A Carrier Bag Theory of Electronic Music: Relationality in Human-Machine Interaction

This practice-led research project explores how the foregrounding of relationality between human and machine can be employed as a creative strategy in contemporary electronic music. Ursula Le Guin’s ‘A Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction’ and More-Than-Human studies create a framework to challenge hierarchical relationships between humans and music technology and to further understand intersubjectivity and agency of the human and more-than-human in electronic music making. Techniques of foregrounding relationality are explored in my creative work with Buchla modular synthesis systems and the music software Ableton Live, with affect driven processes of improvisation, editing, sampling, and live performance, conceptualised as relational musicking.