Pop Music

This paper presents "Pop Music," a semi-edible gastroacoustic installation that would be presented at alt.NIME in a hybrid installation/paper presentation. This paper documents the creation of the installation, considers popcorn and corn-related art and music, the uses of corn in NIMEs, and the potential scarceness of that space being addressed by this installation and paper. The mechanics of the installation are presented, along with a discussion of theoretical background and commentary. Users were fed, and user feedback was evaluated. The paper concludes by connecting this seemingly "trivial" installation to the interrelation of play and research, conversations on NIME self-seriousness and aesthetic conformity, the value of interactive installations, the interactivity of valuable installations,questions of edibility and ethical implications in installations, universality of moral codes, government structures and syntacticalrelations, astronomical quasar deduction, and the profound unseriousness of this work.