A few days ago Kyle Mabson released his 7th compilation of “remixes” or “covers” or “versions” of top 40 hits to bandcamp. He calls for entries using social media tools and people he knows or doesn’t know submit tracks. He accepts every submission he gets and the song order is determined by the order he receives the submissions. My band, extreme animals, contributed a track. I have been wanting to write about these compilations for a while because they really make me think, so here goes:

In the year 2000 I moved to Boston, MA. There was a CD-R compilation series that was being produced in Providence, RI at the time called “Mish Mash Mush” (later called “Real Slow Radio”). I liked these compilations because of the mystery surrounding them. The artist’s names were mostly completely unknown to me and everyone else in the world. They were long and challenging releases, usually lasting about 74 minutes each. Every cd-r had a crazy new list of artists I knew I would probably never hear from again, because artists were changing their names for every new release–it seemed un-trackable and chaotic. . . . the music came out of nowhere and disappeared as quickly as it came . . . Being anonymous and cryptic was not a publicity stunt done by artists to get people to pay more attention to them, but was a fact of life for all of us, that was embraced and amplified through our art. . . It should also be asserted that this was when I lived in the shadows of Forced Exposure (where challenging, lengthy and impenetrable releases were the norm). We had all just heard Jandek for the first time. . .

Anyway, fast forward to 2012 when Mabson started this series. Despite the radical shifts that have occurred since 2000 in musical interests, popular culture and media distribution, there are some similarities between Mabson’s releases and the “Mish Mash Mush” series, and this is what makes these compilations stand out to me. They seem to offer an alternative to the “if it’s not something I have already heard of/from a reputably curated online destination/immediately mind-blowing, then I will close the tab” mentality that dominates media consumption on phones and laptops.

The idea of “going viral” while in some ways is a productive model, is just as problematic. This is why I call internet art “the dark arts.” My take on the “dark arts” will have to wait for another time, but in relation to this little blog post what I am talking about is an acceptance by many artists today that self-promotion (and often self-glorification) is an undeniable part of being an artist. And that the ultimate goal of self-promotion would be to get “as big as possible” while still maintaining integrity–for financial reasons as well as to fulfill some kind of conceptual pop art dream . . . I rarely hear it questioned that artists should want to reach as many people as possible with their output, and that they should produce consistent quality content that is easy to google, blog and re-blog. This is a critique/questioning of myself as much as it is a critique/questioning of my peers.

I’m thinking about how the way artists use the internet has at times added a challenge to cut-throat capitalism, but that just as much their use of the web has also re-invented cut-throat capitalism in perhaps even more insidious ways. I have mixed feelings about competition and ambition but in general I do not like things to become so unanimous that they become unquestioned. . . It’s challenging for me because I feel like as soon as I started thinking about self-promotion, technology and culture had changed around me to re-affirm this as an almost omni-present reality. As my creative models moved out of child-hood into a teenage narcissism, so did the internet . . . It is probably impossible to sort out the chicken from the egg with issues like these but somehow it feels good to write them down.

The spirit I see within Mabson’s compilations updates the things I found exciting about “Mish Mash Mush” to the concerns of 2013. These tracks and the compilations in general are too unwieldy, inconsistent, amature-ish and confusing to fit into all the supposed models of affirmation the “glossy” web thrives on. This is not to say they can’t be written about–I’m doing it now, there have been at least a couple of other reviews. I’m just saying they don’t fit the mold of the “successful” 2013 online release as it has been defined by boutique culture blogs. This is not an easy to digest, hyper-curated package of cutting edge, expertly produced tracks which helps to define a particular cultural moment.

I guess in summary what I am trying to say is just that to me it is really important to remember that blog-ability doesn’t create value. The value I get from Mabson’s compilations is not about it’s ability to “reach” people. It’s an experience of 2013 chaos, troll-humor, and confusion within a digital landscape that is desperately trying to organize itself, to filter out “the noise” or “the waste”. I have always been inspired by waste, trash, or the discarded, and will continue to seek it out, whatever that means. Even if it gets harder and harder to find as we try our hardest to “clean up” the web . . .

