Italian version
. dvdFarmers Manual
RLA
<book> Mego
'RLA', the Recent Live Archive, collects the live performances of Farmers Manual and other artists of their entourage, from 1995 to May 2003, in a chronology made of more than 72 hours of mp3 audio files and a chaotic html 'electronic notepad' made of flyers, reviews, digital pictures, interviews and links to the clubs/museums/theaters which hosted their performances. This dvd is a pocket database, a snapshot of their large work which, with the lean interface of an archive site (also viewable on their constantly updated mirror on the web), becomes some sort of ultimate authorized bootleg. The meaning of such an operation in the broadband era can be understood by considering the stability of a recording on a physical medium, the portability of this archive and the celebration of their own public appearances, which suggests another possbile change in the relationship between the audience and the artist caused by home production and distribution. Just like the introductory video, where the opening of a hole in one of the walls of the recording studio leads to the appropriation of new spaces, the sheer size of this work makes possible to visit a small museum of the activities of one of the most active and original groups among those who experiment with electronic improvisation and sometimes use it as an artistic machine.