THE ASSESSOR
The Assessor is an incorporeal being with a love of the severe and disturbing. Possessing immense strength, it has a mind as sharp as a scalpel, ever ready to dissect what comes its way. THE ASSESSOR assesses from afar and sometimes communicates to humans, yet it is rarely reduced to using words as it is now. If provoked it is lethal.
IMPERATIVE BULLETIN FROM THE ASSESSOR
I, THE ASSESSOR, am dissatisfied by what I observe on earth. Disgusted, I feel compelled to descend to your level from my psychic realm of doom and use the medium of speech to communicate MY ASSESSMENT.
At certain times and places on this planet my mind used to delight in the challenging sounds emitted at subversive gatherings which you called a “techno party”. My voice used to become part of the audio frequencies, forcing you to question the structures which bound you, and making you revolt against the passivity which you should embody to keep them in place. But no more! So many of you are not listening to me any more.
Even I with my superhuman powers of communication cannot penetrate the minds of those who you term “mash up”1. I try to interact with humans who are reduced to stumbling around, lying underfoot or vaguely moving to sounds that they are too anaesthetised to fully comprehend. You people would make me sick if nausea was something I could experience here on this mental plane. Are you sad creatures seeking escape from facing the pernicious forces active on this planet by way of a kind of death in life? If this is so I can tell you that I’m more than willing and qualified to oblige you! See you next free party……
At this point the words break up as THE ASSESSOR moves back towards his spiritual home – but if you’re listening hard you might still be able to hear him.
[jackal’s note: Datacide certainly never promoted to be sober. If it takes to be mash up to be unaccessible to the voice of authority – as is somewhat suggested here – it would appear to be a valid strategy, and we’d therefore condone it ?!]
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‘The Assessor’ (originally in datacide three) caused this angry response by Claire (below), printed in datacide four. Since it wasn’t originally uploaded to this web site we post it here as a comment as the ‘Assessor’ piece had the dubious merit of being the ‘least read’ article on the site as of January 2018, despite addressing some relevant issues – although in a rather obscure manner.
WHAT THE FUCK ?
You assess from afar with little communication. Do you know me? Can you make assessments about my level of passivity or activity? The extent to which I question the structures that bind me? Can you assess without exploration? Is observation alone sufficient for judgement?
The subversive gathering you term a “Techno Party” is an arena for experimentation not only with sound but with body, mind, environment, space and knowledge. A rare space offering both interaction with many others yet few manifestations of external constraint. To the external observer, someone positively transcending through social and corporeal barriers, not to pleasure alone, but to virtual worlds created by the subconscious and mindscapes externalised, can appear to be ‘seeking escape from facing pernicious forces ….. by way of a kind of death in life’. Even in those cases where the body is, or rather appears to be, dead ‘lying underfoot’, the mind can be more alive than ever previously; traversing dimensions, receiving input from unknown sources, participating in exchanges of knowledge in some strange psychic realm.
The comments of the assessor expose his complete lack of understanding of what occurs at these events. ‘Too anaesthetised to fully comprehend the sounds’? The sounds no longer need to be actively analysed and comprehended. The audio frequencies are not only listened to, they do not force one to question, but penetrate, jolt, shape, invade, impell and drag us. These states compliment music – and both allow you to be another self, play with the self. Both contain / explore thoughts and meanings beyond words. Attempting to define the experiences offered by both is almost impossible.
The music may not be danced to in joint physical expression to the same extent by some people at present. Personally I regret the partial loss of shared emotion and bond of resistance on the dancefloor. But this is only one facet of a party and it is still the main facet. A party is not solely about music, it allows people a chance to exchange ideas, display their creations, express, break out, explore, play, construct, re-learn and get mash up.
Mash up – a quaint term it may be, but to those who use it, it succinctly communicates a fat amount (vast array) of intense psychological and physical states – usually rendering one less willing and/or able to relate to and undertake the day to day necessities for survival. This is not yet an arrestable offense and was not condoned but recognised as existing in Datacide 2.
Claire