“Technosis” is the title of Rafał Iwański’s (Alameda 5, HATI, Innercity Ensemble, Kapital) solo album that came out in November 2016 on Instant Classic.
“Previous X-NAVI:ET album I released for Instant Classic was a little atypical in terms of my artistic activities. ‘Dead City Voice / Remix Project’ contains remixes from Rapoon, Stara Rzeka ans Z’EV-a among others”, recalls Iwański. “‘Vox Paradox’ released in 2015 was a return to electro-acoustic music and some of the tracks were initially planned for ‘Technosis’. I later decided that they didn’t fit into my full-length concept. Anyway, working on ‘Technosis’ took a significant effort to expand a clear vision of aforementioned electro-acoustic music. Not diving too deep into technical details, I need to stress that this time I got rid of field recordings, samples, synths and drum machines. Instead, I used some African and Eurasian traditional instruments”, he adds.
“Technosis” is a term describing an overblown attachment to, or dependency to technology. In detail, it means the loss of empathy and personality due to overuse of new technologies. “This term can also relate to other destructive phenomena that we can observe for example in our environment all over the planet. It affects not only humans but also plants and animals. Technological growth is currently overwhelming and so are its effects. My guess is that we are heading for a catastrophe. Of course, if we are discussing electro-acoustic music, we need to stress that its roots are also stuck in technology but I prefer analogue devices, at least in terms of generating sounds or modulating those recorded via microphones”, explains Iwański.
“I don’t use laptops and I don’t intend to do so. Otherwise I would be forced to refrain from calling my live performances ‘concerts’. I really enjoy those small mistakes that are always connected to playing real instruments which I do with HATI, Innercity Ensemble and Alameda 5. Imperfection is what makes us human”, he says.