Abstract

This article is based on Tom Davis’s Ph.D. thesis, The Ear of the Beholder: Ecology, Embodiment and Complexity in Sound Installation. Queen’s University Belfast 2008. The abstract for the thesis received the highest ranking by the Leonardo Abstracts Service.This article presents a reflection on a body of creative work carried out during four years of Ph.D. research that explored the relationship between complexity theory and music. The article highlights conceptual problems that arose during the creation of the work, especially those associated with the exploration of scientific models for the creation of art. The author does not attempt to offer any final solutions, but rather presents the journey undertaken through the combined artistic and research practice as a way of documenting the strategies he developed during this period of creative practice.