mission

Slapart has become part of the movement now known as "netlabels". It was founded in 2001 in Brooklyn, NY to document the activities of like-minded artists determined to explore the challenges of forging a multi-disciplinary aesthetic in the arts. It was said at the time that too often artists focus exclusively on one element of media and often only within a very narrow niche within that media. Contrary to some thought on the subject, Slapart believes that listeners, and art/music connoisseurs in general, do not benefit from such strict focus and encourages its artists/listeners to delve into as many new waters of expression as they can find. Installation artists making pure music. Writers making films. Videographers leading punk bands. Painters writing. By exploring new media or exploiting unique aspects of old media, artists break down the barrier between expression and perception which styles, genres, and criticism tend to erect.

Does a painting only affect my eyes? Does music only influence my ears? Does a rollercoaster only move my stomach? Media exists in many forms and demands to be reckoned with wholistically. We may only listen but our whole body reacts at the same time. There should be no barrier to the totality of perception.

The task of slapart is not to define a particular niche, from which it would become inseperable. We do not expect our musical preferences to stay the same or ever be restricted to a few genres, nor should you. We are not 'experimental' or 'electroacoustic' or 'out' or 'IDM' or 'glitch' or 'psych'. Whatever such labels that may be applied to a collection of a musician's endeavor, are just that: labels. Our task is to lay bare the distinctions between media and between genres. To expose the simultaneity of influences in all organized sound.

Artists that might consider joining the collective may engage in multiple musical styles or in fact they may not even make music at all. Central to the purpose of this entity is to provide support to those artists that seek to expand their sonic palette beyond a singular niche of this auditory life. In seeking to forge new sounds, we must necessarily revisit many musical genres and aggressively explore the influence of technology and new formats upon creativity.