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| ==Thinking Through Images== | | ==Mp3s Are My Salesman== |
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| * <b>2nd Draft - 07/02/2012 - too long. Needs close reading</b>
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| * <b>Missing part 1</b>
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| * <b>Missing title</b>
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| | ===Project Summary=== |
| <i>1. Please summarize your project and describe how it fits into the project area you’ve designated (300 words max):</i> | | <i>1. Please summarize your project and describe how it fits into the project area you’ve designated (300 words max):</i> |
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| | ''Mp3s Are My Salesman'' is an investigation into music blogs written by people who make available to online users tracks from long out of print vinyl and cassettes, ranging from 1970s Thai and African pop, to new age soundscapes*. The investigation will be centered on the motivations that drive the authors of blogs to spend a great deal of time digitizing their analog music archives and making them publicly available. |
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| * Introduction:
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| In the last months I have grown a fascination for various music blogs that make available tracks from long out-of-print vinyls and cassettes ranging from Greek Punk, to African productions on cassettes, to obscure new age soundscapes. (Some examples cabe be found at: http://www.awesometapes.com/ http://crystalvibrations.blogspot.com/ http://costakisp-taperecorder.blogspot.com/ http://toysandtechniques.blogspot.com/ )
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| What has struck was not only the wealth of music made available, but also the fact that behind the blogs seem to be individuals who simply like to share their treasures with others and care to offer not only the sound files contextual information.
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| Given this scenario I cannot but ask what takes these individuals to spend large amounts of time digitazing vinyls and cassettes, finding information about the featured artist, writing about it and uploading the files.
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| What are the expectations behind this contribution to the online archive?
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| * Thesis:
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| My supposition is that such activity, besides being a genuine act of love for music, attempts to creates the conditions for the original object to become a collectors' item, a valuable object that can only be afforded by a few. Curiously such object which circulates freely online in its digital incarnation, seems to act as a promoter, as a strategy for making the music known and consequently increase its value. The worthless mp3s and jpgs become the salesmen of the physical object.
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| Despite possible commercial interest behind these blogs evidences might leads to say that these personal archives respect more the nature of their digital contents than many institutional online archives (such as the BBC Archive or the British Library Digital Collection). While the former are happy to leave their files freely available online, the latter often restrict users from downloading their audiovisual contents. Such a measure seems as conflicting with the very nature of the digital object which lives from copying and distribution. If such is proven true, I will argue that in order for archives to be alive and unique entities they must allow for copying and distribution. Only through appropriation, recombination and exploration of their digital contents can digital archives claim an alive and creative status, otherwise they are simply replicating physical archive formula, with contents still locked inside and made difficult users to access and explore.
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| * How it fits within the category
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| Although having its focus on online aural objects I believe this research to be able to shade some light to the processes (already in place and with potential for action) of distribution and appropriation of digital music. The culture relevance of these cultural processes which involve large numbers of user and practices which are still unclear to us, therefore making their close readings important.
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| 2. Explain how you wish to develop your project with Triple Canopy editorial, artistic, and technical staff. How do you imagine the collaboration benefiting the project and making it possible to realize the project in that form? (500 words max):
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| </i>
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| ----
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| <b>OLD</b>
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| 1st Draft - still to organize, think through, rewrite - 02/02/2012
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| In this investigation I will like to take as a starting point blogs that offer their readers digitized music from long out-of-print vinyls and cassettes ranging from western XX century avant garde, to African productions on cassettes, to obscure new age soundscapes.
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| Some examples at: http://www.avantgardeproject.org http://www.awesometapes.com/ http://crystalvibrations.blogspot.com/
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| | ''Mp3s Are My Salesman'' will depart from the premise that these blogs create the conditions for the "original" record and cassette to become a collectors' item. According to such hypothesis these objects' digital incarnations, circulating freely online, become promoters, whose aim is to increase the originals' market value. Worthless mp3s become the salesmen of the "original" obsolete media of music distribution. The investigation will assess the validity of such statement and shade light on other motivations behind these online activities. The work will be conducted through attentively observation of blogs, interviews with its owners and users, and exploration of the meaning of the original in this particular context. |
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| These records, in their original formats, have gained an aura, an authority due to its rarity, which has turned them into collectors items, whose value has raised to similar quantities as original works of art, due to its statues of rarity. However when such an object is digitized it totally looses its economic value, to the point that often the owners of these rarities are happy to share them through their sites blogs.
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| | I believe that investigating this particular phenomena will not only bring an insight into it, but foster discussion on our positions towards the digital. Hopefully clarifying why while we wish to freely access mp3s, movie's mp4s, e-books, we still desire the physical object, the rare vinyl record or the beautiful hardcover book. What is it that makes a mass-produced object claim the status of original, while its digital counterpart is seen as an infinitely reproducible replica? |
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| It is curious to note that those who decide to share that musical rarities online do not resume themselves to this action. Besides making it available to anyone they include extensive contextual information on the music, edition and conditions under it was found. It is as if to acquire the "original" statues, the context for it to happen has to be created.
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| Sharing the digitized songs and information on these records works in two direction: on the one hand it extends the collective archive and on the other hand it creates the conditions for the value of their item to reach that of a original work of art.
| | The project final form will be presented a podcast (sound essay) weaving together narrated parts of text with examples of music found on the blogs. |
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| As stated by Jaques Atalli music is prophetic, it senses what is still to happen. Perhaps this mode of exchange where digital sharing opens way for the physical object to gain the value of unique art piece will be a more widely spread practice in the future.
| | *Some examples can be found at: http://www.awesometapes.com/ http://crystalvibrations.blogspot.com/ http://monrakplengthai.blogspot.com/ http://toysandtechniques.blogspot.com/ |
Mp3s Are My Salesman
Project Summary
1. Please summarize your project and describe how it fits into the project area you’ve designated (300 words max):
Mp3s Are My Salesman is an investigation into music blogs written by people who make available to online users tracks from long out of print vinyl and cassettes, ranging from 1970s Thai and African pop, to new age soundscapes*. The investigation will be centered on the motivations that drive the authors of blogs to spend a great deal of time digitizing their analog music archives and making them publicly available.
Mp3s Are My Salesman will depart from the premise that these blogs create the conditions for the "original" record and cassette to become a collectors' item. According to such hypothesis these objects' digital incarnations, circulating freely online, become promoters, whose aim is to increase the originals' market value. Worthless mp3s become the salesmen of the "original" obsolete media of music distribution. The investigation will assess the validity of such statement and shade light on other motivations behind these online activities. The work will be conducted through attentively observation of blogs, interviews with its owners and users, and exploration of the meaning of the original in this particular context.
I believe that investigating this particular phenomena will not only bring an insight into it, but foster discussion on our positions towards the digital. Hopefully clarifying why while we wish to freely access mp3s, movie's mp4s, e-books, we still desire the physical object, the rare vinyl record or the beautiful hardcover book. What is it that makes a mass-produced object claim the status of original, while its digital counterpart is seen as an infinitely reproducible replica?
The project final form will be presented a podcast (sound essay) weaving together narrated parts of text with examples of music found on the blogs.
