In 2003, after 5 years of trying to reconcile the contradictions that are always at play as an ex-patriot in Rio de Janeiro, I decided to embrace them. I returned to New York, ready to try a new life, a kind of ex-patriot in my own country. Edward Said fantasizes a bit about this in Representations of the Intellectual, lifting the position of the public intellectual to the Romanticized state of the exile. I was always a skeptic of this position, favoring Rousseau’s concept that knowledge is just pain (though it is common knowledge that he did like to get spanked on the ass by strangers, so perhaps his relationship to pain differs from a more traditional notion, or we could say knowledge is a pain in the ass–get it?!). But perhaps Said’s position, of the intellectual as exile, even in his or her own nation-state, has some truth-value if we consider the condition of the practicing thinker in the United States of America right now.

First, short of Chomsky (here debating Foucault), we are left with a scant few so-called public intellectuals from which to choose. Some of my colleagues and friends have decided to look to popular forms of representation, from Hip-Hop’s heroes to some hopeful hopelessness in the form of television, like John Stewart or Stephen Colbert. Foreign intellectuals, such as Habermas, with his explicitly eurocentric viewpoint (a positionality for which he receives endless criticism from everyone from Judith Butler to Peter Sloterdijk), has, nonetheless, occupied a critical force in legal and ethical studies for many years. Still, for a national product, we are talking about US intellectuals here, from its own respective borders, so I guess he’s out. Who do we have now? Oprah? Keith Olberman? Obama? Hmm….Perhaps we have a real problem of leadership in the intellectual community. Or perhaps the stage has changed or been removed. Does anyone care about exiled intellectuals in the US?

Brazil has a a unique tradition of exiling intellectuals, if only to then be able to appreciate them. Caetano Veloso, of course, never fails to remind us of his brief imprisonment and forced exile to England (where he produced one of his greatest records, A little more blue. I have always looked to Brazil as the “country of the future”, as it has been popularly known. Perhaps we should start doing this, or have we already?

The intellectual as exile, from Benjamin to Veloso to Mandela to perhaps even Herman Hesse and so many countless others, seems to be a condition of the State that is as inescapable as the prison walls of Guantanamo. But Brasil seems to have a particular twist to its intellectuals as exiles. As many of my friends have told me, and as I have seen as well, the Brasilian is not appreciated by Brasil until it is first appreciated by Brazil.

We can see this both in music (from Bossa Nova to Gilberto Gil, who also had a stint in London, to Jorge Ben and Chico Science and Nação Zumbi, to Sepultura etc.) as well as the visual arts. The incredibly prolific Helio Oticica got his first real New York show for many years posthumously at the New Museum–yet it was a show about Helio Oticica’s time in New York. Perhaps his best show to date, aside from Whitechapel in 1969, was from Rotterdam’s Witte de Withe Center and the Walker Art Museum in Minneapolis. This catalogue continues to be one of the best publications available on the artist. Does Brasil need Brazil?

This question has arisen time and time again, and we are given a glimpse into some of this contradiction in the very thorough documentary on Carmen Miranda “Bannanas is My Business“. Miranda’s story, first loved as national heroine, then hated for “selling out,” as it were, the Brasilian image, seems really difficult for many to grasp from abroad. But her work came at a time when nationalism within Brasil was wedded to the strong state apparatus and a concentrated export economy of national cultural production.

Since 1994, when Fernando Enrique Cardoso “opened his legs” by dollarizing the economy and stimulating foreign ‘investment’, Brasil has moved quickly to establish itself as a very real player within the international game of consumer economies.
Many of its stifiling import taxes on technology and foreign goods have been reduced, and a newfound relationship with the “exterior,” as it is known, began.

But, perhaps predictably, the relics of the past fetishizations of the North continue to haunt as a specter. 389 years of colonization are hard to shake off (Brasil was the last country in the western hemisphere to end slavery, as well a late-comer to national revolution). As an example, for City of Gods to carry its critical social and cinematographic relevance, its success in international festivals and markets was essential. Is it power that is sought, from or for foreign investment and money? Is it the media justification? Or is it that for so long, Brasil has required the seal of approval from abroad, that it continues to validate itself first through the its imaginary eyes of others?

