Nano Clow and Factor Eight: #nothinglastsforever

"Since November 2019, Saskatoon-based musician Factor Eight and I have been working on an art-project surrounding the release of his first album in years, “A DØ”. On March 25, 2021, after existing online for only one month, we permanently deleted it from all streaming platforms and released it as a long-form streaming film called #nothinglastsforver. 

As artists, we want to question the infinite expectation of streamed art. It’s exciting to think of the endless possibilities and re-experiences we will forever be able to have with our favourite art online. But, as artists, if that staying power is directly linked to success, what lengths will we go to to achieve that success? We live in a world that is happy substituting entertainment for art, and too often it’s the artist whose inspiration suffers in the end.

Challenging the modern audience’s ability to consume with intention, #nothinglastsforever is constantly disintegrating from April 10th, 2021 to April 10th, 2022. With each day of play-through, the film restarts at a lower bitrate, leaving the ‘best available quality’ behind, and further asserting the importance of present engagement in any particular work of streamed art.

Since deleting the album, this is now the only way to experience it. We want to reorient the consumer to be active in their consumption of art. No more binging shows, or streaming randomly shuffled songs in the background. Art is for tasting, not just consuming."