I sometimes feel like Marcel Duchamp, or the idea of Duchamp, is lodged in part of my brain, and it (he) is a filter through which ideas regarding music, art, culture etc. must pass. This raises questions: Can I justify making this and putting it out into the world when Duchamp placed a urinal in …
In his book ‘Retromania, Pop Culture’s Addiction To Its Own Past’ (2011), music journalist Simon Reynolds states that popular (music) culture is suffering from retromania, an incurable addiction to its own past. According to Niels van Poecke, his analysis is based on a nineteenth century—and therefore very modern—notion of ‘authenticity’. It makes himself a symptom …
What if I want to compose something that is simply beautiful? Am I allowed to do this, or will this act result in my being regarded as a composer who simply wants to please the listener, instead of one that articulates and tries to solve particular problems, musical or otherwise, through his or her music? …
When I discussed Lana Del Rey’s ten-minute video ‘Ride’ in my aesthetics seminar group there was a strong disagreement amongst the students about the quality, novelty, inventiveness, and meaning of the identity claims…
Musical improvisation is a metamodern practice. It is an oscillation between two opposing poles: the willingness to be open to the sounds produced by others and the urge to direct the musical direction of the improvisation. It is impossible to unite these two stances, but musicians sincerely try to do so anyway, by entering into …
This article deals with a thought process which I have tried to capture. For a long time I have wished for a definition of Asperger’s Syndrome, a desire based on my own experience with it. Here I would like to illustrate that my study and life have evoked some thoughts about Asperger’s. Those ideas have developed …
Defining the rootless label: a romantically ironic appeal Read More »
