Editorial
Simon Waters
It is by now a commonplace that all texts refer to other texts, and are born of other
texts, and that - in the sonic domain - sampling most clearly exemplifies this. And almost
inevitably the notion of sampling itself therefore finds itself utilised beyond the sonic
realm with which it was initially predominantly associated. Phil Archer's text, which
follows, is developed from his PhD thesis, and 'spirals' through a series of apparent
dichotomies, revisiting a series of works as appropriate to the concepts under
consideration. It represents the most consistent attempt I have yet found to investigate
the 'extended' sampling principle in a rigorous manner. Sampling sounds, hardware and
software - hacking at every level - Archer's work draws together many of the most pressing
issues in contemporary art-making and aesthetic practice: the complex relationship between
plannedness and the unforeseen which manifests itself in the terms 'composition and
improvisation' or 'design and modification'; the gritty meeting point between the digital
and mechanical worlds which is missing from so many contemporary discussions of the
'virtual'; the sometimes paradoxical relationship between precision and chance; and,
perhaps most pressingly for this author, the relationship between expertise and
inexpertise. None of this is without precedent, and Archer acknowledges in particular a
debt to Nic Collins in Chicago, and more locally to John Bowers, but the bringing together
of these concerns, Archer's lack of fear in tackling the political and social implications
of what he is doing, and the text's intimate connection with detailed investigation
through practice make it something unique and important.
As I write Archer is in New York performing his beautiful, fragile and doggedly
anti-corporate music at the release party of another key text, Nic Collins's
Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking [1]. This
conjunction is no accident. Archer's practice was particularly informed by the course
notes for Collins's classes at the Art Institute of Chicago - notes from which this book
emerged. In a satisfying proof of the business of texts drawing on other texts, Archer's
thought and work is present on many pages of Collins's new book.
[1] Published by Routledge, 2006
Contents
- Phil Archer
:
Intervention and Appropriation: Studies in the Aesthetics of the Homemade in
Real-Time Electroacoustic Composition
