Category Archives: Futurism

In the words of Paul Mason, its (still) kicking off everywhere. This frank diagnosis is applicable at every level of British societys layer cake. At the top, in the rarefied atmosphere of pre-election Westminster, the incumbent 2.5 party system has been pulled apart. Electorate faith wanes. And after scandals such as the HSBC tax avoidance debacle, in which a government trade minister appointed in 2010 once headed the bank, it's hardly surprising. The message is clear: politicians play by a different set of rules to everyone else.

From the tabloid press to Russell Brand to Thomas Piketty to everyone on Twitter, people are trying to make sense of our times. But beneath these manifestations of discontent, does the melancholy trickle down into Britains young cultural subterranea?

The reawakened popularity of grime a musical genre born out of the deprived boroughs of east London in the early noughties can offer insight into the mindset of urban young people and their place in the landscape of 21st-century disillusionment.

Grime was conceived shortly after the millennium. The New Labour government had introduced ASBOs and increased CCTV surveillance in its bid to be tough on the causes of crime, while elsewhere embracing big business, preaching a third-way, trickle-down economics. This pairing of policy seen by some as a mix ofharsh panopticism with neoliberal overconfidence resulted in an inequality best symbolised, as Dan Hancox has pointed out, by the juxtaposed architecture of east London: Canary Wharf versus the high-rise council estates of Bow E3.

This claustrophobia incubated the birth of a raw sound. Grime is the reaction of neglected youths peering up at the exclusive, unobtainable futurism of the city from positions of poverty. Doused in anti-establishment slang, typical lyrics relay the gritty aspects of an underclass preoccupied with park bench apathy, gang warfare and drug dealing. It is a middle finger up at disingenuous "hug-a-hoodie"conservatism a patronising philosophy that in essence still plagues politicians in their failed attempts to connect with the sceptical young voter.

Where in 2002/3 it started as an organic social reaction, grimes role as a unified voice of the oppressed became gradually less coherent. Despite a slowly accumulating nucleus of underground loyalists, the commercial success of a few artists brought a softened sound to the mainstream. In this respect, some aspects of the genres evolution are comparable to post-Olympics east London: gentrified and unrecognisable.

And yet last year there were claims of grimes return. It isnt that it went away, but an unprecedented chord of wider media appreciation has now been struck. The sound has spread to Bristol and Birmingham, while a moody instrumental style develops alongside the new generation of angry, punchy MCs. This versatility means music fans at large the technologically empowered Spotify generation are listening,not just the teenagers at the back of the nightbus. Unlike ever before, a Shoreditch art gallery is a reasonable venue for a grime show. The squeezed middle, seeking cultural expression, is starting to understand grimes raw charm.

After all, the coalition governments policy of austerity has affected multiple levels of the electorate. As the 2011 riots hinted, urban young people in particular are still frustrated. Not interested in voting and thus ignored by election manifesto policy; facing housing crises and zero-hour contracts; locked out of the top city jobs and positions of influence in pop culture unless born into the privately schooled 7 per cent: a voice of expression has to come from somewhere. And this time around, with post-financial crisis awareness, more people not solely the black working class of east London share grimes persistent despair about the unjust trappings of British society.

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Young people are still frustrated but the genre's revival shows a universal urban discontent.

James Morris ft. Davey - Shadows
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Retro futurism

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Pure digital boy - Classical futurism
Fjord EP soon https://soundcloud.com/plodek https://www.facebook.com/chucpetribe https://soundcloud.com/chucpe.

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Pure digital boy - Classical futurism - Video

Muse - Futurism - Bass Cover on a Guitar + Tab - HD - 320 Kbps
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Virtual reality cameras have been used in pornography, at sporting events and in many other ways, but one Florida church is looking at using the technology for a higher calling.

According to Gizmodo reports, Rev. Christopher Benek of the First Presbyterian Church of Ft. Lauderdale is exploring the use of devices like the Oculus Rift as a way to reach members of the congregation who live in remote areas or who cannot leave their homes due to health issues.

As the website points out, some places of worship allow their members to view services online, but Rev. Benek believes that adopting VR technology will make churches more accessible, more immersive, and more attractive to the general public.

Numerous persons and groups have developed churches in the virtual world, mainly Second Life, he said earlier this month in an interview with Hypergrid Business. I would venture to say that most have been less concerned with true evangelical success and more focused on what their technological exploratory experience may yield in the future.

A great asset to the church universal

Essentially, the reverend who is currently working on a Ph.D. in theology with a focus on the intersection of technological futurism and eschatology at Durham University in the UK thinks that most modern virtual churches are experiments, not significant faith-based outreach efforts. However, he believes that this will change as the technology becomes more widespread.

For those of us who tend to be more inclined to the developments of human technology, we are keeping abreast of the important advancements that are occurring in the virtual world, explained Rev. Benek, adding that devices such as Oculus Rift could be a great asset to the church universal, as it will enable the infirm, homebound, and potentially even the poor to participate from afar regardless of their personal mobility or lack of affordable transportation.

He added that there are several ways that churches and other religious groups could benefit from removing physical obstacles to worship. It would allow pastors and congregants to visit and pray with more people more often, he explained, and small worship groups would be able to meet on a more frequent basis, even when they are separated by considerable distances.

The way that we currently do care and discipleship will radically change as will our expectations as to what it means to participate in those aspects of the church, added Rev. Benek. In addition to the physical barriers that virtual reality can help overcome, the technology could help overcome language differences by allowing services to be seamlessly translated.

