From symbol to semiotic: Representation, signification, and the composition of music interaction

This paper examines notions of interaction in order to synthesize an approach to the use of computers in the arts which respects the fact that, oftentimes, creative work is facilitated by task environments in which "surprises" can happen. Typically, interface design concerns the rendering of an interaction such that it requires minimal cognitive engagement with the task in question, relying heavily on historically and culturally determined patterns of behavior and cognition. Ill-structured problems (like music composition), however, benefit when the interface presents concepts and interactions in ways that are novel. Computers can be understood as tools for the projection of such an interface when they are conceived as generators of semiotic rather than symbolic ordering frameworks.