Party statement: Sub bass cannot be copied
Last year we declared the file-sharing debate dead. Tonight we’re throwing a party.
It is not that we have stopped sharing files, only that it is no longer interesting to debate for or against file-sharing while networks keep getting bigger and faster and more and more people are connecting and sharing.
What interests us is not whether the sharing of certain information in certain ways is legal or illegal, but the very real effects these practices have on art production, distribution and consumption and what possibilities remain unrealized.
By inviting you to the party tonight we also want to invite you to reflect on how music is produced and experienced. While being unprecedented in its scope, accessibility and speed, the internet still just acts as an intermediary between creator and consumer, or even as a catalyst to blur the giver/receiver divide itself. The internet does not just function as the world’s largest archive of sound data, but also as the world’s largest archive of potential experiences.
We are talking about potential experiences, because what is actually stored in these archives is just data and does not constitute actual lived experiences. Even the artist who creates a tune will probably hear it differently in their own head, while preparing themselves for the public reactions on the dance floor or the critical reflections of the art world. How this piece of music, this dormant possibility, is then realised, makes all the difference. Be it in front of your computer, in your living room or through a pounding sound system, in the end it all comes down to fleeting perceptions. Sub bass cannot be copied. While the data, or the blueprint of the experience, is easily replicated and stored the human experience that results will always be place specific and context-sensitive.
We have probed this archive of possibilities and extracted some of the pieces that we like. While we will never know for certain how any piece of music you hear tonight was supposed to sound like, we present you with our interpretation. This time around our interpretation involves big speakers, massive sub bass, hi-jacked tunes, drinks, the general public, the art public and maybe most important of all - the possibility to DANCE.
Obey the machine. Please, join the party.