Research Catalogue

Initiated in 2020, Dorsal Practices is a collaboration between choreographer Katrina Brown and writer-artist Emma Cocker, for exploring the notion of dorsality in relation to how we as moving bodies orient to self, others, world. How does the cultivation of a back-oriented awareness and attitude shape and inform our experience of being-in-the-world? A dorsal orientation foregrounds an active letting go, releasing, even de-privileging, of predominant social habits of uprightness and frontality — the head-oriented, sight-oriented, forward-facing, future-leaning tendencies of a culture intent on grasping a sense of the world through naming and control. Rather than a mode of withdrawal, of turning one’s back, how might a back-leaning orientation support a more open and receptive ethics of relation? How are experiences of listening, voicing, thinking, shaped differently through this tilt of awareness and attention towards the back?

RELAY is a three-year EU-funded research project supported by the ERASMUS+ programme „Cooperation Partnerships" that focuses on developing the artistic and educational fields of choreography, dance and music. The concept that gave our project its name – RELAY – is based on deep trust in the transiting and transmissive foundation of both artistic production and knowledge development. RELAY underscores a fluid and processual element in the intersection of art and education. Not only does the actual production and development of knowledge and artworks depend on collective – and therefore transmissive – efforts, but the future life of those productions depends on how they are shared. For example, a dance technique only lives through those who practice it. A piece of music is passed on (through ear, instrument technology, or score) between practitioners, producers, and listeners. Every hand-over gives the possibility for development, re-iterations, and productive misunderstandings. The exposition here gathers the findings, reflections and insights into the principles and methods of RELAY as well as obstacles, hiccups and (creative) failures as a work-in-progress. Authors and Contributors: Ana Papdima, Andreea Duta, Catalin Cretu, Evita Tsakalaki, Jan Burkhardt, Konstantinos Tsakirelis, Laura Lang De Negri, Maia Means, Max Wallmeier, Mihai Mihalcea, Nadine Kribbe, Rasmus Ölme, Sergej Maingardt, Stella Malliaraki, Vera Sander

Performance philosophy is still something of a ‘wild frontier’ where fundamental questions can be re-posed concerning the nature of wisdom and love, life and truth. For if love and wisdom are not co-extensive with verbal communication, then philosophy may be legitimately pursued by performative means. In this session the participants aim is to enact and unfold a set of trajectories rather than describe or 'define' their work in words alone. Passion and grief are disruptive currencies. Passion and grief not only seem un-necessary for biological life, they frequently threaten it. Yet a life lived without them would seem impoverished. Whether one views these turbulent affects as parasites, invaders, or as the engines of higher culture, they inhabit philosophy as an ineradicable black-market haunts all states and empires. We aim to consider this under-zone on its own terms, weaving theory with demonstrations of transferable techniques for cross-disciplinary research.

Transforming with the Artistic Palette ‘Transforming with the Artistic Palette’ is my PhD project in artistic research, a practice-led exploration of performer creativity, agency and collaborative composition, carried out at the Norwegian Academy of Music in the years 2018–2024. The central idea of the project is the conceptualization of the artistic palette. The artistic palette comprises the skills and abilities I use in creative work (skillabilities). It develops with the creative work I engage in and is active in imaginative as well as evaluative processes. The artistic palette has been explored in collaborative work with five composers as well as in an own composition. I have explored it as a multidimensional concept, comprising embodied, contextual, relational and intuitive dimensions. By engaging with the artistic palette, new sonic materials and work methods have been created and I have shared compositional processes as a co-composer. It is a poetic and dynamic concept that keep developing with my experiences. By using my artistic palette in shared work, I have explored and expanded my creativity as a performer of contemporary classical music. The five composers involved in the project come from a diverse background of styles, aesthetics and compositional approaches, as minimalistic music, improvisation and music theatre. Some of the creative partnerships build on previous work together. The works created in the project are Gradients (2023) by Karin Hellqvist and Henrik Strindberg, Solastalgia (2022) by Carola Bauckholt and Karin Hellqvist, One and the Other (Speculative Polskas for Karin) (2021–22) by Liza Lim with Karin Hellqvist, Eiksmarka Omland (2024) by Christian Wallumrød and Karin Hellqvist, Pango (2021–24) by Karin Hellqvist and Chain of Triggers (2024) by Manos Tsangaris and Karin Hellqvist. Through the artistic processes undertaken in this project, I have experienced a transformation of my performer’s role into an increasingly creative one. From seeing myself as a faithful performer of works, I have come to view myself as a creating artist involved in the whole lifecycle of the works I perform and co-compose. By exploring the artistic palette in shared work, thoughts about connection, identity, responsibility, empowerment, complementarity, taste, ownership and transformation has come to the fore in my practice. Those topics are discussed across the works created in the project. The methodology of the project is rooted in the specific forms of collaborative composition it comprises; engaging in improvisation, developing technological skills, accessing embodied performance materials, engaging in interdisciplinary work with a printed publication and developing connection through cyclical patterns of work where materials are circulated between participants. A curatorial process of selecting material for research has along with text writing, peer-review and publication processes been important research methods of the project. The structure of this reflection is a compilation of six case studies wrapped with an introduction and a closing discussion. The reflection has been created over the course of the project and includes four already published articles. The project is situated in a broad artistic- and research field with connections to other collaborating performers and composers, artist researchers who develop their performance practices, historical composer-performer collaborations and the rich artistic contexts of the involved artists. I draw on theories of collaborative composition (Taylor, Lim, Östersjö, John-Steiner), Werktreue (Goehr), embodied knowledge (Merleau-Ponty, Lüneburg), eco-anxiety (Albrecht) and identity (Hargreaves, Markus & Nurius).

This artistic research exposition unfolds the collaborative work on the violin, electronics and video work Solastalgia, from the viewpoint of violinist Karin Hellqvist. Solastalgia is created together with composer Carola Bauckholt and video artist Eric Lanz. During the process, Hellqvist develops the concept of the artistic palette, helping her understand her agency and creativity as a performer. Through sharing materials and reflections from within the artistic process, Hellqvist describes the new work methods that emerge and how they affect the roles of composer and performer. Focus is directed toward ownership, safe space, resources and eco-anxiety. The work’s title is an homage to environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht’s neologism solastalgia, describing existential distress connected to environmental change. Theory on collaborative composition situate the reflections in the research field that includes Alan Taylor’s typology of working relationships and Lydia Goehr’s concept of Werktreue.

Stages, thoughts and results about the i2ADS project "[in]visible - [in]visibility of identities in Portuguese 1st grade elementary textbooks of Social & Environmental Studies after 1974" (DOI 10.54499/2022.05056.PTDC), funded by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. + info at https://invisible.i2ads.up.pt/en/intru/