Research Catalogue

Transmutations seeks to redefine the term transformation through a staged concert — a concert conceived as a work of art in itself. The traditional concert format and conventional performance practices are showing signs of stagnation, thus calling for the emergence of a voice adapted to this transformation. The boundaries of music, especially within the classical realm, have gradually blurred in recent times. Increasingly, artists are exploring the concert as a form of expression that not only integrates other artistic disciplines but also embraces technological advancements. This approach challenges traditional aesthetic conventions and the notion of genre and musical style. The omnipresence of technology in contemporary society underlines the need for research that explores the many possibilities of the concert format. This staged concert aims to redefine the concept of transformation by avoiding any stylistic boundaries. The works of Richard Strauss, John Cage, and Alexander Schubert are included not only for their artistic value but also for their contribution to the very notion of transformation.

This thesis is based on the integration of three complementary components: Giusirames's Treatise, the artistic and scientific research conducted through processes of material solidification, and the visual portfolio documenting the resulting works. These three elements form a coherent system, in which theory does not precede practice, nor does practice illustrate theory, but both emerge from a common conceptual core: the desire to interrogate matter as an active subject and not as a mere support.

This exposition gathers all the essential information needed to get started with the Research Catalogue (RC) platform at the Iceland University of the Arts (IUA). It offers a clear overview of how to create a profile, start an exposition, and navigate the basic functions of the platform. The goal is to provide staff with a central reference point for working with RC in the context of artistic research and institutional use.

'Latency Records: The Delay, an Inhabitable Field' analyses a fictional mediated environment by studying the lapses of time involved in its diffusion. Approaching media as a source for new habits of perception over a landscape, it is concerned with the electronic tools used for the representation of nature; in particular those applied for near-real-time broadcast from sensory meteorological tools, webcams or satellites. Introduced with seven images from audiovisual references, punctuated by fourteen quotes from various sources and interwoven to three poems written exclusively for the essay, 'Latency Records: The Delay, an Inhabitable Field' is inspired by humans’ incomprehension of the artificial structures in which they blindly place their hopes for representing the unrepresentable: a living image of the exterior world. In doing so, it delves into humans’ attempts to portray themselves in order to comprehend who they are. Therefore, 'Latency Records: The Delay, an Inhabitable Field' interrogates the instantaneity of these naturalistic archives, ultimately shaping our cognitive engagement with our environment—which acts both as a mirror and a departure from it.

Water covers more than 70% of the earth’s surface, and thus constitutes a major section of the ecosystem on Earth. It is a vital element on earth, all life (as we know it) depends on water to be able to thrive. The climate has always changed a bit, but in recent years, due to greenhouse gases, the climate has experienced extreme changes which have also strongly impacted the global water cycle. From melting glaciers to ocean acidifications, flash floods, and prolonged droughts, disruptions in ecosystems now happens faster than most species can adapt to. Because of global warming, the atmosphere can hold and transport more moisture. Water doesn’t have the opportunity to fully infiltrate the soil. This accelerates the hydrological cycle. While it is still important to decelerate this process as much as we can, it is also important to look into strategies of adaptation and think ahead to a future with water that will be compromised. In this book, we explore water futures through the speculative design approach. This design practice aims to challenge preconceptions, raise questions, and provoke debates. It opened the doors for designers to imagine and explore possible water futures globally. We start with the water spring in India where the Ganga river starts, then travel further down the river stream. We end up in the Netherlands where different rivers connect to the sea. We continue where the river meets the sea and travel to the salterns in France and Croatia. Here water changes form, turning into gas and flowing through the air as evaporating steam in the geothermal region of Iceland. Eventually this book will end up with the condensation of the fog net in the Namib Desert.

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