Nov 09–12, 2017
No! Music
Theme Days
Concerts, performances, films, talks, installations
November 9–12, 2017
When there are no more gaps in the system, negation is the last resort. No! Music is searching for dissent in music: artists who work counter to the music industry, musicians who explore discomfort in the face of market mechanisms, or who even experiment with the negation of sound itself; and sounds that are not allowed to be heard – censored and forbidden music.
Nearly all men are slaves, claimed the French writer Nicolas de Chamfort [1]: “Because they can’t say no.” There are two ways in which musicians can say no: either through musical decisions, texts, or career strategies which express their refusal. Or through silence, because they do not trust these means. No! Music explores both variants. Is a rigorous negation at all possible under the given conditions? Or does one already enter into lame compromises through the use of digital distribution and promotion channels, conventional hard- and software, or when one performs on stage at the usual clubs? Is ultimately the only principled approach that of the eponymous hero of Herman Melville’s story Bartleby the Scrivener, who begins by rejecting orders at work, then refuses to leave the office, and finally declines all food?
[1] (1741–1794)
Detlef Diederichsen and Martin Hossbach
No! Music is curated by HKW music curator Detlef Diederichsen together with Martin Hossbach, author, label head and music curator, e.g. at the Berlin Pop-Kultur festival.
With Pussy Riot, Matana Roberts, Pan Daijing, Nihilist Spasm Band feat. Alexander Hacke, Bill Drummond, Arrigo Barnabé, Jandek, and many others.
Part of 100 Years of Now
