Limits of Abstraction in Electroacoustic Music

In this thesis the relationship between abstract and representational aspects of electroacoustic music will be discussed. Such an exploration exposes the limits of abstraction in electroacoustic music, as the interaction between musical form and the world outside the immanent context of the work is revealed. In Chapter 1 an examination of the complex system of relationships between sounds within a musical structure and the representational nature of many of the sounds themselves, referring to their origins in the real world, suggests analogies with poetic texts and early twentieth century painting. In Chapter 2 there follows a discussion of ideas contained in Simon Emmerson’s article The Relation of Language to Materials (Emmerson, 1985). Emmerson’s ideas are examined and expanded, with particular regard to the relationship of syntax and discourse. In Chapter 3 the compositional methodology of sound manipulation is discussed, contrasting analytical and synthetic approaches to sound transformation and Ten Hoopen’s model of the specific / surrogate continuum (Ten Hoopen 1994) is discussed and developed. An analogy between structures based on dissonance / resolution and ambiguous / specific source recognition is developed with particular reference to the work Grand Junction. In Chapter 4 a new model, the associative field model, is proposed to examine more closely the nature of ambiguous source recognition with particular reference to the cycle of Seasons. The rôle of ambiguity in aesthetic appreciation is discussed. Finally, in Chapter 5, the interaction of the work with its wider context is discussed. The influence of literary accompaniments to the work, such as the title and programme note is considered as is collaboration in the form of music specifically created for contemporary dance, as exemplified in The Killing Floor. The interaction of the work and the performance space is considered in the site-specific installations Boomtown and Living Steam

Ashitaka: an audiovisual instrument

This thesis looks at how sound and visuals may be linked in a musical instrument, with a view to creating such an instrument. Though it appears to be an area of significant interest, at the time of writing there is very little existing - written, or theoretical - research available in this domain. Therefore, based on Michel Chion’s notion of synchresis in film, the concept of a fused, inseparable audiovisual material is presented. The thesis then looks at how such a material may be created and manipulated in a performance situation. A software environment named Heilan was developed in order to provide a base for experimenting with different approaches to the creation of audiovisual instruments. The software and a number of experimental instruments are discussed prior to a discussion and evaluation of the final ‘Ashitaka’ instrument. This instrument represents the culmination of the work carried out for this thesis, and is intended as a first step in identifying the issues and complications involved in the creation of such an instrument

Et Cetera

Et Cetera is woven together with five works that are essentially five bodies of writings as digital poetry -- a poetic practice that is made possible by digital media and technology in which aesthetic possibilities are extended through the semantic impact of data, alphabets, visuals, sound, etc. Interlaced by multimedial meaning-making, Et Cetera re(produces) installations that are engineered with algorithmic materials utilizing real-time data feeds, animated letterforms, performative instructions and sensory synthesis. Exploring different scenarios of human-machine coupling that consequently lead to multifarious illegibilities, Et Cetera amplifies the noise of information overflow in the concurrent mediascape with its rhizomatic networks largely beyond human conscious apprehension. On the B-side, Et Cetera is also involved with writing about the alphabetic writing apparatus, the role of artist as author as human-machine-centaur and networked subjectivity

Taking Words Literally: Cratylism in the Post-Truth Age

Since 2016, the term “post-truth” has become ubiquitous in news-reporting as a catch-all for the present age: a time of seemingly unprecedented mistrust over public truth, and the deliberate weaponisation of this uncertainty. While the consequences of this state are widely discussed, for example during political election campaigns and global health crises such as COVID-19, a clear understanding of its systemic causes is more tenuous. Consequentially, the post-truth state may even be viewed as a distinctly contemporary phenomenon, for which there is no historical precedent. This thesis rejects such a notion. In its two chapters, ‘truth’ and ‘reality’ are explored as expressions of language and, ultimately, as constructs, ideas which have existed in philosophical and spiritual texts for thousands of years. The study begins with Plato’s Cratylus, and traces a path through history to the 20th century and into the post-truth age. It considers scholars and ideas including Genette’s fallen language, Wittgenstein’s beetle in a box, Benjamin’s sphere of art, Heidegger’s origins of art, Cassirer’s myth of the state, Boorstin’s image state, and Baudrillard’s hyperreality. By doing so, this thesis refutes the notion that the post-truth age exists in isolation by presenting it as the logical development of long-standing debates as to the natures of reality, art, and truth. Further, it considers the ongoing role of writer, across media and form, in investigating these natures, using their works as sites of exercise. As a result of this study, two key conclusions are drawn: (1) our current language system is no longer able to adequately describe its surrounding world; (2) societal misunderstandings as to the nature (or existence) of “objective truth” and “objective reality”, intensified by ever-expanding media systems, will inevitably lead to consequences synonymous with those of “post-truth”. If society wishes to alleviate such consequences of the post-truth age, this thesis suggests that these two root causes must first be addressed

Sensory Urbanism Proceedings 2008

This book contains papers from the January 2008 conference, Sensory Urbanism, held by the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. Papers deal with issues surrounding the sensory perception of urban design and how to design better for all the senses. The book is illustrated throughout, and contains 26 papers from fields including architecture, urban design, environmental psychology, urban design, planning, sound design and more

