A huge thank you to everyone who came to celebrate 8 months of Mixtape Metaphysics! And thank you to everyone who has come in here, listened, participated in the human algorithm, asked questions, shared their thoughts on technology, feedback on this project, confessions and anxieties, its all inspired a real live human connection, a network of experiences, ideas— which is to say a type of data that can’t be boiled down to ones and zeros.
Our encounters with others have been diminished over the past few decades, from bowling alone to scrolling alone to thinking alone with whatever AI assistant that appears on the screen at any given time. The analog sociality of the projects we’ve been doing at Modern Art— from the Vinyl Church to the Phonotel to Mixtape Metaphysics—these projects all use the medium, that is of vinyl records, a card catalog, and magnetic tape as a way to call attention to the medium itself: how the crackling expression of a family gospel band from Mechanicsburg from the early 1960s, to hearing the voice of Bertrand Russell set to original beats, alongside some of the most interesting contemporary thinkers and musicians, with the faint buzzing from the cassette in your headphones reveal the beautiful impurities, the beautiful meanderings, the beautiful inefficiencies, of the world.
It’s a reminder that human knowledge and intelligence, however you define it, can be revealed, captured and communicated in different ways—whether through participatory art, sound, visuals, math, stories, community engagement, or even a simple conversation. This installation was an experiment in the form and output of ideas by using a physical, social social space where you can participate in the exploration of complex ideas.
Even though the installation has closed, you can continue to listen to the Mixtape Metaphysics’ audio series online at the Institute of the Mechanical Surround.
This project was made possible by to the Henry Luce Foundation, the Luther Binkley Luther Binkley Fund in Philosophy at Franklin and Marshall College, the Charles and Barbara Kahn Endowment in Religious Studies, and the Office of College Grants at Franklin and Marshall College.
