Research Catalogue

50 A3 drawings black and coloured markers, including: 3 A3 collages on paper with newspaper cutouts and printed photos. 12 A4 drawings on paper with coloured markers, glued on A3 paper + 1 A3 with black ballpoint pen and markers, glued on A3 paper. 13 A3 drawings on paper with black marker, and red, pale blue, gold, pink and orange markers +1 A3 two-sided. 17 A3 drawings on paper with coloured markers. 1 drawing on sketchbook cover with red nail polish. 1 text drawing on sketchbook cover inside. 1 drawing on sketchbook cover back inside with black, orange and gold markers. 22 A4 drawings with ballpoint pen. 59 pocket sketchbook black marker and ballpoint pen drawings. Some of the above is preparatory work for 4 large prints and 13 paintings. The 12 A4 glued on A3 are preparatory work for a collage on panel. I made the art between 2023-2024, from the perspective of the observer. Most of the research material came out of crime and fraud reports. I started writing the blog afterwards, since the summer of 2024. I adopted the visual vocabulary of the graphic novel, which I partly studied and read a lot about, looking at different graphic artists' work, when I was attending classes at the University of Malmo, Sweden, in 2012, to familiarise myself with elements of game design. Much of this work is, amongst other, about children. I wanted to emphasise that, by intentionally applying stylistic elements from children's drawings, in a naive and loose architectural composition, using heavily the black marker and stick figures. Adopting this visual approach, I also wanted to evoke a comically sharp twist, as satirical comment, in the British tradition of political satire, to the otherwise dark subject matter. Finally, the artistic style refers to the populist character of actors, mainly far right of the XRW, but also others. The text is written like a trip-hop song. I use heavily popular culture signifiers, names of fictional characters from film, television, music and painting, as reference to actual individuals. Parts of the analysis is inspired by Saul Kripke's interpretation of Wittgenstein's example of mathematical calculation. I used plenty of popular and less popular literary and philosophical references, for the visual art and in the writing. Saul Aaron Kripke was the inventor of the possible worlds philosophical hypothesis, which was seminal for philosophers working in the area of contemporary analytic metaphysics, including the theory of counterparts and the theory of names. He died in 2022. Lauren Berlant was a cultural theorist and gender studies scholar. She died in 2021. The exposition is underpinned by an underlying Marxist interpretation that, in my view, is relevant not just to economists and political philosophers, but also to people working in different sectors of our modern economies of advanced capitalism, such as banking and cybersecurity. In the style of art, I was inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat's drawings and paintings, which are laden with input from popular media sources, like jazz music and television, recorded in an automatic and naive drawing manner, turned into abstracted paintings. For Nikos ('Rama', 'Mr X'), Filip ('Philip'), and Brandon - August, September, and October 2024. For "Daddy G", 'Eric' ("Her Man") and 'Prudence' ("Mole's Beau", or "Her Man's alter-ego") - December 2024, January 2025, May 2025. Who are not politicians, but are doing something political, so they must take care of what they do. See also exposition "The Loot", under 'Art and Activism Exposed as Research Blog'.

We live in an age of Symbolic Misery (Stiegler, 2014). In this era, we listen to the same music, scroll through the same Instagram feeds, and we immerse ourselves in daily lives that are the same as others, gradually losing the 'singularity (Stiegler, 2014)' of individual difference. This homogenized structure of perception continuously reshapes our subjectivity (Simondon, 1958; Hui, 2016), making individual desires no longer emerge from unique experiences or internal generative processes, but are increasingly induced and regulated by external technological and symbolic systems (Stiegler, 2015). In this context, the question is no longer 'What do we produce?' but rather, 'Do our desires still belong to ourselves?'. As Stiegler (2014) pointed out, in order to enter the market more effectively, marketing technologies have developed an industrial aesthetic system centered on audiovisual media. This industrial aesthetic re-functionalizes individual sensory experiences following industrial interests, aiming to produce a replicable and controllable unified taste through the standardized pleasure. This huge 'desire project (libidinal management)' manipulates human drives for externalization through a diversity of apparatus (Agamben, 2009; Foucault, 1977), generating a sense of 'participation' via formalized interaction, restricting the level of perception and expression (Stiegler, 2015). Through daily repetition, this process gradually weakens the individual’s ability for subjectivation, trapping them within a passive structure of desire (Stiegler, 2014). This exposition is based on an artistic research project titled 'I Don’t Know Who I Am', an installation game. It invites players to watch a five-minute monologue, the story of a cow (inspired by, for example, Lacan et al., 2001), to explore the secrets hidden within this cow’s desire. After watching the video, the player will face a plate of real grass with soya sauce, and be invited to make a choice: whether or not to eat the grass. This installation game encourages players to reflect on a critical question: At a time when industrial aesthetics and subjective experience standardize individual desire, is increasingly hollowed out, where do our desires truly come from? Do they still emerge from internal generative processes, or have they long been preconditioned and disciplined by technological objects and symbolic systems?