Carrying others: A feminist materialist approach to research-creation

Everyone is connected and operates with or alongside a maternal structure. As psychologist Bracha L. Ettinger states, we all hold within us an imprint or memory of being carried — carried across landscapes, across time, into destinations unknown (Ettinger, 2006). This doctoral dissertation takes up these poetics through an interdisciplinary investigation of Feminist Materialist Research-Creation practices and strategies. Referencing recent traditions of Art Intervention, Performance Art, Land Art, and the canon of feminist art history, this research mirrors, connects with, and critiques digital imaginaries and considers how the maternal body responds to the agency of things in the world. This research makes a unique contribution to the humanities, feminist scholarship, and Research-Creation practices by exploring strategies and subjectivities, new positions of theorization, and analyses that unsettle contemporary approaches to artistic research. This includes a series of theoretical texts, experimental framing, and a portfolio of eight artworks that were individually and collaboratively created and produced between 2016–2019: Traces of Motherhood; Domestic Cupboards; Magical Beast: The Space Within, Out and In-Between, Hunting Self; Mothering Bacteria: The Body as an Interface; Floating in the In-Between; Carrying Others; and Nostalgic Geography: Mama and Papa have Trains, Orchards and Mountains in their Backyard. Showcased with the artwork are digital and technological ephemera, including curatorial conversations, exhibition and submission text, process documentation, links, posters, and other preparatory information. This document also introduces a series of interludes and refections that construct and demonstrate alternative ways of approaching the central ideas, themes, and methodological and theoretical ideas explored in the thesis. Cumulatively, these creative articulations foreground the complexities, process, and nuances of Feminist Materialist approaches to Research-Creation. This document also presents the three main themes which include: 1) Materiality; 2) the Optical Unconscious; and 3) the Technological Unconscious; and, take up the three salient concepts and theories: 1) Carriance; 2) Feminist Materialism; and, 3) Research-Creation. In particular, I argue that Carriance aligns with ideas of care, co-production and becomes a creative way of thinking about connection. Each of the eight artworks demonstrate aspects of Carriance, collaboration, and connection and present emergent ways to consider creative methods, methodologies, and expanded feminist expressions. By discussing a variety of projects and creative forms, this dissertation is a speculative art-making investigation that foregrounds human and non-human relationships, ecofeminist perspectives, and mothering, opening up the term Carriance in a variety of ways to show how it can be more than one method, form, or approach with much potential to challenge, encourage and elicit embodied ways of knowing

Anticipated retrospection: manifesting pastness in moving image, an art practice enquiry

This thesis addresses temporal experience in moving image from the perspective of artists’ film and video and asks: "if material qualities are implicated in memory as pastness, how can this be made apperceptible using art practice?” The study contributes to the understanding of temporal and material experience in contemporary art practice, finding that materiality is entwined with pastness dynamically. In disrupting anticipated temporal and material flow, conflicting temporalities are exposed as present and apperception made possible. The moving image is a growing part of visual culture and with increasing access to both current and historical material there is a vast reserve to draw from. Early film and its reception, in particular the Rough Sea film, is a pivotal component in this research both as a means to consider how experiences of moving image materiality were shaped but also as reference points for later experimental approaches to making and viewing. Reflexive spectatorial and archival research is interwoven with critical, theoretical and philosophical review. The active viewer of structural/materialist discourse is recuperated as a basis for a contemporary critical position on materiality and moving image spectatorship. Selected works by artist-filmmakers are analysed as forms of practice research that inform the investigation. Material qualities such as interval and colour are examined as familiar and habitual aspects of moving image with involvement in senses of past. The limitations of isolating them are addressed through the two works. One, a video work created from appropriated archival film footage of sea questions temporality sequentially within the spatial mnemonics of the cinema. The other, a multi-screen film and video installation, explores temporality in a non- cinematic space through the concurrent and disruptive. Both works show that experience of the material conditions of moving image has significance in memory and are therefore crucial to an examination of pastness

Typing the Dancing Signifier: Jim Andrews' (Vis)Poetics

This study focuses on the work of Jim Andrews, whose electronic poems take advantage of a variety of media, authoring programs, programming languages, and file formats to create poetic experiences worthy of study. Much can be learned about electronic textuality and poetry by following the trajectory of a poet and programmer whose fascination with language in programmable media leads him to distinctive poetic explorations and collaborations. This study offers a detailed exploration of Andrews' poetry, motivations, inspirations, and poetics, while telling a piece of the story of the rise of electronic poetry from the mid 1980s until the present. Electronic poetry can be defined as first generation electronic objects that can only be read with a computer--they cannot be printed out nor read aloud without negating that which makes them "native" to the digital environment in which they were created, exist, and are experienced in. If translated to different media, they would lose the extra-textual elements that I describe in this study as behavior. These "behaviors" electronic texts exhibit are programmed instructions that cause the text to be still, move, react to user input, change, act on a schedule, or include a sound component. The conversation between the growing capabilities of computers and networks and Andrews' poetry is the most extensive part of the study, examining three areas in which he develops his poetry: visual poetry (from static to kinetic), sound poetry (from static to responsive), and code poetry (from objects to applications). In addition to being a literary biography, the close readings of Andrews' poems are media-specific analyses that demonstrate how the software and programming languages used shape the creative and production performances in significant ways. This study makes available new materials for those interested in the textual materiality of Andrews' videogame poem, Arteroids, by publishing the Arteroids Development Folder--a collection of source files, drafts, and old versions of the poem. This collection is of great value to those who wish to inform readings of the work, study the source code and its programming architecture, and even produce a critical edition of the work