Spirits in Complexity

Music is based on the interaction of humans and sounding instruments in a specific context, i.e., a social, cultural and architectural space. Years of artistic practice often lead to close functional and affective relationships with the objects involved with acoustic instruments, but also with other technical devices such as recording equipment, synthesizers and even software. These working relationships between human and non-human actors can take the form of a kinship relationship, but can also be of a negotiating or even confrontational nature, or take on ritual and spiritual forms. We use the titular term spirits in a metaphorical sense to refer to an opaque complexity that characterizes human and non-human interaction in the artistic-creative context. Furthermore, the spirits stand for the self-willedness of complex dynamic systems that resist purposeful control and demand attentiveness and a kind of respect from people in order to make interaction possible in the first place. In contemporary music-making, objects of artistic practice are more often micromechanical/electronic/algorithmic technologies than handmade materials. Their complexity often exceeds the level at which technology is understood by most people in its full depth in other words, we are dealing with black box systems. This is particularly evident in technologies based on deep learning (AI). Nowadays, such systems are used for all kinds of purposes, also as tools for music analysis or generation, or for interactive co- creation. How does the use of technology in contemporary artistic practices change when the interaction is expanded from a purely analytical or control perspective to include kinship, negotiation, confrontation, deception, seduction, abuse, etc.? Our central hypothesis is that through a deep understanding of the personal properties of music technology, new forms and qualities of artistic expression are unleashed that would otherwise be unattainable. Among other things, we will look at the individual lives of electroacoustic instruments; change the environmental conditions in which such instruments unfold; explore feedback as a means of subtle contact; attempt to shed light on the latent spaces of AI models; artistically utilize music systems that automatically generate music, and create collaborative compositions by human and non-human contributors. We hope to gain insights that can inspire the way we deal with the AI systems of everyday life towards a consciously structured and critical coexistence with the technologies and the underlying techno-monopolies that so strongly determine our lives today.