If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of everyone, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it. It’s peculiar character too, is that no one possesses the less, because every other possesses the whole of it. He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessing mine; as he who lights a taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. That ideas should freely spread from one to another over the globe, for the moral and mutual instruction of man, and improvement of his condition, seems to have been peculiarly and benevolently designed by nature, when she made them, like fire, expansible over all space, without lessening their density at any point, and like the air in which we breathe, move, and have our physical being, incapable of confinement or exclusive appropriation. Inventions then cannot, in nature, be a subject of property.
Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Isaac McPherson, August 13, 1813
Post title by Flavor Flav of Public Enemy on the track “Caught, Can We Get a Witness” on the Album “It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back”
Live DJ-ing takes a step further into the 21st Century with this invention which lets DJ’s view, cut, grab, loop and mix tracks by doing live waveform editing on a twin touchscreen “turntable.” Invented by UK student Scott Hobbs as part of his innovative product design course, ATTIGO is about the same size as a conventional deck set-up, but has all the flexibility of digital track storage: choosing new tracks without all that swapping of vinyl. Check out the video to see it in action.
The digital basis of the system could allow for some pretty interesting new sounds at the hands of an expert DJ, even as it waves bye-bye to the tactile feedback that you get from the old-fashioned technique, moving a record under a needle.
It exists as a single working prototype for now, but Scott is going to try and commercialize it.
I’ve been going over the works and artists in this year’s whitney biennial and I was pleased to discover that one of my favorite djs, DJ Olive, is included (this is his second biennial).
“Using a room sized white tent furnished with cots, DJ Olive (Gregor Asch) creates an environment of deep ambient sounds with his most recent composition from the Sleeping Pill series, Triage. The artist encourages visitors to quietly listen to his work, providing a respite from the external chaos of the city. “(taken from the Whitney Biennial Site)
I’m really intrigued by the importance that sound now has in contemporary art. It would have been hard to imagine the whitney biennial including the work of a “dj” with only a minimal art background just a few years ago (DJ Olive has collaborated with sound art pioneer Christian Marclay in the past). I own DJ Olive’s ambient cd releases, buoy and sleep, so I have a sense of what Triage might sound like.
I can’t help but wonder about the “installation” aspect of the piece. I have a hard time imagining the average visitor to the whitney actually laying down and enjoying the sound. The tent and the cots become more about the idea of rest and healing than to be actually used for such. DJ Olive’s sleeping pill events seem to more effective in achieving his goals.
I’ve decided that I would like to pursue sound art in more depth in my studio practice. Since I have a really large interest in dj culture, it makes sense to pursue live performance sound art. The M-Audio Torq Xponent seems to be the way to go. It seems like it would also come in handy with Modul8 ( a vj software). I’m applying for a grant to get one. I hope it works out.
