Author: thefuckle
On Being a Medium. Bright gatekeeping in a dark era
Schmickl, Philipp (2018). On Being a Medium. In: THEORAL no. 14 – Slapstick Shamanism. Nickelsdorf: self-published. p. 51-75
Contents:
I – Rashomon ………………… II – The medium and the media ………………… III – Gatekeeping ………………… IV – Shamanism ………………… V – THEORAL ………………… VI – Interdisciplinarity ………………… VII – Anthropology ………………… VIII – Voice ………………… IX – Improvisation ………………… X – Conclusion ………………… Literature
interview • oral history • oral present • poetry • rhizom • philosophical biography • anthropology • experimental music • free • jazz • soundart • improvisation • cinema • bright medium • uncynical voices • theatre • art • travel • drawings • sun ra • california • new york • vienna • beirut • sidney • nickelsdorf • jazzgalerie • chicago • buenos aires • galica • los angeles • méxico • df • paris • berlin • saturn • densités • irtijal • nownow • vision • konfrontationen • unlimited • umbral
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theoral no. 1 – Conversations with Marco Eneidi and Andre Gingrich
theoral no. 2 – Conversations with Mira Sidawi and Xavier Charles
theoral no. 3 – Gespräche mit Paul Lovens
theoral no. 4 – Conversations with Nicole Brooks and Clayton Thomas
theoral no. 5 – Conversations with Jim Denley and Mazen Kerbaj
theoral no. 6 – Pannonia Tales. Gespräche mit Franz Hautzinger und Hans Falb
theoral no. 7 – Tricksters Performing. Conversations with Michael Zerang
theoral no. 8 – Extended Version. Gespräche mit Christof Kurzmann (incl. CD)
theoral no. zen – Eine fröhliche Gelassenheit. Gespräch mit Radu Malfatti
theoral no. 12 – Until the lion learns to speak. Conversations with Hamid Drake and William Parker
theoral no. 13 – Konkrete Abstraktionen. Gespräche mit Angelica Castelló und Burkhard Stangl
theoral no. 15 – All the Genres. Gespräche mit Philipp Quehenberger und Didi Kern
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FEST FOR THEORAL NO. 15
A p r i l – 1 0 – 2 0 2 0 – – a t
Au Topsi Pohl
Pohlstraße 64
10785 Berlin
live-concerts:
solo
Sven-Åke Johansson, hi-hats
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duo
Philipp Quehenberger, synthesizer
Didi Kern, drums
THEORAL – bright medium for uncynical voices is an ongoing book-project dedicated to conveying voices of artists who consider improvisation as a central element of their practice. Its aim is to create a collection of an oral history of the creative music scenes (improvised, experimental, new music, jazz, &c.) which is at the same time – following Gilles Deleuze’ and Félix Guattari’s notion of the rhizome – permeable and open to all other art-forms. The Editeur acts as a medium, translator and filter. The artists tell their story themselves, because, quoting Henry Threadgill: “Who else … would be better suited to speak about this product than the instrument through which it appears? Surely, if such highly creative music can come from such minds, the same minds can give some insight about it and themselves in relationship.”
On the occasion of the publication of the 15th edition – All The Genres. Conversations with Philipp Quehenberger and Didi Kern – we follow Markus Krispel’s invitation to Berlin to present the new book as well as the project in general. Books will be available, exhausted issues can be found online.
More info:
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8. Februar: Tristan Honsinger und Joel Grip in der Jazzgalerie Nickelsdorf !
9. Februar: Philipp Schmickl im OE1-Kunstsonntag
mit Musik von Christof Kurzmann, Milo Tamez, Itzam Cano, Kern/Quehenberger + Marco Eneidi, Chavela Vargas, u. a.
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REALEASY FEST FÜR THEORAL NO. 15
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7. Feb. 2020
Grill-X
Petersplatz 1
1010 Wien
20 Uhr
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Programm:
1. Neue und alte Solostücke von Susanna Gartmayer (Bassklarinette)
2. Lesung von Tex Rubinowitz
3. Quehenberger/Kern (Synthesizer/Schlagzeug)
4. DJ Tex Rubinowitz
€ntry: 8-bis
THEORAL NO. 15 – All the Genres. Gespräche mit Philipp Quehenberger und Didi Kern inkl. CD und Foto
Für den Tag danach empfehlen wir einen Ausflug aufs Land und den Besuch des Konzerts mit Tristan Honsinger und Joel Grip in der Jazzgalerie Nickelsdorf !
THEORAL NO. 15 – All the Genres
ist ein Dokument, in dem die beiden Musiker in langen Gesprächen über ihr Leben im Wien der 2010er Jahre berichten, sowie über die wichtigen Orte des Undergrounds damals in Linz und Innsbruck, über die relevanten Clubs in Wien, über ihre musikalischen Wurzeln im Punk, die Inspirationen Techno und Free Jazz, über Franz West und Marco Eneidi, übers Auflegen, Spielen, ihre Haltung zur Musik und dem eigenen Sich-als-Musiker-Erkennen – & über vieles mehr.
inklusive CD mit unveröffentlichten Tracks von Q/K+
THEORAL NO. 15 = 7+(2×2,0x2,0)
Das Release Fest ist für den 7. Februar 2020 im Grill-X geplant.
