FundamentallySound Blog

I was at the opening for Pause last night at Blackbird Space. My little sound installation consisted of two tiny speakers connected to a hidden iPod, the speakers on top of a cement cinderblock. This was flush against the concrete wall, upon which a small white label was affixed, with my name written in longhand. In short, it was invisible. And I was happy with this, I am not comfortable with materiality, I love sound because of its immateriality: it can float in the air, no need to even know where it is coming from, where it is going, or why. And my piece succeeded in this, with grunts, groans, pops, fizzes, and shimmering delicate waterfalls of metallic noise. All the while, people were chatting about all the usual topics, my sounds interweaving with their chitter-chatter.

I get the sense that Americans, at art openings, are obsessed with talking about their trips to Europe, almost as a means of confirming their validity as cultural agents. Such insecurity in the "local" culture, it's still surprising to me. I think at heart Americans are a very insecure people, exuding false bravado as a way of coping with their deep lack of self-identity and cultural superficiality. Why else the need to constantly brag? It's like men who have to buy a sportscar to compensate for their lack of...