Cornell, RichardBillings, Thomas Adam2025-05-082025-05-082025https://hdl.handle.net/2144/503822025Vivaria explores musical depictions of animalistic ecosystems, the advent of artificial intelligence, and its impact on the natural world and humanity. The rhythmic and gestural freedom in natural ecosystems has always fascinated me and remains a throughline in my art. Vivaria comments on the interaction between the natural and synthetic worlds. The exponential growth of artificial intelligence has altered how humans and animals interact, replacing certain human roles for efficiency and raising ethical concerns.The ecosystem in Vivaria emerges through a negotiation between improvised and composed elements. As musicians interact within the ensemble, I leave certain parameters vague, allowing performers to shape their gestures. I encourage them to respond reflectively, making different interpretative choices with each iteration. Their interactions create a living musical ecosystem. Vivaria positions performers to fully surround the audience, creating a multidimensional sonic experience. The composition encourages various types of listening and evokes themes of individual and communal interaction. The plot unfolds as synthetic material intrudes upon the ornate acoustic ecosystem. Electronics remain mute until the climax, then gradually crossfade with live instruments. The electronics replicate what the performers played, creating an uncanny valley effect before distorting into a washed-out, incomprehensible variation. What remains are the gestures, cadences, and phrase structures—devoid of the nuance and fidelity of the original ecosystem. The processed electronics spawn new gestures, reflecting a dystopian vision of a synthetic world overtaking the natural world. This mirrors the Deus ex machina plot device, illustrating how our world is experiencing the same phenomenon.en-USMusical compositionMusicThesis/Dissertation2025-05-080009-0008-1095-6141