Graham Dunning

The conference proceedings from the Innovation In Music 2024 conference have been published, including my paper titled “Messing About as Creative Process: Anti-Solutionist Approaches in the Maker’s Workshop, Home Studio and on Stage.” The book is available in print now from Routledge, here.

ABSTRACT: Artists have used the term ‘messing around’ not infrequently when discussing their practice, examples of which are introduced below, but the exact nature of what this means has not previously been clearly described. The process of messing about is positioned within the broader method of improvisation, as both a type of experimentation and a joyful unstructured play. Parallels are seen in non-hylomorphic approaches to making and in anti-solutionist design strategies. As an instrument maker, improvising musician and music producer I use messing about as part of my process. Examples from my work are given by way of illustration.