Archiving post-1960s experimental music: Exploring the ontology of music beyond the score-performance dichotomy

ARPOEXMUS explores what role musicology can play in ensuring the storage, preservation, management and curation of post-1960s experimental music.

For the first time, this project addresses the theoretical, ontological, methodological and ethical issues that arise from archiving the heterogenous instruments, objects, electronic devices, software, and custom-built materials that have been at the heart of sonic arts for the past 60-years.

Drawing on a set of comparative case studies, ARPOEXMUS engages with three different paradigms: 1) objects as scores, instruments and sculptures and their preservation in musical archives; 2) custom-made electronic instruments and collaborations with science and technology museums; 3) obsolescence and digital heritage.

These will be tackled using insights from contemporary musicology and archival studies that challenge the assumptions of permanence and stability upon which the ‘work concept’ is based.

ARPOEXMUS uses qualitative data analysis, comparative analysis, media theory, and action-based research to explore in detail: 1) the ontologies set forth by each case study; 2) current conservation practices to archive and conserve these ontologies; 3) innovative conservation practices designed specifically for these new ontologies.

Bringing together an ER whose expertise covers 1960s and ’70s experimental music and archiving, a Supervisor who is a leading voice in the process of decolonisation and diversity in music studies and a Co-Supervisor who is a leading scholar in contemporary digital musics and sound art, ARPOEXMUS will contribute new insights and initiatives for scholars, archivists, and practitioners.