This research project is situated at the intersection of creative technologies and sound art. The portfo-lio of original works presented, spanning acousmatic music (Morphogenesis and Cryoconite), audiovi-sual (76 and hyperobject::01), and interactive ([in.tangibile]) works and the artistic practice underpin-ning it constitute the driving forces of the enquiry undertaken. By analysing and critically reflecting on these works through the practice-based methodological approach adopted, this research project investigates how open creative processes redistribute agency among the entities involved, notably the author and a network of external agents. Openness is deliberately fostered through approaches specific to each art form, resulting in outcomes characterised by varying degrees of unpredictability and emergence as the author relinquishes variable portions of their direct control over the actual realisation of the artwork. Drawing upon Umberto Eco’s open work theory, a bipartite framework is proposed, comprising the concepts of expanded authorship and fading artist, respectively describing the agency delegated to external agents and the author’s shift from direct control to meta-control, via system design, of the properties of the artwork. These concepts enable a granular analysis of artistic artefacts whose making involved the conceptual, metaphorical, or material contribution of external agents. The resulting perspective on the artwork and its production process is then achieved by evaluating evidence on the artist’s standpoint (locus of authorial control), the affordances granted to the agents involved (agent autonomy), the creative process established (mode of openness), the specific form of artistic expression, and the ecologies interlinking these aspects, thereby offering an organic, ecosystemic, and holistic understanding. Primarily, the framework proposed aims to clarify authorship and agency attribution in contemporary artistic practice, offering a lens for both analysis and design. However, the enquiry it promotes ultimately unveils details related to the more material and structural aspects of the entire creative process, such as the scaffolding designed by the author to effectively constrain and manage external agency. The exegesis of the works presented as part of the portfolio, representing a range of diverse case studies, supports these claims.
The Agency of Others. Towards Expanded Authorship and the Fading Artist: A Practice-Based Enquiry into Agents, Agency, and Open Creative Processes in Sound and Digital Art
Dorigatti, E. (Author). 16 Mar 2026
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis