Negentropy Nexus

Step into the Negentropy Nexus online residence where the frontiers of electronic music, digital art, artificial intelligence, and algorithmic performance converge with the concepts of hyperobjects, speculative futures, and post-digital aesthetics as subcultural speculative narratives. 

This online residence brings together artists, theorists, and researchers to explore how these interdisciplinary themes can redefine a speculative ground to reframe electronic opera and contemporary digital art.

At the heart of our exploration is the concept of negentropy—a force that counters the chaos of entropy, symbolizing the creation of order and coherence within complex systems. In the post-digital era, where entropy often dominates at the heart of the post-digital aesthetics, we propose using negentropy as a framework to reimagine and reconstruct the aesthetics of electronic opera, integrating the immersive potential of electronic music, sound art and digital and multimedia art as key components of inspiration.

This residency leverages the concept of negentropy to delve deeply into the computational process integral to contemporary artistic production. We will explore how the use of software, hardware, artificial intelligence, algorithms, and interactive systems can produce works that transcend mere entertainment, especially within contemporary operatic and performative formats. These tools allow for the creation of art that conveys meanings, fosters resistance, and gives voice to sub-cultures, particularly through sonic manifestations that echo the aesthetics of avant-garde, post-minimalism and post-techno art production. As Acousmatic music—where sound is divorced from its visible source works as a first approach to virtuality—creates an auditory experience that transcends the physical, invoking the vast, unseen dimensions of hyperobjects. The concept of Hyperobjects, such as climate change or the Anthropocene, are entities so vast and complex that they defy simple comprehension, much like the disembodied nature of acousmatic sound and the digital as an extension of the real. By embracing these sonic phenomena, we invite participants to engage with the immense and often overwhelming forces that shape our world and new meanings, using sound as a medium to explore the intricate layers of post-digital existence and future narratives. In this sense electronic music, deeply rooted in digital technology and experimental sound, becomes a powerful conduit for expressing the speculative futures that lie at the intersection of cyberculture, technoculture and radical ecology. Through the lens of hyperobjects, electronic music can represent the vast, interconnected systems that define our environment and our relationship with it, offering new ways to reflect on the complexities of our time.

The residence also places a strong emphasis on digital and multimedia art as essential elements in the evolution of contemporary opera approached as a branch for the multimedia art. Unlike traditional opera, which relies on live performers and tradicional staging, contemporary opera—enhanced by digital and multimedia art—allows for dynamic, interactive, and immersive experiences. These art forms expand the boundaries of opera, enabling the integration of visual, auditory, and interactive elements that create a multisensory journey for the audience. Digital and multimedia art can transform the operatic stage into a hyperreal landscape, where hyperobjects and speculative narratives come to life through layers of visual and auditory stimuli.

In this context, our goal is to establish strategies for creating art within today's chaotic transmedia landscape. The aesthetic accelerationism resulting from digital technology's impact on art, society, and culture underscores the industrial and technological complex of capital, promoting the idea of technological advancements as both a source of social and cultural power and a harbinger of collapse. Conversely, this also nurtures resistance discourses that illuminate the consequences of technological progress, particularly within a context of radical ecology. We aim to explore how negentropy can inspire new forms of contemporary opera and digital art that resonate with these complex dynamics, offering innovative approaches to artistic production. We try to follow the impact of Cyberculture and techno culture as source for theoretical experimentation in aesthetics, influenced by social sciences, anthropology, and literature, are integral to our dialogue, as we examine how the aesthetics of a post-techno world can be woven into the fabric of contemporary aesthetic and critic conceptual discurse. The narratives we create will not only reflect the technological accelerationism that shapes our present but will also critique and reframe the dystopian tendencies of unchecked progress. Acousmatic music, electronic music, and multimedia art become tools for expressing these speculative futures, offering new ways to navigate the industrial and technological landscapes that define our time using sound and art as a way of knowing.

Residency Overview:The Online Artist Residency invites participants to engage in a creative journey centered around the exploration of sound through the conceptual framework of Negentropy. This residency is designed for sound artists, contemporary composers, digital artists, and performers who are interested in rethinking and reframing the key concepts in the Negentropy Nexus. Participants will have the opportunity to collaborate, experiment, and produce innovative works that resonate with the themes of negentropy, hyperobjects, post-digital aesthetics, and speculative futures.

