Marx describes the capitalist mode of production as presenting itself as “an immense accumulation of commodities,” its unit being a single commodity.”, further explaining “A commodity is, in the first place, an object outside us, a thing that by its properties satisfies human wants of some sort or another. The nature of such wants, whether, for instance, they spring from the stomach or from fancy, makes no difference. Neither are we here concerned to know how the object satisfies these wants, whether directly as means of subsistence, or indirectly as means of production”.
How can we convey this critique – what does the contradictory essence and appearance of commodity sound like? I began automatically writing ideas – underlying industrial soundscapes with clouds looming over glossy, vocal harmonizers and noisy chatter – stretchy, stuttering conversations I wanted to peel back and peer into. Commodity and reification are a giggling smear that I find myself more often than not trying to chuckle with rather than at – this was the main idea I had implanted while I was working with sound and automatic synthesis