busy are just props.