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.

This is the landing page for Rhythmic Music Conservatory's portal on Research Catalogue.

Through Segments is a sound installation in an unusual interstitial space—the staircase of the Kunsthaus’ Iron House that connects to the “Friendly Alien”. Four artists listen into the storeys using real-time computer algorithms, taking an acoustical image of the visitors’ movements, forming four individual reactions. It is a poetic attempt to think about the distributed, the fragmented, the parallel. During the development phase, the artists work independently, but at the same time they observe and interrogate each other, performing the gesture of a “simultaneous arrival” (Sara Ahmed). They enact a human algorithm, informed by reiteration and duplication but never being identical. The aim is not one “of all converging towards the same, but circulating, making common relaying, relaying back, being relayed” (Isabelle Stengers).

As Long as the Sun lasts was published in 2025 in form of artist book in collaboration with Chippendale Studio. It is a research about comets' behaviour and their capacity of switching on and off in relation to their proximity to the Sun, transforming themselves from cold asteroids into luminous objects with their comas and tails. So I started looking for comets in my daily reality, investigating a connection between me and them, building a narrative on several temporal and physical levels. I began by observing comets as cold, rocky objects until their transformation into luminous bodies, recreating them with objects from my everyday life, trying to identify with them during their journey towards the Sun.

Occupying a space whilst being one ourselves. The materiality of the body coming in a state of symbiosis with the places it chooses to position itself and the objects it chooses to surround itself with. Deconstruct and reconstruct. Remove parts of yourself, shed skin, cut your hair, change your weight, add others, change. The transfiguration of one’s materic flesh, in the progressive becoming one with the environment that surrounds it. The research begins from the consideration of the body taken as material, as a space, a meeting point between exteriority and interiority. The body that shares its own materiality with the places it finds itself in; they influence eachother.

This research explores the dialogue between the individual and natural phenomena through an artistic process that focuses on flow as a dynamic and generative element. The interaction between water, pigment and support-usually 50% or 100% cotton fibre paper-is configured as a field of visual investigation in which chance and physical forces play a decisive role. The work begins with the use of watercolour, the movement of which is influenced by both natural and industrial elements, such as stones or artificial structures, which alter the liquid's path and colour distribution. A fundamental aspect of the research is the investigation of the relationship between the flow of water and atmospheric events. The direct intervention of rain, wind and humidity introduces unpredictable variables that transform the painting process into an open and constantly evolving experience. The idea of flow is thus configured as an essential artistic element, capable of reflecting the changing nature of matter and time. From these experiments, the research extends to the study of gravity and its implications in the movement of pigment, drawing parallels with cosmological dynamics such as black holes and white holes. The action of the gravitational field and the tension between attraction and expulsion become visual metaphors that find expression in the creative process. In order to structure and document this investigation, notebooks, notes and parallel experiments are used, which are fundamental tools for outlining a method capable of reconciling individual technique with the randomness of external factors. The aim is to find a balance between control and unpredictability, developing a visual language that restores the interaction between artistic gesture and natural forces. In parallel, the project involves experimenting with materials other than paper, such as textiles, membranes and other porous or water-repellent surfaces. The introduction of these elements broadens the possibilities of interaction between water, pigment and support, generating new visual and tactile effects that amplify the dialogue between matter and physical phenomena. Set in an international context of artistic and scientific exploration, this research proposes an interdisciplinary reflection on the relationship between art, nature and physics, redefining the role of the artist as interpreter of the forces that govern our universe.