IASPM: Ecology

Laura Glitsos from Curtain university gave a paper this afternoon on the ecology of sacred space in relation to indie music and web 2.0. Laura spoke of the Ayahausca Ritual which is an indigenous practice that involves the consumption of a psychotropic vine commonly referred to as the vine of death. Laura sees the adoption of indigenous spirituality by western artists such as Ben Lee, The Bees and The Claxtons as a need to embrace religious sanctity because of the profane and unnatural quality of the digital space. Noting the improper and perhaps disrespectful appropriation of traditional cultural practices she stated that the deep sense of loss of history and tradition has led in these cases to a desire to elevate non materialistic lifestyles and thus sounds beyond the cold interface of cyberspace. Laura suggests that the nostalgic return to community is further driven by a sense of exploitation by firms such as Google and Facebook. She suggests the homogenisation of space itself disrespects musicians, particularly independent artists. Discourse by these artists seeks to priviledge traditional approaches to appease the artist's loss of creative input in the digital communication modes as well as introduce spirituality to the youth. The reaction is against the cultual imperialism and profanity of neocapitalism as reflected by digital architectures.