Philosophical Toys as Vectors for Diagrammatic Creation: The Case of The Fragmented Orchestra

The central topic of this essay consists into establishing a relation between two dimensions of formation: the conceptual process of creating philo- sophical toys - that is of reelaborating existing philosophical concepts, mainly deriving from the thought of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, in terms of their potential as ‘operative constructs' - and their parallel redeployment towards the specific problem of analyz- ing a recent transdisciplinary artwork. By means of this strategical shift, theory looses its character of explanation and illustration. Philosophy as toy becomes rather the matter of evaluating the com- plexity of a specific artistic composition in terms of its aesthetic potential. It contributes towards developing meta- stable conditions of mutual resonance between heterogeneous modalities of creation

Intraexpressive resonance in The Fragmented Orchestra

'The Fragmented Orchestra', a transdisciplinary artwork by Jane Grant, John Matthias and Nick Ryan (2008-2009), is analysed from the point of view of its material and epistemic conditions of composition. I examine its core device, an artificially reconstructed 'tiny cerebral cortex' from the point of view of its aesthetic expression and from a theoretical point of view. The aim of the article is to show that the aesthetic content of the work arises from the operative conditions of a double interrelation: the combination of heterogeneous forms of knowledge on one side and its material implementation at the level of the artwork on the other. In this regard I inquire into the connections between the operative logic of the artwork and that of particular philosophical concepts, particularly Deleuze and Guattari's anti-oedipal production of subjectivity and Whitehead's idea of beauty in its recent interpretation by Steven Shaviro

Plasticity: noise, correlation and interaction.

This paper introduces the interactive and performative installation artwork, Plasticity (Jane Grant, John Matthias, Nick Ryan and Kin) and its software engine the Neurogranular Sampler via a journey through the synchronized pendulum clocks of Christian Huygens, entrainment in dynamical systems, and correlations and noise within neuronal networks. I examine ways in which the public are 'playing with noise' in the artwork and suggest that the public engagement with the work is closely connected to the fact that the dynamics of the artificial neuronal network lie at the borders between synchrony and randomness

Granular: The Material Properties of Noise

An experiential investigation of noise as a granular entity, this combined exhibition and event explores processes of disintegration and reintegration - both as the mode of transference between states (whether physical or digital) and the means by which a thing starts or ceases to be

Variable 4: A Dynamical Composition for Weather Systems

Variable 4 is a multichannel sound installation that uses meteorological sensors and a multi-layered array of algorithmic processes to transform weather data into musical patterns in real time. This paper describes the work in detail, outlining its historical context, systems infrastructure and installation specifics. The piece is discussed in relation to sonification and environmental installation, and observations are made on the process of siting a complex sound work in the natural world

Clasp together: composing for mind and machine

This paper will explore questions of agency, control and interaction and the embodied nature of musical performance in relation to the use of human-computer interaction (HCI), through the experimental work Clasp Together (beta) 2 for small ensemble and live electronics by J. Harry Whalley. This practice-led research is situated at the intersection of music neurotechnology for sound synthesis and brain-computer interfaces (BCI), and explores the use of neural patterns from Electroencephalography (EEG) as a control instrument. The composition departed from the traditional composer/performer paradigm by including both non-instrumental physical gestures and cognitive or emotive instructions integrated into the score

The Composer Isn't There: A personal exploration of place in fixed media composition

Composition Portfolio: Blanket (2005), Low_r (2007), Hollow (2007), Invisible (2007), Dawn (2008), Green Gate (2009), Voice (2009), Morning (2009), Throbbing (2012), Áitleku (2012)This practice-based research is concerned with a collection of fixed media compositions written between 2005 and 2012 with accompanying contextual writing. The primary focus of this research was to produce sound works, but the concept of place has played a significant role throughout both the compositional process and in the reflection of each composition. This research explores how place is ‘heard and felt’ (Feld, 2005) in a composition and how recollected memory impacts on the compositional process. Artistic decisions made with regard to creating the compositions reflect my personal place and associations with these sound materials at a given time whether they are field recordings or synthesised materials. The way in which sound material is subsequently processed and structured reflects this. Place and the compositional practice inform each other in a two-way process. This results in what Katharine Norman (2010) has referred to in her writing on sound art as an ‘autoethnographic’ journey; a representation of the creator’s personal experience. I have begun to reflect on these compositions as art works that represent a particular time or place. The artwork represents the trace of the place from which it was composed (Corringham, 2010). I believe that I cannot totally transport a person to my place; rather, I intend this creative representation to enable the listener to create and inspire their own narrative

