There's a lot of hype going around today about a vegetarian spider native to Central America called the Bagheera Kiplingi. One post deems him to be the "Cutest Vegetarian Alive", and another goes so far as to call him the "Gandhi of arachnids". Impressed, I searched for more information and wikipedia.com informed me that the Bagheera Kiplingi, while usually social and herbivorous, will actually eat others of it's own kind in the dry season.
It's incredibly interesting that a species of spider has evolved to be a more social and peaceful spider than any other, and has created a greater sustainability in its environment. Perhaps we could take a few lessons. But personally, I don't think Gandhi would resort to cannibalism. Maybe that's just me.
What is Checkpoint 303? Checkpoint 303 is a collective of sound cutters and visual hackers that mix field recordings from the Middle-East with electronica and complex beats to create activist urban soundscapes, lo-fi visuals. The result is avant-garde soundscapes that embody a message for peace and justice. The project kicked off as a sonic collaboration between Tunisian “Sound Cutter” SC MoCha and Palestinan “Sound Catcher” SC Yosh. The sound of Checkpoint 303 spans a wide spectrum ranging from experimental electronica, to middle-eastern breakbeats, drum’n’bass and cinematic audio. With members being spread out between Palestine, Tunisia and Europe, Checkpoint 303 is very much a digital process based on web collaborations and digital hacking/sharing. The name Checkpoint 303 is inspired by the name of a real military checkpoint called Checkpoint 300 which separates the Palestinian city of Bethlehem from Jerusalem. Checkpoint 303 is thereby a virtual sound art checkpoint that aims at raising international awareness about the injustice endured by populations in the Middle-East in general and the Palestinian people in particular.
What's the danger ( if any) of bringing politics into the realm of art? Although there is inherently a political dimension to our music, we rather view the activist process of Checkpoint 303 as being rather of humanitarian nature. The call, through art and digital creativity, to the urgent need for a stable peace based on fundamental human rights, only acquires a political dimension because human rights continue to be ignored in many areas of the world. The international community does not treat the various injustices across the globe with the same urgency and fairness. The mainstream media coverage of the situation in war and conflict zones is largely biased, this is particularly the case when it comes to the occupation of Palestinian land. Art forms including electronic music might be a valuable way to attempt to counter-balance this unfairness and bias. Not being politicians, members of sound art collectives such as Checkpoint 303 have the luxury of being able to speak the truth through art. So what’s the truth? The truth is the sound of the street. The sound and voice of the civilian population. The sound compositions of Checkpoint 303 use field recordings made at military checkpoints around Hebron, Bethlehem, Jerusalem…But also, the sound of a traffic jam in Ramallah, or a horoscope program on Bethlehem radio station, or children playing in a refugee camp. So is it dangerous to bring politics into art? For us it is not dangerous. Art that seeks to change the way we look at things, can be seen as being political, but shouldn’t that precisely be one of the important aims of art (i.e. inspiring people to see things in a different/new light, and evenmore so when we’re talking about social justice)? Art work that seeks to talk about the daily lives of human beings suffering injustice can only be seen as dangerous or perceived as a threat by anyone opposed to of scared by the idea that human rights should be the basis for peace. However, what has to be said here is that, in its own fight against propaganda, art dealing with human rights and freedom, will now and again itself be faced with attempts to portray it as propaganda. Can this be fought by vowing to produce true and authentic art that always puts the human being at the center, irrespective of ideology, religion or nationalism? Checkpoint 303 represents one serious attempt at doing just that…while at the same time serving you fresh global beats and fat activist bass straight out of the Middle-East!
How has the concept of a "homeland" influenced your work? Interesting question. Although, “homeland” has obvious links to the notion of identity, and belonging to a place and to a people, you can also view “homeland” in a more abstract sense, as being the basis for your creativity, for your inspiration. In this sense, global justice and social activism are concepts that may embody Checkpoint 303’s homeland. The members of the Checkpoint 303 collective has expanded to include sound designers, nomad sound collectors, visual artists and musicians, DJs, VJs from several countries, so the homeland is this central idea that all human beings should have the same rights and be treated equally.
How can music most effectively engender peace? Anyone that thinks that music or any other art form can lead to Peace is probably somewhat naive. But, we do think that checkpoint 303’s sound creations, collages, mixes can contribute to raising awareness by engendering curiosity. Our music is not about telling the audience what to think about what is happening in Palestine, it’s about awakening their curiosity and suggesting that the media might not be providing them with the whole picture. Our numerous gigs and concerts be it in warehouses, underground art galleries or major venues (such as our DJ sets opening for Massive Attack at the Brixton Academy in London), are all opportunities to bring the remixed sound of the arab street to audiences across the globe. The internet allows us to spread our art to millions of people around the world, from NYC to Cairo, from Stockholm to New Delhy, from Osaka to Santiago de Chile.
