PLATO No. 7336 Against Brutality (I Can't Breathe Version) by 337is (three three seven is) published on 2020-06-10T02:13:32Z During the Peace Walk on Sunday, June 7, 2020, all who gathered took a knee in front of the Berrien Springs High School while the walk’s student organizers read out a list of names of black lives taken through brutality and murder by police and vigilantes . After each name was read, the crowd of over 1,000 people responded with cries of "I can't breathe!" When the students reached George Floyd's name on the list and read it out, again the gathered people cried out "I can't breathe" and then fell silent for eight minutes and forty-six seconds—the length of time that Derek Chauvin kept his knee pressed to the neck of George Floyd while murdering him. During this silence, the sound of an arial drone could be heard buzzing overhead, along with the distant hum of vehicles on the village’s streets. Two days ago, PLATO & the Western Tradition (who have been creating as a Postmodern Improvisation Ensemble for more than 30 years), raised their creative voices in search of justice and equality by posting this original track: https://soundcloud.com/plato-3/plato-no-7336-against-brutality In this contribution to “Weaving Indra’s Net” I have explored a new node through the addition of a field recording I gathered during the Peace Walk. In listening to this new strand you can hear the calling out of each name, but miss the real-time immediate response of “I can’t breathe”. The first time you hear the full call and response of a name and “I can’t breathe” comes after the reading of George Floyd’s name. This is immediately followed by the 8:46 section of amplified ambient silence, where in the first moments you can just make out a voice commenting that “someone has a drone.” Gradually PLATO’s meditation rejoins this amplified silence. After the 8:46 portion, an electronically re-coded version of the crowd’s responses are heard one after another in trio form to conclude the piece. The left channel is sped up by 13 percent and the right channel is slowed by 13 percent, while the middle channel plays out in real time at exactly the pace of the unified crowd responding. ———————————— Please seek out organizations committed to demanding justice for All and support them with your action and donations. There are many possibilities for this including: https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org/nbfn-directory https://www.naacpldf.org ———————————— This recording includes material from PLATO & The Western Tradition, No. 7336, ‘Against Brutality.’ If you would like to participate in the “Weaving Indra’s Net” project, please see below: PLATO & The Western Tradition invites others in the Electronic Music Community to participate in the creation of an on-line compilation called “Weaving Indra’s Net.” Here are the “rules”: 1. Download from @plato-3 any of the improvisations by PLATO & The Western Tradition that capture your attention. 2. Use some or all of what you download as a part of your own music making. 3. Post your piece to SoundCloud, and post the SoundCloud link on Plato’s FaceBook page: www.facebook.com/PLATOandTheWesternTradition 4. Please comply with our Creative Commons attribution requirement (see creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) by including in your description of your piece this language: “Includes material from PLATO & The Western Tradition, No. 2811, ‘Limitless Geometries’”. (You should substitute the number and title of the piece that you are using.) 5. PLATO will organize and maintain the compilation as a playlist titled “Weaving Indra’s Net” on the PLATO SoundCloud site. Please post any questions or comments on the FaceBook page listed above. Genre Electronic Comment by W:I:L-o´the-wisp WOW! Leslie - what an impressive piece! And, after reading the description, I am also very touched when I imagine this massive crowd in this peace walk 2020-11-20T04:01:24Z Comment by Petrus Major If the 'Repost' functionality has any meaning, it has to be used here. Beautiful and intense track. Strong and life-affirming. Hi Leslie, it's been a while... I'd like to hear more modular from you (I made the leap this year ;) Take care of yourself. 2020-08-08T13:02:12Z Comment by Boyd Nutting this is beyond anything I could have expected. I am touched by what you have done here, Leslie. 2020-06-19T20:05:14Z Comment by PLATO & the Western Tradition Wow! Thank you, Leslie, for your contribution to the collective work of this fraught time. 2020-06-10T14:34:06Z