I’m not going to argue that the correct spelling is “flyer” .. because it could very well be “flier.” I remain neutral. However, since I refuse to sit here for all eternity, stuck in neutrality, I shall choose one and move forward.
Lately my photographic eye has taken on a new role in my creative work. Going out to photograph the unknown, but with a specific mission has proven to work quite intuitively for me. Shedding the impulse to use a camera only to capture what is visually stunning and perfectly posed has given way to more practical applications. And while a single shot may contain less striking elements, several in combination can be quite effective. Or while one shot may not be interesting as a singular statement, a portion or two may be used effectively in another context. For me to overcome my perfectionism to such a degree, then find I’m still able to satisfy it further down the road has been a great experience.
Here’s a couple of flyers I designed recently for my current band Takenobu that illustrate these new facets of my photographic life:
I’m really very happy with them and look forward to more opportunities to do this kind of shooting.
As many of my generation do, I have a great affinity for the video games of the 80s and 90s. The NES, SNES, Sega, Gameboy, Atari, etc. The chip music scene has become quite large, and I must say, it’s collectively putting out some really great stuff. Recently discovered is Little-Scale, from Adelaide, Australia. One of his songs, Come Back To Me, caught me immediately.
Interestingly, Hélas Techne evolved to what is it now entirely unaware of any chip music scene. While I don’t use consoles, or any hardware for that matter, I do employ a healthy amount of stripped down, lo-fi sounding noises and arrange them, sometimes, in a video gamey fashion.
With all that said, I thought it only fitting that I attend Blip Festival 09 in Brooklyn and make some friends.
Invisible, art music band from Greensboro, NC, make music using robotics, objects, drums, physical machine-based sequencing and some keyboards, typewriters, you name it. Just look at that huge rotary encoder! It’s like a drum machine from the future/past.
i’ve been working on helastechne.com but it’s far from ready. i plan to use that page for updating anything related to my music. whereas feelingness will be more personal and connected to the outside world (of the internets). just thought i’d announce everything prematurely.
BREAKING NEWS >> I’m going to DO stuff. This Might Be An Important Development. “Probably True” is that I’m way better at DOING than conceptualizing. To Clarify: I encounter greater difficulty and frustration when I try to think my way through a situation before it’s actually happening. I need to FEEL what I’m working with, then follow my instincts as they arise. Being in the situation is where I truly know what I’m supposed to do. Otherwise I am at a distinct loss. Yes, there are starting points, inspirations, prompts, if you will, to establish direction. The key is to pursue those things In The Moment or else they lose their effectiveness, their potency, until the next revolution, or maybe even permanently. That’s not to say I lack the ability to formulate coherent plans. Indeed they are very important. I would call it –
Real-Time Planning For Maximum Positive Feelings Forever.
while the home page is being conceptualized, i would like to shed some light on hélas techne – the meaning and purpose — because it just occurred to me nobody but a select few have been given a proper explanation. it’s no secret, just that since the ideas have been externalized more than once, i’ve begun to feel like the word is out. but silly me, the job’s not finished. quite the contrary actually. i cannot foresee anything causing the termination of this work, hence “endeavor and ever” (a new working song title).
so i’ll begin with a literal translation and the origins of the words’ usage. hélas. only after unintentionally adopting this much adored little moniker did i realize it was an actual word, the french equivalent of the english alas. this in itself is not crucial, but it did lead me to an existing work of art, a poem by Oscar Wilde, that surprisingly had me intrigued. i’m not one with an affinity for poetry, but Hélas! actually resonated. it was like i had unearthed musings from a past life that are just as pertinent in this one. so it stuck, the sight and sound of it’s syllables embodying a very unique belonging feeling.
techneon the other hand did not appear to me until late last summer, after years of using hélas mostly as an alias online. while engrossed in a book by Daniel Pinchbeck, the term came up, quoting philosopher Martin Heidegger –
Once there was a time when the bringing-forth of the true into the beautiful was also called techne.
this, much like reading Hélas! the first time, immediately resonated. i read on to find techne, derived by the Greeks and elaborated on by Heidegger, translates as craftsmanship, craft, or art. it is the rational method involved in producing an object or accomplishing a goal or objective, with the means of this method being through art. it also serves, etymologically, as the basis for technique and technology. and so a dichotomy in my mind resolved, unifying rationality and artistry, discovering harmony where dissonance once abstracted their relationship.
what i’ve learned about the synthesis of hélas and techne is not what i would’ve expected. its place wasn’t immediately apparent, not as the alter-ego, the band name, or even the title of my future 10 disc anthology. i didn’t feel the light bulb above my head illuminate like “this is it!” no, it was more like the light bulb popping in, unlit. strange feeling. but i find the thing slowly coming aglow. i see hélas techne encompassing a larger body of work and information, almost like a general reference for my personal chronicle. yet, its scope is broader than my current field of vision. which is good! it seems to have defied the expendable, volatile nature of pseudonyms in the modern age with a keen temperance, becoming something quite sacred and a little beyond me. it will be the thing i seek while also being the thing i am.
today i am reminded that “i cannot do this alone” — which is a difficult thing for me personally to accept. nearly everything i’ve done with my life during the past few years has been marked by a self-sufficiency and do-it-myself () pattern, with a sensitive, introverted tone (). this has served well to help me develop necessary abilities that i will always be able to utilize, but i am quickly approaching a period where the exact opposite behavior is the only path for progress.
right now “performing hélas techne” is the dominant mental priority. but it’s not seeing much progress because doing it alone is not how it’s supposed to be done. i feel like a mad scientist who has locked himself up in the laboratory, experimenting with every possible combination of chemicals and solutions, keeping it all secret from those who might want to steal his discoveries! as an artist it’s easy to struggle with the concept of originality. we all have unique perspectives on life, and unique expressions to compliment, but i’m forced to argue that “originality” is mostly an illusion, that believing too extremely in “I, me, mine” can ultimately sequester one to an insular feedback loop island, alienated and exclusory.
so i’m moving away from that. i’ve realized the more i share the greater the momentum will build. and that there’s no perfect golden moment when it’ll be the right time to unleash a finished product to unsuspecting masses. i think we’re moving into an era where people want to know everything that’s happening, as it’s happening. no more behind-the-curtains celebrity mysteriousness. this is truly the Aquarian Age.
–and now, a slightly lame transmission to myself and everybody else because i feel a little displaced as of late–
for a moment mentally remove all variables from your life. think about the one thing you want for yourself, the one thing that underlies them all, that you’re absolutely certain of. then clear away the complex mixtures of possibility surrounding this thing, reduce it to an even purer form. reduce, divide, simplify your vision, peeling off the parts that could have multiple outcomes, until you’re left with a solid, unquestionable thing–the basis on which all your decisions are made. that’s where you begin. where your own creation is given life. become aware of this space in your every-day. mold it’s parameters during execution. design it to be the thing you want because you are creating with every moment.
i was envisioning a new life, or something like it, in chicago, hoping to get there sooner than later. but then found this way of thought to be flawed. i can’t view moving as a magic enormous happy cake. no, i’d be taking the same life with me, insufficiencies and all. i’m not discounting the possibility i could encounter greater inspiration, but i don’t want to arrive there, or anywhere, with a deficit. i want to “hit the ground running” as they say.
with that realized, i am recentering and being reminded of opportunities already emerging here. having a long-term is important but i also have to do as much as i can now to set up for that, else it’ll just seem further and further away as time passes. be the me of the future (now)!
