writing-violence

Thoughts about the solo recording ‘VIOLENCE’.

I have resisted to write anything as yet but it seemed necessary somehow. I didn’t want to previously because whenever I try anything like that it usually sounds ridiculous. For that reason I’ll keep it brief.

The music was recorded over two days and has no multi-tracking or editing, other than selection of pieces.

The title ‘lullaby of a grandmother’ comes from a bagpipe lament called ‘the old woman’s lullaby’, by Pipe Major Donald MacLeod, which somehow got lost in translation - going in as one thing and coming out unintentionally as something different. This track is also partly inspired by bagpipe music, particularly laments, and especially that tune.

The main title ‘VIOLENCE’ came about mainly because of the inspiration from Slavoj Zizek’s book of the same name. Some of the themes in this book relate to some visual performative work I did a number of years ago on the themes of war, violence, identity, movement and space. The images used on the website for the main title, and each individual track, are from this work, which was a performance based piece using photography. The subtext for this work could be: ‘violence as cognitive mapping, an antidote to groundlessness’. Zizek talks about cognitive mapping as the process in which we map out our world, physically and psychologically. This title, however, used for track 3, is my concoction.

The title ‘passe’ comes from a Lacanian term which, speaking very generally, marks the point where in psychoanalysis the analysand (client) ‘becomes’ the analyst. I saw a parallel to this in improvised music where the listener is active in creating the music as it happens, i.e. moves from passive listener to active creator, and in so doing changes his or her role. There is also the obvious reference to the common meaning of the word, and how it is used.

I really wanted to draw reference to Gustav Metzger, and the dialogue Rhodri Davies set up between his work and improvised music, which I felt drew up many important meanings which I was struggling to articulate in the music.

In many ways the violence to which the title refers has something to do with the violence of a lack of openness - a closure of space, space without potential or ambiguity. It states that the music is in no way a representation of violence, and in fact, more than this - it is about the violence of space or music being fixed as a representation of something. Rather than a flux of onging, unfinished, yet-to-be-made relationships and trajectories. The work of Doreen Massey is very important here. To read a bit by her on this (download PDF) click HERE.

This recording and its presentation were always about the why not the what, so when the ideas and thoughts moved into focus and things became clearer, then came the impetus, inspiration and validity to do it. A lot of that creative momentum came from the birth of Matteo, so it is to him that I dedicate it.

The title ‘lullaby of a grandmother’ comes from a bagpipe lament called ‘the old woman’s lullaby’, by Pipe Major Donald MacLeod, which somehow got lost in translation - going in as one thing and coming out unintentionally as something different. This track is also partly inspired by bagpipe music, particularly laments, and especially that tune.

The main title ‘VIOLENCE’ came about mainly because of the inspiration from Slavoj Zizek’s book of the same name. Some of the themes in this book relate to some visual performative work I did a number of years ago on the themes of war, violence, identity, movement and space. The images used on the website for the main title, and each individual track, are from this work, which was a performance based piece using photography. The subtext for this work could be: ‘violence as cognitive mapping, an antidote to groundlessness’. Zizek talks about cognitive mapping as the process in which we map out our world, physically and psychologically. This title, however, used for track 3, is my concoction.

The title ‘passe’ comes from a Lacanian term which, speaking very generally, marks the point where in psychoanalysis the analysand (client) ‘becomes’ the analyst. I saw a parallel to this in improvised music where the listener is active in creating the music as it happens, i.e. moves from passive listener to active creator, and in so doing changes his or her role. There is also the obvious reference to the common meaning of the word, and how it is used.

I really wanted to draw reference to Gustav Metzger, and the dialogue Rhodri Davies set up between his work and improvised music, which I felt drew up many important meanings which I was struggling to articulate in the music.

In many ways the violence to which the title refers has something to do with the violence of a lack of openness - a closure of space, space without potential or ambiguity. It states that the music is in no way a representation of violence, and in fact, more than this - it is about the violence of space or music being fixed as a representation of something. Rather than a flux of onging, unfinished, yet-to-be-made relationships and trajectories. The work of Doreen Massey is very important here. To read a bit by her on this (download PDF) click HERE.

This recording and its presentation were always about the why not the what, so when the ideas and thoughts moved into focus and things became clearer, then came the impetus, inspiration and validity to do it. A lot of that creative momentum came from the birth of Matteo, so it is to him that I dedicate it.

The main title ‘VIOLENCE’ came about mainly because of the inspiration from Slavoj Zizek’s book of the same name. Some of the general arguments in this book relate to some visual performative work I did a number of years ago on the themes of war, violence, identity, movement and space. The images used on the website for the main title, and each track, are from this work, which was a performance based piece using photography. The working title for this work could be: ‘violence as cognitive mapping, an antidote to groundlessness’. Zizek mentions cognitive mapping as the process in which we map out our world, physically and psychologically. This ‘title’, however, used for track 3, is my concoction. (To inadequately sum up Zizek’s book: it is about systemic violence and its invisible undercurrent which both outweighs and gives rise to the more obvious forms of violence.)

