Page 99 - Composing Processes and Artistic Agency

88 Orchestrating different forms of knowledge

entity whose existence is bounded by symbols. In the following section, we
will discuss the role of the body in various situations during the process of
composing.
Bodies are trained to handle complex situations. Karlheinz Essl refers to
this aspect when he describes using a MIDI controller with his hands:
It requires a lot of fine motor skills because the controls are very
small. It really is precision work. […] I mean, when I play around
with these three controls, there are so many interdependencies that it’s
incredibly complicated to monitor them. That means I have to do
insane amounts of practice and gain a lot of experience so that I
know exactly which control does what in which position and how to
adjust.

When he performs his piece, he has to accomplish his actions fluidly and
intuitively: “I mean, I have to look at the screen, obviously, because that’s
where my sequences [the score] are written down – the things I have to do.
But I make sure that I move the controls by touch.” Necessarily, Essl
rehearses intensively and for a long time so that knowledge is worked into his
fingers. We use this metaphorical expression because locating knowledge and
skilfulness is problematic. It is evidently nonsensical to speak of disembodied
skills or disembodied cognition – and yet the “fingers’ knowing” has no separate
existence and is not an object. “Knowing” thus indicates a performative
ability that develops from the synergetic effect of many different aspects,
including motor learning, sense of hearing, power of imagination, sensations
and aesthetic preferences. This holistic understanding of ability should not be
lost in location metaphors. It demonstrates that neither a subject nor a mind
nor a corporeal “I” is the carrier or foundation of the knowing or acting (see
Taylor 1987/1995, 2006).
Practising also drills the body. However, a body that constantly makes
experiences and thus has already learned a large amount can do more than
just reproduce what it has practised. The body can be creative. Composers
need to put their bodies into a certain mood. This is done subtly – by creating
body tension, for instance by working standing up; or by relaxing the body by
lying down comfortably; or by stimulating the body by consuming chocolate,
coffee or a glass of wine, etc. In a manner of speaking, the body is prepared
for accomplishing something. Bertl Mütter reports that going for a jog can be
a catalyst of ideas for him: “Afterwards [after the jog], I go home, I’m all
sweaty, and I have to write something down quickly and hope that I’ll still be
able to read it after my shower. It’s like waking up from a dream and having
an idea, where you have to write it down quickly as well, or it’s gone. […]
Those are moments where thoughts think around you.” These everyday
situations of getting the body into a certain mood or posture usually occur
under the threshold of awareness. Harry Collins (2010: 86) defines this as
“weak or relational tacit knowledge”. They can, however, be grasped