Welcome
I'm glad you tuned in. My name is Christophe Novak. I thrive in transdisciplinarity. I am a multi-instrumentalist, independent researcher and creative thinker exploring self-organization through improvisation in art and life. Dedicated to the holistic exploration of ecological principles of creativity through different channels of expression, practical tools and theoretical lenses, I compose, produce, and perform music in counterpoint to studying enactive-ecological cognition.
A special focus of my research lies in studying the integral psychodynamics of loop-based live-composing within the musicological framework of asymmetric time signature and complex polyrhythmic layering.
With its perfect blend of melody and rhythm, the marimba is at the heart of my musical explorations. I fell in love with marimba in my late adolescence. During a period of intense personal struggle, I discovered in the marimba a potent vehicle of self-expression and transformation. Out of a cascade of live loop sessions, a vision was born, one of a truly electroacoustic marimba, the realization of which has been my guiding star for over a decade now. The EA-Marimba has been in development since 2016 and should be finished by the end of 2024.
My passion for the diversity of human expression led me to study Sociocultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna. I have a particular ethnomusicological interest in the continuous integration of world music cultures. Vienna has proven an invaluable creative hub and incubation centre for my artistic and intellectual development, allowing me to engage with various transdisciplinary and transcultural fields. My approach to life and music is rooted in a fundamentally integral attitude, nourished by a deep alchemical pulse that invites me to cultivate a creative amalgamation of mind, material, and environment.
In the context of my master's thesis in Cognitive Science, I am currently developing a phenomenologically grounded theoretical framework that illuminates the adaptive transformation of music and consciousness, crystallised in the concept of Enactive Resonance. I strive to share my passion for transdisciplinary creative thinking with others and to accompany individuals and small groups on their path toward self-realisation, co-exploring the mind through music and how to enable musicopoiesis.
This website is, for now, fundamentally a creative expiration of the many ideas that make up my rhizomatic mind. These pages are intended to be a hub of creative inspiration for the reader and an invitation to actively co-create enabling spaces where our human propensities for artistic, musical, and scientific curiosity can bloom and thrive.
Christophe Novak
Vienna 2021