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CS92PROD
Instrument-Body
MUSC 232
Fall 2023
Section: 01  
Crosslisting: THEA 232

The ancient Greek word organon meant both instrument and sense organ, hence the development of a shared word in English for organ (as in a Hammond B3 organ) and organ (as in a kidney). This etymological overlap opens onto a set of generative questions into the nature of instruments: Are they inside or outside the body? Is the body an instrument? If the body is an instrument, who plays it? If an instrument is outside the body, what kind of object is it--a fetish? a prosthetic? an enhancement? an extension? a tool? a commodity? a technology?--and what does it do to the player? Can experimenting with new body-instrument relations become a pathway towards re-organ-izing the body and its relations? Instrument-Body is both a seminar and a studio course that takes these questions as a point of departure for creative and critical experimentation. We will read widely across the fields of musicology, art history, performance studies, queer studies, and critical race studies to investigate questions of instrumentality, embodiment, and technology. In addition, we will create performances across three units: "make an instrument," "break an instrument," and "make yourself an instrument." Students who already play instruments are encouraged to enroll, as are students that have no preexisting relationship to musical instruments.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA MUSC
Course Format: SeminarGrading Mode: Student Option
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: (MUSC)(THEA)
Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available

Last Updated on DEC-08-2024
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