DJ
Culture: The DJ is an Artist
by Rob
Wegner
June 2004
When my DJ class
begins its semester, I usually launch the lecture with a simple
question: What is a DJ? Usually, I'll get responses such as "someone
that plays records," "a person that takes people on
a musical journey," "a composer," "a live
remixer," or "a beatmixer." While there isn't
a correct answer per se, I rarely get a response describing the
DJ as an "artist." [see footnote 1]
This month's
tip will demonstrate that the DJ is an artist. In light of the
complexity of this topic versus our audience, I will attempt
to present this discussion in layman's terms.
Musique Concrete
Many DJ scholars
often reference Musique Concrete and its relationship to the
evolution of DJ culture. This includes Todd Souvignier (2003:
102), Ulf Poschardt (1995: 353), Tim Prochak (2001: 15), and
Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton (2000: 258). Inspired by Dadaism,
Musique Concrete was founded by French composer Pierre Schaeffer
in 1948. The premise behind this movement was rather simple:
they wanted to create music from natural sounds in lieu of musical
instruments. This was accomplished by recording and replaying
everyday sound samples on magnetic tape (which was a new technological
spin-off from World War II) and/or record disc. Hence, Schaeffer's
attempts to treat the turntable as a musical instrument (when
replaying his samples) could technically be regarded as the birth
of turntablism. [see footnote 2] In addition, the Musique Concrete
cohorts were ahead of their time with regards to crossfading,
time delays, changing pitch, flanging, and phasing. For example,
by employing special editing blocks, these pioneers spliced tapes
at 45 or 90 degree angles to create crossfades.
As stated above,
the Musique Concrete movement was inspired by Dadaism. This term
tends to be mentioned often in the study of DJ culture. For example,
DJ Spooky is characterized as integrating "vintage
Dadaism"
into his performances. TigerSushi.com also references Dadaism
by linking the movement to the evolution of global electronica.
Moreover, Tim Prochak contends that "Dadaism has recently
re-entered the public sphere with the increasing popularity of
labels like Warp, Ninja Tune, and Leaf Recordings" (Prochak,
2001:15). The problem, to be frank, is that "Dadaism"
was intended to be nonsense art.
Dadaism
Dadaism originated
at the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, Switzerland in 1916. [see
footnote 3] First organized by Hugo Ball, the cabaret performances
consisted mostly of poetry and artwork. The other founders of
the movement were mostly French and German artists seeking refuge
from the horrors of World War I (in neutral Switzerland). To
protest the war, these artists formulated an anti-art movement.
According to Shelley Esaak,
Banding together
in a loosely-knit group, these writers and artists used any public
forum they could find to (metaphorically) spit on nationalism,
rationalism, materialism and any other -ism which they felt had
contributed to a senseless war. In other words, the Dadaists
were fed up. If society is going in this direction, they said,
we'll have no part of it or its traditions. Including...no, wait!...especially
artistic traditions. We, who are non-artists, will
create non-art - since art (and everything else in the world)
has no meaning, anyway (Esaak).
This was art
with no rules or boundaries (an early form of "shock"
art). The art is interpreted in whatever manner a person wants
to see or read it. When it started to appear that Dadaism was
becoming recognized by the establishment, the movement "self-destructed"
in 1923 (Esaak).
If Dadaism was
intended to be nonsense art, then why are authors linking it
to DJ culture? Most likely, it's because Dadaism inspired several
related movements, such as Musique Concrete (discussed above)
and Kurt Schwitters' movement called Merz (discussed below).
To be more specific, the Dadaist notion of including found objects
in art (i.e., assembling random objects and calling it art) is
similar to Musique Concrete's concept of including sound objects
(i.e., samples) in a composition, as well as Kurt Schwitter's
collages, which included sound poetry.
Kurt Schwitters:
Collage, Merz, and Sound Poetry
Schwitters was
at the leading edge of "collage." A collage allows
pre-manufactured objects to blend together so that they become
one new artwork. Schwitters borrowed from other artistic styles
(including Dadaism, expressionism, and futurism) to create his
own ideological collage that he called "Merz."
