Hacking Sound, Hacking History: Patricia Cadavid and the Electronic_Khipu_

Margaret Needham

Image credit: Margaret Needham

• Format: oral
• Session: papers-8
• Paper PDF link
• Presence: in person
• Duration: 10
• Type: medium

Abstract:

To better understand researcher and artist Patricia Cadavid Hinojosa’s instrument the Electronic_Khipu_, we must define the project as an instance of hacking. Cadavid deconstructs colonial understandings of the Andean device known as the khipu, pulling apart the academic view of khipus as artifacts to be deciphered, the strict delineation between administrative and ritualistic uses of the khipu, and the separation of the oral tradition from the object. Through deliberate design choices and musical expression in performance, Cadavid emphasizes the inextricability of coding, art, and ritual by creating a tactile device that re-tells history and challenges the false oppositional binary between Indigeneity and technology. Understanding this project of digital lutherie as an act of creation through hacking – specifically as the deconstruction and reconfigurement of artistic and historical components, utilizing scholars Astrida Neimani’s and Vít Bohal’s definitions – allows us to appreciate its power.