Konrad Becker: Konrad Becker Plays Super Mario


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    Konrad Becker Plays Super Mario

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Artist Statement:


    INTERFACING SOUND Performance

    The military-entertainment complex has taken over as the warlords and wizards of symbolic domination and information peacekeeping. Meanwhile, in Super Mario land…

    Computer games are overtaking the cultural and economic significance of the movie industry. Although Pong, arguably the first computer game, was a byproduct of DARPA, intended for use in military training, even early games as seemingly innocent as Space Invaders and Pac-Man typically staged a scenario of alien invasion or biological body snatching. Historical games Like Super Mario provide an air of cheerful innocence from a time when digital space was seen as an area of possibilities – rather than a virtual prison in the desert of the real. Inspired by cruise ship entertainment, Konrad Becker will play classic game levels with a beat and a kick, routing 8-bit game console music through notebook patches of musical noise.

    The sounds of game playing are triggered and enhanced by a walk through a vast audiovisual 3D environment (based on the Unreal engine) and an 80’s Super Mario emulation. In addition, the game screen is framed by flickering video towers as electronic architectural elements.

    At the borderline between sound art, psycho-acoustics and contemporary dance practices, Monoton will feature a selection of 25 years of electronic musical noise. Konrad Becker’s project has crossed a variety of genres over the years starting with meta-mathematical sonic specuLation and performative multimedia installations ranging from industrlal ambience noise to audio software art. Monoton re-emerges into a proto house and techno context. Involved in the early rave scene and later developing extensive theatrical stage productions, Monoton has recently focused on notebook music.

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