Poietic leakages

The Cultural eXchanges event on electroacoustic music, the MTI Symposium, explained a lot for those unfamiliar with what the twenty-first century term ‘electroacoustic’ could refer to. It’s an umbrella term for all genres of music produced through electronic means: musique concrète and EDM (Electronic Dance Music) are just two examples.

The talk focused on more general issues to begin with, such as the relationship between the artist and the listener. This introduced the aforementioned idea of ‘poietic leakage’ - basically what the artist envisioned in the piece of music in comparison to the listener’s interpretation. This led to a discussion on the upcoming website – OREMA (the Online Repository for Electroacoustic Music Analysis), which plans to act as a Wikipedia of sorts for people who wish to upload their analyses of electronica compositions.

The most inspirational part of the discussion followed as several speakers presented their own analyses of a variety of electronic compositions. Though I felt the idea of using so many demonstrations did begin to drag, what stood out was the diversity of genres covered. Hugh Le Caine’s “Dripsody” came from as far back as 1955, was explored - a piece created simply from tape reels and a recording of a drop of water! Alongside this was IDM music in Monolake’s “Internal Clock”, and noise music in Merzbow’s “Meattrapezoid” (which, when blasted across the room, shocked just about everyone).

Overall, the event created the impression that electronic music is beginning to be observed as a whole. There’s a sense of unity, respect and pride in the subject that would not have even been there even as little as twenty years ago, and a desire to build on that. Above all, I strongly recommend keeping an eye on OREMA for anyone who’s interested in exploring electroacoustic music as a whole, inclusive category.


George Forster

"We're all doomed"

These were the words with which The Daily Mail greeted the release of controversial film Victim in 1961. John Coldstream gave a fascinating insight into the film and its context in this Cultural eXchanges event. The film tells the story of Melville Farr, a man who finds himself in trouble he couldn't have imagined after being involved in a homosexual affair with the younger "Boy Barrett", who commits suicide after blackmailers begin to intrude on their secret relationship. in the era when the film was made, homosexual relationships were illegal.

Even more shocking than the film itself, however, is the story behind it. Coldstream presented us with an opening clip of Dirk Bogarde who discussed the trouble agreeing to the role of a homosexual man at that time caused him, even with his own family - but he admitted that he had no regrets as he chose his parts on the basis of excitement and challenge. In the real world, the homophobic society surrounding Victim's release couldn't believe it, having never seen the topic covered in a serious light before. The Daily Mail weren't the only ones to cite its potential influence as dangerous either. Others named it an "irresponsible melodrama".

But ultimately, the struggle to sell the concept paid off, and as stated by Coldstream Victim was hugely influential in the passing of the Sexual Offences Act of 1967, which was an enormous step in accepting homosexuality. Furthermore, it made the topic acceptable to treat the subject seriously.

However, the discussion left us to consider the question of whether, though society's views have become more enlightened, the UK. still suffers from homophobia. The release of Victim has certainly played its part in the battle.


George Forster

Not victimizing you, or anything ...

The Cultural eXchanges event that caught my attention was the lecture by John Coldstream. On Tuesday the 28th February in Clephan 0.01 he'll be discussing Victim the controversial film from the early 1960s.

I had no idea about what this movie involved but a little research led me to a summary of the plot. It's the story of barsister Melville Farr (played by Dirk Bogarde), who finds himself in trouble after blackmailers learn of a homosexual relationship he had on the quiet with a younger man called Barrett. The film chronicles Barrett turning to Farr for help when he is hunted down by those who find out, creating a plethora of problems.

So why was this film controversial at the time? It was the very first film in the UK to use the word "homosexual", or cover the topic of homosexuality at a time when homosexual acts between two men were illegal in England. It was released in the wake of the Wolfenden Report, which recommended that the laws against consensual male homosexuality be repealed. Director Basil Dearden was a director not afraid to explore problems with society in his work, having made the film Sapphire earlier which concerned racism against Afro-Caribbeans. And just to add to all the drama surrounding this challenging film's release... it debuted in none other than Leicester at the Odeon Cinema!

So, for an interesting slice of controversial cinema and the times surrounding it, this might just be the event for you. You wouldn't want to let this face down, would you?

George Forster