On September 10, 2021 we were joined by Deirdre Loughridge (Associate Professor, Northeastern University) to discuss her work-in-progress, “Automaton Encounters: Vaucanson’s Flute-Player, Graffigny’s Letters & The Pleasure before Anxiety.” This excerpt was based on research she is conducting for her next book-length project, which will examine the long history of human–machine configurations in music, beginning with 18th-century musical automata and leading to automated compositions that use the machine learning techniques of the 21st century.

This was the first meeting in the TAXIS reading group’s new formation and we were joined by researchers from North America and Europe who discussed the reading and appreciated the productive relations it drew between historical understandings of the perception of machines and the philosophy of consciousness, contemporary music drama and literature, and the topic of the “exhibit“. Thank you to Prof. Loughridge and to our attendees.

To join the Working Group and be kept abreast of our monthly meetings, please visit the group’s page at The Consortium for the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine.