MEAT (1995)

MEAT, from the Loop Dreams show at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1995.

Following are the original proposal for, and two sets of program notes to, MEAT.

MEAT is an exploration of the human body as a machine and system, as a machine and system with inherent flaws. The unconscious processes of our body go unrecognized by our conscious minds; and when we do give them conscious attention, their inevitable failure becomes obvious. With this piece, I hoped to portray the unwilling insistence of our bodies, as entities with motivations entirely unrelated to our conscious motivations; and point out that the ‘meat suits' that we inhabit are no more than shells that have nothing to do with us as individuals. Almost all of the sounds in the box have been recorded from my body, rearranged and manipulated to be just barely recognizable if at all.

Credit goes to where it is due: to Shawn Decker, for invaluable advice and spare parts; to Radio Shack, Sony, and the Playboy Mansion; and to Jennifer Azure Keller, for letting me keep this eyesore in our dining room.

MEAT:
a modest proposal
by Alex Keller
Wednesday, 14 December, 1994

thanks to:
Radio Shack
Honeywell
the Playboy Mansion

also-rans:
Shawn Decker
sound installation class
Bob Snyder & Scott-alan Wilson-Godoy
Lou & Dawn Mallozzi
immediate and extended family,
especially J. & A.
ten-dollar walkmen, all over the world