The title ‘lullaby of a grandmother’ comes from a bagpipe lament called ‘the old woman’s lullaby’, by Pipe Major Donald MacLeod, which somehow got lost in translation - going in as one thing and coming out unintentionally as something different. This track is also partly inspired by bagpipe music, particularly laments, and especially that tune.

The main title ‘VIOLENCE’ came about mainly because of the inspiration from Slavoj Zizek’s book of the same name. Some of the themes in this book relate to some visual performative work I did a number of years ago on the themes of war, violence, identity, movement and space. The images used on the website for the main title, and each individual track, are from this work, which was a performance based piece using photography. The subtext for this work could be: ‘violence as cognitive mapping, an antidote to groundlessness’. Zizek talks about cognitive mapping as the process in which we map out our world, physically and psychologically. This title, however, used for track 3, is my concoction.

The title ‘passe’ comes from a Lacanian term which, speaking very generally, marks the point where in psychoanalysis the analysand (client) ‘becomes’ the analyst. I saw a parallel to this in improvised music where the listener is active in creating the music as it happens, i.e. moves from passive listener to active creator, and in so doing changes his or her role. There is also the obvious reference to the common meaning of the word, and how it is used.

I really wanted to draw reference to Gustav Metzger, and the dialogue Rhodri Davies set up between his work and improvised music, which I felt drew up many important meanings which I was struggling to articulate in the music.

In many ways the violence to which the title refers has something to do with the violence of a lack of openness - a closure of space, space without potential or ambiguity. It states that the music is in no way a representation of violence, and in fact, more than this - it is about the violence of space or music being fixed as a representation of something. Rather than a flux of onging, unfinished, yet-to-be-made relationships and trajectories. The work of Doreen Massey is very important here. To read a bit by her on this (download PDF) click HERE.

This recording and its presentation were always about the why not the what, so when the ideas and thoughts moved into focus and things became clearer, then came the impetus, inspiration and validity to do it. A lot of that creative momentum came from the birth of Matteo, so it is to him that I dedicate it.

The title ‘passe’ comes from a Lacanian term which, speaking very generally, marks the point where in psychoanalysis the analysand (client) ‘becomes’ the analyst. I saw a parallel to this in improvised music where the listener is active in creating the music as it happens, i.e. moves from passive listener to active creator, and in so doing changes his or her role. (However, it’s important to stress I do not wish to make a connection between psychoanalysis and improvised music - at all). There is also the obvious reference to the common, vernacular meaning of the word, and how it is used.

The title ‘lullaby of a grandmother’ comes from a bagpipe lament called ‘the old woman’s lullaby’, by Pipe Major Donald MacLeod, which somehow got lost in translation - going in as one thing and coming out unintentionally as something different. This track is also partly inspired by bagpipe music, particularly laments, and especially that tune.

The main title ‘VIOLENCE’ came about mainly because of the inspiration from Slavoj Zizek’s book of the same name. Some of the themes in this book relate to some visual performative work I did a number of years ago on the themes of war, violence, identity, movement and space. The images used on the website for the main title, and each individual track, are from this work, which was a performance based piece using photography. The subtext for this work could be: ‘violence as cognitive mapping, an antidote to groundlessness’. Zizek talks about cognitive mapping as the process in which we map out our world, physically and psychologically. This title, however, used for track 3, is my concoction.

The title ‘passe’ comes from a Lacanian term which, speaking very generally, marks the point where in psychoanalysis the analysand (client) ‘becomes’ the analyst. I saw a parallel to this in improvised music where the listener is active in creating the music as it happens, i.e. moves from passive listener to active creator, and in so doing changes his or her role. There is also the obvious reference to the common meaning of the word, and how it is used.

I really wanted to draw reference to Gustav Metzger, and the dialogue Rhodri Davies set up between his work and improvised music, which I felt drew up many important meanings which I was struggling to articulate in the music.

In many ways the violence to which the title refers has something to do with the violence of a lack of openness - a closure of space, space without potential or ambiguity. It states that the music is in no way a representation of violence, and in fact, more than this - it is about the violence of space or music being fixed as a representation of something. Rather than a flux of onging, unfinished, yet-to-be-made relationships and trajectories. The work of Doreen Massey is very important here. To read a bit by her on this (download PDF) click HERE.

This recording and its presentation were always about the why not the what, so when the ideas and thoughts moved into focus and things became clearer, then came the impetus, inspiration and validity to do it. A lot of that creative momentum came from the birth of Matteo, so it is to him that I dedicate it.

I really wanted to draw reference to Gustav Metzger, and the dialogue Rhodri Davies set up between his work and improvised music, which I felt drew up many important meanings which I was struggling to articulate in the music. I think there’s some very valuable connections there.