Inhaltsverzeichnis + CD Titelliste:
Philipp Schmickl
Feldkirchen i. K. und Wien, Juli und Oktober 2019
<<== Vorwort
Didi Kern und Philipp Quehenberger
Wien, 21. September 2018
Franz West ………………… Marco Eneidi ………………… Gestalt(en) der eigenen Musik an unterschiedlichen Orten ………………… Techno und Punk ………………… Ankunft in Wien ………………… Cheap und Mego ………………… Celeste Session/Improvisation ………………… Live vs. Studio
Philipp Quehenberger
Wien, 21. Dezember 2018
Schulkarriere ………………… Ein Jahr in Newcastle ………………… Innsbruck Underground ………………… Cheap ………………… phonoTAKTIK ………………… Improvisieren und Komponieren ………………… Livespielen
Didi Kern
Wien, 28. Dezember 2018
Linz, KAPU, Stadtwerkstatt ………………… Lehre und Zivildienst ………………… Pest und andere Bands ………………… Mego: Basis in Wien ………………… Fluc, Celeste, rhiz ………………… Fuckhead und Bulbul
Didi Kern
Wien, 23. Jänner 2019
Durchschnittlicher Arbeitstag ………………… Free Jazz ………………… Theatermusik ………………… New Orleans und Chicago ………………… Sich als Musiker erkennen und vom Musikmachen leben ………………… Improvisation
Philipp Quehenberger
Wien, 24. Februar 2019
Sabotage Sankt Petersburg ………………… Schmerz ………………… Meditation
Didi Kern und Philipp Quehenberger
Wien, 14. Februar 2019
Konzentration ………………… Lautstärke, Noise ………………… Inspiration ………………… Genregrenzen ………………… Publikum ………………… Gesellschaftsgrenzen
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CD:
Philipp Quehenberger, Klavier und Synthesizer
Didi Kern, Schlagzeug
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1. Intro (Sprecher: Karl Wratschko) – 30. 10. 2017
2. Bontempi Dub (e-Gitarre: derhunt) – 2007
3. 1st Studio Session (Aufnahme: Oliver Brunbauer) – 10. 10. 2006
4. Celeste Session (Alto Sax: Marco Eneidi) – 23. 04. 2007
5. Bernis Man (Gesang: unbekannt) – Jänner/Februar 2009
6. Take 4 (e-Gitarre: Mayo Thompson, Aufnahme: Manfred “Falm” Söllner) – 21. 12. 2008
7. Celeste Session II (Horns: Dr. Martin Wichtl, Aufnahme: Christoph Amann) – 17. 08. 2009
8. Intro II (Brüssel, Gallery Almine Rech) – 25. 03. 2010
9. Science West (Bass Klarinette: Susanna Gartmayer, Alto Sax: Marco Eneidi, Aufnahme: Christoph Amann, re-mx: ddkern) – 23. 01. 2010
10. oriVoice (unveröffentlicht) – 02. 03. 2011
11. Hymne (bei Franz West im Krankenzimmer) – 09. 03. 2011
12. Ciao (Aufnahme: Oliver Brunbauer) – 10. 10. 2006
160 Seiten
ON BEING A MEDIUM
ON BEING A MEDIUM. Bright Gatekeeping In A Dark Era.
a liquid poem in the shape of an essay
by Philipp Schmickl
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Recitation : Rishin Singh, Berlin, Jan 2019
Full text in :
Cited works, not referenced in the recital:
Appadurai, Arjun (2013). The Future As Cultural Fact. London, New York: Verso.
Auden, W. H. (1939). September 1, 1939. https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/september-1-1939
Barnard, Alan and Spencer, Jonathan (2002). Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology. London and New York: Routledge.
Bowie, Fiona (2006). The Anthropology of Religion. An Introduction. Malden and Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Chevalier, Jean & Gheerbrant, Alain (1996). Dictionary of Symbols. London: Penguin Books.
Cowan, Jane K. (2006). Culture and Rights after Culture and Rights. American Anthropologist. Vol. 108, No. 1. Arlington.
d’Anglure, Bernard Saladin (2002). Shamanism. In: Barnard, Alan and Spencer, Jonathan (2002). Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology. London and New York: Routledge.
Foucault, Michel (1978). Qu’est-ce que la critique? Paris: Bulletin de la société française de philosophie, 84ème année, n°2, Avril-Juin 1990
Isoardi, Steven (2006). The Dark Tree. Jazz and the Community Arts in Los Angeles. Los Angeles: The University of California Press.
Jodorowsky, Alexandro (2001). Le théâtre de la guérison. Paris: Éditions Albin Michel.
Klement, Katharina (2018). Drift. Graz: chmafu nocords.
Lévi-Strauss, Claude (1962). La Pensée Sauvage. Paris: Librairie Plon.
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. The Savage Mind. http://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/levistrauss.pdf (April 5, 2018)
Lewis, George E. (2009). A Power Stronger Than Itself. The AACM and American Experimental Music. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Mauss, Marcel (2010). Sociologie et Anthropologie. Paris: Quadrige. Presses Universitaires de France.
