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Materials and Materiality in Music
Veranstaltungsdatum: 07.11.2024
Ort der Veranstaltung: Kulturforum, KGM Vortragssaal
Im Rahmen der interdisziplinäre Akademie "Ecological Entanglements across Collections – Plant Lives and Beyond" vom 4. bis 8. November in Berlin.
Die interdisziplinäre Akademie „Ecological Entanglements across Collections – Plant Lives and Beyond“ baut auf der ökocritischen Wende in den Geisteswissenschaften auf und lädt dazu ein, menschliche Verflechtungen mit pflanzlichem/nicht-menschlichem Leben gemeinsam neu zu denken. Sie erforscht die Rolle des Pflanzenlebens in künstlerischen und ästhetischen Praktiken, der menschlichen Wissensproduktion und dem theoretischen kritischen Denken über verschiedene Geschichten, Gemeinschaften und Geografien hinweg.
Der Vortrag von Ulrike G.K. Wegst (Northeastern University, Boston) und Rebecca Wolf (Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung) findet im Rahmen des Panels "Plants and the Senses in Visual, Linguistic, and Sound Cultures" in englischer Sprache statt.
Inhalt: About 40,000 years ago, our ancestors expertly crafted mammoth ivory and swan wing bone flutes. Quite likely, the instrument makers had earlier trained their skills on more easily workable but perishable materials such as wood, bamboo, reed, gourds, and other plant-based materials. We still cherish these today, because of their attractive acoustical properties, their aesthetic appeal, and the comparative ease with which they can be worked. Initially limited to local plant species, such as spruce, maple, and boxwood in Europe, instrument makers later added tropical species such as ebony, grenadille, and Pernambuco from Africa, Asia, and South America. New and exotic materials, from the European perspective, were not only desirable as status symbol or fashion statement. They also offered technological advantages, ranging from an easier manufacture of a musical instrument with greater precision for improved playability and acoustical qualities. Today, plant-based materials remain competitive. However, despite being “renewable” resources, a number of them face challenges. Some of the revered tropical wood species are on the CITES list, others like spruce are exposed to significant changes in growth conditions from drought to extreme windstorms associated with climate change. Are wood-dust filled polymers for clarinets and carbon-fiber composites for violin bows and guitars environmentally-benign alternatives? Are they acceptable and accepted by musicians? Exploring materials’ characters in several examples, we will reflect upon the terms material and materiality focusing on music and instruments while discussing the relationship of the object itself to the cultural historical concepts.