G Bottin

g bottin

what is your name?
Guglielmo Bottin, but I often use the English version of my name (William) since it’s much easier to pronounce for non-Italians

how would you describe what you do?
Errr. Music, I hope.
I also agree with one definition of music which states it as “Architecture of Time”.

what are you currently working on?
Finding new ways to kill time at airports,
Also a new record with my friend Rodion, inspired by the Italian paninaro scene and called “Galli di dio”

what has had the greatest influence on your work?
With my most recent work I suppose it is the soundtracks of b-movies of the 70s and 80s. And also the sounds of Italian television in those years. Those visions of the future that people had in the 70s and 80s, now we don’t seems to be able to have any more. Of course those predictions failed and that future never came, but at least there was an imaginative effort. Now we see the future as rather similar to our present, only with slightly unethical technological developments but very few aesthetic advancement. Yesterday’s future was interesting. Today’s future is boring.

what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?
About the Horror Disco album, some people have argued that it’s not dreadful enough – they totally miss the point of the project, which is an ironic one.
I’m not obsessed with horror movies and such culture. I’m a decent guy – not a crepuscular, self-mutilating vampire-wannabe

what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?
I like the abstract nature of (wordless) music. It makes it extremely versatile and able to amplify or deeply modify virtually anything it’s juxtaposed to.
The weakness is that it’s abstract and bodiless nature make it easy to distribute but difficult to manufacture in the shape of an interesting object.
I wish we could embody songs in sculptures or even everyday objects and that people would have to have the object to hear the music. Like a chair or a fork or a sweater that transmits a unique track to your stereo. That I would like.

how has technology impacted upon the work you do?
It hasn’t, really. I don’t think there has been any truly innovative been technogical advance in music production, after the invention of the synthesizer and hard-disk recording.
The recent development with software synthesizers and intuitive sequencing has only made it easier, particularly for the aural illiterate. That is also the reason why there is an overproduction of music that not even decently crafted and we could easily do without.
But recent technology has greatly impacted upon distribution – and on one hand it is a good thing since it’s much easier to promote tracks via mp3s and streaming, on the other hand the whole digital phenomenon is depriving the audience of the motivation (and patience) that they once had with physical supports.
When I buy a vinyl record in a shop or at a flea market it’s usually because of the producers or the label behind it. Or perhaps it’s the artwork that lures me into buying it. With files everything is bodiless and anonymous. Basically you only know the artist and the song title. But we know that often it’s the producer and the session musicians that have crafted the recording, yet they remain nameless since there is not space for their contribution to be stated. This end ups with people hoarding a virtually infinite number of audio files, the majority of which gets quickly deleted after a first absentminded listen (although most music, with the exception of fm pop, requires attention and multiple exposures to it to be comprehended and eventually liked) – then many of the “surviving” files get forgotten in some remote hard drive directory.
This process, dictated by technology, basically prevents most listeners from forming a musical culture of their own. When people still bought music, the initial monetary investment forced kids to listen to an album more than once, just because they had to wait for their next allowance before buying another one.

what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?
Do not follow trends unceasingly. Don’t jump on a music style just because it’s *a-la-page: *it’s the best way to lose your credibility as a producer or dj.

where can we find you online?
www.bottin.it and on my favorite dying social network http://www.myspace.com/bottinski

what are you reading at the moment?
I’m trying to read my girlfriend’s mind but, since I can make out much of it I guess I’ll go back to “Club cultures. Music, media and subcultural capital” by Sarah Thornton. Definitely easier.

what are you listening to at the moment?
The Turmoil of Discocracy

anything else we should know?
I’m quite happy and I plan to become even happier.

Irene Caesar

irene caesar - self portrait with a fur collar fragment

irene caesar – self portrait with a fur collar fragment

shroud 1

salvation now

madonna liberated

tribute to slavery

madonna

pat mourning her own death the series double portraits

love knows no boundaries

the mode of seriality the series social modes

ballerina

breaking point

modern still life

push first social motion

zorro avenging himself the series double portaits

contribution to abstract expressionism

warrior the series tribute to the war

twins

bouquet

Click Here For Close-Up Fragments Of Some Of These Pictures

what is your name?
My name is Irene Caesar.

how would you describe what you do?
I am a provocateur and saboteur, a gadfly that stings the eyes and tongue of the fat eagle, owl and goat.
I specialize in ideological diversions and subversions in the form of absurd performances which I document by photography, and by other visual and verbal means.
These absurd performances put to the test the major concepts of human civilization, both esoteric and exoteric, mystic and market-place, from the masses and the elite, covert and mass-advertised.

what are you currently working on?
I am writing a book which will represent my recent project “A New History of Ideas in Pictures” in the context of the ideological struggle between the major ideological world-powers.

