Artist Statement

In recent years, the financial collapse has sent ripples across the globe. As a result of such economic uncertainty, it has become apparent how modern society has been mushrooming at an alarming rate. Urban spaces have been expanding to a point where people can’t keep up with what is being built. “Ghost Cities” are emerging in Asian countries like China. In Europe countries like Spain, Greece, Italy, Ireland, building developments have been left unfinished and exposed to the natural elements.
On one hand, these unfinished, developments remind us, how the pursuit of luxury and land development has wounded the natural environment. It is a tragedy how greed has caused untold environmental and societal problems for those less fortunate. People who are unable to have a voice in where and how they live, for example, farmers in China are developing Cancers due to urban expansion that serves no purpose only to financially benefit developers.
In North America, places like Detroit have become urban wastelands and reflect a dystopic side of modern society. However, this unused urban space is used by some people to create reflective modern music and composition pieces, reflecting on such uncertain times. If this urban space is open to the public why can’t it be used in a constructive way? Urban exploring has grown in popularity recently in Detroit.
I have personally explored abandoned urban space and unfinished structures. I have marvelled in the tragic beauty of old factories, cathedrals and schools. Places that once promised such hope for thousands of people. I decided to use this space to pay homage to the past and people by creating a recorded soundtrack for the future.
I wanted to use materials from some abandoned buildings to create an industrial and hard sound for my compositions. I also used guitars and effects to create an atmosphere that could fill a large space, using a lot of reverb and delay.
The end result was two short EPS that touched on different themes but had some commonalities. The first EP being “The Doppler Effect” recorded by myself Peter McNestry (Canada)aka Blakkr Nio and Michael Molloy aka Newgrange (Ireland). We recorded a 4 track EP that touched on abandoned space and how it can be incorporated into modern musical composition. The tracks are reflecting the haunting sensation of exploring a once functioning urban space. The second EP being “Holy Visions” recorded by myself. It touches on Paranoia attached to religion and how it plays into fear based culture. The ep is based interpretations I have of religious experiences from readings. The main theme tying everything together is human error causing devastation and how that plays into the modern world.
Using drones to explore tonal colors and effects to create atmosphere, the work I have created serves to remind people how things forgotten can have a second life and that urban space should be explored. Possibilities are endless, with unused space or how some religious experiences can cause such disruption or joy in the world.
I have been inspired by Guy Debord who founded the Situationist movement in France. Essential to Situationist theory was the concept of the spectacle, a unified critique of advanced capitalism of which a primary concern was the progressively increasing tendency towards the expression and mediation of social relations through objects. I wanted to explore the idea that neglected space can be used in modern musical
composition and can act as a venue for modern art. In the same vein as the Situationist, create a spectacle using modern musical composition in abandoned spaces. The construction of situations, moments of life deliberately constructed for the purpose of reawakening and pursuing authentic desires, experiencing the feeling of life and adventure, and the liberation of everyday life. This relates to urban exploring and occupying neglected space to create new art and artistic statements.
In conclusion, giving the Situationist movement a second breath in the context of modern musical composition allowed me to use a neglected space and turn it into a vessel for new art. I have also explored religious teaching which inspired the work on holy visions.
Here is a collaboration I did with British artist named Missing Organs (Tristan Bath) and a fellow Canadian artist named King Brude (Marty Smith) originally from Scotland
The Ep is called Holy Visions; its is a drone experimental album, see
blakkrni.bandcamp.com/album/holy-visions
Here also is a collaboration I did with a Northern Irish artist named Michael Molloy (Newgrange). The Ep is called The Doppler Effect; its an experimental album themed around the situationist movement and using abandoned urban space in modern composition. blakkrni.bandcamp.com/album/the-doppler-effect

• Peter McNestry aka Blakkr Nio blakkrni.bandcamp.com