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Submission Number: 391
Submission ID: 463
Submission UUID: 790aaa5e-8b8d-4dd2-b807-f62c387f9c54
Submission URI: /ga/form/submit-contribution
Cruthaithe: Mon, 2 Mar 2026 - 17:01
Déanta: Mon, 2 Mar 2026 - 22:05
Changed: Wed, 13 May 2026 - 08:39
Remote IP address: 212.17.90.147
Submitted by: Anonymous
Teanga: English
Is draft: Níl
Current page: webform_confirmation
Flagged: Tá
| Given name | Thomas |
|---|---|
| Surname | Grill |
| grill@mdw.ac.at | |
| I understand that by submitting this form, I consent to the use of my data for the purposes of the 2026 Forum on Artistic Research'. | Tá |
| I agree to the terms of service. | Tá |
| Title | Conversing for Coexistence |
| Format | Project presentation |
| Main language | English |
| Abstract | "Conversing for Coexistence" is an electro-acoustic installation developed within the artistic research project "Spirits in Complexity – Making kin with Experimental Music Systems" (2024–). The work investigates sound as a medium for practising coexistence in adaptive, distributed systems. Inspired by Donna Haraway’s notion of "making kin," kinship is conceived here as a non-hierarchical, multispecies practice enacted through mutual responsiveness and shared inhabitation rather than fusion or domination. The installation consists of a distributed network of speaker-agents equipped with reinforcement learning capacities. Each agent listens locally and adapts its sonic behaviour in relation to other agents, architectural resonances, audience presence, and ambient noise. Instead of optimizing toward a fixed compositional goal, agents seek viable niches within a shared acoustic ecology. Drawing on the acoustic niche hypothesis, niche-finding becomes both technical procedure and aesthetic principle: when the sonic field saturates, agents must retreat, transform, or radically alter their behaviour to persist. The work recalls artistic approaches such as David Tudor’s Rainforest series, yet extends them through adaptive machine listening and synthesis. The installation space functions as habitat and co-agent; each iteration is site-specific and irreproducible, shaped by contingent interactions and feedback loops. "Conversing for Coexistence" stages an ecology of audible relations in real time. It invites listeners to attune to patterns of emergence, friction, and alliance, reframing attention as a mode of cohabitation. Making kin becomes both artistic strategy and ethical orientation: a speculative sonic sociality in which distinct entities maintain difference while sustaining shared worlds through continuous negotiation. |
| Link to the Exposition | https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/4204449/4204450 |
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| Short biographies of the presenter(s) |
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| Previous presentations or iterations of the research | |
| Additional information | Our contribution is envisioned as presenting both theoretical and practical aspects. The described installation will run and evolve during the presentation slot, adapting among itself and the environment. |
| Spatial and technical requirements | We will bring a laptop with HDMI video output and minijack or USB-A audio output. We will bring a number of sounding agents (objects ca 10x10x10cm) which we like to distribute in the room. It would be helpful to have a couple of (min. 4) mic stands. If these are not available, we can use other horizontal parts of the space. |
| Potential risks or ethical concerns | none |
| Create a user account for SAR 2026 | Tá |
| Create new user | Thomas Grill |
