Incidental Effects

Incidental Effects is, in its very purest essence, a data-driven punk statement. It is extremely raw, uncompromising, fist-in-the-face, brutal; it is chaotic yet controlled, groovy but impossible to dance to. It strongly relates to the algorave scene, but it kills the rave-vibe by hitting you with so many questions. And it leaves you wanting to know more about the whole thing. It’s basically contemporary philosophy, masked as music.

Each of the 3 “songs” is a semi-improvisation created for 1 single synth sound. The 3 different sounds are manipulated live through an ORCA software patch that contains minimal available commands. The improvisation is structured and confined by numerical parameters. The work is an exploration of the non-obvious, yet ubiquitous, relationship between individual choice and operation/performance, within the digital domain.

Incidental Effects is a striking work because in its small time-lapse, it manages to raise some of the most fundamental questions in art, philosophy and music. Who chooses what is art? What is a beautiful performance and what is a wrong performance? Would the same concepts be possible without a given medium? And many more.

To put it in Giuseppe’s words:
"Incidental Effects explores the displaced relationship between numbers and self. To what point will I recognize the unequivocal trace of my gestures once I transcode them through logical operators into digital-quantitative entities – i.e. numbers – literally “through the hands” of digital technologies? If all of our digital actions and interactions undergo a numerical transcoding via a gestural spatio-temporal segmentation, should we then think that the only traces left of ourselves are numerical traces?"

Can a live performance condition and its extemporaneous character, ever so gently alleviate the above paradox, that literally defines every work of digital art practitioners?

Incidental Effects is centered around the utilization of minimal technology and sonic material. By minimizing technology and constraining sonic possibilities, the intent is to maybe enhance chances for the ownership of our own gestures.
credits
released December 6, 2024

Music writing, software and production: Giuseppe Torre
Artwork: Giuseppe Torre