Modena July 10

No Video today as its another day of packing up, jumping on a train and getting settled in a new town. so a bit more background etc

What am i doing? what do i believe?

So last time i was ranting i got as far as mentioning there are new writings that delve into Russolo's manifesto(s) on sound that go beyond the surface reading of " recreating the modern world of sound through machines to create music that better reflects the true nature of culture of the early 20th century". The thrust of these new theories revolve around there being a spiritual component to Russolo's pursuit of new music. I will delve more deeply into these ideas at a later stage but for now the key factor, and undeniable fact, behind the shaping of these theories is that every other facet of Russolo's artistic and personal career was fueled by occultist and spiritualist ideas. Towards the end of the life he dedicated all his time to the study of theosophical mysticism, during his years in Paris he scraped out a living as a palm reader and clairvoyant, and preceding his dedication to the "art of noises' his painting practice is dotted with references to ' a world beyond the material'. For my mind i would find it very odd that for a brief few years Russolo completely removed these influences from his thoughts and worked simply within the world of engineering, sound and politics i.e the material.

So, in part, i want to explore this. Not in an academic way because that's not who I am. I am a musician, with the added distraction of a degree in Fine Arts (painting). I have built and played Intonarumori and have felt the power of these machines. I want to know more.

I do not consider myself a spiritual person. If anything I am contemptuous of religious belief and my starting point in understanding any experience that seems to involve ghosts, gods, premonitions or other non-worldy activity is always science. I don't pretend or even desire to have answers to these questions, but my mind set is strongly skewed to the rational.

Russolo, uncredited for so long, created a new road in music. it is one that nowadays we all are accustomed to - the use of noise as aesthetics. It's completely embedded in our culture appearing in all forms of our sonic landscape from high art through to jingle writing. we don't give it a second thought. So I want to celebrate this through both a kind of visual and aural biography but also by highlighting what I think was his motivation beyond simply changing music. We all know and feel the power of sound in countless ways. We associate memories with it, frame life events with it, use it to escape from everything including ourselves and absorb it on a continuous basis. Russolo knew its power and I think wanted to use it for the betterment of people. This is where I am looking, the idea that sound isn't just entertainment but a way to truly enrich and connect with life.