


Auto Destructive I: This Mist Sleeps Fire.
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‘Auto destructive art re-enacts the obsession with destruction, the pummelling to which individuals and masses are subjected’ - Gustav Metgzer (1962)
Utilising the sonic materiality of an acoustic guitar being played, pulled apart and burnt, as an expression of the effect of increasing austerity on society and exploitation within the music industry. The relinquishing of non-capitalist and ideological aspirations to satisfy basic human needs such as warmth, food and regular employment, in an environment of waste and abundance for the privileged.
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'The co-existence of surplus and starvation' Metzger (1962)
Recorded onto 1 single cassette tape with 35mm photography artwork. The tape was left outside Kilburn Jobcentre, soon to be closed along with over 70 others in the UK. The Department of Work and Pensions have not provided any evidence of formal investigation and assessment on the impact of the closures to local communities. Consequently, These closures have the potential for the loss of up to 750 jobs and additional struggle for the most vulnerable members of our society; once Kilburn and Neasden Jobcentres are both closed in 2018, claimants including individuals with disabilities will now have to travel up to 10 miles to Wembley.
All digital versions of this composition will be deleted on the 2nd March2018 when the centre is scheduled to be closed, leaving the tape the only version to remain.
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This piece was creatively restricted to only exploring tape and recording techniques, no digital effects processing was used in the composition. This was conceptually decided as a reflection of the current difficulties faced living in London as an artist, Inspired by the early of Musique concrète compositions.
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'Auto-destructive art demonstrates man’s power to disintegrate processes of nature and to order them'
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'Auto-destructive art is the transformation of technology into public art'
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(Metzger, 1962)




