aleatorismi

Aleatorismo, or aleatoricism, is an approach to art in which parts of a work are determined by chance or by the actions of performers or observers rather than fixed by the creator. The method can be found in music, literature, theatre, and the visual arts, and it typically produces multiple realizations of a single piece.

Techniques include indeterminacy, open-form notation, procedural scores, and the use of random procedures such as dice throws, card draws, or computer algorithms to decide aspects of structure, duration, or timbre. Performers may be asked to choose when to start or how to realize a given instruction, introducing variability between performances.

The movement has roots in early 20th-century avant-garde and Dada and Surrealist experiments with chance. In the postwar era it reached formal development in music and interdisciplinary work, notably in indeterminate music in which the score specifies possibilities rather than fixed events. John Cage is a central figure in the broader tradition of aleatoric music; his works and related practices helped popularize the principle of chance in art.

The aim is to challenge traditional authorship and broaden the role of uncertainty in artistic experience, while also inviting audience participation and unique performances. Critics argue that excessive indeterminacy can undermine coherence or craft; proponents emphasize creativity arising from constraint and the richness of variability. Iconic examples include Cage's 4'33" and other indeterminate scores, as well as literary and theater experiments that use constraint-based or chance-driven processes.