The world after 800,000,000 years

[imomus]

The lecture I gave on Tuesday at Future University was about sound and music, but mostly about frames; how a lot of 20th century art was about repositioning frames. Someone asked why I was so interested in John Cage, and I described how I'd first encountered Cage -- at a Cage festival in Rome. It was under the Capitol Hill, in the open air. David Tudor came out to play the piano, but instead of opening the lid and playing notes, went round the back and ran a microphone up and down the strings. Cage and Tudor literally framed the piano for me in a fresh way that evening; they put a frame around the back instead of the front.

I illustrated the lecture with the piece I made (in collaboration with Florian Perret, currently teaching in China, as you'll see if you follow that link) for MoCA's Digital Gallery a couple of years ago, Suffusia. I picked Suffusia because it shows a lot of different frames. There's the slide projector screen, the framing device of the people watching (a masai tribesman, a woman scratching her bum), the looming presence in the background of Mount Fuji. By zooming the Flash file and dragging it around, I kept changing the context of the zany lecture depicted by changing the framing. A whole vista of topics opened up: context, irony, the relativity of meaning, whether the boundaries between different contexts are hard or soft, hostile or friendly, and so on.



The newest piece for MoCA's Digital Gallery is by Aya Takano. It's called The World After 800,000,000 years. (Switch off pop-up blocking when you go there, and switch up the sound, which, like the sound on Suffusia, has been compressed too much and is a bit woolly.) The plot is... well, I'm not quite sure. Aya says "After 800,000,000 years mankind was included too, all the creatures whom we knew fell for a while. However, the follows the way of the evolution agein. Curious things were done, and it evolved even to the creature who was about the same as the human being of the spider present." You just have to click through it, making sure you hold the mouse button down for a while (stuff happens). I like the alternative world it takes me into, a world where dreamy skinny girls seem to be the only remaining humans and sexy whimsy rules the planet. (No, not you, Lord Whimsy.) Wait 800,000,000 years for the real thing or live it now in Flash.

Speaking of Flash, I'm happy to hear that the first couple of Flash animations -- in which Click Opera readers animate Otto Spooky songs -- are nearing completion, 'Robin Hood' and 'The Artist Overwhelmed'. Expect to see something by the weekend or shortly after that.

Finally, as part of this journal's ongoing mission to convince everybody that Japanese women are the coolest people in the known universe, here's the Paris Hilton video by Mu. (As for Paris Hilton herself, I really have no idea who she is, what she looks like, or what she does. Let's reposition the frame to the song about her.)

Comments

Re: Objects.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

The concept of 'objectification' implies some things I don't agree with:

1. That people are not objects already.

2. That they don't want to be objects.

3. That you can't be simultaneously an object and a subject.

After all, an object is simply how I, a subject, must inevitably appear to others. Seeing myself as an object is seeing myself as others see me. It is a social virtue to internalize the way others see me. That, if anything, is the 'depth' of Japan; deep inside is not 'my personal convictions, which you will discover by quizzing me'. It is, rather, an internalized model of the outside world, the social world. Scratch the surface and you will find a deep version of... the way things look on the surface.

Oscar Wilde put this more wittily. "It is only the shallow who do not judge by appearances."

Re: Objects.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Apologies to Mario, but one of the ways we try to correct misogyny in the West is by making women into untamed, asocial Godzillas, as he did when he wrote "The tribal drumming got eaten by Mu, like probably everything else in this world if we let her." (Someone pointed out the other day that the MTV does a similar thing with its descriptions of female artists, portraying them as big and hard and dangerous.) This strategy actually compounds the misogyny it seeks to escape. The only way to re-valuate femininity positively is to valorise the things that women typically do. That means talking in positive ways about being oriented towards others, and towards society, for instance. It also means accepting that it's extremely important to devote a lot of attention to how you look. Thank goodness women are increasingly able to tell us directly what femininity is actually all about. Aya Takano's Flash piece doesn't show women as Godzilla-like destroyers, it shows childish, feminine characters as the sole survivors of an eco-apocalypse. That's something very well worth paying attention to, not only for what it says about feminine values, but for the survival of our planet. Let's kill this silly myth that women must be Godzillas to warrant respect.

Re: Objects.

