Symchthonia by MIRA新伝統
"Symchthonia" is a word derived from the ancient greek συμ (together) and χθών (earth/soil). Forged by philosopher Donna J. Haraway it means "the coming together of the earthly ones".
It is also the name of a Discord server we created to gather people interested in the intersection of artistic practice, imaginaries, and theoretical discourse around post-anthropocene:
https://discord.gg/yfM3b3YJ4p
Coming after the release of Noumenal Eggs EP on Subtext Records which explored sonic and visual theory-fiction around the notions of capitalocene and entropic catastrophes, Symchtchonia is a standalone single release, an unapologetically epic and frenzy hymn to future symbiotic communities of earthly lifeforms as described by Donna J. Haraway in the "Camille Stories", where groups of humans from all genders and ethnicities survive the coming world by establishing direct, symbiotic, and artificially reinforced co-dependencies with species facing extinction.
Since we wanted this short hymn to be rooted in our reality rather than ecstatic escapism or complaisant dystopia the composition is balanced between urban field recordings and synthetic sound design. Here exponential rhythms, howling voices, and pastoral instrumentals fight their way through overflowing sewers to eventually bloom in the open sky.
The rusted plate on the Symchtchonia cover image comes from a performance/installation we presented at the East East Tokyo Art Fair in March 2023, on the metallic plate is engraved a diagram by John B.Calhoun, illustrating the tensions and causal relationships between needs, conditions, and adaptations in social structures that he deducted from his mice utopia experiment "Universe 25" which turned into chaos and extinction. "Universe 25" is all too often used as a reactionary argument against collectivist and equalitarian approaches. Here however the rusted plate is pierced by a plant as a way to suggest that it may not have been the abundance and direct access to resources that eradicated the mice society, but rather the artificially forced isolation from the unpredictability of our ecosystem and its diversity.
Release on all platforms: 7th April 2023
Tracklist
| 1. | Symchthonia | 3:15 |
Credits
All production, mixing, and mastering by MIRA新伝統
