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In thinking about the Stanisław Lem novel „Solaris“, about a sentient, mind-reading ocean on a distant planet, which its earthling researchers are incapable of understanding, I arrive at this homage.

Lem is reported to have thought the various film adaptations of his book were off the mark; their failings for him amounted to turning a philosophical problem into a story focused on the erotic problems of the protagonist. In Lem’s mind, „Solaris“ is about nothing less than the limits of reason.

In this sense, it hearkens back to tracks from my previous album, „Stochastic Elegies“, in which there are ,a hundred chasms … between us and understanding‘.

The present work „A thinking ocean“ consists of five movements, which are based upon granulated and convolved samples from an ad-hoc crank-organ performance of Strauss’s „Blue Danube“, a tune that was heard memorably in another outer-space film, „2001: A Space Odyssey“. Other sources include sonifications of scientific data and atmospheric recordings, among many other concrète ,instruments‘ of both common and uncommon provenance.

The project ( nula.cc ) is the brainchild of intermedia artist Lloyd Dunn, a founding member of the Tape-beatles, and editor of the zines PhotoStatic and Retrofuturism. It comprises sound works, photographs, travelogue essays and similar digital artifacts, which often reflect the artist’s frequent travels and esthetic thinking.

1. nula.cc

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