Andy Kelleher Stuhl is a writer, sound artist, and software developer focused on creative infrastructures and the politics of mediated sonic exchange. His research has investigated the phenomenon of analog fetishism from the perspective of sound engineer communities and, more recently, the process and aspirations behind interactive musical works. He holds a master’s degree in Comparative Media Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BA in Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University.
Type of proposal
Talk
Description
When Brian Eno titled a lecture “The Recording Studio as a Compositional Tool” in 1979, he identified a shift in how artists were positioning phonography and its attendant technologies in the procession of musical idea to reproducible sound. This change centered on the specific setting of the recording studio as an environment where tools of music performance met tools of production, inviting the latter’s conscription into musical creativity. Where the seventies saw rapid change in the technologies associated with recorded music’s production, the contemporary moment is marked more noticeably by upheaval in the channels of its distribution. A newly dominant status in that shifting picture belongs to web platforms like YouTube, Spotify, and Facebook. As Tarleton Gillespie describes in “The politics of ‘platforms,’” the new media figure of the platform combines multiple senses of the word, benefitting both from the multiplicity of its techno-political attachments and from the slipperiness of its defined limits or responsibilities. It is crucial that societies become better able to grapple with the agendas behind popular platforms, and artists play a vital role in shaping imaginative space for that negotiation. From musical works that take up a critique of platforms as their subject, such as Holly Herndon’s 2015 album Platform, to interactive pieces that share in their mechanics and infrastructure, such as Yotam Mann’s and Sarah Rothberg’s jazz.computer, music is increasingly being realized as a site for critical engagement with platforms. This presentation argues that a shift is underway—analogous to the one Eno discussed but with perhaps greater political stakes—in platforms reaching from music’s distribution into music’s conception. It also presents code sketches exemplifying ways in which web-based music can expose and engage with the material of its platform.
Duration (not needed for artworks)
15-20 minutes
Workshop technical requirements and materials list (if applicable)
The Platform as Compositional Tool
Name : Andy Kelleher Stuhl Location : Lawrence, KS Email : andykstuhl@gmail.com Twitter : @akstuhl GitHub : akstuhl Url(s) : akstuhl.net
Speaker Bio
Picture
Andy Kelleher Stuhl is a writer, sound artist, and software developer focused on creative infrastructures and the politics of mediated sonic exchange. His research has investigated the phenomenon of analog fetishism from the perspective of sound engineer communities and, more recently, the process and aspirations behind interactive musical works. He holds a master’s degree in Comparative Media Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BA in Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University.
Type of proposal
Talk
Description
When Brian Eno titled a lecture “The Recording Studio as a Compositional Tool” in 1979, he identified a shift in how artists were positioning phonography and its attendant technologies in the procession of musical idea to reproducible sound. This change centered on the specific setting of the recording studio as an environment where tools of music performance met tools of production, inviting the latter’s conscription into musical creativity. Where the seventies saw rapid change in the technologies associated with recorded music’s production, the contemporary moment is marked more noticeably by upheaval in the channels of its distribution. A newly dominant status in that shifting picture belongs to web platforms like YouTube, Spotify, and Facebook. As Tarleton Gillespie describes in “The politics of ‘platforms,’” the new media figure of the platform combines multiple senses of the word, benefitting both from the multiplicity of its techno-political attachments and from the slipperiness of its defined limits or responsibilities. It is crucial that societies become better able to grapple with the agendas behind popular platforms, and artists play a vital role in shaping imaginative space for that negotiation. From musical works that take up a critique of platforms as their subject, such as Holly Herndon’s 2015 album Platform, to interactive pieces that share in their mechanics and infrastructure, such as Yotam Mann’s and Sarah Rothberg’s jazz.computer, music is increasingly being realized as a site for critical engagement with platforms. This presentation argues that a shift is underway—analogous to the one Eno discussed but with perhaps greater political stakes—in platforms reaching from music’s distribution into music’s conception. It also presents code sketches exemplifying ways in which web-based music can expose and engage with the material of its platform.
Duration (not needed for artworks)
15-20 minutes
Workshop technical requirements and materials list (if applicable)
N/A
Artwork installation requirements (if applicable)
N/A
Performance requirements (if applicable)
N/A