Creation as experiment – A pragmatic approach to being in the world
„Philosophers until now have only interpreted the world in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.” (Karl Marx)
Abstract
There is a lack of personal experiences and knowledge beyond books in parts of musicology and other art and media studies. Theoretical discourses about theoretical discourses and waves of quotations reign. Strictly analytical thinking is favored over combining it with making. Sealed off from experiments and actions, tacit knowledge, that is equally relevant to the subjects of study, is neglected. Contrasting this, I will explore the possibilities and chances of experimental making processes as an additional form of research, just having a go, not knowing what the outcome might be, and even more important acting oneself. This will be achieved through creating artifacts, systems and situations, utilizing practice research and autoethnography, while drawing my main examples from visual arts, musical instrument building, experimental music and teaching.
keywords – autoethnography, experiment, making, practice research, pragmatism, tacit knowledge
| birth – death | Learning new things |
- organology
- instrument making
- experiment
- practice research
- pragmatism
- fictive art
- teaching music
- feedback sounds at KHM: ground zero – summer semester 2023 (seminar/workshop)
- lofi sampler/looper at KHM: ground zero – summer semester 2023 (seminar/workshop)
- cassette loop…cassette loop…cassette loop… at KHM: ground zero – winter semester 2022/23 (seminar/workshop)
- meta matter(s) no. 5 at ZKM: next generation 9.0 – june-22-2022 (talk/performance)
- experiments and/as improvisations at KHM: Artistic research – in the wild – may-27-2022 (seminar)
- hidden sounds at KHM: ground zero – winter semester 2021/22 (seminar/workshop)
- [upcoming] (15.9.-15.12.2023) Scholar in residence at Deutsches Museum Munich (residency + scholarship)
- [upcoming] (1.7.-1.8.2023) Reverse engineering and experimental archaeology at Greifenberg Institute of Organology (residency)
- (3.7.-15.7.2022) The poetics of making at Palazzo Ricci – European Academy of Music and Performing Arts (residency + workshop)
- [in print] „meta matters no. 5“, KHM Magazin #1, pp. xx-yy.
- (2022) „Creation as experiment – A pragmatic approach to being in the world“, in Trogemann, G. and Butz, K. (eds.) In the making. Cologne: Academy of Media Arts, pp. 17-47.
- (2022) „Experiment and expectation – Exploring the social life of ink dots“, in Trogemann, G. and Butz, K. (eds.) In the making. Cologne: Academy of Media Arts, pp. 49-56.
- (2022) „The end of copyright“, Montepulciano Journal – The poetics of making, pp. 99-105.
Christian Rust
c.rust@khm.de