Dis Magazine phrases this discussion in a way I like: “Who wore it best?” The issue is not about authenticity, originality, or even any sense of linear time. From my very limited understanding of the fashion world, styles change hands so quickly it is ludicrous to discuss who “thought of it” first, but simply who did it best, at that moment, on that day, at that party. Other reactions online seem to be using words or phrases that do not make sense in 2012. Words like “stealing”, “ripped off”, or “commodified”. This may seem like an obvious fact but I guess it needs to be said again: it is an impossibility for a subcultural style to be “owned”. Sub-culture exists when gazed at by mass-culture. The only way to ensure that your aesthetic is not going to become used by others is to never share it with anyone. Another approach is to protect your aesthetic with physical violence (see: gang colors). Otherwise, once you allow your presence to be seen, it can be consumed.

From my limited understanding of the visual tropes that made up the reference points to these 2 recent videos, there has been a lot of this same imagery floating around in web/real-world crossover communities for at least the past 2 years. But we need to remember that the sharing of these aesthetic ideas usually happens on “free” and relatively public web 2.0-style sharing sites: dump.fm, tumblr, twitter, etc. You have to sign in and you can get kicked off but for the most part everyone with a computer or smart phone is invited. These sites need to be semi-public because a part of the game is to float an image up to the cloud and to see how far it travels. . . If you do not want your image to travel somewhere far away, do not release it to the cloud.

If these images begin to represent more than this to you, if these images start to cluster together into a set of inter-related ideas that begin to form a kind of futuristic “belief system” that you can inhabit, it should be noted that this is not a very protected belief system. It is however a very fluid belief system. This kind of self-image-making-as-belief-system is a form of user-generated-youth-branding that uses corporate web2.0 technologies to re-appropriate the notion of “sub-culture” that historically died in the 90s . . . These creative strategies work with what for many of us are outdated fantasies of outsider-ism: when a disconnected and lost youth from the middle of nowhere has no access or sense of perspective on what “is cool” and decides out of the blue to “go goth.” Today, net-art/tumblr/twitter scenes are hyper-connected. The alienation they feel today is because of being too connected. Playing with these different forms of alienation is what makes their output so exciting. Like a lot of good art, the work is predicated on a lie and plays with that lie–like a magician. When Zombelle tweets “swagger-jackers” there is more to the story-her project is itself a swagger-jacking project. Unless I really misunderstand, isn’t seapunk an intentionally awkward swagger-jacking of corporate california extreme sports surfer, underwater video game levels, lawnmower-man cyber utopia/dystopia, and teen rebellion (to name a few of the references)? It was probably literally first imagined in an office as a coprorate-hired creative team tried to figure out who the new evil gang should be to fight the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Manufactured-sub-culture-as-enacted-sub-culture . . . dealing with the kind of top-down ad campaigns that makes use believe in slurpies and rollerblades. We are talking about very sophisticated understandings of marketing and their power on consciousness and forms of social rebellion, which are enacted by kids in subconscious, intuitive and ephemeral ways through their highly curated selection of clothing, images, and word-play.

When an artist with a different kind of power hires art directors and deadlines approach, things get interesting. Culture begins to move at a frantic pace, and eats its own shit. If we remove the notion of authenticity, originality, or a “beginning point” from the conversation, the difference between the visuals behind Rhianna on SNL and the visuals on tumblr blogs is thus predominantly a difference in an understanding of cultural time. Images are consumed and re-consumed and then consumed again. It is going to happen. I do not know the art directors behind these 2 videos (at least I think I don’t) but my impression is that someone was inspired in their own way (either by money, the creative spark, or both) to riff off of things they had seen in other contexts. To the informed/privileged viewer, perhaps what they made looks like a mutated, or “backwards” version of something they saw in a different context. But to claim that we, all of us, are not a part of this mutation process ourselves is the kind of lie that is unproductive, different than the creative, productive lie I mentioned before. We have to embrace mutation in all it’s forms if we embrace it at all. From net kids giving new meaning to the emptiness of commercial space, to art directors getting it wrong but thus getting it right. This is an exciting cycle that is also painful, like life. Given the reality of the internet as a major player in the youth culture manufacturing machine, where everything happens in plain view for all of us to see all the time, to deny that this kind of thing is going to happen and that it is going to happen in disgustingly faster and faster ways, seems a little naive, not in a good way. All tru seapunks know how to ride the wave. PLUR

Jacob Ciocci / Experience the Creativity / September 6 – October 6, 2012 from COOPER COLE on Vimeo.

