This project explores the complex systems present in Carnatic music; how those systems relate to creative practices and musical vocabularies; and the correspondences with Mark's own musical methodologies and critical writings on technology. 

A Carnatic Paradigm debuted at Counterflows Festival, Glasgow in 2017 featuring a new multi-channel sound and light installation with reading room, a series of new performances featuring a new electronic composition by Nakul Krishnamurthy and Rian Treanor, a microtonal piece by Sandro Mussida for cello and veena, and a Carnatic ensemble featuring Nandini Muthuswamy (violin), Shobhana Swaminathan (veena), Mysore Vadiraj (mridanga). The project also included new technical tools developed for computer for exploring the structure of Tala (rhythm) in Carnatic music.

 

In December 2017 the project was invited back to India under the title “The Algebra of Listening” again featuring a series of performances, sound installations and workshops in Kolkata, Chennai and Fort Kochi. With key traditional musicians and sound artists from each region, the project explores the interplay between Carnatic music and emergent sound arts and how these function in both British and Indian contemporary culture. The emphasis of the series of projects in India was to identify emergent practices as well as marginalised forms of music and folk art.

This project can be presented in different formats including long form performances using a variety of electronic and acoustic instruments, a sound and light installation, a reading room and various workshops.