ICMC BOSTON 2025
Online Listening Room
Curiosity, Play, Innovation - A 50th Anniversary Celebration of Creativity in Music, Science, and Technology
June 8-14, 2025
ICMC BOSTON 2025: Online Listening Room #1
ID#: 624
The Meme Went Extinct in January 2025 (2025) ; 8:34
by Paolo Montella
Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli
The Meme Went Extinct in January 2025 explores digital platforms as sonic environments, transforming Instagram reels into compositional material through electroacoustic manipulation. Memes are ephemeral cultural artifacts that evolve through a rapid and ongoing transformation. Following the changes in digital platforms—particularly in social networks—the sonic element plays a fundamental role in this form of communication. The piece is constructed from real-time smartphone recordings of Instagram reels, where algorithmically selected content is an unpredictable sonic source. Doom-scrolling becomes an improvisational act, shaping the composition’s form and texture. Convolution techniques merge disparate sounds, while granular synthesis further deconstructs and reconfigures them into evolving textures. A key conceptual focus is the intersection of sound, technology, and cultural production. The piece considers social media platforms as dynamic soundscapes and examines their role in the contemporary auditory experience. Recognizable elements—ASMR patterns, glitch artifacts, fragmented speech—are reshaped, highlighting their transitory essence within the digital sphere. The title reflects the paradox of digital culture: memes thrive through rapid reproduction yet inevitably become obsolete. In this context, the sonic phenomenon is significant with its corresponding mediascape and to a specific moment in the lifecycle of meme dissemination. Ultimately, this work invites listeners to reconsider digital spaces as more than visual phenomena, framing them as fertile grounds for sonic exploration and electroacoustic composition.
Paolo Montella
Paolo Montella is an Italian composer, multi-instrumentalist, and programmer. His work primarily focuses on radical improvisation practices and field recording. His research explores the relationship between sound and its source, meant as a complex phenomenological system. He studied piano and composition while deepening his knowledge of C-based programming languages. He studied electronic music at the San Pietro a Majella Conservatory under the guidance of M° Elio Martusciello, graduating with honors. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in Performing Arts at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Naples. Since 2016, as a resident of Ex Asilo Filangieri in Naples, he has curated “Geografie del Suono: incontri con musicisti in transito” (Geographies of Sound: Encounters with Musicians in Transit), which has hosted over 70 events featuring renowned artists from around the world. He has performed concerts, acousmatic diffusions, and live performances across Europe, as well as in Egypt, Argentina, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Taiwan, Ecuador, China, and Hong Kong. His works have been featured in international festivals such as Ars Electronica, Forum Wallis (Münster-Goms), IRCAM Forum (Paris), CIM (Ancona), WOCMAT (Taipei), Sonorities Festival (Belfast), Atemporanea (Buenos Aires), SiMN (Curitiba), ICMC (Shenzhen, Seoul), MusLab (Guayaquil), and ACMC (Sydney). His compositions have been selected for and awarded in international competitions. He is actively involved in publishing articles on aesthetics and musical analysis in specialized journals. His music has been released by Cero Records (MEX), Kholenstoff (CAN), Re:Natura Label (GER), lol.editions (GBR), Materiale Elettrico (ITA), Folderol (ITA), and Bulbart (ITA). He has collaborated with internationally renowned artists such as Toshimaru Nakamura, Elio Martusciello, Ingar Zach, Cedrik Fermont, Huda Asfour, Jean-François Laporte, Kjell Bjørgeengen, Ursula Sabatin, Bettina Neuhaus, and Marco Ariano.
* winner, Berklee College of Music internal music composition competition for ICMC Boston 2025
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