Design Federation

Just who are those insane geniuses behind the absolut machines project? We don’t know either, but we decided to ask Jeff Lieberman & Dan Paluska what they knew

Has anyone had a religious experience in the room while the music is playing?
Science is our religion, and yes many people have had a religious experience.

Is the project a church, can it heal ones hurts?
We don’t like any place that encourages you to forego your powers of reason, but a little bit of magic can help you forget what ails you. A church is a place to gather with your community, witness miracles, and reflect. The installation can’t give vision to the blind but possibly it can open people’s eyes just a little more.

Thievery Corporation once stated something along the lines of computers allow anyone to make electronic music, but most of it is bad, what do you think of that?
The signal-to-noise ratio is not great, but that’s the tradeoff for easy accessibility. In any media the sorting problem is tougher that it once was. It’s a lot easier to publish articles, make movies, make prints, etc. Music is no different. We hope that by combining laymen’s abilities with those of composers, we can elevate the music without cheapening it. When the tools get good enough, everyone will be able to make music, and although this will mean it’s hard to find the best music, it will also mean that that music will be as good as it possibly could be.

Are you a fan of chiptunes such as the ones found here http://www.scenemusic.eu ?
Jeff:
I have no idea what that is or who it relates to. Como capisay?

Dan:
I like blips and bleeps. Occasionally I like them enough to listen to an entire song that only contains those elements.

Will robots ever use humans in the future to make music?
If we did our job, then our machine is a first example of just that. The humans have been using the robots long enough.

Who are some of your favourite musicians?
Jeff:
iTunes shuffle is important to me, to keep things fresh. The last ten songs were: Squarepusher, Prefuse 73, Radiohead, John Coltrane, Bjork, Modeselektor, Jon Brion, Keith Jarrett, Aphex Twin, and Shuggie Otis. Oh, Shuggie.

Dan:
It changes frequently but I love lots of music from easy pop to experimental. Lately I’m really into Vampire Weekend, MIA, the Daft Punk ALIVE! cd and lots more. I also love beatles, the clash , talking heads, dr dre, etc…

Are you a fan of Jeff Coons art?
Hard to decide between the big metal and flower dogs and the ‘art with pornstar-wife’. Two thumbs up!

Related links

http://www.absolut.com/absolutmachines
http://bea.st
http://plainfront.com/

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