2. Ryder Ripps and I will be doing another iteration of our lecture/performance entitled “Extreme Moments Sitting Down” at the VIA fest in Pittsburgh, October 6th. The event is organized by Incite! Journal and will also feature a video screening and a performance by Jeremy Bailey. More info here.

3. Upcoming Extreme Animals shows:
October 31st, Halloween Party: Philadelphia at Goldilocks Gallery
November 2nd: Baltimore at “Deep In The Game”, Club Hippo
November 16th: Brooklyn at Secret Project Robot, with Eric Copeland and others

4. I have a screening of my video work at Anthology Film Archives on November 8th. The screening will be an entire hour and a half of my videos from the last 10 years and ends with a premiere of a new piece for guitar and video by myself and David Wightman.

2. “Am I Evil” and “Questions of the Ages”, 2 recent videos are showing/were recently shown at these events/locations:

MAY 20: MIGRATING FORMS: http://www.migratingforms.org
April 26-ongoing: EYEBEAM: http://www.eyebeam.org/events/screening-found
FEb. 23-March 20th:DUBLIN: http://monstertruck.ie/blog/?page_id=6748
April 13th: MIAMI: http://www.borschtcorp.com/events/burningmoon.html
March 30th: BASEL: http://www.elaine-mgk.ch/index.php?/project/synthetic-vertigo-002-eye-rubs/

3. 10 more days to go see the Born Digital show if you are in Raleigh, it features my new piece “copy cat” which is 40 new collages and a video projection:

4.  I recently screened a new mix of recent in-progress and finished versions of videos at this event when it came through Pittsburgh:

http://www.everythingisterrible.com/p/doggiewoggiez-poochiewoochiez.html

These guys have the VHS game on lock and it was nice to finally meet them IRL. I think one of my favorite parts of their project is their expanding collection of Jerry McGure VHS–crowd sourcing at it’s finest!

Look for a mix to drop some time in 2012 with lots of new Jacob Ciocci/Extreme Animals videos. Psyched about this–new styles for 2k12~~~in-progress screen shot below:

5. I helped Death Grips “code” a flash interface for one of their recent music videos. Anyone could have “coded” this project but it was an honor to work with these guys. They R killing the game right now, read this interview for evidence, they mean business!

6. I was in a show curated by Brian Droitcour (who a while ago wrote a great review of one me and David’s old-school performances) at 319 Scholes. The show was called “big reality” and was a great survey of all the weird new kids doing their thing right now. Thanks Brian for the opportunity:

http://319scholes.org/exhibition/big-reality/

1) If you haven’t seen our video and musical remix for pictureplane’s “body mods”, here it is:

Pictureplane “Body Mods” remix by Extreme Animals from Jacob Ciocci on Vimeo.

This was blogged about on rhizome and dis magazine, 2 of my favorite websites of all time! #proud

2)Some of my drawings and “color photos” (screenshots) are in this DFW zine. Other artists include Andrew Jeffrey Wright and Isaac Lynn and Barry McGee. Apparently these are “going fast” so you better get it now or wait until you see me and I’ll tell you I ran out:

3) I designed the cover to the new issue of Incite! Journal , and below is an image of my design. Inside is an interview between myself and Jesse McLean, which was a lot of fun.

I think you can “grip” your copy of this journal here

4) The single-channel version of my video “Am I Evil” is in a couple of upcoming screenings: “Video INFusion” on February 11th at Secret Project Robot in Brooklyn and “Astral Projection Abduction Fantasy” at Monster Truck Gallery in Dublin, Ireland.

5) I only have a couple of quick images for now, but I just finished a new collage/video project entitled “COPY CATS” for CAM Raleigh for their exhibit “Born Digital” (which also includes work by LoVid and Karolina Sobecka along with many other heavy hitters). My work is made of 40 new collages displayed in a grid-like pattern and a new animation which is projected on top of them. I will have better documentation soon, but get ready for another piece about “cats” and “copy cats”:

6) Oh yeah and here is a link to documentation of the 1-day workshop I did in conjunction with the exhibit. It was called “OMG LOL GIFS made IRL” and we made animated gifs using both digital (3frames) techniques and analog (collage and markers) techniques. I just learned it appears someone in San Antonio saw this idea and replicated it there as well!

