Off The Page: the Oslo Defenestration

A quick note to note that I been invited by nyMussikk to speak at ‘Off The Page’, a one-day festival about music and writing being held in Oslo on January 24.  Presented in association with The Wire,  this ‘music festival without music’ (their words) also features appearances by Savage Pencil, Marcus O’Dair, Okkyung Lee and Lasse Marhaug, plus New York ‘No Wave’ legend Arto Lindsay. I will be talking about The Bright Labyrinth and some its major themes. Starting with a remarkable homemade recording made by two drunken high school teachers over half a century ago, I will be analysing the developing relationship between music, writing and design in the digital age, with specific reference to Richard Wagner, Ludwig II of Bavaria, John Cage, Les Baxter, Marshall McLuhan and Norbert Wiener.

Keen followers of this blog may remember the time when I spoke at the first ever ‘Off The Page’ event, held in the lovely seaside town of Whitstable – a man threw himself out of the window in the hotel bedroom next to my own. You can read an account of the incident here. I am genuinely curious to see what will happen this time.

'Off the Page'
Kunstnernes Hus
Oslo
Norway
25 January 2105
11:00 - 22:00
Music Fair 11:00 - 16:00
Program 12.00 - 22.00
Fee: Kr 250 / 150 (half day ticket)
Tickets available through the nyMusikk website

The Labyrinth at Noon

All display begins and ends in the mind.

Big, bold and very colourful, Noon magazine is only in its second stage of incarnation and, like all exotic insects, is brightest and most alluring in its earlier stages of development. Things are at their clearest before Noon, which is when shadows approach the smallest and most clearly defined state of their existence. Passionately concerned with fashion, fine art and ideas, the magazine must constantly be reborn in order to renew its alien beauty.

I am therefore very pleased that issue two of Noon – ‘AW14’ for those who know about these things – contains some extracts from my latest book The Bright Labyrinth. These are pieces taken from different parts of the text and reworked –sometimes re-edited or completely rewritten  - into a new sequence that outlines one of The Bright Labyrinth’s principal themes relating to progress, memory and experience. The text is featured alongside contributions from Alasdair McLellan, William Gibson and Douglas Coupland – you can find a review of the issue courtesy of It’s Nice That by clicking here.

A new magazine is a good place to start a new year – and supporting print publications is even better. Noon is available from Antenna Books, can be ordered from The Village Bookstore in Leeds and is on sale at the ICA and Tate Modern – although the best way to find out the magazine’s availability is to follow @noonmagazine on Twitter.

A Happy New Year to you all.