minimal modular vignette
Insects are arguably the most successful macroscopic lifeform to date, with some species remaining relatively unchanged though tens of millions of years. Just as they have witnessed the eradication of dinosaurs, insects have witnessed the rise of human civilization and will surely exist long after its fall. Quite unlike humans, whose complex social behaviors often stem from unclear motives, insect behavior is bound to immediate material reality. It emerges quite directly from simple patterns and instinctual responses to the environment.
It’s with this mode of thought that Curtis Rosen composes minute, modular vignettes as Insect Appreciation Society. Channeling a process and mindset unencumbered by complex human concerns, Curtis’ music evokes such themes as the periodicity of a solitary grasshopper’s innate response to the gradual changing of seasons, or the simplicity of a single ant’s decision-making when separated from the context of its colony.
“I would describe it as a rejection of sorts,” muses Curtis when asked to describe his approach. “I want to kind of reject this idea that everyone can buy professional audio equipment now, ergo all music must be perfectly polished, every bit of the audible spectrum needs to be filled––when everything is superstimulus, nothing is stimulating, you know?”
Pressed to elaborate, Curtis responds “[Insect Appreciation Society] is sort of my attempt to let really simple things motivate my choices when I’m composing something. An ant foraging around your kitchen counter, it’s not motivated by aesthetics or anything like that. It’s literally just responding to a really simple set of chemical signals––that’s it––and there’s a kind of beauty to that.”