More late-2011 updates:

1. David Wightman and I are talking this Friday (November 18th) at Columbia University on a panel entitled “Instrumentalization Of Music” about the crossover between art and music worlds. Other panelists include Zach Layton, Tristan Perich, Howie Chen, Khaela Maricich, and Melissa Dyne (that’s a sick lineup).

632 west 125th street

Prentis Hall

4pm-6pm

First Floor

“open to the public”

1. I am  ALSO talking this Sunday (November 2oth) at Johns Hopkins University. Here is the flyer, click for bigger version with details:

2. Extreme Animals entered a new song into the TranceWAR. It looks like we are not going to win, but you should still go listen to all the tracks, try and find ours (it’s an anonymous competition) and VOTE!!

3. Extreme Animals is donating a ringtone to the Rhizome.org community campaign. Please support Rhizome–u have no idea how much they have supported me!!

4. “Am I Evil” , one of my newer videos (with music by Extreme Animals) is being screened as a part of the Floating World Animation Fest DMTV2 on November 21st.

4.”Am I Evil” is also showing at this screening, curated by Jesse Mclean(scroll down):

http://www.mocp.org/events/2011/11/

5. A 9-year old video of mine “Welcome To My Homeypage” (which is an excerpt of the Paper Rad piece “PJVidz“) will be screened in Chicago on December 14th in conjunction with this exhibit:

http://gallery400.uic.edu/events/semi-permanent-program

6. Extreme Animals has some upcoming December performances I am pretty excited about. They include the after party for the brooklyn comics and graphics festival (flyer below made by CF), and then 4 shows with Yacht including a show in Pittsburgh!! More details on those shows ASAP!!

7. I am making a new collage/video piece for a show in Raleigh in January 2012 at the Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh. The show opens January 28th–more info on this as it develops. I will also be giving an animated .gif workshop there! Very excited about both of these opportunities!

8. Here is some documentation of the *weird* performance I did for the Triple Canopy benefit. You should check out the other videos on this page as well, it was an amazing event:

http://vimeo.com/31400677

Before I could post my video I was confronted with a mandatory “copyrite school” (is it illegal to spell copywrite wrong?) questionnaire and a mandatory viewing of this video, hosted by some cartoon characters called “happy tree friends”:

It seems one of the videos on our account was recently taken down due to copywrite infringement. The video in question was an episode that my former collaborator Ben Jones told me to post of Cartoon Network’s new show “Problem Solverz”. It was the video on our account with by far the most views, as well as the most negative, hateful comments and dislikes of any video we have ever posted.  I thought the video was a really interesting example of how “success” functions on the web and I was sad to see it go, but not that sad because I didn’t really make the video.  Ben did make the video (with a team of Cartoon Network employees) and I posted it because he asked me to and because we as a team previously worked on a similar project (Problem Solvers with an “s”). Nonetheless YouTube took the video down as requested by Cartoon Network and now the Paper Rad YouTube account has 1 of 3 strikes against it. 2 more and all of our videos will be gone. This is probable as now that we are on their radar they will notice that almost ALL of our videos have copywrited material of some form in them (for example the video as well as music I just posted is almost all appropriated in some way). Of course the thing about these content “take-downs” is that you have no clue why any video in particular is being targeted. From the user’s perspective it seems arbitrary when and why content is removed from your account. Ultimately I don’t care about the Paper Rad YouTube account that much, we can always post the videos elsewhere (although I do think it serves some minor historical significance) but I find this story interesting because of the history of Paper Rad’s work and of my current work, and of how it seems to fit in within larger artistic trends. I could go on and on about this but I think I will leave it brief for now:

If you look back at early Paper Rad projects they often included a range of relations to copyrighted material–from blatant “sampling” to subtle pop-cultural references, to  ”all-original” content. There was a continuum in the work that reflected our experience of the world as active consumers and producers–that we are influenced by and can influence the world. It seems to me that when your work reaches a certain level of exposure you have to get trickier and trickier with how you express this continuum, or you might come up against some legal troubles. I admire artists like Girl Talk for having created a functional model within this system. This is a challenge that I fully embrace and hope to one day have to worry about for real.For now though, I hope you enjoy the above videos