What has traveling done for your music? Over the last two years, Checkpoint 303 has been lucky to perform in many countries spreading across all five continents. This has most certainly enriched our music as a result of input and feedback from people attending our gigs. However, it is important for us to be true to the spirit of the project and not seek to adapt our music according to the likes and dislikes of others. At the end of the day it is the authenticity of our compositions that speaks to people. When you give the audience what it wants or expects, you’re actually turning it into a “consumer”. We prefer to produce what we think is of value, original music might help move things forward. So far we have been respected for doing that and we have no intent to change that.
How does visual art and landscape affect the way you make music? Our music is inspired by the daily sounds and lives of citizens in the Middle-East, Palestine in particular. Therefore, landscapes are naturally very present in our work. Anyone to visit Palestine will definitely see some impressive scenery…and he or she will definitely also see less beautiful landscapes: Illegal walls, settlements, barriers, military checkpoints, permanent refugee camps, ghettos, occupation, Graphics and visual art naturally make their way into our live shows where we use live visuals and video work alongside the music, taking the audience on a virtual trip…
When I say "sustainability," you think about.... In a nutshell, “sustainability” calls to mind concepts such as long-term wellbeing and responsible action, and striving towards creating a better world for the next generations, which definitely also means creating a world that is “more just”. Indeed, imbalance, inequality, injustice, only leads to more of the same, which leads to increased suffering and more conflicts. In a globalized world, the effects of wars, conflicts and occupations, are no longer confined to the locations where they arise, but get exported across the globe. So we can no longer pretend not to see in justice happening elsewhere, because it will come back and hit you faster than you think. Global solidarity is not hip a thing for a portion of youth culture, it is a necessity. The future of evry person reading these very lines is intricately linked to the future of millions across the globe. A greener, safer and more just planet are not separate challenges, they go hand in hand.
How do you make your art? Our “sound catchers” use portable digital recording devices (MD or mp3 recorders, video cams – sometimes hidden-) to capture field recordings and various random sounds of daily life, mostly performed in the West Bank and Gaza, but also in East Jerusalem. The aim is not to look for sensational events to record, rather attempting to use randomness as a way to depict/portray/reconstruct daily life and a search for normality in a state of emergency…The recorded sounds make their way via internet to the global “sound cutters” and mixers of the collective, who use various DSP, software and hardware tools to slice, tweak and loop the original sounds into new compositions. Acoustic instruments also find their way into most of our songs. These include the Oud (oriental lute), keyboards, guitars, middle-eastern percussions, etc…
What other artists are you excited about now and why? We listen to a lot of diverse music, ranging from Arabic or Indian classical music, to abstract electronica, to post-rock, to global beat producers mixing and re-mixing the world. The list of artists would be too long to mention here, and it probably varies a lot depending on which member of the collective you’d ask. I am currently listening to Autechre, Filastine, DJ Rupture, Ramallah Underground, Kronos Quartett, Simon Shaheen, Chinese Man, PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, Blond Redhead, Muslimgauze, DJ Mutamassik, M.I.A., Belleruche, Kocani Orkester, Afghan Whigs, Gnawa Diffusion…and I’ve probably forgotten to mention many more… One way to check out the music we’re currently into is simply by browsing through our “friends” when checking out our myspace site ( myspace.com/checkpoint303 ) or the links selection on our official website ( checkpoint303.com ).
In
a complete stunner to everyone around the world, the Nobel Committee
announced President Obama as the recipient of the annual peace prize.
Only nine months into his presidency, Obama was awarded the coveted
Nobel Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
His
efforts for worldwide nuclear disarmament, Middle East peace
negotiations and healthier relationships between the US and the rest of
the world has defined his candidacy and the inaugural year of his
presidential term. There will undoubtedly be a backlash and protests of
a premature awarding to President Obama, but it's important to note
that the award only serves to hasten any negotiations and preserve
peace efforts that the US is presently pursuing around the world.
The Huffington Post with a spotlight on Dr. CornelWest's interview with Amy Goodman, they focus on his views on Larry Summers but watch the full video to hear Dr. West talk about his childhood, his battle with cancer, life at Harvard, hanging with Prince and the administration. But brother West, please hit me up next time you're doing a book because your writing deserves a better jacket than this. Don't judge a book by its cover but seriously we can't have you in B&N with the janky design style.
Paul Diddy collected his cool-wave jams into an EP for the GREENOWL blog. Free download the sample-liscious New Electric. More art and music from Diddy on his site. "Stalking the Wild Pendulum" in the stream below.
This speech by Dr King has me thinking about the connection between the senseless deaths of this young man and this young girl.October 7th 2009 marks eight years since the US, the UK and other NATO forces launched a war against Afghanistan and in listening to this speech I question how far we have come since the era of the Civil Rights struggle and the Vietnam War. His words come to mind when I think about how we have done so little to keep our youth in this country from cycles of violence and death, yet we have done so much to inflict violence and suffering - including the death of children - on another country. "This is not just".
"A
nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military
defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual
death."
"I
speak out against this war because I am disappointed with America. And
there can be no great disappointment where this is no great love. I am
disappointed in our failure to deal positively and forthrightly with
the triple evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism.We are
presently moving down a dead-end road that can lead to national
disaster."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Beyond Vietnam - A Time To Break Silence, 1967
