For me, it was an away game.
November 23, 2009 5:00 PM   Subscribe

 
Wow. Mind and ear bending.
posted by bearwife at 5:10 PM on November 23, 2009


Nice to see Blonk here. Fun guy!
posted by RGD at 5:20 PM on November 23, 2009


Hugo Ball would approve.
The young Hugo Ball, that is.
posted by R. Mutt at 5:23 PM on November 23, 2009


Ummm, OK, you know the old joke about looking at a piece of modern art and saying 'my five year old could have done that' well, i just watched a couple of those vids and if this guy's making money at this i'm taking my 5 y.o. on the road.
posted by OHenryPacey at 5:43 PM on November 23, 2009 [1 favorite]


For a second there I wondered how my 18 month old had managed to post to mefi!

So far he's still just up to posting YouTube comments.
posted by gomichild at 5:51 PM on November 23, 2009


Nonono, your five year old could do this if he had the right agent.
posted by tspae at 5:52 PM on November 23, 2009 [1 favorite]


Suck it haters. I've never heard of Jaap Blonk before, but this is mesmerizing and fucking awesome.
posted by dersins at 6:00 PM on November 23, 2009


Blonk is great, I've been a fan for years. Thanks for the post.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:02 PM on November 23, 2009


Also, it occurs to me that if my name was "Jaap Blonk", I'd have become a sound poet, too.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:03 PM on November 23, 2009 [1 favorite]


OHenryPacey: "Ummm, OK, you know the old joke about looking at a piece of modern art and saying 'my five year old could have done that' well, i just watched a couple of those vids and if this guy's making money at this i'm taking my 5 y.o. on the road."

gomichild: "For a second there I wondered how my 18 month old had managed to post to mefi!

So far he's still just up to posting YouTube comments.
"

I had the idea once to gather together a group of toddlers for a noise band.
posted by idiopath at 6:11 PM on November 23, 2009


I had the idea once to gather together a group of toddlers for a noise band.

My buddy Dave Soldier had that idea as well, and actually brought it to fruition. It's very good.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:30 PM on November 23, 2009 [2 favorites]


Wow David Soldier is your buddy, that is fucking awesome. But I was thinking more along the Merzbow / Massonna / Bastard Noise side of things aesthetically, so I think my version would turn out a bit different.
posted by idiopath at 7:17 PM on November 23, 2009


Ostensibly, children play at sound games like this because they are figuring out how to manipulate sound for language purposes later. Or so some say . . . . They also do it because it's fun. But a grown man continuing to do it?! That's just gorgeous. Why give up that capacity for fun and joy in your own body? More power to him and to those who attend his performances. I thought this all quite wonderful. He may make money doing this, but likely not a shit ton. And I doubt it would make a bit of difference to him if he didn't make a dime. Sometimes art is simply for art's sake.
posted by barrett caulk at 7:23 PM on November 23, 2009


yeah, idiopath, me and Dave go way back. I'm a sometimes member of his band The Kropotkins.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:30 PM on November 23, 2009


What Barrett Caulk said!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:31 PM on November 23, 2009


If you don't speak Dutch, it might be hard to tell when the "art" part begins.
posted by phrontist at 7:35 PM on November 23, 2009


I was thinking more along the Merzbow / Massonna / Bastard Noise side of things aesthetically, so I think my version would turn out a bit different.

Just remember, then, if you ever put that toddler noise band together, little eardrums are very sensitive! Don't crank the levels up to Merzbow territory without giving the little tykes some good earplugs!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:39 PM on November 23, 2009


Yeah if you read that previous post I linked to in my first suggestion of the idea in this thread, I did mention mega hearing protection :)

And tell Mr. Soldier that I was quite impressed with his work with Elliot Sharp, and Kumar & Melamid.
posted by idiopath at 8:09 PM on November 23, 2009


I did mention mega hearing protection

oops!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:15 PM on November 23, 2009


What the President will say and do (from the "sound" link in the post). My favorite!
posted by aparrish at 8:33 PM on November 23, 2009


maybe i'm just a phillistine or whatever, but for me the cool part was the subtitles - they're rendered live as he's talking, they aren't pre-scripted or whatever. that's what golan levin's sort of on about, if you go look up his TED talk.
posted by r_nebblesworthII at 9:00 PM on November 23, 2009


Why did this post break the front page? It detracts from the whatever value the post may contain.
posted by Goofyy at 7:05 AM on November 24, 2009


Aaaahhh now look like he caught somethin
posted by Baby_Balrog at 7:53 AM on November 24, 2009


Goofyy: "Why did this post break the front page? It detracts from the whatever value the post may contain."

Looks fine for me (iceweasel 3.0.6, basically rebranded firefox). I would call that a problem with your browser and the Mefi code maybe instead of this post? If the front page is broken for your browser maybe make a MetaTalk bug report?
posted by idiopath at 9:00 AM on November 24, 2009


I don't have anything much to say about Blonk (except to say that I find his work entertaining and inspiring EVEN THOUGH a five year old could do it), so I'll use this as an excuse to post this video of my nephews in a noise band.
posted by moonmilk at 2:03 PM on November 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


At some point, I'm so going to trot this out when i'm substituting in a high school English class when they're in the midst of a poetry unit. Just the looks on their faces will be worth it.

And then I'm going to rub my hands with glee at the thought of them trying to explain what they saw to the regular teacher when she comes back.

/evil substitute teacher shenanigans.
posted by RedEmma at 3:53 PM on November 24, 2009


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