phase space

…site and sound

since the early 90s I’ve been working with various media with a focus on sound. much of this happened through collaborations with fellow explorers in Austin, TX, Seth Nehil, Michael Northam, Olivia Block, Josh Ronsen, Rick Reed and others. But my interest in the fringes of music extened back to the vibrant days college radio programming and friends with keen musical interests during high school.

my output over the years has never found a stadard format and ranges from recording and composing, to making performances, workshops, installations, events etc… I seek personal integration into the work whether it is only myself or with others, which means being fully present from inception to presentation of any form of creative activity. The “art” is then the vehicle for exploring life, learning and the creation of meaningful ‘culture’, the means by which we commune with others. this approach opens the territory for temporary or long-term, site-specific or contextual work, broadening the scope from mere product into the the wider social and cultural realm.

…from Balkania to Balticum

in 1999 I moved to Ljubljana, Slovenia and worked on various projects there for a year and a half, mainly Ministry of Experiment and hEXPO. since that time I have furthered my strategies of self-production, presentation and documentation with numerous trips around Europe, stretching from the Balkans to the Baltics. I give workshops on digital video versatility, construct site-specific media interventions, and keep up collaborations with various sound and video artists. my current regional concentration is in Estonia where I work with MoKS, an artist-run non-profit art space.

…on economy and creativity

although my interests and areas of work are many the motivation is often the same; creativity and artistic output fuel the being that I am. Accepting this fully means to explore the implications of creativity beyond theory and concept and into the social and cultural spheres of everyday life. This may come as a given where involvement with the ‘art world’ is concerned, but the logic runs deeper. In a time where specialization and market mentalities commonly rule out over the diversification and dissemination of ideas, I often find myself choosing the latter even in the wake of unpopular sentiment. The reasons for this, though not always clear, stem primarily from the view that human evolution is characterized by differentiation and diversification of biological communication and interaction. How does this relate to personal creativity? Without looking too deeply, one can see that in the developed world, commodity values and market ideals have infiltrated and control nearly every aspect of society and life. I say nearly because the desire and personal act of creation itself cannot be easily quantified and hence commodified in a market* reality (although the dominant belief is quite the contrary). Creativity is based on individual and cultural necessities that extend far beyond the deterministic nature of “free” markets and consumer ethics which, more often than not, serve those who serve it most. My concern is with the over specialization of a market* dominated reality as the predominant form of human cultural activity and its threat to the very idea of diversification and dissemination of human culture. In other words, culture, seen as an evolutionary biological phenomenon, relies on differing and diverse forms of communication and interaction beyond the speculative “progress” of commodities and market driven ideologies. The options lie in the open ended qualities of living through the refined social practice of observation, reflection, creativity and communication with yourself and those around you. These principles serve to challenge me in my personal exploration of ideas and the sharing of my work with others. Many points here are debatable and deserve further explanation. Rather than doing so in detail here, I will let the content of the site and my work open the territory.
- John Grzinich

“Reflection is the process of knowing how we know… every reflection brings forth a world” -Maturana and Varela from ‘The Tree of Knowledge’

* Deifinition according to Websters Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary: 2. archaic : the act or an instance of buying and selling 3. the rate or price offered for a commodity or security 4a. a geographical area of demand for commodities b. the course of commercial activity by which the exchange of commodities is affected.