Flådd musik

Abstract

This project investigates how the body is written in music. The point of departure for the investigation is my site-specific performing arts work Så blev vi liv (2026). In the thesis, I formulate a new compositional method – "flayed music". The method is a synthesis of two historical opposites: Helmut Lachenmann's view of the body as a neutral transmitter of sound, and Charlotte Moorman's political body-art. Through theorizing, making, and contextualizing, I demonstrate how an avant-garde focus on sound can be merged with a queer and vulnerable corporeality. In flayed music, extended techniques are transformed into scenic actions. This creates a double exposure, where the spectator simultaneously perceives a mechanical production of sound and a symbolically charged physical action (such as a blow or a kiss). The result is a performative compositional practice where the performer's identity and bodily presence are inseparable from the sounding material.