No Patent Pending, self-made performative media

[Matteo Marangoni, ed]
No Patent Pending, self-made performative media
The Hague, Netherlands, iii editions, 2015
84 pp., 17 x 24 x 1.5 cm., loose leaves, slipcase
Edition of 800 numbered copies


In 1993, the compilers of A Chance Operation: The John Cage Tribute CD were faced with the dilemma of how to use a recording to honour a composer who preferred random sounds and the living room window left open, to pre-recorded music? Their solution was to divide 23 pieces of music (by Laurie Anderson, Earle Brown, John Cale, Kronos Quartet, Meredith Monk, Yoko Ono, James Tenney, David Tudor, etc.) into 99 tracks and suggest that the listener use the (then-somewhat-new) 'random' feature on their CD players. In all likelihood (especially given the limited audience for such a project) no listener would ever hear the same sequence as another.

The producers of No Patent Pending felt a similar discomfort: "How to convey ephemeral, performative practices based around unique and inventive media within the fixed and standardized format of a book?" Their solution is not dissimilar.

The title is edited by Matteo Marangoni, with contributions from Ewen Chardronnet, Evelina Domnitch & Dmitry Gelfand, Lars Kynde, Alessandro Ludovico, Jonathan Reus, Joel Ryan & Kristina Andersen, Dieter Vandoren, Anne Wellmer, Godfried-Willem Raes and Yolanda Uriz. It features a collection of theoretical essays, conceptual and poetic exercises, and illustrations. It is presented as a series of cards contained in a cardboard slipcase. Each copy was manually assembled following a procedural score composed by Lars Kynde (see below).

It's available for €25.00 from the publisher, here.