I am preoccupied with two issues: first, the shadow power and secret government, and, second, its transhumanism / eugenics ideology leading now to the creation of the post-human society of cyborgs.

I am specifically interested in how the Light got corrupted by the Manechean principle and the hierarchical principle of secret societies, and by the principle of secrecy itself, and how the bearers of light got transformed by these three principles into the bearers of darkness who profess elitism as the most subtle and most extreme form of racism / fascism.

I am also concerned with the issue of whether individuation is in principle possible if any structural formations between the individual and the state will be destroyed by the globalist project of a one-government New World Order:
national government with its patriotism, local religious or spiritual community with its traditions of support, family with its unconditional love, private property that is individually, not corporately / collectively owned.

The problem of individuation and the problem of the opposition between the elite and the masses become vitally important at the present moment. We are going through a technological revolution of cyber, nano and biotechnology, including genetic manipulation, which might lead to the most inhuman form of totalitarianism – technocratic fascism – characterized by total control, loss of privacy, and impossibility of individuation via microchipping / nanochipping / brainchipping as an immediate and direct two-way information-sharing between the individual brain and the collective hive-mind of a control-station fashioned as a superior cyber mind / artificial intelligence or bio-quantum computer. In this biological intelligence enhanced and controlled by the “superior” artificial intelligence, there will be little to nothing left of humanity.
By dehumanizing, it is believed that cyborgs will get rid of pain, and will attain the eternal life-span.

My collection “A New History of Ideas in Pictures” is a document of humanity and my protest against dehumanization.

It documents the humanity with all its human suffering and imperfection before humanity is changed by computational biology, genetic engineering, and merges with artificial intelligence. I believe that it is impossible to document humanity by the photo-journalistic reportage, or street photography, because humans are all about their ideas than simply their bodily manifestations. They are all about the conceptualization of sense-data than simply the animal reflexive life.

The collection is the ideological subversion and diversion of the outdated values that bring suffering to millions of people and distract attention from the technological revolution of computational biology and artificial intelligence that puts the very existence of humankind (freedom and individuation) at stake.

Via the means of art, the collection argues that pain is a necessary part of human existence, for pain is essentially the hyper-sensitivity to the environment, and, hence, the ability to navigate within the environment to a better success. Pain is the very core of individuation – of opposing oneself to the collective mind and other individuals. Even the desire of uniting
with other human beings implies its impossibility, and hence, pain. If cyborgs will lack pain, they will necessarily lack individuation: they will be completely dissolved in the collective hive-mind. On the other side, the collective mind which lacks its individuation as a whole, and the individuation of its every part, will lack the sense of its purpose – its place within the bigger whole of the cosmos. Without the principle of individuation, it will become completely disoriented in the environment, and self-destructive. Without pain, it will succumb to cyber mutations. Thus, there are only two alternatives if the transhumanist project gets realized: either the human civilization will be destroyed first, followed by the destruction of cyber civilization and any civilization on the planet earth; or the Matrix will be necessarily ruled by a group of
rulers who will preserve their humanity, that is, their ability to feel pain, and, hence, their individuation. Both of these alternatives are abhorrent.

The third alternative lies outside the transhumanist project, the lord-serf ideology, the opposition of the elite and the masses, and the very principle of secrecy. It consists in the radical change of the economical and political system beyond the capitalist and socialist opposition. This alternative can emerge only in the multi-national cataclysm – and not because of
the inertia of the masses, but precisely because of the resistance of the elite unwilling to change its laws of wealth distribution, and concede its oligarchic rule to democracy. This cataclysm will be a failure of the new production of the “Hitler” screen-play, being defeated by the forces outside the Occidental secret societies and shadow government in such a way that secret societies and shadow government will be no more.

what has had the greatest influence on your work?
I did not allow any great influences on my work. My creative life is a way of individuation – the history of cutting myself out of the collective mind, tradition, family, the accepted national, religious, political, ideological attribution. That is why I both accept and reject everything that influenced me creatively, intellectually, intimately. This cutting myself out was not simply rational and calculative – I have organically grown inside my every cultural continuum, from family to motherland, and have overgrown it. The overgrowing was ecstasy inseparable from suffering. Now I get so galvanized when I see the images of Peterhof, my home town – the world’s cultural treasure – that I cry. Though I know I wondered far beyond return. In my other influence – Russian classical culture – I both treasure the disinterested service to the common good and Tolstoy’s “hive-mind” concept, and reject them when they trample upon individuation. In Aristotle, I treasure the concept that the divine energeia is inside everything and everybody, and that happiness consists in the contemplation of this divine energy, but I reject the hierarchy and inequality, as the apparent inability of Aristotle to grasp that the Light is omnipresent
in its entirety in every point of the cosmos. I admire the idea of the apostolic and Gnostic Christianity that men are gods, because they should identify themselves with their divine nous (mind), but I reject their Manichean division into light and dark, and their belief that the particle forms of life (biological bodies) are evil. In my youth, I was influenced by Hindu Sacred scriptures, and various esoteric schools, especially Blavatsky and Rerich, though I categorically reject the
very idea of the mystical secrecy and initiation, and believe that everybody has free access to the infinite Light, all the time.

