z’ev : praxis : 1976-2008
From an interview
(interviewer: Carl Loeffler – Artcom # 20 – 1983)
Q. What do you think are the important issues?
A. “The distinction between fine art and commercial art, and the tendency to sacrifice content for form. Not that things are becoming more formalistic,
but as an analogy, ‘American’ English is the cultural currency. If you have a second-rate idea presented in first-rate English, and a first-rate European idea
presented in second-rate English, the second-rate ‘American’ idea will win. The ideas of the dominant become the dominant ideas.
For example, the current trend of mega-movies as just a series of special effects, and a sense of spectacle, creates a level where the appearance of what’s
happening compensates for the fact that nothing is happening. A certain reality is fed back to the audience to keep them in a controlled status and away from
the issues. America employs slick form to evade content.
We can also discuss this from the aspect of ‘new music’.”
Q. We’re talking about the struggle of form over content?
A. “It’s not a struggle because the battle is over.”
Q. Who won?
A. “Form.”
Q. To what are we applying this condition?
A. “Everything.”
(interviewer: Carl Loeffler – Artcom # 20 – 1983)
Q. What do you think are the important issues?
A. “The distinction between fine art and commercial art, and the tendency to sacrifice content for form. Not that things are becoming more formalistic,
but as an analogy, ‘American’ English is the cultural currency. If you have a second-rate idea presented in first-rate English, and a first-rate European idea
presented in second-rate English, the second-rate ‘American’ idea will win. The ideas of the dominant become the dominant ideas.
For example, the current trend of mega-movies as just a series of special effects, and a sense of spectacle, creates a level where the appearance of what’s
happening compensates for the fact that nothing is happening. A certain reality is fed back to the audience to keep them in a controlled status and away from
the issues. America employs slick form to evade content.
We can also discuss this from the aspect of ‘new music’.”
Q. We’re talking about the struggle of form over content?
A. “It’s not a struggle because the battle is over.”
Q. Who won?
A. “Form.”
Q. To what are we applying this condition?
A. “Everything.”
BOOK OF LOVE BEING WRITTEN AS THEY TOUCHED
the 40320 permutations of this sentence, 640 computer generated pages
10 copies were produced in1974 by the computer science department at L. A. Pierce College, Winnetka CA
the 40320 permutations of this sentence, 640 computer generated pages
10 copies were produced in1974 by the computer science department at L. A. Pierce College, Winnetka CA
Wheels On Fire #’s 1 & 2 (Based on Shakespeare’s King Lear)
Published in ‘Ratio:3 volume 2 Trans:Mediators’ By Temple Press 1992
#1 is a 13 scene monologue version written for Kain, performed in 1990 in Amsterdam.
#2 is a five act Quartet version using Gloucester [as a woman], her two sons Edmund and Edgar and Regan, one of Lear’s daughters.
Published in ‘Ratio:3 volume 2 Trans:Mediators’ By Temple Press 1992
#1 is a 13 scene monologue version written for Kain, performed in 1990 in Amsterdam.
#2 is a five act Quartet version using Gloucester [as a woman], her two sons Edmund and Edgar and Regan, one of Lear’s daughters.
The 3-Fold Ear and the Energies of Enthusiasm
published in the anthology ARCANA: Musicians on Music, edited by John Zorn and published in 2000.
3000 word article on the mytho-poetics of the physiology of the ear
published in the anthology ARCANA: Musicians on Music, edited by John Zorn and published in 2000.
3000 word article on the mytho-poetics of the physiology of the ear
Face the Wound
Face the Wound was released on CD by Soleilmoon in 2001
a ‘SpielOper’, (Spoken Opera), blending rhythm with a stark melodic conception to orchestrate a 4000+ word vocal libretto developed from cut-ups drawn from approximately 30 audio cassette tapes collected from thrift shops, garage sales and flea markets
regarding the title, Face The Wound, the ‘wound’ in question is that wound in the societal and cultural psyche which resulted from the Witch Trials
and specifically from the genocide of the 9 million women burned as witches between the mid-1400’s to the end of the 1700’s
compositionally Face The Wound is a Tragi-comedy which shares with ancient Greek Drama the reliance on the dialog between 2 characters – in this case the male and female voices
i also adapted the Wagnerian device of leitmotif, but applied it to verbal rather than harmonic motifs and phrases
Face the Wound was released on CD by Soleilmoon in 2001
a ‘SpielOper’, (Spoken Opera), blending rhythm with a stark melodic conception to orchestrate a 4000+ word vocal libretto developed from cut-ups drawn from approximately 30 audio cassette tapes collected from thrift shops, garage sales and flea markets
regarding the title, Face The Wound, the ‘wound’ in question is that wound in the societal and cultural psyche which resulted from the Witch Trials
and specifically from the genocide of the 9 million women burned as witches between the mid-1400’s to the end of the 1700’s
compositionally Face The Wound is a Tragi-comedy which shares with ancient Greek Drama the reliance on the dialog between 2 characters – in this case the male and female voices
i also adapted the Wagnerian device of leitmotif, but applied it to verbal rather than harmonic motifs and phrases
METAPHORS, MYTHOS AND METAPHONICS
11,000+ word article commissioned for Arcana V: Musicians on Music, Magic & Mysticism.
Edited by John Zorn and published in 2010
“Z’EV explores the interrelationship between “Metaphors, Mythos and Metaphonics” in his masterful essay.
A holographic conception of the Universe is applied and he shows how a metaphoric view of the world supposes a more fluid reality,
whereas a literal view supposes a frozen or locked in reality.
In the Mythos section he delineates a “universal depth of being the world over”
and finally in the section on Metaphonics, Z’EV explores his term for what he suggests is “the major Trance Induction Technique on the planet”,
giving historical examples of how it has been used in various rites of worship around the world, and how this tool for trance is hard wired into human biology.”
Justin Patrick writing at brainwashed.com
11,000+ word article commissioned for Arcana V: Musicians on Music, Magic & Mysticism.
Edited by John Zorn and published in 2010
“Z’EV explores the interrelationship between “Metaphors, Mythos and Metaphonics” in his masterful essay.
A holographic conception of the Universe is applied and he shows how a metaphoric view of the world supposes a more fluid reality,
whereas a literal view supposes a frozen or locked in reality.
In the Mythos section he delineates a “universal depth of being the world over”
and finally in the section on Metaphonics, Z’EV explores his term for what he suggests is “the major Trance Induction Technique on the planet”,
giving historical examples of how it has been used in various rites of worship around the world, and how this tool for trance is hard wired into human biology.”
Justin Patrick writing at brainwashed.com
THE CALLS
Commissioned for The Fenris Wolf #4. Edited by Carl Abrahamson and published in 2011
translated from the solomonic text more commonly known as ECCLESIASTES
this piece was based on the first two chapters of ecclesiastes
however, the common arrangement of chapters and verses has been replaced with a continuous sequence
so whereas ecclesiastes has 2 chapters with a total of 44 verses, THE CALLS has 86 stanzas of tantric ritual verse
Commissioned for The Fenris Wolf #4. Edited by Carl Abrahamson and published in 2011
translated from the solomonic text more commonly known as ECCLESIASTES
this piece was based on the first two chapters of ecclesiastes
however, the common arrangement of chapters and verses has been replaced with a continuous sequence
so whereas ecclesiastes has 2 chapters with a total of 44 verses, THE CALLS has 86 stanzas of tantric ritual verse