The making of manifold musical becomings

Laura Toxværd, who has been employed as a PhD Research Fellow at the Faculty of Fine Arts, specialisation in Art in Context, will defend her thesis titled «The making of manifold musical becomings» for the PhD degree Thursday 14 September 2023.

Summary of the thesis

This doctoral thesis is an article-based and combined artistic and scientific dissertation that includes two internationally released music albums which are live-recordings of concerts, and two double blind peer reviewed scientific papers as well as an artistic essay published in a music journal. The PhD project is anchored in a performative research paradigm and an understanding of music that moves beyond an anthropocentric world view.

In her PhD thesis Toxværd deals with finding ways in which manifold musical becomings are made possible through explorations of how both the human and the more-than-human intra-act in relation to concerts, where she plays with improvising musicians such as Marilyn Mazur and Jacob Anderskov. Usually, we speak of interaction when humans act, however, when other elements act in unison with humans without being separable it can be described as intra-action.

As a foundation for the thesis is the fact that Toxværd is a woman, a saxophonist, and a composer in the realm of experimental and improvised music with 30 years of experience as a professional musician and 17 internationally released music albums of her own music. Her motivation for initiating her PhD project was that she through a number of years became aware of gender imbalances within the field of music. In the form of artistic articulations and academic writing Toxværd has investigated and analysed the intra-actions and contested what matters by taking responsibility for intervening, so that what is excluded from mattering is considered.

The result of the thesis’ examination is that manifold musical becomings are made possible by embracing and unfolding the intertwined and ambivalent in the intra-action of human and nonhuman materialities and bodies. The thesis thereby also contributes to an understanding of the effects of the music world’s lack of gender balance as a force that is continuously present in an artistic practice and that can create changes.

Find more information about time and place for the doctoral defense.