Noise & Capitalism

by

Noise & Capitalism is an ongoing collective research platform dedicated to reflect in the way that capitalism conditions our life in relation to the practices of noise and improvisation.

The practices of noise and improvisation have historically claimed to be able to achieve some emancipation, agency and empowerment. We want to explore and question this potential.

Noise and improvisation are considered practices of certain risk in regards not to just to the music industry but also to the current spectacularisation of contemporary culture. This initiative takes these risks as a practice of social responsibility that in fact could take us beyond a phoney sense of freedom into possible unities of differing.

The project comprises different stages and approaches as the publication of a book, the organisation of seminars, presentations and conferences and other public presentation such as concerts and improvisational collective events. It was initiated through the publication of a book edited by mattin and Anthony Iles and has contributions by authors: Ray Brassier, Emma Hedditch, Matthew Hyland, Anthony Iles, Sara Kaaman, mattin, Nina Power, Edwin Prévost, Bruce Russell, Matthieu Saladin, Howard Slater, Csaba Toth, Ben Watson.

The publication was launched within the context of a seminar entitled Noise & Capitalism: Undoing, Understanding and Sharing time together held in Audiolab-Arteleku, Donostia-San Sebastián.

More recently the project has been presented at Centre d’art contemporain de Brétigny in France under the title Noise & Capitalism Exhibition as Concert (August-October 2010). Taking as a starting point the book Noise & Capitalism the CAC exhibition context became an improvised concert lasting for two months. By collapsing the formats of exhibition and concert into each other, the potential of the different usages of the noun noise explores rather than simply perpetuated noise as a musical genre. The exhibition comprised works by mattin and Loïc Blairon, Ray Brassier, Emma Hedditch, Esther Ferrer, Jean-Luc Guionnet, Anthony Iles, Matthieu Saladin and Howard Slater.

More information:

http://www.arteleku.net/noise_capitalism/
http://www.arteleku.net/audiolab/noise_capitalism.pdf
http://www.mattin.org