Bob OstertagCreative Life
Music, Politics, People, and Machines
Bob Ostertag--composer, performer, historian, instrument builder, journalist, and activist--is a professor of technocultural studies and music at the University of California at Davis and the author of People's Movements, People's Press: The Journalism of Social Justice Movements.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi
INTRODUCTION 1
Art and Politics after September 11 2
Early Years 15
1. CENTRAL AMERICA 25
El Salvador, 1988: Absolute Diabolical Terror 25
Sooner or Later 38
Nicaragua 1990: Power Outage 40
Creative Politics 54
2. THE BALKANS 69
The Balkans 2000: Tour Journal 69
Program Notes for Yugoslavia Suite 101
3. QUEERS 105
Desert Boy on a Stick 105
All the Rage, Spiral, and PantyChrist 115
Why I work with Drag Queens 130
4. MUSIC AND MACHINES 134
Between Science and Garbage 134
Living Cinema Manifesto 147
Human Bodies, Computer Music 149
Why Computer Music Is So Awful 159
CONCLUSION 163
The Professional Suicide of a Recording Musician 163
NOTES 173
BIOGRAPHY 177
SOURCES 187
CREDITS 190
INDEX 191