Barry Schwartz - The Optic Nerve (tape, V2 Archief V2-14, 1991)

Strictly speaking Barry Schwartz is not a musician, but a visual artist: 'Barry Schwartz' main occupation is to expose and demonstrate natural phenomena that take place for example in electrical discharges (high voltage) and in expanding and contracting metal under the influence of external factors such as cold and heat. The use of electronics media turned out to be a stable factor in his work. Since the use of electronic media merely leads to a loss of direct communication he mainly uses video and audio in real time processes. These he can steer mechanically or manually. His work one might consider to be typically American, this in the sense that there is not shown any respect for nor tradition nor form and that you get what you get, a something raw and sensational' are the somewhat broken english words in the booklet, which I didn't scan. Its printed on oil paper and goes on with another page of description and pictures. Inside a metal book-like thing, this is an industrial affair. All of the sounds were created by Barry Schwartz, taken from various live recordings at V2 in 1990 and the whole thing is 'remixed and processed by Jacques van Bussel and Frans de Waard' for release on cassette.

download