In my intimate life, I was in the strongest way influenced by my maternal grand-parents. They lived together for longer than 50 years, and when my grandma died my grandfather hung himself in a shed, because he could not live without her. They communicated without words, but were able to unite their minds without the loss of individuation. In art, my greatest influences were Leonardo da Vinci with his creating of double-entendres, Federico Fellini with his little man and
laughter inseparable from tears, Hieronimus Bosch, Peter Bruegel the Elder, and Otto Dix, with their cosmic encyclopedias of human society and mind. Samuel Beckett did not directly influence me.
And I am glad that he came as simply the confirmation after I have already created my absurdist style.
I came to my absurdist style instinctively and naturally – completely on my own.

what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?
The greatest misconception about me is that I belong to a certain profession or trade.
The greatest misconception about my current work is that it is photography or, more generally, that it is only art.

what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?
My most recent art project was done in digital photography.
I explain the choice of my medium by my belief that very soon humanity, as we know it now, will cease to exist, being changed by computational biology. We have little time left to document humanity in its pure form – with all its suffering and imperfection, and define via the means of art the humanity itself, so that it will not get destroyed by cyborgs.
Photography has an advantage over painting, because its true medium is not objects like brush and paint, or film and lens. Its medium is the immediate interaction between people – between the photographer and the photographed. Its medium, if handled correctly or in-itself, is inter-subjective. The photograph is the visualization of the electrical current between two people.
Only now, when it became digital, photography has fully acquired this gift.

It does not depend any more on the immobility of the sitter — making him “a model”, “an object”, as it was in the old painterly portraiture, or view cameras without the automatic focus.
To be contagious, this electrical current between the photographer and the photographed should be intense and dynamic: it is a kind of trance, when BOTH cry, laugh, or shiver in any other strong emotion.

The true “photographer” is responsible for creating a situation — an electrical circuit for this electrical current to occur. Snapshots do not do. Photojournalism is analogous to the rapture of a raptor on the carrion. Street photography is not condensed enough. It is like the stolen and ambiguous enjoyment of casual sex. It never acquires the spasm of a creative orgasm that lingers for years.

The weakness of the medium is the backside of its strength. Its strength is the transparency of the medium so that the art work appears as if magic out of the inter-subjective interaction between the “photographer” and the “photographed”. Digital photographer of the kind I described is a god who creates worlds out of nothing by the sheer strength of his vision. But the weakness is precisely that the digital medium allows only for a certain amount of individuation in the medium
itself. Digital medium becomes self-destructive when it “appears” or is visible in the digital art work. Over-digitized artwork has a machine-quality to it, which is much more visible than in, let’s say, the work of abstract expressionism which can also be produced by a machine or an animal.

how has technology impacted upon the work you do?
I have already partially answered this question. So I will just elaborate on what exactly I do with the digital technology of imaging. I work with technology starting with studio strobes, the digital camera and ending with digital post-production. I begin every shoot with a creation of a completely controlled environment, so that my creativity is completely independent from the variants which I do not want to include into my creative process, and I am completely free in my inter-subjective interaction with the actor.
My work is ultra minimal.
I think in advance about the lighting concept, and about a prop that will help me to construct the electrical circuit of my interaction with the actor.
I use only minimal lighting. This does not mean that my lighting is not intricate, but it means that the lighting should be so natural to the concept that it does not become an end-in-itself.
I do not use stage sets because they cannot allow the level of psycho-dynamism that I want.
Instead, I use props as symbolic objects. The symbolic object designates in an indirect way some idea that is very important to both me and a model. In the series, “The World is Made of Plastic,” for example, my models are engaged with plastic in totally absurd ways, metaphorically correspondent to their personal paradigms: some wear plastic as sacred garments or high couture, some eat plastic, some fight with plastic, some dance with plastic, some represent plastic as a cubist
painting, some meditate in plastic cocoons, etc. My function as a director is to bring the actor into a kind of trance when he or she is completely overwhelmed by his or her action with the symbolic object and her or his attention is completely taken away from the camera. This is the other manifestation of my minimalism. The actor concentrates all of his attention on his freedom to act upon the symbolic object, and he or she forgets that he or she can be made an “object”, a “model”
by the presence of the camera. My purpose is to represent people in my images as subjects, not objects – to return them the freedom of individual expression in provocations that urge them to unseal their most hidden fears and desires. In a sense, I do not create stills per se, I create life experiences, as if my art grants my actors extra hours, years of life.
In the same way, when my images are viewed as prints, the attention of the viewer gets so consumed by the action with the symbolic object that the physical appearance of the print gets dissolved.

