I am a producer, DJ, visual artist and activist. In my work I explore how the field of music production intersects with technology in relation to self-expression and gender, analyzing how the enmeshment of artistic disciplines and political activism can find an outlet within the avant-garde electronic music scene. As my work is informed by a wide range of music inputs and its creation is based on digital tools, I am interested in analyzing how new media and technologies are shaping artistic expression and illustrate how they can be used as tools for political and social action. My practice encompasses three main fields, which intersect and blend in unique ways between my research on online culture, music production and activism in queer communities to promote safe spaces through club nights.
As a specific focus within music, I aim to express the fluidity of human life, experiences and emotions through digitally-produced music: I am to embody or disrupt the analogies digital = emotionless / real = emotional, fluid/fixed, binary/non-binary, therefore extending my framework also to gender-related issues and self-representation.
How can technologies fully incorporate and represent emotions and complexity of expression? Can digital binary tools be used to explore fluidity? Can artists use digital spaces as places to promote inclusivity and freedom of being while defying normative codes?
As I use technology extensively within my practice I aim to challenge and explore the use of digital tools and what implications they have on my production.
Music is for me a tool to produce change and propose an alternative to a straight white male-dominated electronic music scene, leaving space to new forms of expressions.
Manifesto .pdf
The "Art Extremism" manifesto, wrote as a framework and theoretical approach on what it means to be a creative in modern society.
Supportive Narrative - Irene Cassarini - Mmus 2.pdf
My thesis “Music as an agent of societal change: self-expression, introspection and activism in avant-garde electronic music”
"Xenon" is the first single from my second studio album "Mobile Energy" (2018), released on Bene Tleilax and distributed by Lobster Theremin Records.
Guest DJ for Strange Days on Red Light Radio in Amsterdam (NL), hosted by Know V.A. (14 January 2020)
Italian premiere of my A/V live show "Queering the Digital Space".
Live at roBOt Festival in Bologna, Italy (26 October 2019).
Live at Le Guess Who? Festival 2019, in the stage hosted and curated by Stranded FM radio.
DJ set at Warehouse Elementstraat in Amsterdam. With Mark Knekelhuis, Animistic Beliefs and Know V.A.
 (28 May 2020)
"IRL/URL" (2019) is a a visual speculative narration on the Interdependency of online intimacy and fictional reality. Google knows how many times you cried in front of your laptop.
KEYWORDS: Isolation, discomfort, detachment, disassociation in times of virtual dreams. Human and machines live a reversed digital symbiosis: I talk to a lover like I talk to my phone.
Irene Cassarini

Irene Cassarini

04 Februari 1995
Volg
http://www.irenecassarini.com
  1. Artist statement; wat is je specialisme, wat maakt jouw werk uniek?

    As a music producer, DJ and curator I explore the intersections between art and political/social activism, especially in queer communities. Musically, my framework is within avant-garde electronic music and "deconstructed club", channeling my own experiences and emotions through sounds while combining club-culture, technological research and queer theories to develop my artistic and professional practice.

  2. Wat zijn je ambities? Wat wil je over vijf jaar bereikt hebben?

    My ambition is to create a new state of the art where communal spaces like clubs can be open to everyone regardless of race, ability or sexual orientation and that artists can be an agent of socio-political change through collective and community-driven actions. With my music and as the artistic director of "Queer in Wonderland" I want to contribute to societal change through art, which the most noble way to bring like-minded people together.

  3. Wat is het belangrijkste dat je hebt geleerd tijdens je studie?

    I learned to reflect and talk about my work, by doing research and being inspired by the work of other artists. Then, translating those inputs in my own practice made me more aware of the artistic context I wanted to be active in. In this way, I was able to build my personal approach to creativity and build a more solid career.

  4. Overzicht van publicaties / exposities / prijzen / concerten / voorstellingen etc.

    MUSIC RELEASES:
    "Ugly Bathroom Selfies" (independent release) – May 2020

    "Mobile Energy" (Bene Tlexilax / Lobster Theremin Records) – October 2018

    COMMISSIONED WORK:
    13 February - 19 July 2020: “Untraced/Untitled” (2020) - Two commissioned compositions for the installation ‘Queering the City: A Sono-Orientation’, curated by Katayoun Arian. The installation is part of the exhibition ‘Twelve Cautionary Urban Tales’, curated by Ethel Baraona Pohl at Matadero - Centro de Creaciòn Contemporanea, in Madrid (ES).

    March - Decemeber 2020: Artistic Residency at Creative Coding Utrecht around the topic of “Feminist Machines”, exploring gender, technology and queer theories related to data sets and machine learning.

    TALKS:
    15 February 2020: Lecture in the panel “Art as research”, hosted by Creative Coding Utrecht at Pieter Baan Centrum, Utrecht (NL).
Topic: The influence of digital culture, shared online spaces, gender and technology in the creation of the audiovisual work “Queering the Digital Space”.

    18 October 2019: Guest speaker at ADE University panel “Girls to the Front”, with journalist Holly Dicker and artists Know V.A., Malin Kolbrink and Nick Hoppezak, in Amsterdam (NL).
    Topic: Hardcore’s rising “new school” and barriers preventing more women, LGBTQ+ and other minority groups from entering the scene.

    SELECTED PERFORMANCES:
    10 June 2020 - Guest DJ on Stranded FM radio for WAS., Utrecht.

    28 May 2020 - DJ set at Warehouse Elementsraat, Amsterdam (NL) (+ Mark Knekelhuis, Animistic Beliefs, Know V.A.)
    
29 February 2020 - Symbyosys at Sexyland, Amsterdam (NL) (+ Yre Den, Yoong, Zgjim, Bby Eco).

    15 February 2020 - A/V “Queering the Digital Space” at Uncloud Festival in Utrecht (NL), (+ Dis Fig, NSDOS, Object Blue).
    23 January 2020 – Whitespace at OT301 in Amsterdam (NL) (+ Fis, djb, Anni Nöps, Jonathan Castro).
    14 January 2020 - Guest DJ for Strange Days on Red Light Radio in Amsterdam (NL), hosted by Know V.A.
    8 November 2019 - Le Guess Who? Festival, Utrecht (NL).
    2 November 2019 - Overdrive in Utrecht (NL) (+ Giant Swan, Stranger, Mad Miran).
26 October 2019 - Premiere of A/V performance “Queering the Digital Space” at roBOt Festival in Bologna (IT) (+ Alessandro Cortini, Afrodeutsche, Donato Dozzy, Interstellar Funk).
    9 September 2019 - The Current in Utrecht (NL) (+ Lechuga Zafiro, Alternative Alignment, Luke Cohelen).
    9 June 2019 - Live foley and sound design for the silent movie “Wings” (1927) at Eye Film Museum in Amsterdam (NL).
    10 March 2019 - Opening act for Kedr Livanskiy at Garage Noord in Amsterdam (NL).
    26 October 2018 - Premiere of A/V live performance for the opening of the “Italo Calvino” cultural center in Calderara di Reno (IT).
18 October 2018 - Opening act for How To Dress Well at s105 De School in Amsterdam (NL).