For some reason, the internet brings out the ugly in a lot of people. The anonymity of being a computer screen seems to turn perfectly normal people into comment machines that think anonymity gives them the license to say anything, no matter how hurtful or insane or off topic. Comments from people like that become noise on the internet. Unwanted, not useful, taking up space. And since more rational people have more things to do than pay attention to these blatant attention seekers, the uncouth are left to think that their behavior is okay; and they prosper.

Now, in a feeble attempt to link icky internet noise with the joyful, glorious, celebratory notion of celebrating, reveling in actual sound, I would like to invite you to check out Fete dela Wsk!, a two-week sound festival dedicated to contemporary electronic, digital, and experimental sonic art.

From November 19 to 21 and November 24 to 28, this two-weekend event, which will take place in nine diverse venues in Manila like B-Side and The Collective, Parallax Studio, North Syquia Apt., and even Victoria Court, showcasing the gritty, unencumbered side of the city’s underbelly.

Presented by the SABAW Media Art Kitchen, a not-for-profit organization committed to curatorial and research-based production of new media art, Fete dela WSK! will display the works and performances by local and international artists—from France to Thailand to Taiwan to Singapore, Slovenia, and Japan. The festival will have over 50 participants from far-flung destinations in Asia and Europe. The event will serve as a hub for those passionate about the progression of sonic art, music, moving images, and experimentation in the cultural landscape of digital art and media.

Participating artists include acclaimed Japanese avant-pop, experimental musician Tujiko Noriko; Tad Ermitano, who experiments with the principle of transduction as a field of sonic exploration; Kawayan de Guia’s musicmachine boxes; as well as the esteemed and multiawarded French duo HeHe (Helen Evans, Heiko Hansen) whose work uses cutting-edge tech to critique systems of control by creating a personal counter surveillance software that monitors police activity.

But beyond the kick-ass musical and visual lineup, Fete dela WSK! is all about how performers from different cultures and backgroundsea learn from one another, thanks to the vast and varied technological interconnections that take place every day.

The event kicked off with a live performance by Paris-based Japanese singer Tujiko Noriko last November 19 at Parallax Studio and will close on November 28 with a special performance by the experimental theater troupe Sipat Lawin and a site-specific video installation by Slovenian artist Martin Baraga Bricelj at Victoria Court.

I'll be posting an interview with Tujiko Noriko within the week.

Check out http://www.wskfete.com/ for more details.