Pharmakon

Within the New York noise scene, Pharmakon refers to the solo project of American artist Margaret Chardiet, which emerged from Brooklyn’s DIY circles in the late 2000s. Situated in an aesthetic informed by noise, power electronics and industrial music, Pharmakon’s work centers on the voice, saturation and abrasive textures, blending screams, distorted layers and repetitive pulses. After several cassette releases and obscure recordings, the project became structured around a series of albums issued by the Sacred Bones label—Abandon (2013), Bestial Burden (2014), Contact (2017) and Devour (2019)—each marking different stages in the exploration of themes tied to the body, illness and the relationship between the individual and the collective. On stage, Pharmakon favors immersive setups performed in close proximity to the audience, in squats, art centers or festivals devoted to experimental and extreme music. The project thus sits within an international network of noise and industrial artists, regularly engaging with other experimental musicians through tours, compilations and occasional collaborations, while remaining firmly rooted in the recent history of New York’s underground.