Black Vibrations: Techno as Queer Insurrectionist Sonics

Abstract

This conversation is excerpted from a panel which followed Black Vibrations, a performance by DeForrest Brown Jr. and madison moore at the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU (ICA at VCU, Richmond, Virginia) on 25 March 2022. Black Vibrations was the first of the ICA’s Test Pattern series, inspired by the legacy of visionary public-access TV programs and alternative video movements in the US. The series invites artists to turn the ICA auditorium into an experimental production studio for week-long residencies, during which they collaborate with members of the local community to create a live performance and internet broadcast. Black Vibrations considered the history of Detroit techno, and the potential of ‘vibrational technologies’ as an instrument and a weapon. madison moore presented a DJ set as a performative lecture, while Deforrest Brown Jr. performed live using tablets and other haptic technology, building upon his work as a cultural theorist and his musical output under the moniker Speaker Music. The performance transformed the ICA’s auditorium into a club environment, complete with subwoofers, dancefloor, hazers, and flashing lights. Video projections pulled from the archives of the Detroit Historical Society – b-roll of assembly lines, auto trades shows, and early ‘80s computer classes – as well as late-night footage from WGPR Detroit, America’s first Black-owned TV station, which helped to launch techno with the popular programs The Scene and The New Dance Show. Following the performance, DeForrest and madison were joined by scholar Alexander Ghedi Weheliye for a discussion about techno: its Black and working class origins, its connection to Queer dance music innovators, and the connection between protest and the dancefloor.