Triple Canopy, a multimedia magazine, and Rivers Institute, a cultural organization for artists of the global diaspora, have joined forces to present “Living Equipment,” a series of events exploring the roots and impact of Black electronic music. The series, hosted by Ryan C. Clarke, a New Orleans-based tonal geologist, writer, and curator at Dweller Electronics, will feature conversations, listening sessions, and performances that delve into the minor histories and widespread reverberations of Black electronic music.
Clarke describes his approach as “intertextual and decolonial,” blending Earth sciences with cultural critique and communal storytelling. The events are designed as “live mixtapes,” bringing together musicians, artists, DJs, and critics to engage in public discourse and musical exploration.
The series will take place across multiple venues in New York City and New Orleans, with participants including artist and filmmaker Ephraim Asili, artist and DJ Yulan Grant (SHYBOI), Discwoman co-founder and Dweller Electronics founder Frankie Decaiza Hutchinson, and artist, writer, and housing advocate Rasheedah Phillips (Black Quantum Futurism), among others.
“Living Equipment” aims to trace the migrations and mutations of Black music, emphasizing the role of geography in shaping and circulating the cultural traditions that gave birth to techno and house. The events will treat Black music and speech as “equipment for living,” a concept borrowed from critic Albert Murray, exploring how these forms represent difficult conditions while providing strategies for overcoming them with dignity and grace.
The series will cover a wide range of topics, including the preindustrial roots of electronic music, the audibility of ecological crisis, club architecture, the mathematics of sequencing, the dancer-DJ feedback loop, and sampling as a form of assemblage.
Alexander Provan, Triple Canopy’s editor, notes that Clarke’s work exemplifies the kind of criticism the magazine supports, describing it as “a way of thinking about music that not only draws on but also feeds back into the social experience of sound.” Andrea Andersson, founding director and chief curator of Rivers, adds that the partnership between Rivers and Triple Canopy affirms the migrational spirit of Clarke’s work, which involves exchanges of histories, tempos, and ways of organizing in community.
The “Living Equipment” series is sponsored by a Humanities New York Action Grant and Critical Minded, an initiative to invest in cultural critics of color cofounded by the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Ford Foundation. All events are free and open to the public.
The series is scheduled to begin on March 16, 2025, with six events in New York City running through March 29, 2025. Additional events are planned for New Orleans in May and September of the same year.