Arts-based-philosophy is an emerging research concept at the cutting edge of the arts, philosophy and the Sciences in which cross-disciplinary research collectives align their research practices to finally stage their investigations in field-performances, shared with the public. Our research explores the significance of the HEART in artistic research and performance philosophy from a cross-cultural perspective, partially based on the concepts of the HEART in the works of two artist-philosophers, in which philosophy already became arts-based-philosophy: Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Aurobindo’s poetic opus magnum Savitri. We generally assume that the works of artist-philosophers are not only engaged in “creating concepts” (Deleuze), but their concepts are also meant to be staged artistically to let them bodily matter in fact. The role of the HEART in respect to this process of “bodily mattering” is the core objective under investigation: Firstly, because we hold that atmospheres trigger the HEART of a lived-body to taste the flavor of things it is environmentally engaged with basically in an aesthetic manner (Nietzsche). In this respect the analysis of the classical notion for the aesthete in Indian philosophy and aesthetics, sahṛdaya––which literally means, “somebody, with a HEART”––becomes crucial. Secondly, because the HEART is said to be not just reducible to one’s manifest Nature, but has access to one’s virtual Nature as well. The creation hymn in the oldest of all Vedas (Rgveda) for instance informs us that a HEART is capable of crossing being (sat) & non-being (asat), which makes it fluctuate among these two realms and even allows its aspirations to let virtual possibilities matter. Such concepts show striking similarities with contemporary concepts in philosophy-physics, e.g. the concepts of “virtual particles” and “quantum vacuum fluctuations” (Barad).

Musical performance is not only an aesthetic endeavour, but also a captivating social environment. Hence, this research utilizes principles from social communication theory, mainly through Communicating (Berko et al., 2016), to explore new ways of highlighting and enhancing connections with and among music audiences. A starting point for this study is that most concerts nowadays are built in a similar style to public speaking but use some anachronistic views and inefficient communication methods, thus missing opportunities to convey a message more directly and achieve greater impact. Through literature study and practical experimentation, I will review and test the influence of different factors from interpersonal-communication style – elements that have not been documented and researched enough in this context. These include, among others, performer-audience eye contact, synchronized activity (based on entitativity studies), and vulnerability and openness. The experimental process will be limited to my own artistic practice as a classically trained pianist and free-improviser, and this focus is present in the gathered literature as well. As a qualitative study, the data analyzed is assembled from observations, feedback, and reflection. Results demonstrate how different social and communicational tools create varying levels of engagement, and how challenging the normative role of the listeners can create a more demanding experience yet with more fulfilling outcomes. A performance that really involves the audience enriches everyone, and I hope this paper can inspire new ideas for musicians and artists of any kind to explore this topic further, and to communicate better with the human environment around them.

This work explores the balance between tradition and innovation in classical music performance, focusing on Franz Liszt's interpretation of Beethoven's music and the concept of Geist (spirit). It traces Liszt's evolution from his early studies with Carl Czerny, a direct pupil of Beethoven, through his virtuosic performance years, to his later focus on preserving Beethoven's legacy as a teacher. Drawing on sources from musicians and scholars, the study examines the philosophical and practical challenges of authenticity, highlighting the tension between historical accuracy and artistic expression. It argues that authenticity should not rigidly reproduce the past but should capture the spirit of the music in a way that resonates with contemporary audiences. Ultimately, the study advocates for a balanced approach, honoring historical sources while allowing for personal creative interpretation. By examining Liszt's legacy, this work aims to inform and inspire my own performance practices, blending historical performance studies with personal expression.

In Bergamo, a small city in Northern Italy, in 1687 a new theatre was opened: the Teatro Secco Suardo, the only example of “teatro impresariale” that existed in this city. Its story is full of interest and allows us to observe a glimpse of the musical and cultural life of a provincial city in the period of Venetian domination and the resulting cultural influence. For this reason, I felt the need to narrate the story of this place in my own way, trying to combine the historical narration of facts and the discovery of music that was brought to life in our theatre. The play I wrote includes both real and fictional characters and develops following the path of historical facts but with some dramatic escamotages. The music plays two different roles, on one side accompanying the story as a sort of comment, and on the other, showing a glimpse of the "behind the scenes" of the work of the musicians. All the music is extracted and selected from the five operas that took place in the Teatro by Domenico Gabrielli, Marcantonio Ziani, Antonio Sartorio and Francesco Ballarotti, all composers of the Venetian area. The aim and the message of the play is to show the sometimes difficult attempts of people to bring cultural initiatives and spaces in smaller and provincial cities. And I hope that my play will be an example of this drive toward cultural vibrancy, with a future performance by the connection with local theatre groups.