Schwitters was
at the forefront of sound poetry, which was introduced in 1922.
When sound poetry was performed, the entire venue (and its objects)
would become part of the stage. The "Merzer" (i.e.,
leader of the room) would find and include the sounds or text
of random objects into the performance. As sound poetry grew
in popularity, Schwitters started to include African poetic chants
and dances. [see footnote 4]
The Dadaist
to DJ Bridge: Kraftwerk
In a BBC
Radio interview,
electronic music pioneer Ralf Hütter of Kraftwerk reveals
that Musique Concrete influenced Kraftwerk's sound ideas. This
is significant because it links today's DJ music - which is influenced
by Kraftwerk - to Dadaism. Hip hop, for example, is influenced
by Afrika Bambaataa - who was influenced by Kraftwerk. In fact,
Afrika Bambaataa would overlay (in a manner consistent with Merz)
Malcolm X speeches over Kraftwerk's Trans Europe Express
(Brewster and Broughton, 2000:243). [see footnote 5]
Also consistent
with Musique Concrete and/or Merz, house music pioneer Frankie
Knuckles would sample/overlay tracks - such as trains - at the
Warehouse nightclub. New York Garage pioneer, Tony Humphries,
was known for sampling gospel. "Digging in the crates,"
which is an expression describing DJ's searching for rare and
unique records - is also consistent with Musique Concrete and/or
Merz.
The DJ is
an Artist
As DJ's, we rarely
play a track from its first note to its very last note. Instead,
we often blend into (or sample) the middle section of songs (i.e.,
the area between the intro and outro). These middle "samples"
are assembled into a logical sequence (i.e., formatting) that
often responds to the emotional feedback of an audience. During
this process, songs are augmented and customized with scratches,
effects, and additional samples (i.e., such as acapella overlays).
If an artist
is someone that samples media (such as paint) to create structurally
complete and emotionally expressive compositions, then a DJ,
who samples sounds and other media to create structurally complete
and emotionally expressive compositions, is an artist.
Footnotes
1. I usually
segue into a discussion about the role of the Club DJ (and nightclubs)
in society, as well as realist, postmodern, and transcendental
interpretations of a DJ's job description.
2. According
to AllHipHop.com, Microsoft founder Bill Gates gave Grandmaster
Flash an award "for being the first DJ to utilize the turntable
as an instrument." See AllHipHop.com
Also, while
not associated with the Musique Concrete school, composer John
Cage also envisioned the turntable's potential as a musical instrument.
3. The name was
chosen at random from a dictionary.
4. Was this a
1920's version of poetic rap?
5. Grandmaster
Flash also played Kraftwerk's Trans Europe Express (Brewster
and Broughton, 2000:243).
References
Brewster, Bill
and Frank Broughton (2000) Last Night A DJ Saved My Life:
The History of the Disc Jockey, New York: Grove Press.
Esaak, Shelley
(2004) "The Non-art Movement (1916-23)," Art History
101 - Dada from About.com
Poschardt, Ulf
(1995) DJ Culture, Hamburg, Germany: Rogner and Bernhard
GmbH & Co. Verlags KG.
Prochak, Tim
(2001) How To Remix, London, England: Sanctuary Publishing
Limited.
Souvignier, Todd
(2003) DJs and the Turntable Culture, Milwaukee: Hal Leonard
Corporation.
[Photo: Anonymous
art from Merz
Nite,
which included Merz inspired DJ sets]
Related Links
Cage and Schwitters: Two Historical Precedents
Dada
Dadaism (Bergen.org)
Dadaism
(USC)
Kurt Schwitters, MERZ at Museum Tinguely (Basil, Switzerland)
Kurt Schwitters, Even More Stuff
Musique Concrete
Project A: The History of Electronic Dance Music
Techno Guide: Concrete Music
UBUWEB::Kurt Schwitters Sound Poetry (Includes Sound Samples)
Other
Related Links
DJ Art by Freddi C
The DJ at Art.com
Keith Haring DJ Art
i
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