Computations (working title)

As formalised reasoning becomes inescapably automated, acting both as artificial mirror for the human mind and as gauge for humanness to be defined against, several questions present themselves : Whose reason does it embody? Could we imagine alternatives for it? Is it possible to build other machines and processes that makes ourselves feel and question both their and our foundations? Or can we turn these new instruments of calculation and power into instruments of liberation?

With this project, I attempt to situate the obscured knowledge, history and sociality embed already or potentially in an everyday environment that we deem inanimate and too complicated for us, and that we therefore surrendered to external entities. My specific interest for the afro-asian roots of mathematics and computation resides in the fact that they are a clear starting point for unveiling how much of a standardisation and bias, intentional or not, has been taking place in that area.

Throughout my research grant, I would like to speculate through composition making bringing together elements of language derived from computer music with culturally contextualised aspects of sonic expression of the Afro-diasporic sphere mainly. One specific area that I plan to investigate is algorithmic composition, in relation to historically and culturally situated mathematical knowledge and computational processes. I would likewise further research psychoacoustics phenomenons and their potential in this context.

This research should also lead to the construction of technological objects, circuits and programs which attempt to implement those ideas of alternatives logics, ways of enacting social relations and parallels with the body.

During this time, I would like to develop my personal writings. In this moment in time of my artistic research, I find it important to focus on constituting an archive of sorts that contains texts and authors alluding to the growing knowledge around the topic of mathematics and computation outside of the strictly speaking „Eurological“ cultural spheres. My aim is then to set myself in dialogue with experts from other scientific and mathematical fields as well as cultural horizons. Ideally this exchange would include the visit of different relevant places when accessible, either for in person meetings or in the eventuality of needing to access sites storing informations that might not be digitalised yet.

Jessica Ekomane is a French-born and Berlin-based electronic musician and sound artist. She creates situations where the sound acts as a transformative element for the space and the audience. Her quadraphonic performances, characterized by their physical affect, seek a cathartic effect through the interplay of psychoacoustics, the perception of rhythmic structures and the interchange of noise and melody. Her ever-changing and immersive sonic landscapes are grounded in questions such as the relationship between individual perception and collective dynamics or the investigation of listening expectations and their societal roots. Her first LP Multivocal was released in 2019 via Important Records. Since then, her work has been extensively presented in festivals, venues, contemporary art spaces and museums internationally. She was one of the fellows in residence for the villa Romana Prize 2023 in Florence.