Lecture
SAILS Lunch Time Seminar: Adam Lukawski
- Date
- Monday 23 March 2026
- Time
- Location
- Online only
Performative Transactions: Worlding Compositional Ecosystems
Abstract:
This presentation introduces a practice-led investigation by a music composer and computer programmer into how compositional practices shift in response to the new possibilities of artificial intelligence and blockchain—technologies that fundamentally decentralise notions of human agency in the creative process. The project explores how the established creative roles of artists can be re-envisioned in the posthuman context as operators of agential tools, curators of assemblages, and builders of intelligent systems, leading to the posthuman practice of worlding compositional ecosystems.
To enable such a practice, the project envisioned and developed a Decentralised Creative Network—a blockchain-based environment in which human and non-human agents can transparently build upon one another’s creative contributions. At its core are Performative Transactions— smart contracts that encode compositional processes with auditable provenance, versioning, and re-composability, accessible through a dedicated Application Programming Interface (API). This API supports iterative workflows where contributions by humans and AI remain traceable, reusable, and accountable over time.
The talk will demonstrate this new environment together with examples of realised artistic projects, including Chain of Thoughts—a system that uses large language models to generate intricate, fully notated musical scores from natural-language instructions while operating on top of the Decentralised Creative Network. In this setup, LLMs act as collaborators proposing structured material, while Performative Transactions maintain operational memory and govern compositional execution, ensuring that every step can be reviewed, recombined, and extended.
Short Bio:
Adam Łukawski is a pioneering music composer and computer programmer, innovating at the nexus of computer-assisted music composition and posthuman artistic research. His work explores the integration of AI and blockchain technologies for creating novel compositional frameworks. He holds a PhD from Leiden University and works as a postdoctoral researcher in the ERC Advanced Grant Posthuman Music (PI: Paulo de Assis) at the Orpheus Institute in Ghent, Belgium. As a computer programmer he gained experience working for several start-ups. He studied Music Composition at Conservatorium van Amsterdam and at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London.
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