BRANDSTIFTER - ASPHALTBIBLIOTHEQUE (CD-R)

"Brandstifter do not claim to be musical compositions in any conventional sense, but rather have to be understood within their performative context. On a visual level the Asphaltsbibliotheque consists of ready-made pieces, which are only altered due to the artist's choice which pieces to incorporate. In the same way in which retrieved slips of paper from the sidewalks were never supposed to be art, the sounds on this CD do not go beyond anything that has not been collected. They constitute an acoustic process, on which the artist has no direct influence or at least no downright control - even though he may decide which specific sound to play at which specific time and place. But the artistic act of collecting - of slips of papers or of sounds - causes a transformation: what was thrown away, lost or forgotten is restored, mundane pieces are catalogued and thereby often become poetry. Seemingly insignificanct things like postcards, shopping lists or a janitor's warning sign for tenants acquire a new meaning in the context of the Asphaltbibliotheque - a meaning that surpasses the inherent humorous and grotesque qualities of the written words." (Martin Büsser)