On Jun 15, 2005, at 6:11 PM, Tom Moody wrote:
Chris is doing his best to answer questions and gets these "I dunno... I
dunno" answers from this blowhard.
Gee. I guess I should take insults personally, but I have better things to
do with my time. Instead, since you pointed the spotlight at me, I'll just
grab the mic here and elaborate on my posts and analyse from there:
(tap tap - is this thing on?)
First: I think Chris has been doing a great job -
***I really like reading his posts and viewing his work, when I can.***
Second: I have had intermittent access to the list and the net due to
machine failures - making this month rather challenging for me in SO many
ways. (luckily that will all change tomorrow at 10.30 AM)
Third: Like you, I have also found the mood of this month's posts getting
rather dire and grim, so I figured I would do something positive and :
try to LIGHTEN THE MOOD A LITTLE HERE (hey - what a concept!) with a
funny anecdote and then bring in some actual (if small) insight based on
his own points. It's public speaking 101 - start with a joke that has a
useful point,
(
wherein I amplified Chris's post about
There was the
early dream by some of the web's democratizing
capability- that citizens will be more involved and
empowered. If that was the case George W. would not
be president.
by pointing out how the very people who were developing the tools for this
Internet-thing (when I was at Macromedia supporting Dreamweaver)
anticipated the very same issues that Chris pointed out. I wasn't being
condescending to Chris - I WAS AGREEING WITH HIM. A LOT.)
)
- and then go into other points.
-> Example of other point: the very paragraph you so excoriate:
Chris Pointed out:
The web has leveled the playing field
for easy entry, but the discipline of practice and the
place of the author filter out the good from the bad.
to which I replied:
I dunno. I tend to think people find an audience or vice versa. Good or
bad - I dunno - depends on the audience I suppose. Discipline is a means
to an end and not an end in itself - but practice is a good thing as it
creates consistency. I think the author gains more from a practice than
the audience.
Where in the "I dunno" refers to my not exactly agreeing with his point,
but not completely disagreeing, hence the "I don't know", aka, I dunno.
It's something I'm thinking about... like "I dunno..."
I have a lot of problems with people who approach discipline and rigour as
ends in themselves, and I see that over and over again in the art world -
where obsessive compulsive disorder is rewarded as creativity (viz Stephen
King's writing habits prior to his accident).
I *do not* see Chris in that light at all - however, I think the point is
worth making, as practice is the shadow or the lining of ritual.
At the same time: I believe practice has aspects of importance: practice
provides consistency. Because the audience has random access to work,
their only benefit in the artist's practice is in the volume of work
produced by the practice. Hence: the real benefactor to practice is the
artist. Chris has taken this kind of ritual of daily blogging and provided
us all with his art. This is fine for us all, we get his art - but given
his statements about "not doing" the blog for a few days, and his
ambivalent feelings about that separation, I found quite illuminating, as
it indicates the depth of how his ritual has been routinised into his
life.
I find that also very interesting, as it indicates the depth of his
commitment to the ritual. I find great beauty in that - it's the human
stuff that matters. Hence, my point that I feel the author gains more from
practice (as with meditation) than the audience.
that his images are abstract only serves to underline that connexion
between the ritual and spiritual and daily practice.
So many emails that are rude and condescending to the (remaining) guest.
I would not disagree. However, I generally do not include mine among them.
More on that later.
I can't stand reading these emails anymore! Nothing substantive is being
said, it's a nightmare! Release me from this prison!
How does that elevate the discourse?
Since I'm such an utter *Blowhard*, I do hope the moderators will permit
my analysis of your own contributions. At first this might seem to hurt,
but it will feel better shortly - you'll see that it is actually all to a
positive end:
On June 2 you did the following:
1. you introduced people. (very good)
2. you extensively quoted from a website (not as good, but interesting)
On June 3 you:
1. linked to a repost of email I already received mentioning that you
discovered now to control text wrapping.
2. You noted that you composed two songs using various softsynths. HipHop
Guitar full version and a rhythm only track. Frankly, as a musician
myself, I didn't much like them. The sus-like chord stuff in the "piano"
fill sound throws the sound off the aggressive bass which sounded like it
was completely diatonic. The drums are uninspired (a frequent if not
endemic problem with much electronic music), and everything sounds a shade
behind the beat, making it sound more lackadaisical than driving. The
guitar sound itself was fairly convincing, but I find hyper-mimetics in
synthesis less interesting - if I want a guitar, I'll play a guitar or get
a guitar player - but that's my personal preference. Drummers are a
different story, because they're loud and use up a lot of space, and
micing a drum kit can be a tricky business (I've done it tooo many
times....) I also know a lot of really good guitar players... Also, the
guitar melody drove around flat 5s and seconds and in and out of key in a
way that reminded me of some prog rock (which is good) but didn't really
go anywhere or develop the melody (not good). Finally, the songs establish
a groove and poke at a song structure, but never really arrive at one. I
find that problematic with a lot of electronic music - modulating key sig
or even simply changing chord or shifting mode - these are all effective
strategies for working with melodic music, but it is often sorely lacking
in much electronic music. However: I think they're a good start at
something, and with development could be very interesting.