Morley, David (2005). Mass Media. In: Bennet, Tony; Grossberg, Laurence and Morris, Meaghan. New Key Words. A Revised Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Schmickl, Philipp (2011-). theoral no. 2, 7, 12. Nickelsdorf and Vienna: self-published.
Tarkovsky, Andrei (1979). Stalker. English Subtitles.
THEORAL RELEASE NO. 14
SLAPSTICK SCHAMANISMUS release of theoral no. 14
Saturday, December 1st
Steinergasse 8
17th district
7.30 Katharina Klement : solo for zither and electronis
& R. F. Culbertson III : medium of the Medium
& Joel Grip, bass, and Tristan Honsinger, cello : Slapstick Shamanism
Light : Komplizin Kács
Food : One Night in Bangkok with the Siamese Twins : Shefu Kira & Alina (red curries)
Aperitivo : 6pm
€ntry : 10
THEORAL NO. 14
Third chapter of
On Being A Medium.
Bright gatekeeping in a dark era
III – Gatekeeping
The gatekeeper, in the media and in mythology (as well as on the passages between strata in society), is operating in this dark territory mentioned above. His techniques and practices can be neither seen in every-day-life, nor can they be understood by those who are affected by the gatekeeper’s decisions. He is guarding (watching and protecting) something that is not accessible, he neither lets anybody in nor anybody out.
Cerberus was a monstrous, many-headed dog (the number of heads varied from three to one hundred), with a dragon’s tail and a back bristling with serpents’ heads. He barred the way to the Underworld to the living and prevented the dead from escaping it.1
In the mass media, the gatekeepers (editors) decide what is going to be published, and what is not. These presumably pluricephal characters sort out and adapt information from the massive and endless stream of information that is produced by private individuals, journalists, news-agencies, algorithms, etc. The decisions about which information can pass in what way are made in the dark territory between reception and emission and are guided by considerations that serve the advancement of the publisher.
The medium has no gatekeeper, it is the gatekeeper, but one that opens the gates and does not process and bias the information that springs from the well, it solely serves as a channel. The medium may be also called a bright gatekeeper. A bright gatekeeper is operating in the Visible, in contrast to the dark gatekeeping that, like Cerberus, operates in the Invisible serving the interests of a few – or, if one looks at the mythological definition below, the forces of evil.
Following mythology, the evil is invisible and very powerful. It cannot be destroyed but it can be suppressed –temporarily– by strength (Herakles, for example) and by the spiritual forces of art, embodied by Orpheus.
It should be observed that it was with no weapon other than his own strength that Herakles succeeded temporarily in taming him [Cerberus; the character of Herakles unfortunately won’t play a role in this essay] and that it was by the spiritual effect of his music that Orpheus calmed him, again temporarily. These two instances strongly support the neo-Platonic interpretation of Cerberus as an in-dwelling daemon, the spirit of evil. This spirit can only be tamed above ground [ie in the Visible], that is to say by a sudden – and ascensional – change of environment and by the individuals spiritual strength. To conquer, one has to rely upon oneself.2
It is the artist who relies on herself and has the strength or the urgency and commitment to look at the Invisible, like Orpheus did:
Through the magic of his music he succeeded in persuading the gods of the Underworld to set free his wife Eurydice who
had died from snake-bite when fleeing the advances of Aristaeus. But one condition was laid down – Orpheus was not to look at her until she had returned to the light of day. Half-way there, in a fit of anxiety, he looked back and Eurydice vanished forever. … Jean Servier compares the ban laid upon Orpheus and Eurydice in the Underworld with certain taboos … in the eastern Mediterranean. ‘[M]embers of a funeral procession are not allowed to look back. Invisible powers are there who could be insulted by an inadvertent word or annoyed at being seen by a sideways look or glance over the shoulder’. Orpheus is the man who broke the taboo and dared to gaze at the Invisible.3
The Invisible, the dark gatekeepers, are not looked at, they operate in what is hidden and they pass unseen. What mythology tells us is that in order to tame the evil powers, one has to journey to where they reside and gaze at them. Being seen and having their practices revealed annoys the dark gatekeepers, disturbs them, jeopardizes them. It is the uncynical4 artist with exceptional abilities who is assigned to execute this task because only she can gain power over the dark forces, even though only temporarily.
Although they share an uncynical attitude, the medium should not be confused with the artist. In Rashomon, she is in contact with the Invisible, the realm of the dead, but not in order to interfere with it. The medium does not take sides, it conveys testimonies of individuals who are caught up in the Sturms and Drangs of human life.
4 The idea of the uncynical versus the cynical comes from the fact that individuals are forced to be cynical in every-day-life in order to stay a part of society and/or or “succeed” in it. The uncynical is the non-accumulating, the sincere, the fragile, the fearless, the ephemeral, the non-perfect, the poetic. The cynical fears its finitude, its dissolution and the loss of property. This thought is elaborated by the author somewhere else: Linernotes to Katharina Klement, Drift. Chmafu Nocords.
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