Uncontainable & Untitled

Uncontainable & Untitled is an exhibition strand of the general ISEA2011 Istanbul exhibition entitled Uncontainable. The title Uncontainable & Untitled is an homage to the 12th Istanbul Biennial - Untitled and plays on the contemporary relevance of socio-political issues at the intersection of art, science and technology. The dispersed nature of contemporary events and technological advancements presents viewers both with the fascinating possibilities and the problematic realities of contemporary art & life

Playin’ the city : artistic and scientific approaches to playful urban arts

An Theorien und Diskussionen über die Stadt mangelt es nicht, denn Städte dienen uns u.a. als Projektionsfläche zur Auseinandersetzung mit unserer Vergangenheit, der Gegenwart und unserer Zukunft. Diese Ausgabe 1 (2016) der Navigationen untersucht spielerische Formen dieser Auseinandersetzung in und mit der Stadt durch die sogenannten playful urban arts.The city has been discussed and theorized widely, and it continues to serve as a space in which our sense of the present, past, and future is constantly negotiated. This issue 1 (2016) of Navigationen examines new ways of engaging with cities through what are called the playful urban arts. Playful engagements with the urban environment frequently strive to create new ways of imagining and experiencing the city. In and through play, city spaces can become playgrounds that have the potential to transform people’s sense of themselves as human actors in an urban network of spatially bound and socio-economically grounded actions. Emerging from the playin’siegen urban games festival 2015, the essays and panel discussions assembled in this issue provide an interdisciplinary account of the contemporary playful urban arts. Wiht contributions by Miguel Sicart, Andreas Rauscher, Daniel Stein, Judith Ackermann and Martin Reiche, Michael Straeubig and Sebastian Quack, Marianne Halblaub Miranda and Martin Knöll, and Anne Lena Hartman

Designing Playful Systems

Play is a common, yet elusive phenomenon. Many definitions of play and explanations for its existence have been brought forward in various disciplines such as psychology, anthropology, ethology and in the humanities. As an activity apparently serving no other purpose than itself, play can be simply considered a pleasant pastime. Yet its equation with fun has been challenged by artists and scholars alike. Being in a playful state does not warrant extrinsic motivation or being conscious of an external purpose. However, play creates meaning, and scientists are pursuing functional explanations for it. These conflicting observations are contributing to the ambiguity of play and they raise questions about the limits of complexity that present discourses are able to reflect. This thesis presents a comprehensive, transdisciplinary approach to describe and understand play, based on systems-theory, constructivism, cybernetics and practical exploration. Observing play in this way involves theoretical analysis, reflection and critique as well as the practice of design, development and artistic exposition. By constructing, re-contextualising and discussing eight of my own projects, I explore the distinction between theory and practice through which playful systems emerge. Central to my methodology is the concept of distinctions as a fundamental method of observation. It is introduced itself as a distinction and then applied throughout, in order to describe and discuss phenomena of play from a wide range of different perspectives. This includes paradoxical, first-person and conflicting accounts and it enables discourses that cross disciplinary boundaries. In summary, the three interrelated contributions to knowledge in my research project are: I contribute to the emerging field of game studies through a comprehensive systems-theoretical description on play. I also provide a methodology in which theory and practice inform each other through mutual observation, construction, reflection and critical evaluation. Finally, I present eight projects, including a playful system developed in a speculative approach that I call anthroponeutral design. These results represent a novel transdisciplinary perspective on play that offers new opportunities for further research