Now this may come off as harsh, but I can only illustrate countless examples. Diplo playing baile funk in Brazil, but does he even know the lyrics of the tracks he plays? Yes, DJ Marlboro was a hit already before he toured internationally, but are any of these artists that Marlboro and Diplo play ever really getting paid? What about Tom Zé, who, despite his disdain for the US and in particular the US government, required David Byrne as a champion before he was able to quit his day job writing jingles?
Yet someone like Bebel Gilberto, who largely made her entire career abroad, is scorned, despite her very high production vaules.

This generalization of national music production has its exceptions, and as the state of the music industry begins to dissipate and micro-economize, the newer generation of music makers has led the way towards a new language of production.
BNegão and Instituto
Sincerely Hot and Kassin+2
Sabotage (R.I.P), Xis, Racionais MC’s, M.V. Bill, R.D.C and even D2

I guess I have two hopes. From my position right now, I can try do something so that one day Brazil will value Brasil. But some people feel that first Brasil has to value Brasil. Of course, I have to wonder, where do the borders lie?

Chapa Coco by Xis–

Trafico na Favela by R.D.C.

This Thursday, June 28 there is a show I am quite excited about. Along-side a number of really talented artists, my new band, Possible, will be playing its debut performance at galapagos art space in Williamsburg Brooklyn at 730.
Possible is dp on guitar and voice and alex posell on drums and electronics.

The artist Mouna Andraos, whose work I quite like, will be projecting some video as well.
You can hear some possible music here

and below you can hear possible song for the end of things.

The performances are from 730 to 930 in the back room

The complete press release of participating artists follows. Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you there.

PRESS:
Paul Amitai is a musician and media artist whose projects have been exhibited at Scope New York, Art Chicago, Soap Factory (Minneapolis), and Exchange Square (Manchester, UK). As both a solo performer and a member of various bands, Amitai has shared the stage with a diverse range of musicians, including Run-DMC, The Skatalites, The Specials, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Califone, and Crooked Fingers. http://www.paulamitai.com

Lady Firefly (aka Zarah Cabañas) is an international VJ and Video Artist, most recently performing with Animal Collective at the NYC River to River Festival earlier this month. Tonite, Firefly is pleased to share a unique concoction of her electrorganic live visual universe, a heavy mix of wires and water. http://www.fireflylab.com

Possible is the latest project from Daniel Perlin (aka DJ N-Ron Hubbard), mixing singer-songwriter, folk and country elements with electronic music. Perlin works across media creating sound, video, objects and installations. Currently, he is performing live video with Dj/Rupture and Nettle and researching sound-mapping techniques. http://www.danielperlin.net

Mouna Andraos is an interaction designer in various media including web, mobile, electronics and wearables. Her work for a Montreal-based interactive production studio has won recognition ranging from a Best of Show & Best of Art at the South by South West web awards to a cyberLion in Cannes.
http://www.missmoun.com

Buccheri / Allen is an East Indian-influenced electro-funk collaboration between New York sound artists Mark Buccheri (tabla) and Jamie Allen (electronics). http://www.heavyside.net

Angie Eng is a media artist who works in video, installation and time-based performance. Her work, which draws from her peripatetic lifestyle and inspiration from indigenous cultures, has been performed and exhibited at the Whitney Museum at Philip Morris, Lincoln Center Video Festival, The Kitchen, and New Museum of Contemporary Art.
http://www.angieeng.com

Listen Now:

 possible song for the end of things: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

heya, since this is the best thing happening in NYC right now, I thought I’d drop it in.

The lineup for the storefront for art and architecture’s Postopolis ‘conference’ are the heavy-hitters of all the brilliantblogosphere, including BLDGLG, Wigley, Rupture, Abe Burmeister, and a lot of what else I think is good to read/see via rss, and engage with via social soft and hardware.

It is a remarkable chance to actually hear and see these mysterious entities of reportage and criticism in one place.

(fyi, it rumors are flowing that the saturday night closing/party will have N-RON on the dj decks, alongside of the multitasking dj/rupture)