And my goal is to create images of performances that make people live in front of the camera in a more intense way than how they live in their everyday lives.  In this sense, my staged photography is a counter-staged photography, as well as it is a counter-documentary reportage.  And that is why my images are not simply movie stills, which are the artificial and mannerist cuts from externalized action.

what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?
Stay human, do not believe that the artificial intellect is superior to the human intellect only because it has more computing power.
The mind is identical with its object. Think of the infinitely good self-conscious Light, because the DNA are antennae of the electro-magnetic / quantum fields of mind, and minds of those people who think of the The Light become identical with it. Machines will never get to this point, simply because they will never have the infinite connections to the Light coded in human DNA.
But cyborgs can eliminate humans.
DNA is the two-way network of info-matter: (1) it is immediately responsive to vibrations, including emotions, and (2) DNA leaves its holographic imprint upon the quantum field even after it is not present there any more (so-called DNA phantom effect).
Emanate goodness to everybody unconditionally, to strangers, on the street – as a conscious effort of your mind.
Do not believe those who say that life is a struggle of light and darkness. There is the Light that does not cast a shadow. The infinity is bigger than the opposites of light and darkness.
And this infinity cannot be nothing else than the Absolute Light, because it grants life – infinitely.

where can we find you online?
The official website with my current work in art and philosophy and archive is:
http://www.irenecaesar.com

The recording of my Gallery Talk at the VASA Online Gallery, where I discuss the political, social and cultural implications of the technological revolution of the computational biology that is leading now to the emergence of the post-human society, and my response as an artist and philosopher: http://vasa-project.com/archive/video/caesar.html

My youtube channel is: http://www.youtube.com/user/caesarstudios

Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Irene-Caesar-Conceptual-Image-Maker/320247530617

Artslant: http://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/95214-irene-caesar

what are you reading at the moment?
I am reading Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass”. This book, a very enthusiastic hymn to the individual freedom and historical progress, produces a very sad impression on me.
Whitman creates a concept of the American nation – a super nation – that comes to the historical scene by literally forcing the older nations, American-Indian nations, out from the American soil. I see the other paradigm in the Russian Empire which preserved its smaller nations and their governing.
I intend to create a series of artwork addressing this specific issue.

what are you listening to at the moment?
After intense listening to atonal music, I am now listening mostly to music that combines abstract and representational expression, like Philip Glass and John Adams. By representational expression, I mean the expression of recognizable emotions, with the development of emotion and climax, which are all rejected by serialism. And, in opposition to serialism, I mean by abstract expression the compositional structure of the whole rather than the open grid of abstract units.

anything else we should know?
I create poetry and philosophy. My collection of poetry was published in 2004 by the St. Petersburg University Press. It is also available on my site.

I will have a big show at the Moscow House of Photography in 2011, which is one of the biggest Photography Museums in Europe. For this occasion, I prepare the publication of my art photography book, and my doctoral dissertation devoted to the famous polemics on Aristotle’s notion of happiness. I am also invited to give a talk at the International Philosophy Conference in St. Petersburg in June 2010, where I intend to speak about the issues with transhumanism.

Magdalena Solis

Magdalena Solis

what is your name?
Magdalena Solis.

how would you describe what you do?
We make music for people who allow their minds to travel to places it has never been. For ourselves, the experience should be the same. We do lots of jam sessions and record them and then let them sleep for a couple of weeks. When we listen again and think ‘did WE make this? stunning!’, then we know it’s alright. Full details on how we create our sounds can be found on www.reverbworship.com/first.html by the way.

what are you currently working on?
We have just released our first EP ‘Lady of the Wild Things’ on Reverb Worship. So we’re still a bit busy with that. Meanwhile we are thinking of ways to make our project survive and find gigs, which is not easy at the moment. Later this year we hope to finish the raw material we have for our first full album release. We are also working on a new videoclip.

what has had the greatest influence on your work?
The sixties + pre-Christian cultures.

