Tölvera: Composing With Basal Agencies

Jack Armitage, Victor Shepardson, and Thor Magnusson

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract:

Diverse intelligence is an emerging field that views intelligence as a spectrum, drawing insights from e.g. cell-based models and their evolution, and recognising the combined agential properties of biological and engineered materials across disciplines. Within diverse intelligence, basal cognition encapsulates the simpler end of the continuum, focusing on broadly applicable insights from the behaviour of single-celled organisms and simulation. Based on a desire for more diversity of real-time AI in NIME, we developed a library called Tölvera, initially for composable artificial life. In this paper we present Tölvera's design and the practice-based methodology that drove it, reviewing artistic works and emergent themes from design-practice iteration cycles. We reflect on how an early influence of artificial life gave way to an interest in reading Tölvera as a basal art medium, and how unexpected tendencies and capabilities play in perturbative aesthetic tension with compositional decisions. We describe how basal agency research, aesthetics and toolkits are influencing the direction of both design and practice, and review work-in-progress features. Finally, we reflect on how a cell's eye view of agency is shaping our thinking towards AI in NIME.

Citation:

Jack Armitage, Victor Shepardson, and Thor Magnusson. 2024. Tölvera: Composing With Basal Agencies. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.13904854

BibTeX Entry:

  @article{nime2024_42,
 abstract = {Diverse intelligence is an emerging field that views intelligence as a spectrum, drawing insights from e.g. cell-based models and their evolution, and recognising the combined agential properties of biological and engineered materials across disciplines. Within diverse intelligence, basal cognition encapsulates the simpler end of the continuum, focusing on broadly applicable insights from the behaviour of single-celled organisms and simulation. Based on a desire for more diversity of real-time AI in NIME, we developed a library called Tölvera, initially for composable artificial life. In this paper we present Tölvera's design and the practice-based methodology that drove it, reviewing artistic works and emergent themes from design-practice iteration cycles. We reflect on how an early influence of artificial life gave way to an interest in reading Tölvera as a basal art medium, and how unexpected tendencies and capabilities play in perturbative aesthetic tension with compositional decisions. We describe how basal agency research, aesthetics and toolkits are influencing the direction of both design and practice, and review work-in-progress features. Finally, we reflect on how a cell's eye view of agency is shaping our thinking towards AI in NIME.},
 address = {Utrecht, Netherlands},
 articleno = {42},
 author = {Jack Armitage and Victor Shepardson and Thor Magnusson},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.13904854},
 editor = {S M Astrid Bin and Courtney N. Reed},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {September},
 numpages = {10},
 pages = {282--291},
 presentation-video = {https://youtu.be/z_xZr0TXHsY?si=G7Qy7q5OcnaiKKsx},
 title = {Tölvera: Composing With Basal Agencies},
 track = {Papers},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2024/nime2024_42.pdf},
 year = {2024}
}