[NewMusic] More anti-carbon floop-print poopoganda

[Damon Smith]

It is a nice idea. I was into punk ideals when I was younger, then I  
realized that most were putting more into that and not really caring  
for the musical end.
As far as I am concerned if I am not changing my music for non- 
musical reasons I am not selling out.
Getting experimental and otherwise interesting art and music to more  
Americans and Western society is a lot more important to me than who  
owns myspace and what else they own.

On May 9, 2008, at 12:19 PM, lx rudis wrote:

> wow.
>
> well, it's my opinion that we can re-invent ourselves to escape the  
> 'sell
> out' aspects of commercial art.  in my opinion, that's exactly what  
> i've
> done to myself, and intend to continue doing.  i work both sides of  
> the
> fence, and am very comfortable doing so - each supports the other,  
> in a way.
>
> but this doesn't work for everyone, and i won't generalize or  
> insist that
> everyone adopt my POV or techniques.
>
> there's that old saw 'best revenge is living well'.  ok, that  
> leaves a lot
> open for interpretation, but when i view the thing i'm in, it means  
> that i
> have to cast a steely gaze on my society itself, and pick and  
> choose the
> components i let in, the things i allow to move me or control me...
>
> ...with full understanding that...
>
> ...other components define themselves as control, are unavoidable,  
> or nearly
> so.  but at the end of the day, it's _my_ decision as to whether  
> i'll let my
> forced relationship with my society dictate how i feel about  
> creativity.
> the reason i say that is that i've seen so many of my friends get  
> submerged
> in blind anger and frustration at the social and political mess  
> they are
> forced to navigate every freaking day.  and often, creativity alone  
> is not
> enough to blunt the pain.
>
> ...and from time to time, i submerge too.  now that i've been down  
> there a
> few times, i know that i eventually come back up and breathe, but  
> it's a
> pretty wonky place, and i get really upset about being put down there,
> especially when its a result of this horribly casual relationship  
> between
> aesthetics and economy that we ride.
>
> but at the end of it all, and wrenching this loopy post back somewhere
> recognizeable, i'll reiterate that i've gotten _friends_ thru myspace.
> maybe not a rent check, but for now, right now, that's enough for me.
>
> and myspace will never host another video of mine.
> nor music.
> and soon the images will be taken down.
> and once the bio blog is finished , it will be taken down as well.
>
> eventually, i'll have a doormat at myspace, i'll monitor it, and if  
> i hear a
> knock, i'll politely answer and invite them in...elsewhere.
>
> bye, and thanks for providing such a thought provoking subject!
>
> On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 11:09 AM, Alicia Byer <aliciabyer at gmail.com>  
> wrote:
>
>> I think the point here is that networking software really does  
>> have the
>> potential to do something positive for art (as evidenced by  
>> everybody's
>> attachment to it) and it's just shitty that some asshole owns it and
>> exploits it.. the same thing happens to everything with political
>> potential in capitalism, it's simply absorbed or annexed instead of
>> being opposed.
>>
>> I interviewed this opera director in germany... she had written an  
>> opera
>> about skinheads, kind of sympathizing with them in a way. The main  
>> kid
>> who eventually became a neonazi had an art critic for a dad. Every  
>> time
>> the kid to make art, the dad would put it on display and all the  
>> "powers
>> that be" of society would comment on it and approve it and put it  
>> in a
>> gallery, leeching away all the subversive power. Eventually the  
>> kid went
>> crazy and became a Nazi because as the director put it, "that is the
>> only thing that is so taboo that it will never be absorbed." She also
>> said that "In a society like ours... that is always eating our  
>> tries to
>> oppose [sic] almost always if you are a clever person at all you  
>> must go
>> so far outside.. " (to stay true to yourself or have some integrity).
>>
>> Now I'm not advocating neo-nazism, those people are scary and gave  
>> me a
>> run for my money while I was in berlin, but I think there is some  
>> truth
>> to the fact that we're between a rock and a hard place: either you  
>> sell
>> your soul to the machine little piece by piece, day by day, or you  
>> try
>> to retain some integrity, which forces you to live on an extreme  
>> fringe
>> that may warp you and is not always necessarily good for your  
>> objectives
>> either.
>>
>> I'm not saying I have an answer, just pointing out that there doesn't
>> seem to be a convenient(tm) way to exist with any integrity in  
>> America.
>>
>> -alicia
>>
>> Sarah - 21 Grand wrote:
>>> Matt declared:
>>> This talk about evil
>>> corporations, how all CEOs are fascists, and how using any store- 
>>> bought
>>> product or internet service is contributing to the destruction of  
>>> our
>>> otherwise edenistic existence?
>>>
>>> - I don't think anyone is saying that all CEOs are fascists ... Only
>> Rupert
>>> Murdoch, which might be slightly hyperbolizing his politics, but  
>>> not by
>>> much. Oh, if only myspace was owned by George Clooney instead ...
>>>
>>> sl
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Bay Area New Music Discussion Group
>>> NewMusic at music.mills.edu
>>> http://music.mills.edu/mailman/listinfo/newmusic
>>>
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Bay Area New Music Discussion Group
>> NewMusic at music.mills.edu
>> http://music.mills.edu/mailman/listinfo/newmusic
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Bay Area New Music Discussion Group
> NewMusic at music.mills.edu
> http://music.mills.edu/mailman/listinfo/newmusic

Damon Smith

http://www.balancepointacoustics.com
http://myspace.com/smithdamon
New solo project:
http://www.myspace.com/damonsmithsolo