Saturday 1 October 2016, 8pm
No other artist casts so large a shadow over the genre of noise than Merzbow. With a vast discography and uncompromising approach that has spanned over three decades, Masami Akita is an undisputed master in his field and we're hugely excited to welcome him to OTO for the first time.
“For over thirty years, Merzbow (aka Masami Akita) has been the biggest and most recognisable figure on the international noise scene. Indeed, he has defined the contours and aesthetic of the genre, from his pioneering use of tape loops to create hulking industrial vistas in the late 70s, to his switch to laptop-generated static noise at the turn of the century... Rightly hailed by Paul Hegarty, in his seminal book Noise/Music, as an artist who reached the apex of noise's potential as an artistic genre, Merzbow has been a clear influence on a wealth of subsequent noise artists and groups.” – Joseph Burnett, The Quietus
Ewa Justka is a Polish electronic noise artist, self taught instruments builder and electronics teacher based in London. She currently studies MA Computational Arts at Goldsmiths College.
Justka’s main field of research is based on exploration of materiality of objects, vibrant, ontological systems (human bodies, plants’ bodies, electronic circuits: varied range of micro and macro environments and relations between them) and an investigation of modes of quasi-direct perception through noise performance actions, interactive installation, DIY electronics, hardware hacking, plant-molesting, breaking, deconstructing and collaborating. In her artistic work Ewa attempts to explore the concept of materiality of the hidden.
Poulomi Desai is a queer musician, artist, curator and activist with South Asian roots, born in Hackney, London. Desai will give an improvised concert using a modified sitar with a range of exploratory devices such as modified cassette decks, circuit bent toys, optokinetic instruments, kitchen knives, and massage tools. Her sitar forms the basis for her sonic improvisation, and is a conscious response to the idea of »authenticity,« seeking to break the expectations of how a »sacred« instrument should be played, and the assumptions made upon the identity of the player herself. It is an allegorical antidote to the objectification of the »South Asian woman's body« in Bollywood cinema / popular culture and, in a broader sense, affirming her personal manifesto of noise as protest.
www.poulomidesai.tumblr.com | www.usurp.org.uk
