Scot Cotterell [AUS]
Title: 1024K RAM (2008)
medium: Installation, vintage' computer, display case, speakers, editioned 7” record.
Description:The work title a direct reference to the amount of memory that the atari st computer has. The atari st was the first home computer that came midi equipped, midi being a computer musical notation language that enables sequencers, keyboards, samplers etc. to speak to each other and synchronise. In addition to this the atari st has stereo audio output and could hook directly to a home television set, making it low-end user friendly. The 'look' of the GUI (graphical user interface, i.e. windows, macOsx, ) is the perfect retro as seen on posters and graphic design of late as we re-dig up and capitalise on the past. The atari is connected to an alesis drum machine,via a modern midi-usb connector and interfaced to a modern laptop running a cracked version of ableton live, a super-complicated, easy to use churner-outer of electronic sound. The drum machine becomes an interpreter of sorts of 'old' data and 'new'.. rife with references, the atari software i run is called 'creator' bringing to mind metal band of same name but with a 'k' instead of a 'c'. All these elements are arranged, and cabled together on a black, smoked glass shiny platform on the floor, the equipment varies in it's design look from the angular keys of the atari st suggesting a forward motion 'into the future;, the highly right angled grid-like layout of the alesis drum machine, and the softened curves and edges of the new look toshibaaptop...this design look is also present in the firmware and software...creator software is in high-contrast black and white, alesis is a softer blocky grey on orange screen and ableton live/toshiba laptop has a highly visually refined interface, coupled with the pod-like, cronenbergy midi-usb (reference images attached). The table, brand new and produced in china for the home-wares market, glistens and is a tongue in cheek suggestion of the high-production values of artists like banks violette, and to a lesser extent the peter beste thing.
Existing also in the space, partially to heighten the visual intensity of the room this work will be installed in and to combine references such as the capital-focused highjacking of electronic audio culture by labels, and super-clubs, and the stroboscopic effect of light from the dream machine, to the strobe video effect on michael jackson's feet in billie jean, to the hyper frenetic editing cuts of glitch music videos, is a smoke machine and strobe light.
on the outer wall of the room containing the above parts of the work, will rest a shelf, containing some form of edition of the audio output of the system, (at this stage it will be either a 7" vinyl record, or a documentation of correspondence between the record pressing plant, in nashville tennessee, who due to their 'anti-pracy certified stamp' are wary about producing records by unsigned producers of 'electronic sound' as they may contain uncleared samples AND an editioned burnt cd)
The process that occurs in the production of the sound is to take a midi file of a popular song from a 'hardcore' genre, (this links to the title 1024K RAM, which ideally shoud be shouted by a lone, leather clad man standing atop mt.wellington in the midst of winter..and also to that lead encased, soap filled cd package of warhammer 4000 of yours..)..
the midi file has evolved over time from cutting edge, musical notation language that enabled significant changes in the production of music, to obsolete 'dead medium, to re-invigorated system used by modern musical programmers (max/msp, signal processing, electro nerds) to most recently downloadable sound-bite ringtones of eminem for your new mobile phone.
The midi file used is slayers 'angel of death', this most significantly refers to the internet meme image of the modified billboard 'god listens - to slayer', but again to beste, violette etc...
So basically a midi file is downloaded, a portion of it passed through the midi-usb, drum machine into the atari, recorded (mot as sound but as data) the leads are switched (in-out/out-in) the passed back through the system to the cracked ableton using plug-in data effects chosen for their evocative titles ; 'haunting corridors', 'camino del sade'..the resulting sound ,(sound file attached) is two compositions or tracks, chosen for their length to adhere to the initially conceived 7" vinyl format, one of which also plays in the exhibition space.
