Seduced by (a) last year : Interdisciplinary Music Motivated by Non-Idiomatic Improvisation, The Non-Productive Attitude, and Pluralist Aesthetics

Abstract: In my master’s project I investigated an interdisciplinary musical practice based on my artistic and educational background in art, music and philosophy. I chose one concept per discipline: non-idiomatic improvisation from the field of music, the non-productive attitude from art, and pluralist aesthetics from philosophy. I used the three concepts to find materials for my project: both musical materials, for example live improvisation and recordings, and non-musical materials, for example photographs and texts. The materials I found made up the components of a performative piece of music and became musical through contextualisation and metaphor. The photographs, recordings and texts were collected from different periods in my life and represented my interests, relations and values during my different educations. The ensemble that I assembled to perform the music consisted of people that were close to me on both a personal and professional level to emphasise that the music was based on my educational background and personal narrative. Initially I was less interested in the sonorous outcome of my project and I would have accepted it based solely on its interdisciplinary motivations. During my studies I realised that involving musical parameters to a greater extent enhanced the interdisciplinary and non-musical aspects of my project. An important learning outcome of my project was that focusing on the musical particularities of my artistic practice strengthened its interdisciplinary character. This is something that I wish to investigate further as a continuation of this project.