[(Anonymous)]

But Mu is actually a scary girl though, super-scary, it feels like she would really chop your wee-wee off if you pissed her off. But it's also playful scary, and she would dress up like Lorena Bobitt while doing it. If you hear all of her music you'll see she's totally like Godzilla, though in a comic overacted kind of way, with the growl noises and cardboard buildings included
mario

Re: Objects.

[33mhz.livejournal.com]

This is quite true, although I have less castration anxiety about her. What attracted me to Afro Finger and Gel was the vinyl-melting rage in her voice.

On the other hand, she's ultimately not an asocial godzilla, although she plays occasionally one on EP. Destroying Human Nature, like most of the tracks, criticise or warn against things that alienate or leave us alienated from others.

Re: Objects.

[kennithholloway.livejournal.com]

indeed...i love that one where she goes "how many people can you know, how many music can you feel to?" and she still has the scary voice but she's saying something so hippy all of a sudden
I have to admit i haven't heard the whole album yet (just about 4 tracks), but in haters and stop bothering michael jackson she totally sounds like she's about to commit a genocide
mario

Re: Objects.

[w-e-quimby.livejournal.com]

Objectification is good as long as it does away with misogyny by causing people to value femininity? Does that mean that wanting women to be feminine is a form of objectification?

Re: Objects.

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

Personally, I think it's more about women (and men, for that matter) having the freedom to embrace what is commonly considered 'feminine' without fear of reproach. I know intelligent, accomplished women who are disliked by other women because they are perceived as being too feminine--which seems to me a strange prejudice.

This cultural 'gender loading' is culturally incestuous and unhealthy. There is a profoundly broad continuum which exists between the sexes (this should come as no surprise, since there is just as much genetic difference between a male and female human as there is between a female human and a female chimpanzee). We should be able to embrace (or at least appreciate) every point on that continuum.

W

Re: Objects.

[w-e-quimby.livejournal.com]

So it should be just as ok to be feminine as it is to be masculine... but I disagree that women have to be feminine and men have to be masculine. Anybody should be able to fall freely on the continuum and be accepted, wherever they may land.

Re: Objects.

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

...I disagree that women have to be feminine and men have to be masculine...

I don't see anyone implying such a thing, least of all myself. I'm friends with too many people who cross such illusory lines to endorse such a thing.

A fellow wiser than I once said that nature has no laws, only habits.

W

Earth needs women!

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

A subject about which I feel quite strongly. Couldn't agree more.

Re: Objects.

[(Anonymous)]

I welcome objectification. Without it, I never would have spoken to many of my favorite girls. I'm so shy that I'm unlikely to approach a girl that I am attracted to. But, seemingly without fail, they have overcome any shyness they might have and approached me. Was it because of something profound I said? Obviously not. It was based solely on my startlingly good looks. Women are just as guilty of objectification as we are. I don't know how many women have told me that they throw out from the dating pool balding men in their '20s. Man, I'm trying to hold onto my thinning hair--I really am.

Momus, I am thankful that you've had consistently tasteful album art as of late. It allows me to be certain that I will enjoy the music contained within before I get my hands on the album.

Patrick

Re: Objects.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Do I detect just a tiny whiff of sarcasm here? I do, though, believe that good graphic design and good pop music are quite reliably correlated. Not infallibly, though.

Re: Objects.

[(Anonymous)]

My comment couldn't have been more accurate or sincere!

'Journey' had a naked Kahimi illustration and the music inside is glorious Midieval Prog Pop.

Patrick

Re: Objects.

[(Anonymous)]

*Medieval

Re: Objects.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Well, illustrator Kam Tang and I certainly shared a love of medieval romance imagery (Kahimi is a kind of Ophelia / Lady of Shalott on the sleeve) and of the Roger Dean-like imagery of psychedelic prog rock landscapes (all the mushrooms correspond well to the lyric "I took a drug...", whose structure mimics prog rock). Unicorns appear on the sleeve as well as in the lyrics. And so on...

Re: Objects.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

(I kind of prefer your "midieval" spelling -- medieval MIDI sounds very close to the UNICORN / UNIVAC imagery I was into at the time. Mistaken spellings of midieval Manhattan, perhaps?)

Re: Objects.

