www.ncl.ac.uk/niassh/culturelab/mm/mm3.htm

III “Music and Machines” seminar

developed by “Culture Lab” and ICMuS, will take the form of a two-day conference focussing themes that have emerged over the previous two meetings, themes which gravitate around issues of the role of technological legibility and the pressures brought to bear upon aesthetics under the impact of digital technologies. the issue of legibility asks us to consider the different forms of virtuosity that emerge from automated systems, interactive systems, and from activities such as live coding (as a form of artistic performance) and “circuit bending”… how much is the technological mediation itself an attribute of the work? who is playing – the computer or the “musician”? what is the impact upon aesthetic and evaluative principles? rather than attempting to encounter contemporary artworks on the basis of historical specific criteria of value (technical skill, breadth of knowledge, sensitivity of interpretation) should we not be establishing evaluative competencies related to the specifics of contemporary making process?