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Flow Control
A common thread in the approaches discussed here is the exploration of formative principles in the material we hear. Rather than merely showcasing collections of ‘beautiful sounds’, the music comprises elements that have developed links through the technical processes that constitute their creation. We experience the result of something that relates to the ongoing and that informs the whole work. An attitude of inventing systems instead of composing works. In music with a strong focus on sonority and texture, the question becomes: What drives one event to follow another? What principles tie together the flow of events? Are there underlying phenomena that cause what is heard? Reflecting on how people naturally seek order attribution, Alberto De Campo remarks 'how causality is not an inherent property of the world itself; it is always interpreted into the world as a cognitive construction by a living being observing its environment […]. Usually, this happens, intending to control the flow of the world by being able to predict future events.'(2018: 37)
Observing processes from a distance can give an impression of organisation and control, where actions seem to comment on or guide something already established. It appears as if the primary interest lies in how these methods operate, while it is rather in how they bring about a flow of something in time that matters and provides the sensation of causality.
Rather than concentrating on time as a series of relationships, it makes more sense here to think of it in the context of change and the interrelations within and among materials. In this perspective, time is conceptualised as an abstraction representing change. This abstract notion is exemplified through the interplay of discrete events and the materials involved in these events. What causes something is the result of the work behind the temporal changes. If that amounts to a perceived principle, then it can offer a fresh understanding of time’s role and impact within such a medium.
Image description: An abstract, five-part diagram depicts a simple flow of information.
Click on https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/2938321/3620168#tool-3625143 to see the image.
Reinterpreted Questioning
The database queries of UPICS and the network growth models of Holding Pattern emphasise the representing of, and interfacing to, archived musical material that is to be reinterpreted. The belief is that, although somehow remote to the resulting music, the systems are instrumental as a generative backbone and for a perceived unity of the works. The practical projects not only demonstrate the potential of these systems to reinterpret musical material, but also highlight the fluidity between the creation of tools, the artistic process, and the current research questions.
We now further aim to look at the following questions through the involvement of the actual practice:
- How can computational tools allow for working with existing musical material in new ways and transform that material into a different artistic context?
- In what ways can selection processes operating on large material sets become part of what defines the creative practice when using them?
- How do relational algorithms influence aesthetic choices in the works they are used for as discovered through artistic experimentation?
- Which forms of knowledge are created by applying network and relational data concepts to music composition?