what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?
Sometimes people describe our music as ‘dark’. We don’t agree. We mean to express light and liberation. Some freakin’ madness and mayhem too must admit, but in a positive way. Depress or annoy people is really the last thing we wanna do. We don’t believe in negative provocation or the odd endless complaining and whining about everything that is wrong in this world. We want to provoke in a way that makes people feel free. Jean Paul Sartre said: ‘L’enfer c’est les autres.’ The guy was wrong. It is when you ALLOW that ‘evil old world’ to condition your mind. We hope we can make people feel like they can create their own reality, and care as less as possible about ‘the real world’.

what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?
Medium we work in….music in general you mean? I see only strength in music. I can’t possible imagine any weaknesses. It has an amazing revolutionary power, if well used. Well, the only weakness is that many bands make music that puts people to sleep. They do not trigger anything in people’s minds. Bands that make such music will be more and more ignored in the years to come, I believe. Strange seeds have been sown.

how has technology impacted upon the work you do?
Technology itself has no actual impact on our work. It’s the other way around. I like to see technology as a harem of slaves who do whatever you want haha! We use it, that’s all. The mac makes it possible to work with sounds and instruments that normally would cost you thousands of euros. But that’s about it. It simply makes music more democratic. But technology can never be more than just a helping hand. Creativity is what counts. Without that you’re lost.

what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?
Whenever we try to ‘do things right’ it goes awfully wrong. Just let loose, that’s the only thing we can say. But everyone has to find his own way and there is no such thing as ‘good advice’ when it comes to art. I can’t remember the last time I actually listened to people who gave me advice.

where can we find you online?
Music on www.myspace.com/magdalenasolis. Videoclips on www.youtube.com/magdalenasolis. Our EP ‘Lady of the Wild Things’ is available for purchase on Reverb Worship (www.reverbworship.com).

what are you reading at the moment?
Last book I read was ‘Into the Bermuda Triangle’ by Gian Quasar. Full of fascinating and mindblowing stuff. Now I ordered a copy of ‘The Cosmic Serpent’ by Jeremy Narby and very much looking forward to that one.

what are you listening to at the moment?
‘Dreamways of the Mystic’ by Bobby BeauSoleil. ‘Time Like Lakes’ by Living Room. Oh and Amon Duül’s ‘Yeti’ is an album we practically put every day. Our favourite contemporary band are The Gruntled (www.myspace.com/the_gruntled). They have invented a new kind of psychedelic music in my opinion.

anything else we should know?
It all started as a movie project. We were creating sounds for a screenplay I’d written and Magdalena Solis was just a ‘happy accident’ really. But we haven’t given up our movie plans and hope to turn the screenplay into a 90min psychedelic movie one day.

hart johnson

hart johnson

what is your name?

Hart Johnson, at least as a writer. My full name is Tamera Hart-Johnson, but I publish scientifically, so have dropped my first name, so as not to cast a fictional hue over the real stuff—it is largely out of respect to my co-authors.

how would you describe what you do?

By day I work full time as a researcher in an academic institution. By night, once the family is managed, I become a marginally insane writer, shedding my clothes, hopping in the tub and WRITING. (seriously, 90% of my writing occurs in the bathtub)

what are you currently working on?

It is called CONSPIRACY and is the third in a trilogy about a trio of families connected by an art thief ring. When my Muse gets bogged down, I work on a little fan fiction or my Blog Opera.

what has had the greatest influence on your work?

Honestly? The Potterverse. By that I mean the books brought me to a group of people who encouraged me to return to writing, then supported me enough to convince me I could write more than fan fiction. Fan fiction was an excellent writing school forum, but the personal connections will stay with me forever. My writer’s group was also born out of this, and I’d be nowhere without their help and support.

what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?

Probably the contradictory identity. My personality is playful…erm… and naked. My books are rather more dark…the two don’t go together very well, but I can’t seem to be other than I am.

what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?

Greatest strength? Character. Greatest weakness? Character. I am a social psychologist by training, and a ‘deep reader’ meaning I strongly prefer to really get to know characters—truly understand them. I love character growth, life lessons, grand irony… I think those things give me the drive and skill to write very well, but we are living in short attention span times, and a chapter one that commits pages to getting to know people is not proving to be a great sales gimmick, not to mention that it makes my books long–my first draft of my first book was 800 pages.

how has technology impacted upon the work you do?

The online community has been crucial—I never would have connected with the people who led me, through discussions of the HP series, to the realization of how one FINISHED a book, nor would I have met my support. My Writer’s group is also exclusively online, and their feedback and encouragement are what got me through that first book (not to mention things like Facebook, Blogging, and NaNoWriMo as tools to network, share information and challenge myself.

what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?

That the muse only shows up now and again. Really making a go of writing is actually about perseverance.

where can we find you online?

