The Anthropocene

Overview

The Anthropocene is a two-sided album comprised of aleatoric virtual piano compositions produced through human-plant collaboration. To create the work, Tynan implemented chance-based devices including dice rolling, a virtual instrument algorithm, and bio-sonification, the process of turning the electrophysiological processes of living entities into sound.

Compositional limitations informed by American composer John Cage and ambient music pioneer Brian Eno were applied to indeterministic passages of MIDI data collected from plants’ electrical signals.

The work explores the vacillation between power and powerlessness and the horror and mystery that characterises living in the Anthropocene, a proposed geological epoch that acknowledges the magnitude and scale of human-induced changes to Earth’s biogeochemical cycles.

The Anthropocene is a component of a research project called Aleatoricism and the Anthropocene: Narrowing the divide between humanity and nature through chance-based art research, conducted as part of Honours in Creative Media at Murdoch University in 2020.

Downloads

The Anthropocene - Digital album download
Aleatoricism and the Anthropocene - Thesis download
The Anthropocene on SoundCloud - Streaming link



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