Elizabeth Skadden (Berlin) – The Role of the… by connectedcommunities
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ABSTRACT
In former Communist East Germany, cassette tapes occupied a unique role as the point of connection of a micro-community of musicians who used media to defy a political system. Forbidden by the government, Western music was smuggled in and then dubbed to hundreds of tapes for distribution within the scene. These cassette tapes are now mostly extinct as their owners usually threw away the Eastern counterparts to Western records they were able to access after the Wall fell. My art practice is concerned with the resurrection of abandoned media and places as related to media archeology. I am most interested in documenting through my research and artistic practice the networks that existed to distribute these tapes as well as the subtle physical and audio variations between each tape and how they created the personality of the music for the listener.
BIO
Elizabeth Skadden’s artwork explores forgotten places while questioning the odd beast of city planning. She is a winner of the RISD Awards of Excellence and was a resident of the Saatchi-sponsored ‘A Curriculum: A Foundation Artist Residency’ in Liverpool, England. Elizabeth’s work has screened in film and art festivals such as Sundance, SXSW, and Edinburgh, and the New Mexico Biennial. She has worked extensively with bands, most recently having toured UK, Europe, and America with the band No Age creating and projecting live visuals.
http:///www.elizabethskadden.com
Indeed the whole music thing was a real pleasant way to feel special. Although i didn’t exactly threw away the tapes, i would have to turn around the whole basement. Curious what you already have. h