Somewhat off topic: by the way: what software are you using? I've been
using Ableton Live 4 and Propellerhead's Reason 3. I've been delving into
Max/MSP a bit, but I find the results vs. effort ratio less than useful
for most of what I try to do. Now that Ableton has MIDI, I don't think
I'll have much reason to use Reason (ducks!) as I can toss softsynths into
Live that are much nicer than anything found in Reason.
On June 4 you:
post how linkoln remixed your music. I didn't find the remix added much of
note to the song. The "break" (the middle eight?), I didn't find much of
an improvement - I liked your version better.
On June 4 you:
Sent congratulatory comments to linkoln/jimpunk for their work at a link
which now reads:
/stadium/2005/06/4be-linkoln-jmpunk-at-empyre.html fucking doesn't exist
on screenfull.net
Charming.
and then I don't have ANYTHING from you until today's little outburst.
Now, as I noted, I've had Very Squirrely access to the web for the past
month or so. I did send a rather nasty post early on (June 4?), but
Michael had the very good sense to prevent its appearance (thank you
Michael). I will no longer post things at 2 AM after getting hammered on
Vodka and Kahlua. I promise. Beer from now on...
;-)
And I'm sorry if I have missed some of your posts, but that's all I've
seen from you, truly.
Hence, from the bulk of your own discourse as I find it in my inbox, I
feel that my comments were actually about as substantive as your own, so I
don't understand where all the vituperation comes from.
I am of the opinion that great ideas are best explained clearly and
simply, and when the mood of a list gets angry or snippy, someone needs to
step in with a bit of humour and an injection of humanity through the use
of vernacular - it all helps move things along a good deal.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
I would request from you the following:
(no: you don't have to write on the whiteboard "I will get off Henry's
back" 100 times...)
What I think would be cool is this:
If you spend a few minutes, like I did here, and build an analysis:
assemble the things you find offensive (if it's a lot of them, then pick
some of the crueller thrusts) and just go point by point. A little
self-criticism in the list can be a good thing once in a while, and there
is no time like the present. In fact, there is no other time than the
present, but that's a philosophical point for my physics list...
Since you're probably still enraged (although I hope not) I'll use the
last of my little spotlight here to point out where things seemed to have
gone off the rails and into the weeds, to mix a few metaphors...
First: there were some very good posts: Anna Munster, clemos, rich white,
and others all had some interesting points for discussion.
First: there were some very incommunicative posts: from abe linkoln, who
posted links to screenfull with no description or explanation or
introduction, and then a link to David Lynch describing the weather in LA.
Second: jimpunk, for reasons unknown, sends a cryptic "unsubscribe"
message.
Second: abelinkoln sends a series of links to works that are, for the most
part, not his own.
Third: Abe sends more links interspersed by reply text.
Third: Abe signs off...
So at that point, we had a lot of input, some discussion, and a growing
sense of discord, and the disappearance of two of the artists, neither of
whom gave a reason for leaving.
Then on June 14, 2005 11:16:07 PM PDT, Robert Labossiere rummaged around
in his footlocker, found a hand grenade and lobbed it under the sofa like
so:
i find the buzz around blogging is really dreary, really...
shortly followed by Brad Brace opening up with a flame thrower:
or: validated art-online (net.art) is merely/briefly the
default content for new software/applications
Which didn't sit well with Chris Ashley, for what I would think are fairly
obvious reasons. His replies were strong and to the point and voiced
obvious frustration.
such as:
And you joined this conversation because...?
and
Is this supposed to be the point at which I say "Hey,
Kominos, fuck off, you cunt!"? Would that make you
happy? And then you can say, "See, I was right about
those bloggers."
No, I'll maintain my composure instead. I think I'll
ignore your posts from now on.
and a few posts later, some of which were actually not unpleasant and a
few were nice, (including my own, *sniff*) you (Tom Moody) chimed in with
your voice of frustration.
So, I get a sense of a lot of unfocussed anger and frustration from a
variety of quarters.
I'm not one to suggest we all stand in a circle around a fire and sing
Kumbaya, but I think it would be very good if we, as a collective entity
simply focus on the topic at hand, and try to be nice, and say smart
things about what we find here. Smart ass is one thing, but cruel and
dismissive is another. Be ready to say "Oooops - Sorry." Lord knows I do -
at least 20 times a day - but that's because I'm a clumsy oaf who needs
new glasses.
In conclusion:
Mr Moody, please do reconsider your unsubscription from this list. I took
no offence at your remarks, and while I may have been a tad sarcastic, I
do try to choose my words carefully - I try to reduce complete
misinterpretation.
I even consider being a blowhard some kind of an achievement these days -
given my history of asthma, allergy, bronchitis and lung infection...
:-/
best regards,
HW
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