version

Well-known member
Wasnt that baudrillard?
11 September attacks

In a press conference in Hamburg on 16 September 2001, Stockhausen was asked by a journalist whether the characters in Licht were for him "merely some figures out of a common cultural history" or rather "material appearances". Stockhausen replied, "I pray daily to Michael, but not to Lucifer. I have renounced him. But he is very much present, like in New York recently" (Stockhausen 2002, 76). The same journalist then asked how the events of 11 September had affected him, and how he viewed reports of the attack in connection with the harmony of humanity represented in Hymnen. He answered:

Well, what happened there is, of course—now all of you must adjust your brains—the biggest work of art there has ever been. The fact that spirits achieve with one act something which we in music could never dream of, that people practise ten years madly, fanatically for a concert. And then die. [Hesitantly.] And that is the greatest work of art that exists for the whole Cosmos. Just imagine what happened there. There are people who are so concentrated on this single performance, and then five thousand people are driven to Resurrection. In one moment. I couldn't do that. Compared to that, we are nothing, as composers. [...] It is a crime, you know of course, because the people did not agree to it. They did not come to the "concert". That is obvious. And nobody had told them: "You could be killed in the process." (Stockhausen 2002, 76–77)

As a result of the reaction to the press report of Stockhausen's comments, a four-day festival of his work in Hamburg was cancelled. In addition, his pianist daughter announced to the press that she would no longer appear under the name "Stockhausen" (Lentricchia and McAuliffe 2003, 7). In a subsequent message, he stated that the press had published "false, defamatory reports" about his comments, and said:

At the press conference in Hamburg, I was asked if Michael, Eve and Lucifer were historical figures of the past and I answered that they exist now, for example Lucifer in New York. In my work, I have defined Lucifer as the cosmic spirit of rebellion, of anarchy. He uses his high degree of intelligence to destroy creation. He does not know love. After further questions about the events in America, I said that such a plan appeared to be Lucifer's greatest work of art. Of course I used the designation "work of art" to mean the work of destruction personified in Lucifer. In the context of my other comments this was unequivocal. (Stockhausen 2001a)
 

constant escape

winter withered, warm
In that it feeds into acts of stochastic terrorism, yah. Small isolated acts completely disrupt the entire social field, if avant garde=disruptive. I'm pretty much never comfortable in a movie theater. When I saw the joker movie the guy behind me started making strange popping noises with his mouth during the films climax and I thought I was going to die.
Yeah I'm fine with theater-going days coming to an end.

And "avant-garde+disruptive" is an interesting point, seeing as avant-garde translates to "foreguard" or cutting edge. The extremity of the force of destabilization/disruption/deterritorialization, as expressed... culturally?
 

version

Well-known member
I suppose you get writers trying to depict our present moment, with up to the minute cultural analyses of the latest technology and so on, but like Faulkner said, “the past isn’t dead, it’s not even past.” I just like to throw this in reverse, this fetish for the contemporary, and show how it is completely infused with all of these frames or ghost, if you like, of its own past. And the future itself is a kind of fiction produced of that odd couple. These time twists, and…flexes…it’s something that Joyce understands so well. I think literature at its best as a privileged access to this omnipresence of pasts, presents, and futures that are all up in the air. Nothing is less contemporary than contemporary art or fiction. Than art that has something to say about the now. I think the whole point of the now is that it’s precisely what we can’t articulate.
 

Leo

Well-known member
I've always felt avant-garde has a greater value when it's a work (or body of work) that is clearly uniquely different and ahead of the curve (of common practice, of popular tastes, etc.), but that is also understood, appreciated and even appropriated sometime in the years that follow. ahead of the cultural curve, and then understood/influential afterwards.

this is distinguished from work/bodies of work that are clearly unique, but have no pull, no influence. weird outliers that are their own thing, but don't influence other artists and culture.

maybe it's not fair to place a value judgment on either...the non-influential outlier avant-garde is still impressive in its own way, but I just think it's more interesting to see an artist who is ahead of the curve and an eventual cultural influence.
 

version

Well-known member
I've always felt avant-garde has a greater value when it's a work (or body of work) that is clearly uniquely different and ahead of the curve (of common practice, of popular tastes, etc.), but that is also understood, appreciated and even appropriated sometime in the years that follow. ahead of the cultural curve, and then understood/influential afterwards.

this is distinguished from work/bodies of work that are clearly unique, but have no pull, no influence. weird outliers that are their own thing, but don't influence other artists and culture.

maybe it's not fair to place a value judgment on either...the non-influential outlier avant-garde is still impressive in its own way, but I just think it's more interesting to see an artist who is ahead of the curve and an eventual cultural influence.
You got anyone in particular in mind?
 

Leo

Well-known member
there's an east village vegetarian restaurant called avant garden, and Brooklyn music venue called avant gardener.
 

Leo

Well-known member
John cage. Joseph beuys. Gregory corso. robert wilson. Kenneth anger. Tony Conrad. Godard. Merce Cunningham. autechre.
 

luka

Well-known member
Reminds me of that Borges thing where new works alter the meaning of old works... Or whatever it was he says
 

version

Well-known member
The same applies to film. The stuff with cutting edge effects dates quickly. Although every now and then you get an outlier like 2001 which somehow still looks incredible decades later.
 

Leo

Well-known member
I may have it all wrong, mind you. it's just something that popped into my head, different versus different and influential. if something is leading edge, it implies there is an influence that follows. the edge of something, as opposed to the edge of nothing.
 

version

Well-known member
There's no cut off point though. There could be something we view as having missed its moment of influence which may be dug up some time in the future.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Leo

luka

Well-known member
I agree with you. It might be an optical illusion but it feels like it's the difference between a sterile cross breed and the site of a new dynasty
 
  • Like
Reactions: Leo
Top