Timo Andres
Publicists, Manifesto Pushers, Propagandists | What Happened to the Avant-Garde?
Timo Andres
It’s commonplace to note that sociopolitical upheaval and artistic experimentation often flourish side by side. But today — despite an alleged “polycrisis” — new modes of cultural production don’t seem to be emerging. Three years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent George Floyd rebellion, the arts seem stagnant and stubbornly centralized: franchise fare dominates at the box office; literary output is hampered by monopolized publishers; even...
A Gradually Expanding Surface
Timo Andres
One of the least popular credits to my name on Apple Music is a track called “Prelude to ‘The Mystery Cheese-Ball,’” which was composed by the American experimental musician Joseph Byrd. By “composed,” I mean Byrd devised the simple instructions that constitute the piece: an unspecified ensemble blows up balloons, then releases the air from them as slowly as possible, in a chorus of squeaks and whines. The piece concludes...
