Research Catalogue

Conceived and co-organised by Emma Cocker, Alexander Damianisch, Cordula Daus and Lena Séraphin, this Society of Artistic Research Special Interest Group (SAR SIG) provides contexts for coming together via the exchange of language-based research. The intent is to support developments in the field of expanded language-based practices by inviting attention, time and space for enabling understanding of/and via these practices anew.

Curatorial Projects 1997 - 2014 Curatorial projects include curated, co-curated, co-organized and course-related projects. Exhibitions from 1997 - 2005 were organized independently. Starting in 2007, exhibitions were curated in conjunction with courses I taught or co-taught at SAIC, either as class projects, or in the case of the "Hairy Blob" exhibition, augmented by student activities.

This exposition documents my explorations of pondering with pine trees. Tämä ekspositio dokumentoi yritykseni miettiä mäntyjen kanssa. Den här ekspositionen dokumenterar mina försök att fundera med furor.

The aim of this research enquiry is to foster a collaboration with Nottingham Castle realising public activities to improve visitors’ engagement. Methods used to explore these enquiries involved Scenarchitecture, a trans-disciplinary methodology developed by Moneta, that uses the process of reading, understanding, and interpreting the Genius Loci as an in-depth exploration and expression of Spatial Practice and community engagement. Recent studies on phenomenology of Place (Relph, 1976; Alexander, 1977; Norberg-Schulz, 1980), and the role of Genius Loci in Placemaking (Brooks, 2001; Golan, 2012), are confirming the importance of considering a multidisciplinary approach to enhance heritage sites using perception and emotions. Heritage sites with their peculiar identity and character, provoke intense spatial experience in those who engage with them, having the quality of Place, i.e., the power to focus human experiences, and actions spatially. The enquiry was about researching and then revealing historical characters that had a role in the NC’s history, and to help audiences engage with them on a perceptual level through storytelling, site-specific performance and CosProps as the medium. The project involved six students of BA (Hons) Theatre Design at Nottingham Trent University as part of the Realised Design curriculum, that selected and designed a CosProp for each character. They devised the performances in collaboration with six students of The Television Workshop in Nottingham. The work was funded in kind by NC (supporting staff and use of spaces and facilities) and by NTU (£1000.00). The final outcome is a promenade performance across different stories and characters located in specific places of the NC Grounds; the audience followed the promenade in small groups to adhere to Covid19 regulations. A questionnaire after the performances evidenced that ‘the performance enhanced the experience of the Nottingham Castle grounds’ (73.3%). The dissemination of the work includes pages on NTU and NC website and a video published on YouTube.

The Exposition illustrates the body of work of 15 years of research-led teaching and professional practice that produced 17 performances, 2 installations and 4 exhibitions in Italy and UK, during the period 2006-2021. They are documented with photos, video documentaries, social media, info about the research and design process to demonstrate impact, significance, and originality. All the output presented in this portfolio involved projects in partnership with universities, research centres, theatres, and cultural institutions. Performances had been developed through Scenarchitecture, a trans-disciplinary methodology developed by Moneta’s research, that blends Scenography with architecture and urban design. Scenarchitecture involves the process of reading, understanding, and interpreting the inner character and performative attributes of architecture and sites, as an in-depth exploration and expression of Spatial Practice and community engagement, essential aspects for any design intervention in a specific place. Scenarchitecture, in fact, can also help designers, stakeholders, and citizens to engage with the character of the place as a propaedeutic step for the co-creation of architectural and urban design that are respectful of places. Performances and related exhibitions, in the roles of designer, exhibitor and director, had been an important step for the author to disseminate Scenarchitecture methodology, and to assess it in different areas: in Research-led teaching at Nottingham Trent University (UK) and University of Rome La Sapienza (Italy); in Professional practice for theatre design and architectural design, as co-founder of cultural association Archabout; in Professional practice for live events in marketing and communication, as co-founder of ethical and un-conventional communication firm Smart Jokes.

This article introduces the project "Sunnyside", an album and composition created using extended recording techniques inside the domestic space of my home during the initial Covid-19 lockdown in Belfast in 2020. While there was widespread public discourse around the ways in which public and outdoor spaces were changing during the pandemic, there was relatively little discussion concerning the changes occurring in indoor and domestic spaces. "Sunnyside" was an attempt to sense, analyze, and represent those changes and examine what they might mean. The following discussion draws on ideas of critical phonography, systems theory, situated knowledge, and interconnectivity to illustrate the project’s refusal of the physical boundaries of the home under lockdown. This critical reflection on everyday routines underscores the project’s relationship with memory, place, and the sonic documentation of everyday personal auditory experiences while opening up a discussion about social networks, both immediate and distributed.