Research Catalogue

research expositions

• Thinking in two places at once (last edited: 2020) author(s): Tim Sayer This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
  300 word supporting statement The aim of this practice-let research is to reveal new knowledge regarding changes on cognitive load that occur when playing an instrument and interacting with some form of technology, including live coding and what implications this might have for creative expression. The outputs from this research are my contribution to the album Bristol Fashion, to live performances and related journal article. The supporting documentation submitted in this exposition includes: • digital versions of the physical release of Bristol Fashion (vinyl submitted) • film footage of performances • links to instances of media interest and reviews • related journal article My research focuses on changes in cognition that occur when improvisers use technology. Specifically, when a performer’s attention and awareness is compromised in their attendance to the operation of a traditional instrument, in addition to some form of mediating technology, and the implications this may have for spontaneous creativity, the hallmark of free improvisation. As with many other forms of embodied knowledge, musical performance skills, hitherto dependent on finely tunes motor skills and acutely honed reactions, can now be deferred to machines. My research presents new knowledge in how this shift raises implications for performers who straddle both paradigms and how it impacts perception of their own cognitive load. The theoretical frame used to analyse this activity draws on current debates on duel tasking, multi-tasking and distraction, from within the field of cognitive phycology and applied neuropsychology and the philosophy of embodied cognition. This presents new opportunities to bring these areas together to develop a new conceptual model of the various cognitive states utilised in instrumental/technological hybrid performance practices, that presents both an opportunity for positive enhancement in creative potential, as well as the potential for negative impact, through cognitive overload.
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• CONNECTING THROUGH CODE (last edited: 2020) author(s): Tim Sayer This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
  300 word supporting statement The output from this practice-led research submission is the generative soundtrack, which accompanies the interdisciplinary work Breath Pieces, conceived by Rosanna Irvine. This output has led to the generation of new knowledge in the area of creative collaborative, through it’s novel use of a live coding environment, as a means of mediation between artists with differing levels of coding/technical literacy. The contextual information submitted in this exposition includes: • a video which provides an insight into the how the generative soundtrack was developed using a reduced parameter space negotiated by the artists. • the evolution of the piece, by supplying all 12 versions of the code, from initial sketches to finished product. • extensive documentation of the discourse, which supported the development of this new working methodology. The work, performed at Tramway Glasgow in June 2018, was commissioned by Creative Scotland, with support from The Work Room, City Moves, Cove Park and Scottish Dance Theatre. Proposals for a conference presentation and short paper entitled ‘Connecting through code: Using code as a medium to construct a generative musical score by collaborating artists with differing levels of coding literacy’ has been submitted to AISB 2020 symposium on Computational Creativity (CC@AISB’2020) St Mary’s University, Twickenham and the Journal of Web Semantics (JWS) special issue on Semantic Technologies in the Creative Industries. Within the arts there is sometimes a form of cultural mystique, which surrounds the practice of computer programming, which can form an exclusion zone for artists who have not acquired the requisite vernacular to engage in discourse or practice in this field of endeavour. This research suggests a model of collaboration that uses code as a means of formalising mutual understanding and could potentially be applied to any collaborative context to bridge a gap in coding literacy between the collaborators.
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• Passive BCI in contemporary performance (last edited: 2020) author(s): Tim Sayer This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
  300 word supporting statement The aim of this research is to explore, in artistic practice, the concept of ‘cognitive ambience’, which I have developed in the book chapter “Using EEG to explore cognitive-cultural networks and eco-systemic performance environments for improvisation”. I have done this in the creation of a piece entitled ‘Mondrisonic’ which opened the 4th International Performance Studies Network Conference at Bath Spa University in 2016. This exposition provides the following contextual information: • Book chapter • 2 Documentary films • Proof of performance • Code • Score The claim for new knowledge in this submission is not for the approach to coding the system, which uses Processing for the visuals and Supercollider for the audio, but for the fact that the data used to feed into the closed loop performance system, results from harvesting the passive EEG signal from one of the performance participants. This participant is directing their attention towards something other than actively being a performer in the piece but whose attentiveness to the piece is nevertheless affecting how the piece develops, an approach that I believe to be new and novel in creative work utilising BCI. There are currently two proposals for further performances pending, one at the ICMC2020 and the other at the IASPM UK and Ireland Biennial Conference.
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