Music for the inner ear

Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard

Our fantasy has crumbled - yet we must go into utopia to articulate alternative realities that will allow us to escape the current systems we are living in and by. What can we do if we only dream pragmatic and rational dreams that speak into already existing paradigms and systems? When a catastrophic or sudden event occurs we often say that reality exceeds fantasy, this being the exception of the norm, but what if reality exceeding fantasy is in fact the norm - and not vice versa? - what if our fantasy has crumbled in such a degree that we only are capable of imagining realities and solutions which already fit into a dysfunctional system? Are we doomed? - or do we dare to go full on into utopia? In the artistic research project; Music for the inner Ear - Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard looks into the realms of imaginary sound and sonic potentiality unfolded within different artistic domains - raising the questions; Is it possible to create imaginary music only audible for the inner ear of the listener & when does something actually exist? In the project the notion of potentiality is a main driver both in activating the listener but also simply by addressing the potential of potentiality.

MUSIC FOR THE INNER EAR

-an exploration of sonic potentiality

INTO UTOPIA

In an anatomical context, the inner ear refers to the cochlear, in which sound is conveyed by means of nerve signals.

However, in this project the inner ear is detached from all references to human anatomy and refers to the inner ear in a more poetic sense.

In this project, the inner ear is a transducer that will allow you to roam freely within the utopia of imaginary listening.

When listening with the inner ear, anything can take place, and everything is possible; the sound of 10000 trumpets, a choir of one million people, the sound of 10 hydrogen bombs, a note lasting the duration of 300 days, or the dying sound of 100 ancient beings. By listening with your inner ear, you are free to create utopian music, and by articulating ideas into the utopian domain of the inner ear, the ideas can ricochet back into physical reality, and actualize themselves, if so desired.

It is not that easy to get into utopia though, and we are not trained to do so.

Instead, we are often told that it is a foolish quest, and therefore we learn to be pragmatic. We learn to think out ideas and concepts that are tangibly possible.

But why dream rational dreams?

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard

Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;

Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d,

Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:

(Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn)

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MUSIC FOR THE INNER EAR