Terrestrial: Toward an ecological emergence in music

The research examines the potentiality of emergence and environmental intelligence as a compositional and performative tool. It focuses on a de/reterritorialization process that – to borrow from Deleuzian terminology – is becoming-environment of music and becoming-music of an environment. The key questions are: what is music and what could it become? How could environmentally sensitive and responsive music operate in the age of accelerated environmental change and ever-ubiquitous intelligent technology?

Drawing from Assemblage Theory, Hyperobjects, New Materialism and Posthumanism, the research seeks to formulate a new 21st century musical practice and aesthetic as that of a constructive agency between environment, music, technology and philosophy; to posit an idea of composer/performer as a facilitator – philosopher, gardener, catalyst – between contemporary society, science and sonic arts. The focus is on generative (self-organising and -evolving) musical practices that cover electroacoustic and contemporary classical music, new global musical styles as well as the emerging possibilities and combinations of music and sound art.

Alongside written theoretical work and a series of compositions and performances, the practice-based research consists of developing an AI application (‘Terrestrial’) that will act as an intelligent algorithmic tool between the composer/performer and a given environment (e.g. an ecosystem, hyperobject, network or assemblage) – actual or virtual.