Facebook: Hart Johnson; Blogging: www.waterytart23.blogspot.com and www.ondwayblogopera.blogspot.com; on Twitter: hartjohnson, and in the fan fiction world at HPANA.com, under the screen name Gnargles&Snorkaks.

what are you reading at the moment?

I just finished ‘The Flander’s Panel’ by Arturo Perez-Reverte and am currently reading ‘The Losers’ by David Eddings.

what are you listening to at the moment?

Sweet silence. There are things I can do to music or entertainment, writing isn’t one of them.

anything else we should know?

Just that I love this networking thing. I’ve learned a lot from fellow writers, so definitely invite contact if anyone is interested.

jason gusmann

jason gusmann

what is your name?

jason gusmann

how would you describe what you do?

i write twitter novels, which i (obviously) post on twitter in 140-character bursts. the form is substantially based on the japanese ‘keitai shousetsu’, or ‘cell phone novel’, which became a grassroots sensation in the east. it hasnt caught on as much in english-speaking countries with the notable exception of australia, where i received some measure of attention for my now-completed twitter novel ‘richie’ (see http://web.overland.org.au/?p=1506 for details).

what are you currently working on?

currently posting two twitter novels: ‘stranded…’, which is the secret history of rocknroll as told by the aliens responsible for spreading that particular virus, and ‘zombie vs. shark’ which is essentially a trashy re-telling of ‘the old man and the sea’ by way of lucio fulci.

what has had the greatest influence on your work?

the works that have influenced me the most, especially in recent years, are fictions that may be truly flawed but strike out in a narrative way that i believe is truly bold and daring. i’m thinking specifically of richard kelly’s ‘southland tales’, david milch and kem nunn’s ‘john from cincinatti’ and matt maiellaro’s adult swim experiment ‘12 oz. mouse’. it also doesn’t hurt that all three are intermittently hilarious, which makes the rough edges easier to take.

what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?

im not really well-known enough to have earned any misconceptions at this point, but the greatest misconception about twitter fiction or twitter novels is that they are disposable. ‘richie’ is many things, but it is not fucking disposable.

what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?

as i responded above, the main weakness is the possibility of having the work dismissed because of the fragmented form and impermanent nature of the format, but the strengths – total freedom of expression, unmediated communication, direct and honest response to the work – far outweigh that in my opinion.

how has technology impacted upon the work you do?

oddly enough for a semi-luddite like me, technology has had a huge impact on my work. aside from using the aforementioned twitter microblogging site to post my work, i believe the rise of blogs focusing on original poetry and fiction has gained me more of a readership than if i had pursued a more traditional path of submitting endlessly to lit magazines and journals, and the response through blog comments and direct messages has been wonderful for someone as impatient as i am.

what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?

as far as writing goes, with only a couple of exceptions i dont feel i wrote anything really great until the age of 37. never, ever, ever give up.

where can we find you online?

fiction + poetry blog: www.fictionalmixtape.blogspot.com

twitter novel ‘stranded…’, posting daily: www.twitter.com/fictionlmixtape

trashy twitter novel ‘zombie vs. shark’, also posting daily: www.twitter.com/zombie_vs_shark

freakish music + spoken-word experiments: www.myspace.com/fictionalmixtape

what are you reading at the moment?

right now im still plowing through christmas gifts – ‘agitator’, a book by tom mes on the films of takashi miike, and the collected short stories of j.g. ballard – an amazing book but its like 1000 pages so if i nod off reading in bed it literally smashes me in the face.

what are you listening to at the moment?

last three purchases: ‘twenty jazz funk greats’ by throbbing gristle, ‘phrazes for the young’ by julian casablancas and ‘only built 4 cuban linx pt. 2’ by raekwon – all amazing in very different ways.

anything else we should know?

i feel for the most part that the world is a creepy and unwelcoming place, but i have encountered people through the blog and twitter that have supported me with no possible chance of remuneration or gain and this is a rare and wonderful thing. (very) occasionally it makes me doubt my darker assumptions about the human race.

karin fredrika

karin fredrika

what is your name?
My name is Fredrika Markstedt, but my “artist name” is Karin Fredrika. Karin is my middle name.

how would you describe what you do?
I write songs and have been for a few years. The reason that I started playing the guitar is that I wanted to accompany myself
while I was singing. After a few years i got bored with other people’s songs so I tried to write my own.
Most of the songs I’ve written are based on my own experiences, and are composed while I’m very upset. Writing is my therapy.
I don’t perform live, at least I haven’t for a long time. I see the songs as mainly for my own enjoyment. At least for now.

what are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on an old song that’s been bugging me for a long time because I haven’t been able to finish
it properly.

