You can still visit this exhibition. It ends January 29.

You can still visit the exhibition, it ends on January 29. More information can be found here: www.hashtagisthemessage.net.

Social media have made a name for themselves in society. For many, a life without is barely conceivable. How does art relate to social media? Artists are, as with the introduction of photography and video, first at the scene to explore the (artistic) possibilities of the medium. But also to critically examine and question them. Reason enough for Kunstenlab to ask me as a guest curator for an exhibition on this topic. Not only because I’m an artist, designer, curator and owner of a record label, but also as early and frequent social media user.

The exhibition ‘#isthemessage’ shows a kaleidoscopic and intriguing image of social media and the phenomena triggered by them. For example, Christopher Baker makes you aware of the nature of tweets in his Murmur Study, Birgit Bachler lets you listen to the Internet and examines an anonymous communication network in physical public with The Discrete Dialogue Network, Philipp Teister made the login of his personal Facebook profile known in his Facebook Life Sharing project and Nicholas Felton (also graphic designer of the new Facebook Timeline) shows very personal infographics in his Annual Reports.

As with other media, it is primarily how, why and by whom social media are used that matters. The exhibition is the result of research into a multitude of different perspectives from which social media can be viewed: e.g. psychology, identity, communication, utopia, altruism, social criticism, corporate business, data mining, marketing, revolution, democratization (of art) and – somewhat obvious – privacy. The exhibition ‘#isthemessage’ opens new ways to experience the power of social media and to ask critical questions about the place these media have in our lives.

Given the particular subject of this exhibition I decided not to fill the entire exhibition to leave room for a social aspect. The public can contribute and participate by mailing directly to the printer that is installed in the exhibition area (starting December 17 to isthemessage@hpeprint.com) or be a guest curator of this input by making a personal selection of the prints accumulating on the floor. Of course, participation via Twitter (#isthemessage) and this Facebook wall is also possible.

I created the website hashtagisthemessage.net for this exhibition. Usable as an online version of a catalogue. In the middle column you’ll find an additional selection of works, which can be found online. This website will be updated once more with all added content and data obtained during the exhibition.

The opening of #isthemessage takes place on Sunday 18 December at 16:00 with the participation of De Bubbelebim, an (anti)literary and absurd theater-stage-performance-viduo from Rotterdam. De Bubbelebim appears to have something to say about sociale media as well.

My label esc.rec. has another release out: Twee (Two), the second album by Gluid. You could order it blind without any risk at all (I promise you it’s really that good), but for those who hesitate to take my word for it, please listen to it first. You can do that here. Or, as of today you could also check it at the VPRO 3voor12 Luisterpaal. Enjoy!!

The cover photography and design of this album are by me.

Sometimes a concert is impressive. And sometimes I write about stuff. And sometimes these two go together really well. This time I was invited by Kicking The Habit to write about a concert I visited yesterday: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto in the Catharina church in Eindhoven. I did so this morning. You can read it here (in Dutch).

Whoop! There it is. NEW 6.0. Get it here. Or here.

N.E.W. (Nieuwe Electronische Waar) is a platform for producers of electronic music from the East of The Netherlands. N.E.W. is a collaboration betweenproductiehuis ON, Burgerweeshuis and Doornroosje.

After a year of producing, uploading and voting, a professional jury (including me) selected 11 tracks to be featured on the  NEW 6.0 release. After being invited by the N.E.W. platform, esc.rec. stepped in as a free download distribution partner for this release in a support-your-local-scene kinda way.

The NEW 6.0 release won’t be part of the official esc.rec. catalogue, but is distributed by esc.rec. as a N.E.W. product. This is mainly because esc.rec. hasn’t got complete control over the content and aesthetics of a N.E.W. release, which just so happens to be the only benchmark for esc.rec. releases.

Now that I’ve tasted some of this N.E.W. collaboration, I can’t help but feeling somewhat discontent (weird isn’t it?). Not because of the tracks mind you! There are some real perls here. But I’m sure going to try to up my game a bit to see how esc.rec. can contribute more productively in shaping up for the upcoming NEW 7.0 release. My appetite for improvement has now been whet… be ready for it.

In this cold December month two small independent labels from the East of The Netherlands flirt with eachother. The result is a free download compilation named Flakes, officially released today, December 18.

Please download from www.escrec.com and/or www.lomechanik.com.

Esc.rec. and Lomechanik have a considerable overlap in their musical preference and besides a couple of artists in their catalogue they also share a mutual interest and vision on current music industry. Their main concern is bringing adventurous music the attention it deserves. If anything, Flakes proves these labels to be open minded music connoisseurs with a joint interest in narrative music.

With many thanks to the artists who contributed to this release, Lomechanik and esc.rec. proudly present this Christmas present to everyone who wants to listen. Enjoy!

In this cold December month two small independent labels from the East of The Netherlands flirt with eachother. The result is a free download compilation named Flakes. It will be released on December 18. You can then download it from www.escrec.com and www.lomechanik.com. Oh, and I designed the artwork for this release, but more on that later.

Esc.rec. and Lomechanik have a considerable overlap in their musical preference and besides a couple of artists in their catalogue they also share a mutual interest and vision on current music industry. Their main concern is bringing adventurous music the attention it deserves.

If anything, Flakes proves these labels to be open minded music connoisseurs with a joint interest in narrative music. With many thanks to the artists who contributed to this release, Lomechanik and esc.rec. proudly present this Christmas present to everyone who wants to listen. The video above is here to wet your appetite… Check back later for the download and enjoy!