VVAA – Source Book 1

sourcebook1

Raster-Noton, ASIN: 3981276035, English, 400 pages, 2017, Germany

The oldest digital culture institutions which are still active, are involved with different options to celebrate their multiple-decades anniversaries. One specific element is usually very present in all these options: a celebration of their memory, or what has been produced over the years, the “archive”, embodied then in various forms. The seminal label Raster-Noton is, in this same condition, celebrating twenty years of activity, and they have opted for a classic printed publication, but in their own tradition. It’s a limited edition heavy hardback book of four hundred pages in a cardboard slipcase. It starts with a preface by Olaf Bender, followed by an interview by Max Dax with him and Carsten Nicolai. What follows is the complete catalogue, where every single release between 1996 and 2016 is documented in spreads, ending with a detailed listing of release formats and information on products simply distributed or curated. Raster-Noton defines itself as a “platform” for its artists and Bender says that it was founded “to achieve artistic self-determination”. These qualities can be clearly perceived by browsing the almost two hundred releases and their design. Also the book design is consistent with their ethos: constructed in a modular way, that potentially allows the reader to take pages off or to add them, updating it over time. Music is also present, but in a fixed format, through the attached compilation “Archiv 4” with tracks (among others) from Alva Noto, Byetone, Frank Bretschneider, Kyoka, Robert Lippok and Uneo Masaaki.

 

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