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'SOUND SYSTEM / SYSTEM SOUND'



- call for contributions - call for participation -



[27.8.-1.9.97]

- luxus cont. at the Hybrid WorkSpace, documenta x, Germany

- http://www.documenta.de/workspace



[august/september 97]

- 'contd' - electronic magazine - issue 2



*participate / reply / forward / redirect *



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Guy Deborg suggested the 'spectacle' to be a synonym for product and

process of the cultural industry. Well, that should also go for

'sound', an essential carrier for pop in an otherwise visual dominated

cultural production.



At the outside, since 'techno'(being generally held as a synonym for

music using sound generating devices) reached the cultural

mainstream, John Cage's efforts to deconstruct the boundaries between

music and noise suddenly and technically materialised. *Music* has

been expanded and covers the complete audible spectrum and

subsequently broadens traditional notions of production and

definition. On top of the wave of sampled and electronically generated

sounds, self-referential and *ill-coded* sounds made their way from

clubs of the inner city through personal stereos into art academies as

an accepted alternative to the visual and textual.



At the same time sound enters the cross-fire of scientific and

economic strategies: industrial norm of *noise pollution*, sound

ecology, and professional sound design (also a vital part of research

and design departments in the car industry).



*SOUND SYSTEM / SYSTEM SOUND* is open for *any* contribution, thought

and question dealing with the economy and ecology of sound. changes in

the current economy of listening, principles of sound geleration, and

the perception of social and technological micro and macro systems are

all possible angles.



#"what does reference actually mean?"

Use and attribution of sound are under question. "What does reference

actually mean?" And what can be deduced or extracted from it? The

application of samples and loops has developed to a level which allows

it to be used as a category by which to describe agreements and

differences in pop-culture: 'bring da noise?'. At the same time: how

does sound imply possibility and coercion of social interaction?

("this stuff is everywhere!")



#"around the world"

Visualisation in video clips and software surfaces are trademarks of

cultural notation. Measurable and negotiable perception oscillates

between the concrete (Top 40) and the abstract (pattern recognition).

How does noise blend into HI-FI, and: "how is sound organised?". To

what extent are cultural agreements already built into gadget design?

And how are machine sounds turned into hummable and danceable codes

(303/404/707/808)?



#"data object"

Can strategies of cultural production derive from concepts of negative

interaction, distortion or acoustic deception? You may now think about

a musical 'data object' in terms of analogue and digital. Or: how do

conventions constitute themselves in media (cd/ improvisation/ live

stream...)? The air conditioning system on tape qays home and refers

to sound design and principles: under what conditions is sound used

functionally (muzak, classic, ultrasound, infrasound)?



#etc.



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Since spring 1997 luxus cont. has quarterly been editing

the electronic magazine 'contd' in the world wide web. The project situates

itself as a structurally open module, planned for the minimum duration

of one year. In 1998 a book is planned as a re-edited compilation of

the texts that have been submitted to 'contd'. Given the continuation

of 'contd' the publication should be perceived as an interim balance

sheet for the off-line-public.



'contd' consists of three passages:

#Themenpark, #Panoramabus, #Luxusliner



*Themenpark* (theme park) hosts texts generated, developed or

installed on the basis of a predetermined theme. These contributions

are more 'intense' in form and size and generally more 'discursive'

than texts of the following passages. More info about the structure:

http://www.b.shuttle.de/art-bag/contd/cv/ the other sections

*luxusliner* and *panoramabus* are thematically open.



The topic of *themenpark* in issue 2 is 'SOUND SYSTEM / SYSTEM SOUND'

and is closely tied to the presence of luxus cont. and guests at the

Hybrid WorkSpace at documenta x. The web pages of luxus cont. at the

WorkSpace are open for any contribution between info and discourse,

manifesto and dismissal, text, sound and pictures. Contributions are

open to the public throughout this time and editorial and circular

feedback will assist to eventually close the deadline and publish the

issue under:

http://www.b.shuttle.de/art-bag/contd



'contd' is open to text, sound and picture material.



            "no system without noise" (niklas l.)



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'contd': http://www.b.shuttle.de/art-bag/contd

hws: http://www.documenta.de/workspace

newsgroup : theme_follows_function

http://www.icf.de/hws-bin/discuss/list?grp=workspace.theme_follows_function



27.8.-1.9 please contact the Hybrid WorkSpace at dx:

fon 0561/1088890

fax 0561/1088891



before that:

t:+49.30.4622831 f:+49.30.4622831

t:+44.171.6134743 f:+44.171.6134052

e-mails always: luxus@contrib.de