[(Anonymous)]

Not to stray too far from the topic, but here is one of my favorite album covers. Akiko Yano's 1982 album 'Ai Ga Nakuchane'. Not only does it contain perfect pop oddities (her other albums do that as well with her hubbie Ryuichi Sakamoto's synthesizer help), but the songs are bubbling with fretless bass from Mick Karn!

http://members.tripod.com/demae/images/AI_GA_NAKUCHA_NE.jpg

Oh, if only I had photoshop skills to place Momus' face under that wondrously frizzy fro.

Patrick

Re: Objects.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

A nice cover, and not too far from the atmosphere of Aya's piece, and many Japanese womens' self-portrayals, in which cuteness, Japaneseness, childishness, ecological and anti-war themes often mix. I'm constantly amazed by the ways western people choose to turn a blind eye to the positivity of these messages, finding instead something 'dark' or 'disturbing' or insisting that the women are satirising the constraints of their society with some kind of sarcasm. Please pay more attention, western critics!

Re: Objects.

[(Anonymous)]

i like it that you are much more unapollogetical about your objectification than you were when the last big discussions about this some time ago...
i personally, though i feel the same about the jap girls as you, can't completely get in my head how you can have jap girlfriends, since i have never, ever been able to communicate with them even though i know the language. there's a tall, tall barrier that i find myself unable to cross, so i can only sit at this side of the wall and flip through the pages of my Aya Takano and Hiromix books with awe.
mario

Re: Objects.

[(Anonymous)]

i'm so happy about finding another Akiko Yano fan that i had to do this

had a tough time finding a momus pic with the same facial gesture, so he/she looks a bit more serious here

mario

Re: Objects.

[(Anonymous)]

Hah! Thanks! Momus' cheeks aren't quite round enough!

If you like Akiko Yano, also check out Miharu Koshi's first three albums, 'Tutu', 'Parallelisme', and 'Boy Soprano'. She has one of my favorite singing voices and her synth-pop arrangements. Another favorite is Chakra, which is a tad more rock. Mishio Ogawa sings in a cute, playful voice that is sometimes out of tune (on purpose...because the Japanese are supposed to be attracted to amateurness).

Some other good early '80s synth-pop groups are Ippu-Do ('Night Mirage' from '83 is unreal, and the singer Masami Tsuchiya's solo album from '82, 'Rice Music', as well), Moon Riders, Jun Togawa, Sandii and the Sunsetz, Susan, and P-Model.

I have a bunch of Japanese music from this period, and if anyone is interested or having trouble finding it (cd-japan is your best bet after visiting Japan), feel free to email me and I'll be happy to set you up.

Here are some tracks that I uploaded to my webspace for you listening pleasure!

Masami Tsuchiya - "Tao Tao" (1982):

http://netfiles.uiuc.edu/psouth/shared/04%20-%20Tao-Tao.mp3

Ippu-Do - "African Nights" (1983):

http://netfiles.uiuc.edu/psouth/shared/Ippu%20Do%20-%2002%20African%20Nights.mp3

Chakra - "Mada" (1983):

http://netfiles.uiuc.edu/psouth/shared/6.%20Mada.mp3

Moon Riders - (dont' know the name, but it's track 7 on 'Nouvelles Vagues') (1978):

http://netfiles.uiuc.edu/psouth/shared/07.%20Moon%20Riders%20-%20-----.mp3

Miharu Koshi - "Hashire Usagi" (1985):

http://netfiles.uiuc.edu/psouth/shared/05%20-%20Miharu%20Koshi%20-%20Hashire%20Usagi.mp3

Akiko Yano - "Sleep on My Baby" (1982):

http://netfiles.uiuc.edu/psouth/shared/8.%20Akiko%20Yano%20-%20Sleep%20on%20my%20baby.mp3

Hopefully those URLs work. If not then get them find them at http://netfiles.uiuc.edu/psouth/shared

Sorry for all that, but I hope you enjoy.

Patrick
psouth@uiuc.edu

Re: Objects.

[kennithholloway.livejournal.com]

WOW!That's really awesome, lots of thanks Patrick. I've long been trying unsuccesfully to find this kind of stuff with my own weak ways. I'll have to sleep a bit before setting out to download those songs, but that's making me not want to sleep anymore...
actually Akiko Yano (whom i got aquaintanced by randomly browing an Evil File Sharing Program) lead me naturally to liking Kate Bush. Is that odd?they arose in the same period, yet both seem to me like they're originals and very similar at the same time.
Mario