What We Expect:

1. Exploration of Sound Art:
   • Create sound installations or compositions that embody the concept of negentropy, exploring how order and coherence can emerge from chaos within complex systems.
   • Experiment with acousmatic music, where sound is disconnected from its source, to evoke the vast and unseen dimensions of hyperobjects.
   • Develop immersive soundscapes that challenge traditional notions of space and time, reflecting the intricate layers of post-digital existence.

1. Contemporary Composition:
   • Compose music that bridges the gap between electronic music and avant-garde classical traditions, inspired by post-minimalism and post-techno aesthetics.
   • Utilize algorithmic composition techniques to create works that reflect the interplay between technology, nature, and speculative futures.
   • Engage with ecological and radical ecological themes, using sound to express the complexities of our relationship with the environment and the impact of technological accelerationism.

1. Acousmatic Music:
   • Focus on the acousmatic experience, creating pieces where the source of sound is obscured or hidden, allowing the listener to engage with the pure auditory experience.
   • Use acousmatic techniques to explore the disembodied nature of sound in the digital realm, reflecting on the concept of the digital as an extension of the real.
   • Develop compositions that evoke hyperreal landscapes, using sound to bring speculative narratives to life.

1. Performance Art:
   • Collaborate with performers to create live or recorded new operatic voice pieces that integrate sound art with digital and multimedia elements, enhancing the sensory experience.
   • Explore interactive performance formats that engage the audience in the creation or manipulation of sound, reflecting the dynamic nature of negentropy.
   • Develop performances that critique or reframe the dystopian tendencies of unchecked technological progress, offering alternative narratives.

1. Digital Art:
   • Create digital or multimedia art that complements or integrates with sound compositions, transforming the auditory experience into a multisensory journey.
   • Explore the use of artificial intelligence, algorithms, and interactive systems to produce works that engage with the speculative, the ecological, and the hyperreal.
   • Develop visual art that interprets the themes of hyperobjects and negentropy, offering new ways to visualize complex and vast systems.

We Are Open To:

• Innovative approaches that push the boundaries of sound art, contemporary composition, and performance.
• Collaborative projects that integrate sound with other digital or multimedia art forms.
• Experimental works that challenge traditional formats and embrace the speculative and the hyperreal.
• Proposals from artists who are eager to explore the intersection of technology, art, and ecology in new and meaningful ways.

This residency is an opportunity to engage with cutting-edge ideas and practices, contributing to a vibrant and evolving discourse on the future of sound, art, and technology. We look forward to your unique contributions to this dynamic and interdisciplinary exploration.

To establish strategies and give visibility to new ideas for creating art within today's chaotic transmedia landscape. We aim to explore how the principles of negentropy, combined with acousmatic music, electronic music, digital and multimedia art, and the concept of hyperobjects, can inspire new forms of contemporary opera and digital art that resonate with the complex challenges and possibilities of our future.

 Residency Overview: The Online Artist Residency is a unique opportunity for artists to delve into the intersection of sound art, contemporary composition, and digital innovation through the lens of Negentropy. Although this residency does not offer monetary compensation, but it provides support and visibility for your work.

What We Offer:

Promotion and Visibility:

• Online Showcase: At the conclusion of the residency, your work will be featured in an online showcase, highlighting the outcomes of your creative process. This platform is designed to reach a broad audience and create opportunities for your work to be seen and appreciated.
• Social Media Promotion: We will promote your projects across our managed social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. This promotion will help amplify your visibility within the Portuguese cultural scene and beyond.

Collaborative Networking:

• Artist Collaboration: Engage with a community of fellow artists, composers, and digital creators. This residency fosters collaboration and exchange, providing a network of peers with whom you can share ideas, techniques, and feedback.

Creative Freedom:

• Exploration and Experimentation: Enjoy the freedom to explore and experiment with innovative approaches to sound art, contemporary composition, and digital media. This residency encourages pushing the boundaries of traditional formats and embracing new artistic possibilities.

 Providing a supportive environment that fosters artistic growth and innovation.

• Ensuring that your work gains recognition and reaches a diverse audience through our promotional efforts.
• Facilitating meaningful connections and collaborations within the creative community.

