ETDs

This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.

In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.

Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.

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Negotiating Artistic Representation in the Era of #worldmusic: Trends, Challenges, Authenticity, and the Artist's Perspective

Description
The genre of world music and its market’s reliance on musical exoticism, othering, and the audience’s insatiable quest for musical authenticity have influenced and shaped the way artists construct and negotiate their musical representation. With the popularization of democratized music platforms such as Bandcamp, artists have greater autonomy in terms…

The genre of world music and its market’s reliance on musical exoticism, othering, and the audience’s insatiable quest for musical authenticity have influenced and shaped the way artists construct and negotiate their musical representation. With the popularization of democratized music platforms such as Bandcamp, artists have greater autonomy in terms of artistic representation and musical distribution in the online world. Although the internet has in some ways disrupted the old power structures of the music industry, the old forms of world music marketing have been reinscribed into a new context. Old stereotypes and narratives of authenticity in world music have permeated the digital representation of artists and their music. Music recommendation algorithms also shape the way artists are represented in digital environments. Semantic descriptors such as social tags play a vital role in musical identification and recommendation systems implemented by streaming platforms. The use of social tags such as #worldmusic homogenizes diverse cultural sounds into a single umbrella genre. #World music also creates avenues for old stereotypes and narratives of authenticity to re-emerge. This re-emergence of the old tropes of world music creates less equitable recommendation and representational outcomes for musicians operating within the genre. In the age of streaming, where does world music belong? How do artists negotiate representation online? This thesis explores the dynamics of representation and the projections of “authenticity” between world music artists and record labels inside of Bandcamp’s digital ecosystem. By juxtaposing the traditional framework of “world music” marketing with new and evolving methods of distribution and artistic representation, it is possible to see how digital media are reshaping but also reproducing some of the old paradigms of world music. I also propose that a new framework needs to be established to study the impact digital streaming has on the genre of world music. This new framework, which I call “World Music 3.0,” will encompass how algorithms, tech companies, and the democratization of musical practices interact within a globalized community.
ContributorsCureno, Eric Leonel (Author) / Fossum, Dave (Thesis advisor) / Hayes, Lauren (Committee member) / Paine, Garth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
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A maker's mechanological paradigm: seeing experiential media systems as structurally determined

Description
Wittgenstein’s claim: anytime something is seen, it is necessarily seen as something, forms the philosophical foundation of this research. I synthesize theories and philosophies from Simondon, Maturana, Varela, Wittgenstein, Pye, Sennett, and Reddy in a research process I identify as a paradigm construction project. My personal studio practice of inventing…

Wittgenstein’s claim: anytime something is seen, it is necessarily seen as something, forms the philosophical foundation of this research. I synthesize theories and philosophies from Simondon, Maturana, Varela, Wittgenstein, Pye, Sennett, and Reddy in a research process I identify as a paradigm construction project. My personal studio practice of inventing experiential media systems is a key part of this research and illustrates, with practical examples, my philosophical arguments from a range of points of observation. I see media systems as technical objects, and see technical objects as structurally determined systems, in which the structure of the system determines its organization. I identify making, the process of determining structure, as a form of structural coupling and see structural coupling as a means of knowing material. I introduce my theory of conceptual plurifunctionality as an extension to Simondon’s theory. Aspects of materiality are presented as a means of seeing material and immaterial systems, including cultural systems. I seek to answer the questions: How is structure seen as determining the organization of systems, and making seen as a process in which the resulting structures of technical objects and the maker are co-determined? How might an understanding of structure and organization be applied to the invention of contemporary experiential media systems?
ContributorsLahey, Byron (Author) / Burleson, Winslow (Thesis advisor) / Xin Wei, Sha (Committee member) / Collins, Daniel (Committee member) / Paine, Garth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015