There’s a trend in nowadays’ philosophy and contemporary art which is called »speculative realism«. It’s the result of rejecting Immanuel Kant’s philosophy, which observes the world from the subject’s perspective, by considering humans to be objects amongst others. Not only is this approach echoed through the name of TJ Hertz’s alter ego Objekt – it’s also to be seen in the debut’s artwork, on which there’s a design that mirrors the transgressive art form of speculative realism through amorphous shapes. And then there’s this music, which has been exciting the club scene for the last three years. Nonchalantly, it absorbs established styles – electro, techno or dubstep – and twists and turns them around until the dance floor itself becomes a space of speculation. Out of a sudden, a hammering back beat turns into a source of irritation, while wobbly bass lines provide structure and neatness. Objekt almost literally turns the world upside down. And that’s because Objekt doesn’t (just) ask how club music works from our point of view, but also tries to find out how it could work differently. It’s not quite fitting to compare this style to IDM or armchair raving, since Objekt doesn’t go for a slight variation of the four-to-the-floor-dictate, but rather delivers an alternative approach altogether. Clubmusic has hardly ever been as deliberate as Objekt sees it, nor has it often been put it into practice as elegantly. And yet, the ten tracks on his debut are as complex as they are danceable. Let’s hope that »Flatland« will be as successful as speculative realism is in the fields of philosophy and art, considering that we’re more in need of alternative viewpoints than ever before.
Flatland
