Instrumentness for creativity mediation, materiality & metonymy

Abstract

We introduce the concept instrumentness as a quality of human-computer interfaces. Instrumentness points to the way musical instruments are controlled and conceptualized through values such as virtuosity and playability, which are important for computer-mediated creative work supporting development in use beyond what is initially designed for. The paper performs a conceptual investigation into qualities in software interfaces that support creativity, supported by analysis of, and interviews with, musical composers. Instrumentness is explained through discussions of materiality and metonymy as central strategies for computer mediated creativity. The paper is contributing to an investigation of the aesthetics of use in relation to software, pointing to alternative values, differing from traditional usability, which are also relevant in creative work outside art and music composition.

Indirect control and making actions explicit in 3D drawing

“…[30] is concerned with designing computer artifacts analogous to shaping physical artifacts and propose composite materials using both computational and physical properties. While they regard computation in general as material and refer to the general qualities of computation such as temporality and reversibility, a body of work [2,17] has investigated the qualities of specific software as a material for designers. This is also the approach in this paper; the focus is on the particular features of the prototype developed during the design process.…”

“…[2] consider materiality as a key aspect of computer mediated musical composition. Based on their interviews with composers, they show how the functional elements of the music generation software construct the "resistance of the material", as they call it, which they regard as a necessary premise for creative activity.…”

“…[31] distinguish between cognitive resources spent on creative tasks and interaction with computer and advocate for the easy creation of representations such as in sketching, favoring the idea of disappearing tool. On the other hand, the ideal of disappearing tool has been criticized from the perspective of performance, favoring an awareness of artifacts [10], and the recognition of materiality as a constituent of software as an instrument [2].…”

“…In contrast, rather than relying on user history, the prototype described in this paper demonstrated how the user's actions can be reified in the form of manipulation objects, similar to traces of human agency on physical materials in the form of tools and residues. Visual programming interfaces enable extending the user interface by reifying user commands in the form of visual programming objects [2]. The prototype developed during the study similarly enabled reifying the user's actions.…”

The Design Process Continues

“…Information technology can be regarded as a material with no recognisable features [16,17]. However Bertelsen et al [18] introduced materiality as a concept describing, among other digital artefacts, electronic music artefacts developed with the MaxMSP programming environment. Thus, experience designers can learn from more traditional design disciplines to be attentive to the designs' materiality [19].…”