Auto-Destructive Composition: Erasure and Remains in Transient Posthuman Music

“Auto-destructive composition” is a term that describes musical compositions in which processes of destruction are embedded within the work itself, causing the composition to break down through its own performance. Auto-destructive compositions are inherently transient, challenging dominant ontologies of musical compositions as fixed and repeatable. An auto-destructive composition does not disappear completely. Rather, the work lives on through the preservation and (re)use of its remains.
At the core of the research lies the tension between preservation and destruction, that are not regarded as opposites but as interlinked processes. This is based on the following two premises:

1. In our attempts to preserve, something will always be destroyed.
2. In our attempts to destroy, something will always remain.

For the development of processes of destruction and preservation within composition and sound art, the research focuses primarily on the use of computational systems and digital media, with artificial intelligence and blockchain-based systems playing a major role. The project is embedded in posthuman philosophies that question human-centred authorship and position nonhuman entities as co-agents within artistic processes. The research is informed by media-archaeological approaches to technological materiality, obsolescence, and preservation.