Björk to Morton to Aphex Twin: Music as a positive hyperobject

Abstract

AbstractIn this commentary, I describe music as a ‘hyperobject’ – an object so massive, multi‐dimensional and vastly distributed in space and time, that it exceeds full apprehension and quantification and ultimately traditional understandings of what a thing is. I draw examples from my own experiences and from the special issue articles to convey how music possesses the five core properties of a hyperobject; being viscous, molten, non‐local, phased and interobjective. I argue that, in contrast to many other hyperobjects, music is one that generally exerts a positive force in the world.