Friday, October 21, 2011

"Call and Response: Daniel de Wit."



“Your head’s like mine, like all our heads; big enough to contain every god and devil there ever was. Big enough to hold the weight of oceans and the turning stars. Whole universes fit in there! But what do we choose to keep in this miraculous cabinet? Little broken things, sad trinkets that we play with over and over. The world turns our key and we play the same little tune again and again and we think that tune’s all we are.”

Grant Morrison


Daniel de Wit's Response:

Hey Tom, thanks for the compliment. Anything i've done is cool for you to use, you can make my submission all about sound if you'd like, but I'm trying to get away from being pigeonholed completely into sound. however if you'd like to make everything focused to work in the broader sense, that's great too. All of my stuff with the band is still in the weird prenatal stage, so I can't really send you anything in that respect.

Daniel de Wit is a musician, artist, and designer currently based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a member of the Rock & Roll band Dirt City Magic. He can be contacted by writing dd@danieldewit.com


THE EVIDENCE:





"Energy Collision"

:LOOK:


"Intuit Cyborg Tissue Sample"




WATCH:
"Occupy Wall Street October 5th, 2011: Gathering at Foley Square and March to Wall Street"



Tomschulzartist responds: I have recently taken to not
listening to music while I work, ending a decades long practice. It had to do (at first) with a sodden Ipod and the associated elements of both liquidity and funds. But then it became a choice. My head is generally populated by a convocation of conversations, and the music shut the doors to the convention center. In altering that one habit, in flinging the doors open to that inner dialogue, I came to understand
Evelyn Underhill when she wrote, “We will not enjoy peace until we enter into the wild strange place of Silence.”

The wild strange place of Silence.

Through my association with Daniel, I have become much more aurally observant. And that has greatly enriched my existence, from taking in a movie to taking in a walk. But I also watch him experiment. Music, sound, performing, drawing, writing. Taking chances. So much focus in contemporary pursuits has been placed on. Well, on being focused. In the world of Art, diversification may actually be a necessity. I look at de Wit's work and I ask myself, "Am I taking chances? Am I still capable of taking the Young Person's risk?" If I can look at another artist's work and get all jazzed about getting back to my work? Then I'm gonna say, "Yeah."

And that's just sound thinking.


While comprehending both the conveniences and pitfalls of a Cause and Effect existence, here at empathinc. we prefer to live in a Call and Response Universe. This series is an exploration of that space.

Thank you Daniel, for Responding to the Call.
Hey, Tom.

4 comments:

Daniel T. de Wit said...

Hey Tom, I like the nonPod policy you've developed. I recently came to a similar conclusion after my own iPod was stolen: I realized that each subway trip without entertainment (no iPod, book, phone games) was far more interesting than those accompanied with personal distractions. I like sitting, following the aimless wanderings of my idle mind, cranking my Brain Radio all the way up when desired and turning it off when necessary. Monotony is what you make of it: a train ride spent inside my head is always over before I'd like it to be.

Jane Schulz said...

Tom, I like "the young person's risk." It's what keeps us young.

Tom Schulz said...

Daniel,
I've spent a lot of time contemplating what I call, "transgressing the mundane". As you describe it, it becomes a type of alchemy. Turning what might otherwise be denigrated as ordinary into gold.

Tom Schulz said...

Jane,
Your photograph says it all.