Collaboration and Recursion: reflections on calligraphy and feedback

Iurii Kuzmin, Omar Al Kanawati, and Raul Masu

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

This paper offers reflections on the collaboration between a sound artist and an artist specializing in Chinese calligraphy, which resulted in the creation of a sound installation combining contemporary Chinese calligraphy with electroacoustic feedback. Adopting the “reflection-on-action” approach, the authors engaged in an in-depth discussion, revisiting the details of the creative process based on the extensive documentation compiled in the form of a visual diary. The paper highlights three orders of recursivity that are either physically present in the work (electroacoustic feedback), defined the creative process (collaboration) or served as an analytical tool (ecology) to discuss the dynamics of collaboration and cultural influences in NIME practice.

Citation

Iurii Kuzmin, Omar Al Kanawati, and Raul Masu. 2025. Collaboration and Recursion: reflections on calligraphy and feedback. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15698829 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@article{nime2025_26,
 abstract = {This paper offers reflections on the collaboration between a sound artist and an artist specializing in Chinese calligraphy, which resulted in the creation of a sound installation combining contemporary Chinese calligraphy with electroacoustic feedback. Adopting the “reflection-on-action” approach, the authors engaged in an in-depth discussion, revisiting the details of the creative process based on the extensive documentation compiled in the form of a visual diary. The paper highlights three orders of recursivity that are either physically present in the work (electroacoustic feedback), defined the creative process (collaboration) or served as an analytical tool (ecology) to discuss the dynamics of collaboration and cultural influences in NIME practice.},
 address = {Canberra, Australia},
 articleno = {26},
 author = {Iurii Kuzmin and Omar Al Kanawati and Raul Masu},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.15698829},
 editor = {Doga Cavdir and Florent Berthaut},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 numpages = {9},
 pages = {175--183},
 presentation-video = {https://vimeo.com/1037811492},
 title = {Collaboration and Recursion: reflections on calligraphy and feedback},
 track = {Paper},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2025/nime2025_26.pdf},
 year = {2025}
}