Be a part of this interdisciplinary dialogue, where art, science, and technology converge to shape the future of electronic opera, multimedia, and digital art. Together, we will navigate the post-digital age, crafting works that transcend mere aesthetics, engaging deeply with the speculative, the ecological, and the hyperreal. 

We look forward to welcoming you to the Online Artist Residency and supporting your journey in exploring and reimagining the frontiers of sound art and digital creativity.

Centro de investigação independente dedicado ao estudo, produção e teorização dos fenómenos sonoro-musicais pós-digitais e suas relações com outras áreas das artes de conhecimento e cruzamento tecnológico, tais como a média-arte digital, artes sonoras, tecnologia, arte e comunicação como processo híbrido transdisciplinar de obtenção de conhecimento nas artes, cultura e sociedade. Analisar-se-á o impacto da tecnologia como tecno-etnomusicologia - estudo onde se reflete os impactos da tecnologia como etnografia-tecnológica  nos artefactos sonoro-musicais, tecnológicos, objetos artísticos, discursos e na cultura - alavancando modelos inovadores de estudos e produções sonoros, extrapolados nas mais recentes interpelações das ciências sociais humanas, com abordagens pós-minimalistas, pós-industriais e pós-techno contempladas numa perspetiva tecnocultural. Alberga-se, assim, a multiplicidade das manifestações sonoro-musicais e seus agentes, compositores, performers, intérpretes, investigadores e interessados na contemporaneidade.

Desenvolver teoricamente os estudos sonoros pós-digitais como suporte essencial da expressão e conhecimento humanos, influenciados pelo impacto dos progressos tecnológicos pós-industriais na sociedade, onde cultura, produção, capital e excedente operam como vetores de criação e contratualização dos eventos sonoro-musicais;

Compreender, consciencializar e aprofundar as dimensões metapolíticas da tecnologia na produção sonoro-musical pós-digital e sua relação com os elementos geológicos do planeta, indústria e capital, abordados como ecologia radical de imanência, na música eletrónica e na arte e tecnologia. Geologia, tecnologia, inovação, obsolescência, e-trash e dispositivos sonoros são vetores de produção, conhecimento, reciclagem e possibilidades estéticas, na construção teórica, prática e análise dos eventos sonoro-musicais, na ecologia, contextos e significados;

Demonstrar que o Pós-digital é um movimento estético metapolítico dependente do complexo  industrial e tecnológico do capital e, ao mesmo tempo, um modo de resistência sonoro-musical sub-cultural, relacionado com o impacto da tecnologia na sociedade como poder, classificando-o além das estéticas da disfuncionalidade. Desenvolvimento de um arquivo e produção de conteúdos sonoro-musicais, científicos e tecnológicos, disponíveis na comunidade e nas redes, de modo aberto, refletindo os interesses dos membros;

Criar um espaço favorável para o trabalho de investigação, divulgação, colaboração e discussão organizada nacional e internacional, com vista às necessidades e prioridades científicas identificadas;

Impulsionar investigação e debate, interno e externo, capaz de gerar avanços, estimulando a criatividade em artistas emergentes implicados com o evento sonoro-musical pós-digital. Extrapolar contemporâneos regimes de visibilidade hiper-ótica e hiper-sónica que nos remetem para os limites da representação, tais como: o som na dimensão mais ínfima da matéria, o som no plano dos atuantes biológicos e o som no universo.

Composição Musical; Performance Musical; Artes Sonoras e espacialização. Música Eletrónica computacional; Interatividade, Controllism e Gesto. Tecnologias Sonoras; Indústria, Capital, Inovação, Obsolescência, Hiper-instrumentos e Tecno-Etnomusicológico. Música visual; Hibridez, Meta-média, Média-Arte Digital e Sinestesia. Teoria Crítica da Música; Sociedade, Cultura, Expressões e Discursos. Filosofia Contemporânea e Estética: Meta-política, Resistência e Ecologia. Perceção, Cognição Musical e Sonora; Visualcentrismo, Hiper-ótica, Hiper-sónica, Representação Sonoro-Musical. Preservação,  Documentação e Arquivo do legado Sonoro-Musical.