phenomenon is the new noumenon

for those of you out there without the luxury of a graphical user interface, i present to you all the joy of endlessly concatenated stream-of-consciousness consumerist injunction beatz, now accessible via the command line!

Free Market Montgomery .py01

inspired by a recent experiment using this source material, it occurred to me that the indefinite recombination of this fine anthem might translate well to text.  thus was born my first python program.

the archive linked above contains the script (‘fmm.py’), and three source text files (‘two.txt’, ‘four.txt’, and ‘eight.txt’) containing phrases the script will use.  (assuming you’re comfortable desecrating the inspired words of Sammy Stephens, these phrases can be modified, though possibly at the cost of metrical consistency.)  also included is a crusty old poem by Robert Frost (‘frost.txt’) in need of some fresh air, which i’ve included to serve as an example of how a generative flea market jingle can be used to enhance other texts.

to operate, navigate the terminal to the directory in which the script and the source texts reside, and type python fmm.py.  you can also try piping a text into it (e.g. python fmm.py < frost.txt) and adding a single numeric argument (e.g. python fmm.py < frost.txt 40).  if you are piping a text into the script, the argument defines the chance of a script’s line being replaced by a flea market-related line.  if you’re running the script on its own, this argument determines how many lines are generated.

still more to come.

HELLO I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE>

i have moved into a building. let me give you the tour.

followed with appropriate precision, these instructions enable an accurate topographic spatiotemporal overlay of my first week in the crow’s nest with what i must assume must also be yours.

download this onto your licenced iProduct-like device.

enter the building on the northwest corner of varet and white, at the varet st entrance.

ascend four flights of stairs, to the roof exit.

ignore the foreboding sign, as you have no lease to forfeit.

cross the length of the roof, veering toward your right.

step over the ventilation duct. you will notice two discolored points on the roof, which are comparatively crispy when stepped upon.

position yourself on the left-hand crispy pad, facing 160◦ S.  you are standing directly above my kitchen.

HERE IS WHERE YOU PRESS PLAY>

you will rotate 360◦ clockwise over the course of 240 seconds.  maintain a constant angular velocity of 1.5◦/s.  our electronic tour guide will provide the necessary details as you progress.  adherence to instructions yields a comprehensive and highly efficient tour of all noteworthy features.

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US IN THIS JOURNEY>

not Free as in Speech,

nor Free as in Beer;

more like Free as in Jazz.

haunted by the spectre of an internet meme that would not die, and determined to find release through deconstruction (as has worked in the past with pop music), it occurred to me that the legendary Flea Market Montgomery theme song lends itself naturally to generative resequencing.  here, to begin with, is a quick and dirty proof of concept, with a little choreography thrown in to demonstrate to the highers-up that i know how to count.  (you’ll need to have a copy of Pd-extended installed to run this).

needless to say, this is just the beginning.  updates, stand-alone app, audio samples, and some further remarks soon to come.

Free Market Montgomery .pd01