It is no secret that women have been forced to reinvent the medium for their artistic expression more often than men. Self-doubt or other narcissistic symptoms of failing ego competence can only be overcome if they are driven out of the subject in a kind of exorcism. This starts with the simple conviction that no one needs to be exceptional, to be special or be discovered by anyone as the ultimate genius in order to live up to themselves and the world. In dialogue with a variety of female writers, artists, musicians and philosophers, the present article reflects on what self-empowerment and the associated victory over societal oppression mean, and why both are eminently significant. The decisive turn will not be brought about by female quotas, as important as they are for initiating a change in society. Rather, it will only take place through a rethinking of
Digital technologies and media determine work and everyday life. Alongside production, distribution and communication, they change people’s perception of themselves and the world. The term »post-digital« refers to the accompanying dissolution of physical ties to place, time, objects and people. Causes and effects are decoupled, and originals and images become increasingly indistinguishable. Being and appearance merge into virtual simulacra. From this, the composer Alexander Schubert, who was born in 1979 and studied computer science, derives the »virtual imperative« to make such intersections of the digital and the analogue tangible in either concert, installation, music-theatrical or participatory projects. By means of immersive audio-visual electronics including motion sensors, stroboscopic flashes and VR glasses, the performers and sometimes the audience itself appear like holograms or avatars.
The Czech-Brazilian Philosopher Vilém Flusser became known worldwide as the thinker of the new electronic media and even their ›prophet‹, since he seemed to foresee some decades in advance (he died in 1991) technological devices and processes that are now very popular, such as personal computers, satellite-based global communications networks (including social networks), digital cameras etc. The now ubiquitous electronic images are an outstanding example of what Flusser termed ›technical images‹ – a kind of plain code that reigns today after the previous age, he argues, dominated by writing as the linear code par excellence. Taking into account this congenial association between Flusser’s philosophy of communication and technical images, one might ask if there has been room in his thought to approach aesthetic matters related to the sounds and their meaningful organisation in time – to reflect also on the musical language. A close reading of Flusser’s work shows that from his early books on, there has been a concern with the role played by music in human culture as a whole, and it fits both into the more metaphysical (as well as epistemological) context of the first half of the sixties (in such books as
This text deals with the (presumed) early piano works of Debussy written before 1890, analysing the compositional strategies employed in them. The results reinforce the thesis that, in these works, Debussy not so much anticipates the characteristic sonorities of later works as establishes their preconditions. The analysis reaches the conclusion that, despite the employment of traditional means of development such as cadences and sequences, the articulation of tonality is undermined, avoided and heightened in equal measure. In addition, one can find strong indications that, in these early piano works, Debussy explored the structural preconditions for his later use of parallel harmonies.
With his study, Zagorski has published an overview dealing with Adorno’s aesthetics and its influence on the young composers of the Darmstadt Summer Course during the post-war period. He does not offer a mere chronological outline, but also traces the roots of Adorno’s musical aesthetics in his philosophy and cultural criticism. Unfortunately, Zagorski’s assessments very often miss the point of Adorno’s considerations and thus omit some of the key elements in discussions described.
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