origins of fake[dac~]
fake[dac~] (pronounced fakedack) is essentially a random word chosen to be juxtaposed against the pure data object: dac~ which is short for digital-to-audio converter. At the time I really didn't think too much about it but weirdly the concept of fake art, fake data and the authenticity of information is a concern raised by generative ai. I just came up with a brand name idea for some gigs I wanted to put on. fake[dac~] as a platform is now a place to discuss these ideas and create interesting works feeding off other peoples ideas collaboratively.
fake[dac~] started in 2022 as a series of events in London to showcase
live coders and audio visual artists. It continues to put on these events and
this blog is an extension of this work to increase the collective understanding
and unification of these new mediums. I was interested in visuals and projection mapping and in 2011 I was VJ'ing with
luis sanz in Geneva for some famous drum and bass DJ's and that is where our
friendship formed. In 2022 fake[dac~] was born out of an attempt to create a tour for luis sanz
when he visited London. fake[dac~] seemed to blossom organically
and draw interested artists with little promotion or marketing.
There is some interesting networked music collaboration systems that are being explored.
There is one built on top of the open source visual programming language pure data (Pd) called
netpd
and tidalcycles which it text/code based and uses collaborative
text editors to form a networked collaborative music making systems. Sonic Pi has networked collaboration built in and allows many performers to synchronize to the same tempo. It is possible to create a piece of music that is controlled by performers around
the world.
These systems are currently mainly used by a handful of clever enthusiasts for fun and its incomprehensible
to the mainstream paradigm of music making today. The commercial interests have dominated the industries so far have largely tricked
the intermediate enthusiast into purchasing software and replicating tired ideas.
There are ways of working to explore but its a monumental intellectual shift to navigate through. Artists can choose free alternatives like linux instead of "paying" to make art using walled garden software and subscriptions models.
The question of digital replication, copyright and ownership and countless other issues are still as yet unsolved problems. If AI or software creates a digital image is it somehow less valuable than an oil painting?