Baoshu

Baoshu

Science Fiction / Fantasy Writer; 2022-2023 Berggruen China Center Fellow

Ziyaad Bhorat

Ziyaad Bhorat

Political Theorist, 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Cameron Brinitzer

Cameron Brinitzer

Historian & Anthropologist of Science, 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Ben Cerveny

Ben Cerveny

Senior Fellow

Xia Chen

Xia Chen

Professor, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS); 2022-2023 Berggruen China Center Fellow

Stanley Qiufan Chen

Stanley Qiufan Chen

Speculative Fiction Writer; 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Inho Choi

Inho Choi

Political Scientist, 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Alexander Clapp

Alexander Clapp

Journalist, 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Lee Cronin

Lee Cronin

Chemist, 2023 Berggruen Fellow

Marjan Horst Ehsassi

Marjan Horst Ehsassi

Policy Strategist, Advocate and Practitioner, 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Peter Ekman

Peter Ekman

Geographer, 2021-2024 Berggruen Fellow

Jun Gong

Jun Gong

Professor of Philosophy, Sun Yat-sen University; 2022-2023 Berggruen China Center Fellow

Yuk Hui

Yuk Hui

Philosopher, 2021-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Gabriel Kahan

Gabriel Kahan

Creative Practitioner and Technologist, Berggruen Fellow

Jonathon Keats

Jonathon Keats

Experimental Philosopher, Artist, and Writer; 2023 Berggruen Fellow

Martijn Konings

Martijn Konings

Economist, 2021-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Reid Lidow

Reid Lidow

Writer and Policy Strategist, 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Ken Liu

Ken Liu

Science Fiction Writer; 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Chao Liu

Chao Liu

Psychologist and Brain Scientist; 2022-2023 Berggruen China Center Fellow

Iris Long

Iris Long

Writer and Independent Curator; 2022-2023 Berggruen China Center Fellow

Xiaoyu Lu

Xiaoyu Lu

International Relations Scholar; 2022-2023 Berggruen China Center Fellow

Lorenzo Marsili

Lorenzo Marsili

Activist Philosopher and Writer, 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Michael A. McCarthy

Michael A. McCarthy

Economic Democracy Activist, 2021-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Jianhua Mei

Jianhua Mei

Professor of Philosophy; 2022-2023 Berggruen China Center Fellow

Saule Omarova

Saule Omarova

Senior Berggruen Fellow

Naomi Oreskes

Naomi Oreskes

Earth scientist and Historian, 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Lenore Palladino

Lenore Palladino

Economist and Lawyer,
2023 Berggruen Fellow

Martin Rauchbauer

Martin Rauchbauer

Senior Diplomat and Tech Governance Expert, 2022 Berggruen Fellow

Lois Rosson

Lois Rosson

Historian, 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Harpreet Sareen

Harpreet Sareen

Media Designer and Artist, 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Gregor Semieniuk

Gregor Semieniuk

Economist, 2023 Berggruen Fellow

Boris Shoshitaishvili

Boris Shoshitaishvili

Social Scientist, 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Laura D. Tyson

Laura D. Tyson

Director, Institute for Business & Social Impact at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley; Senior Berggruen Fellow

Lauren Wagner

Lauren Wagner

Entrepreneur, 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Sara Walker

Sara Walker

Theoretical Physicist and Astrobiologist, 2023 Berggruen Fellow

Isabella Weber

Isabella Weber

Political Economist, 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow

Anna Weichselbraun

Anna Weichselbraun

Anthropologist, 2022-2023 Berggruen Fellow


composed by Arswain
machine learning consultation by Anna Tskhovrebov
commissioned by the Berggruen Institute
premiered at the Bradbury Building
downtown Los Angeles
april 22, 2022

Human perception of what sounds “beautiful” is necessarily biased and exclusive. If we are to truly expand our hearing apparatus, and thus our notion of beauty, we must not only shed preconceived sonic associations but also invite creative participation from beings non-human and non-living. We must also begin to cede creative control away from ourselves and toward such beings by encouraging them to exercise their own standards of beauty and collaborate with each other.

Movement I: Alarm Call
‘Alarm Call’ is a long-form composition and sound collage that juxtaposes, combines, and manipulates alarm calls from various human, non-human, and non-living beings. Evolutionary biologists understand the alarm call to be an altruistic behavior between species, who, by warning others of danger, place themselves by instinct in a broader system of belonging. The piece poses the question: how might we hear better to broaden and enhance our sense of belonging in the universe? Might we behave more altruistically if we better heed the calls of – and call out to – non-human beings?

Using granular synthesis, biofeedback, and algorithmic modulation, I fold the human alarm call – the siren – into non-human alarm calls, generating novel “inter-being” sonic collaborations with increasing sophistication and complexity. 

Movement II: A.I.-Truism
A synthesizer piece co-written with an AI in the style of Vangelis’s Blade Runner score, to pay homage to the space of the Bradbury Building.

Movement III: Alarmism
A machine learning model “learns” A.I.Truism and recreates Alarm Call, generating an original fusion of the two.

Movement IV: A.I. Call
A machine learning model “learns” Alarm Call and recreates A.I.Truism, generating an original fusion of the two.


RAVE (IRCAM 2021) https://github.com/acids-ircam/RAVE