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Florida pastor: VR technology can make church more immersive

They had already decided on a Saturday night in mid-September, and they had a tentative program: an evening of George Gershwin, Kurt Weill and Daniel Schnyder, a Swiss composer and saxophonist whose music crosses just about every definable stylistic boundary, from jazz to world music to opera. It was going to be a hard-hat concert, performed in the raw, crumbling space of the 1869 Franklin School. It would showcase the possibilities of the historic structure and generate support for the renovation of the historic building.

It is the kind of edgy, unorthodox artistic event that new generations of Washingtonians, who no longer accept the premise that the nations capital is a cultural backwater, crave. But it wont happen unless the city reverses course on a decision made this week to end an agreement with the Institute for Contemporary Expression, which had partnered with one of the countrys most innovative music groups the Post-Classical Ensemble to present concerts at the long-vacant school at the corner of 13th and K streets NW.

Attracted by the large open spaces of the Franklin School, which would have also hosted art exhibitions, lectures and educational activities, the Post-Classical Ensemble signed on early as a resident ensemble at the proposed arts center. It was excited about finally having a proper home and increased presence in the District, where it hoped to build a new and more diverse audience than it might find at the Kennedy Center or other venues.

D.C. doesnt have a space that has the vibrancy, modernism, futurism, of a place like this, said Chris Denby, board chair of the ensemble.

The decision to scuttle the citys arrangement with ICE remains opaque. The deputy mayors office for planning and economic development first said that it doubted the ability of ICEs visionary founder, Dani Levinas, to raise sufficient funds to cover the costs but then backtracked. It suggested that Levinas planned to charge exorbitant admission fees, even though none of those details had been set in stone. Although it claimed to have conducted a top-to- bottom review of the agreement between ICE and the city, the economic development office never met with Levinas and never asked questions about his fundraising. When asked how long that review took and how many staffers participated in it, a spokesman offered this by e-mail: We took this process seriously and took the time necessary to make a decision that we believe is in the long-term best interest of all District residents.

Strangely, that decision was made almost simultaneously with the announcement of a new venture by the citys Commission on the Arts and Humanities, a Start Fresh innovation grant for up $100,000. This is designed to aid organizations that are creative, innovative and groundbreaking, with multi-disciplinary and multi-platform initiatives. In other words, organizations that plan to do what ICE was already gearing up to do. The coincidence of these two decisions, one forward, the other several steps back, suggests that not only does the new administration lack a coherent cultural program, there isnt even basic communication between its various offices.

This kind of fiasco is all too familiar to longtime observers of the citys cultural scene, and to people who live near the Franklin School and who have watched the city try for years to develop a coherent plan for it. Local advisory neighborhood commissioner Kevin Deeley, whose district includes the Franklin School, wasnt in office when Mayor Vincent C. Grays administration chose the proposal by ICE over three others (including a boutique hotel with rooftop restaurant, a technology center and a live/work space for tech entrepreneurs). But he likes the idea because the institute would be open to the public, increase foot traffic at night and weekends and offer cultural amenities in downtown Washington.

But it is the possibility of yet more years of delay, with the historic structure moldering yet further, that really frustrates him and his neighbors. There is no continuity between administrations, he says, and the result is a wasted resource.

Another administration comes along and the whole process starts again, and now were looking at maybe two more years before they can break ground, says Deeley. He is sending a letter on behalf of his constituents to Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, asking her to reconsider her decision. Other letters have come from the American Alliance of Museums (It is hard to imagine any better or higher use of this historic building than the one that Mr. Levinas has proposed, said Ford Bell, the groups president) and from civic groups. Dorothy Kosinski, who as head of the Phillips Collection knows a thing or too about the fundraising climate in Washington, said, I was disappointed to hear of the projects cancellation this week and lamented the loss of an organization that would demonstrate how contemporary art is a vital part of our economy and cultural ecosystem.

The school has been empty for seven years. In 2010, when Adrian Fenty was mayor, the city held a hearing to determine whether the school should be declared surplus and thus open for private development. A transcript of that meeting is telling. While there wasnt an agreement about exactly what the school should become, there was overwhelming sentiment that as a historic building with a long history of public service to the citizens of Washington, it most certainly should not be given up for commercial development.

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A setback for D.C. arts and culture, years in the making

Aids-3D on Digital Anarchy and the New Form of Futurism: Art Talk

By: Kurtiolass Vertanov

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Aids-3D on Digital Anarchy and the New Form of Futurism: Art Talk - Video

Futurism 10, "Malawi"
Futurism 10, "Malawi" hr Jazzensemble 2010 Jazzwerkstatt Released on: 2010-09-01 Ensemble: hr Jazzensemble Composer: Hans Ludemann Auto-generated by YouTube.

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Futurism 10, "Malawi" - Video

Erasure: R. Phillips #39;s "PREDICTIVE CODING" + "BLACK QUANTUM FUTURISM" | _METROPOLARITY at AUX pt11
RASHEEDAH PHILLIPS #39;s from her TIME TRAVEL EXPERIMENTS zine, piece "PREDICTIVE CODING", and introductory essay from upcoming book BLACK QUANTUM FUTURISM: THEORY AND ...

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Erasure: R. Phillips's "PREDICTIVE CODING" + "BLACK QUANTUM FUTURISM" | _METROPOLARITY at AUX pt11 - Video