Is it possible to have an entirely objective work of art? A work entirely free of authorial decision? There was, at one time, a group of primarily European artists who held that this was possible, and indeed necessary, for an aesthetic suited to the modern world. But, as usual, those smarty-pants bufties were wrong like a motherfucker.Consider: if one were to place a camera in such a way as to capture the activity on a given street; that would be unscripted, organic, and totally random as to content, no? Sounds reasonable, but the choice of where to place the camera, which street, how long a period in which to record the activity would all be artistic - authorial, if you prefer - decisions. It seems that an entirely objective work of art can be conceived but not executed.
So, what many artists have done is to use a mass of data, or "found" objects ("objets trouvees" you are thinking to yourself...if you are , you're officially a smarty-pants buftie) and shape it according to their artistic perception. Picasso's bicycle seat bull, for example, much of Duchamp for another.
In the work presented here Sonic Youth made sonic lemonade out of sonic lemons.
Apparently they were in the studio to record the vocals for their A Thousand Leaves album and a band in the next studio (legend has it that they were called Human Adult Band, but the truth is forever lost) were creating a helluva racket. Out of frustration, SY turned up the volume on all their amps and leaned every guitar they could find against them. Bitches.
The "session" was recorded, and the band mixed them into discrete sections (see? I eventually get to the point) and the resulting product is "The Silver Session." You perhaps already anticipate what this will sound like, but the results are surprising. The music is quite serene; ambient kinda.
But who is Jason Knuth? Well, this is an instance of an artist making lemonade from suicidal fans. Knuth was a Sonic Youth fan who commited suicide. The album was dedicated to him , and the profits went to the San Francisco Suicide Prevention Hotline. Don't you love a happy ending?
Thurston Moore
Lee Ranaldo
Kim Gordon
Steve Shelley
1. Silver Panties
2. Silver Breeze
3. Silver Flower
4. Silver Wax Lips
5. Silver Loop
6. Silver Shirt
7. Silver Son
8. Silver Mirror
-Joe of An Old Abandoned Buftie fame
Look for the link in the comments.