what has had the greatest influence on your work?
The greatest influence that I’ve had is to be utterly, unhappily in love and feeling terrible. But I can also be
touched by movies, books and other people’s creations.

what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?
Most musicians in the world have to have other jobs. People might think that you just can do a couple of gigs a
week and that’s what pays the rent. But most musicians never get to be big, even though they might be fantastic at
what they do. But for many of these creators that’s okay. Music is my hobby and it makes me feel great. Sometimes
that’s enough, depending on how big your ego is. (Some days it’s bigger…)

what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?
Hard question since I don’t work with music. I’m really a mailman, it would be a long list of weaknesses if I were to describe my real work.

how has technology impacted upon the work you do?
I got an external sound card for Christmas which really is my biggest problem And asset at the moment. I don’t
quite know how to work it yet. But when I do I hope I will produce some songs again.
I have a very short temper with technology. As soon as something doesn’t work the way I want it to I go crazy. And if I’m in any way disturbed while I’m trying to write a song it’s all spoiled.

what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?
I think I’m the one who needs the advice.

where can we find you online?
www.youtube.com/user/KarinFredrika
www.myspace.com/fredrikakarin

what are you reading at the moment?
I’m reading “Hanteringen av odöda” by John Ajvide Lindqvist. The title can be translated “Handling The Undead”.

what are you listening to at the moment?
Also a hard question. The last thing I listened to today was Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. But I really wanted to Listen to Nick Drake, but he was missing from my CD collection. He was supposed to be next to Nick Cave.

anything else we should know?
I haven’t uploaded anything for over a year now. There are many reasons for that. But if you’re interested in my music you shouldn’t be let down because I will be back.

Janeczka Dabrowski

janeczka dabrowski

what is your name?

Janeczka Dabrowski.

how would you describe what you do?

I write free verse poetry, mainly in English, but also in French and Spanish. Works of fiction are rare. I also make videos – I learnt editing on my own and I thoroughly enjoy it.

Lastly, I also make music and am trying to write more of my own stuff.

what are you currently working on?

A few poems and videos! I like to keep myself busy.

what has had the greatest influence on your work?

Music, definitely. The images it conjures up in my head. Studying other people’s videos and finding out how they achieved a particular effect. Where I live – my environment has a role to play in the way I make videos. The places I see in my mind.

what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?

That poetry is boring and should stay on shelves, or that it only interests old librarians.

People also think poetry should rhyme.

what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?

About poetry, the main strength and weakness would be that it only interests a certain type of people, which makes it very limited.

About video-making, the main strength would be that it’s easily and readily accessible. Possibly also its main weakness – there is so much of it about.

how has technology impacted upon the work you do?

Now, when I write something, I’m not just thinking about the words, I also think about the way I’m going to film it, edit it. Which is only a natural continuation of the work, I think. Getting out the images you have in your head.

As far as writing goes, I always write my drafts on paper. It is very much engrained in me.

what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?

As my long-time friend Lena would say: ‘You never know’ and ‘Stranger things have happened.’ I like that one a lot.

where can we find you online?

A bunch of places, but mostly on YouTube and FaceBook:

http://www.youtube.com/user/janeczka

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Janeczka-Dabrowski/110858389891

what are you reading at the moment?

I have to admit I’ve been slacking on the reading, mostly because I have so much to do – I have another life in the ‘real’ world… – but I’m slowly making my way through The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, as well as reading about Zen Buddhism.
what are you listening to at the moment?

I’m having a Beatles period.

anything else we should know?

I will definitely try to release a chapbook and/or CD of my work this year.

joe matt

joe matt

what is your name?
Joe Matt.

how would you describe what you do?
Autobiographical comic books.

what are you currently working on?
A book about the last 6 years of my life, since moving from Toronto to LA.

what has had the greatest influence on your work?
Maus and the autobiographical work of Robert Crumb.

what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?
That I’m lazy and/or a creep. Also, I think many people have the misconception that making comics is easy. Good comics, that is.

what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?
The main strength of comics is control. The cartoonist controls everything and the challenges can be overwhelming.
And I don’t think the medium has any weaknesses, other than the limits of language and communication.
Also, a weakness of comics may be its perception as a juvenile medium, but I consider that more a failing of people, as opposed to the medium. The same can be said for The Academy Awards looking down at comedies. It’s snobbery, plain and simple.

how has technology impacted upon the work you do?
I’ve chosen to ignore computers completely, as far as producing comic pages goes. Ink on paper is the only road I want to travel on.
From a publisher’s point of view though, I’m certain computers are an invaluable aid. So, I’m grateful for that.