The title ‘lullaby of a grandmother’ comes from a bagpipe lament called ‘the old woman’s lullaby’, by Pipe Major Donald MacLeod, which somehow got lost in translation - going in as one thing and coming out unintentionally as something different. This track is also partly inspired by bagpipe music, particularly laments, and especially that tune.

The main title ‘VIOLENCE’ came about mainly because of the inspiration from Slavoj Zizek’s book of the same name. Some of the themes in this book relate to some visual performative work I did a number of years ago on the themes of war, violence, identity, movement and space. The images used on the website for the main title, and each individual track, are from this work, which was a performance based piece using photography. The subtext for this work could be: ‘violence as cognitive mapping, an antidote to groundlessness’. Zizek talks about cognitive mapping as the process in which we map out our world, physically and psychologically. This title, however, used for track 3, is my concoction.

The title ‘passe’ comes from a Lacanian term which, speaking very generally, marks the point where in psychoanalysis the analysand (client) ‘becomes’ the analyst. I saw a parallel to this in improvised music where the listener is active in creating the music as it happens, i.e. moves from passive listener to active creator, and in so doing changes his or her role. There is also the obvious reference to the common meaning of the word, and how it is used.

I really wanted to draw reference to Gustav Metzger, and the dialogue Rhodri Davies set up between his work and improvised music, which I felt drew up many important meanings which I was struggling to articulate in the music.

In many ways the violence to which the title refers has something to do with the violence of a lack of openness - a closure of space, space without potential or ambiguity. It states that the music is in no way a representation of violence, and in fact, more than this - it is about the violence of space or music being fixed as a representation of something. Rather than a flux of onging, unfinished, yet-to-be-made relationships and trajectories. The work of Doreen Massey is very important here. To read a bit by her on this (download PDF) click HERE.

This recording and its presentation were always about the why not the what, so when the ideas and thoughts moved into focus and things became clearer, then came the impetus, inspiration and validity to do it. A lot of that creative momentum came from the birth of Matteo, so it is to him that I dedicate it.

In many ways the violence to which the title refers has something to do with the violence of a lack of openness - a closure of space - space without potential or ambiguity. It states that the music is in no way a representation of violence, and in fact, more than this, it is about the violence of space, in its interpretation, being fixed as a representation of something. Rather than a flux of ongoing, unfinished, yet-to-be-made relationships and trajectories. It is about that violence hidden behind the image/space presented as a fixed representation - a stasis. The work of Doreen Massey is very important here. To read a bit by her on this (PDF download) look at this: Some_times_of_space.pdf.

The title ‘lullaby of a grandmother’ comes from a bagpipe lament called ‘the old woman’s lullaby’, by Pipe Major Donald MacLeod, which somehow got lost in translation - going in as one thing and coming out unintentionally as something different. This track is also partly inspired by bagpipe music, particularly laments, and especially that tune.

The main title ‘VIOLENCE’ came about mainly because of the inspiration from Slavoj Zizek’s book of the same name. Some of the themes in this book relate to some visual performative work I did a number of years ago on the themes of war, violence, identity, movement and space. The images used on the website for the main title, and each individual track, are from this work, which was a performance based piece using photography. The subtext for this work could be: ‘violence as cognitive mapping, an antidote to groundlessness’. Zizek talks about cognitive mapping as the process in which we map out our world, physically and psychologically. This title, however, used for track 3, is my concoction.

The title ‘passe’ comes from a Lacanian term which, speaking very generally, marks the point where in psychoanalysis the analysand (client) ‘becomes’ the analyst. I saw a parallel to this in improvised music where the listener is active in creating the music as it happens, i.e. moves from passive listener to active creator, and in so doing changes his or her role. There is also the obvious reference to the common meaning of the word, and how it is used.

I really wanted to draw reference to Gustav Metzger, and the dialogue Rhodri Davies set up between his work and improvised music, which I felt drew up many important meanings which I was struggling to articulate in the music.

In many ways the violence to which the title refers has something to do with the violence of a lack of openness - a closure of space, space without potential or ambiguity. It states that the music is in no way a representation of violence, and in fact, more than this - it is about the violence of space or music being fixed as a representation of something. Rather than a flux of onging, unfinished, yet-to-be-made relationships and trajectories. The work of Doreen Massey is very important here. To read a bit by her on this (download PDF) click HERE.

This recording and its presentation were always about the why not the what, so when the ideas and thoughts moved into focus and things became clearer, then came the impetus, inspiration and validity to do it. A lot of that creative momentum came from the birth of Matteo, so it is to him that I dedicate it.

The decision to make this recording, and its presentation, were always primarily about the why, so when the ideas and thoughts moved into focus and things became clearer, then came the impetus, inspiration and validity to do it. A lot of that creative momentum came from the birth of Matteo, so it is to him that I dedicate it.