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      Celebrating 65 years of The Computer Journal - free-to-read perspectives - bcs.org/tcj65

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      Deep Listening: Early Computational Composition and its Influence on Algorithmic Aesthetics

      proceedings-article
      RE:SOUND 2019 – 8th International Conference on Media Art, Science, and Technology (RE:SOUND 2019)
      Media Art, Science, and Technology
      August 20-23, 2019
      Machine learning, music composition, aesthetics
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            Abstract

            The popularity of the program DeepDream, created by Google engineer Alexander Mordvintsev, exploded due to the open source availability of its uncanny, hallucinogenic aesthetic. Once used to synthesize visual textures, the program popularized the concept of neural network training through image classification algorithms, inspiring visual art interrogating machine learning and the training of proprietary prediction algorithms; though DeepDream has facilitated the production of many mundane examples of surreal computer art, it has also helped to produce some conceptually rich visual investigations, including MacArthur “genius” awardee Trevor Paglen’s recent installation A Study of Invisible Images . While the significance of trained neural networks is presently considered valuable to computer vision experimentation, a medial archaeological investigation of the conceptual underpinnings of machine learning reveals the fundamental influence early sonic experiments in computational music have in its computational and conceptual framework. Early computational music works, such as Lejaren Hiller Jr. and Leonard Isaacson’s Illiac Suite (1957), the first score composed by a computer, as well as Hiller and John Cage’s ambitious multimedia performance HPSCHD (1969), used stochastic models to automate game-like processes, such as Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s Renaissance-era polyphonic instruction, as well as the I Ching divination process of casting coins or yarrow stalks. Hiller's concerns regarding the historical use of compositional/mathematical gameplay uncovers a conceptual and performative emphasis anticipating the “training” of visual models. Through the adverse reactions of audiences to Hiller’s compositions, written by what the press deemed derogatorily “An electronic brain” in 1957 parallel public reactions to the disturbing mutations of DeepDream, popular participation in the open source project signals a growing willingness to collaborate creatively with computers to interrogate both computational and cognitive processes.

            Content

            Author and article information

            Contributors
            Conference
            August 2019
            August 2019
            : 43-50
            Affiliations
            [0001]University of Illinois at Chicago

            Chicago, Illinois 60607
            Article
            10.14236/ewic/RESOUND19.7
            e3e109fa-d0b1-4fcc-a0c1-84e6b0081090
            © Funk. Published by BCS Learning and Development Ltd. Proceedings of RE:SOUND 2019

            This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

            RE:SOUND 2019 – 8th International Conference on Media Art, Science, and Technology
            RE:SOUND 2019
            8
            Aalborg, Denmark
            August 20-23, 2019
            Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)
            Media Art, Science, and Technology
            History
            Product

            1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

            Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/RESOUND19.7
            Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/
            Categories
            Electronic Workshops in Computing

            Applied computer science,Computer science,Security & Cryptology,Graphics & Multimedia design,General computer science,Human-computer-interaction
            aesthetics,music composition,Machine learning

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