what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?
From a technical standpoint, my advice on comics could fill a book.
But basically, it might boil down to simply: dig as deep as you can.
My second piece of advice to all cartoonists would be: study the masters!
We’re extremely fortunate to be living in a Golden Age of comic strip reprints. And I urge EVERYONE to support such fine projects as: Walt & Skeezix, Little Orphan Annie, Popeye, Dick Tracy, Peanuts, Captain Easy, as well as countless others.

where can we find you online?
Friends can find me on Facebook; everyone else on MySpace.
Also, I don’t have the Internet at home, so my emailing is sparse.

what are you reading at the moment?
Conversations with Art Spiegelman

what are you listening to at the moment?
THE BEST SHOW ON WFMU!!! Hosted by Tom Sharpling!!
A friend burns mp3 discs for me from the archives at: www.friendsoftom.com

anything else we should know?
I am actually working, believe it or not.
Also, please buy my books. Comics are my sole source of income and I’m DYING out here in LA!
Today, I spent a whole $1.10 on a small coffee. And that was it.
I did, however, manage to drop $80 the day before on two volumes of DICK TRACY. So, don’t worry…my priorities are still in order.
SO LONG, SUCKERS!!! ~Joe

timo vuorensola of Älymystö

what is your name?
Timo Vuorensola

how would you describe what you do?
I’m a filmmaker, net overdoser and a noise musician

what are you currently working on?
i’m working on a feature film Iron Sky (www.ironsky.net), about Nazis from the Dark Side of the Moon. With my band Älymystö, we’ve just released a split with another band called And Then You Die, and are now starting planning our second full-length album.

what has had the greatest influence on your work?
definitively David Lynch and David Bowie.

what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?
that I do stuff for free just for fun. I don’t.

what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?
In film, it’s mainly my ability to do quality stuff with small budgets. In music, I’m really not sure – I’m a big guy with a loud voice on stage, maybe that’s a strength.

how has technology impacted upon the work you do?
Basically, it’s necessary to get my work done in all fields. The band and the film crews all live so widely across the world, it’s important for communication and collaboration.

what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?
the art of compromising is not to compromise.

where can we find you online?
www.alymysto.com is my band
www.ironsky.net is my film
www.wreckamovie.com is my collaborative film production platform
www.zombieroom.net is mine and my girlfriend’s film blog
@LeonBlank is my Twitter username

what are you reading at the moment?
Ian Carr’s Miles Davis’ biography

what are you listening to at the moment?
Some random hotel lobby background music.

anything else we should know?
all these worlds belong to you, except europa. attempt no landings there.

Ilmari Haapanen of Älymystö

what is your name?
Ilmari Haapanen

how would you describe what you do?
I’m all about sound. When I’m not busy being an industrial musician, I study sound designing for movies & television at the School of Art and Media of Tampere University of Applied Sciences, and in the spare time I craft sound art for radio and do some freelance composing for games and what not. I’m also co-founder of Älymystö with Mr. Vuorensola and the main driving force behind the band.

what are you currently working on?
Skithund Records releases the 12″ vinyl version of the 19:38:00 split album on April the 1st 2010, but my work there is pretty much done now. At the moment I’m involved in three different short movies which all are in post-production. This week I’ll be doing foleys for “Pieniä Ihmeitä”, next week it’ll be dialogue edit for “Esso” and so forth. Although the rest of the band is eager to work on the next full-length album, I think that’ll be on slow motion until I get these babies out for the film festivals of the spring.

what has had the greatest influence on your work?
Amiga 500 & OctaMED and all those great trackers like Jesper Kyd and Carebear.

what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?
That I hate Star Wreck / Iron Sky / what ever Mr. Vuorensola & co. are up to. No I don’t, I have huge respect for them for what they’ve done and hopefully someday I’ll be able to work with them.

what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?
My main strength is my ability to create strong visual soundscapes that deliver different moods efficiently. Sound is all about the feeling. My main weakness is definitely my lack of skill in playing different instruments, I’m all too focused on electronic sounds.

how has technology impacted upon the work you do?
Without electricity I would be just a shaman with a drum.

what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?
There’s nothing against you out there. Except the reptilians, of course.

where can we find you online?
I’m a bit against living online, so you can’t really find me on FB/Twitter or any of that shit.
But feel free to listen our music online:

http://www.alymysto.com/
http://www.last.fm/music/Älymystö

what are you reading at the moment?
Nothing, I find it difficult to find time for reading books.

what are you listening to at the moment?
Sounds of a decades old wooden house in a Finnish winter weather combined to sounds of a new ventilation system. It’s a strange mix, I tell you. Musicwise I’ve been into dubstep lately.

anything else we should know?
The inner space is boundless.