Research Catalogue

This exposition is a documentary project on the artistic research project Neither Fish nor Fowl. The research project consists of theater making, film making, workshops, performances and writing, and explores the wondrous worlds of becoming in theatre for early years. Together with my theater company Teater Fot, I have been investigating the significance of affect as philosophical, emotional, and material inspiration in the creative process, and in relation to young children in Theater for Early Years. Neither Fish nor Fowl was conducted as a performance project from April 2017 to March 2020. During this period, the research process was documented in RC, presenting methods, writings, and reflections along the way. The pre-production performance (for babies 0-2) was shown at the festival Olavsfestdagene in Trondheim, Norway, summer 2017 and at Trondheim Kunsthall autumn 2017. The full production, Begynnelser (for 3-5 years), was presented in april 2018 in co-production with the venue Teaterhuset Avant Garden in Trondheim. Baby Becomings (0-2 years), was presented at festivals and for kindergartens in Trondheim autumn 2018, and the final version Himmel & Hav / Sky & Sea was presented at Rosendal Teater in in March 2020, touring kindergartens for one week. Animalium (2019) was a spin-off production with film making, workshops, visiting exhibition spaces and other public spaces. An exposition in VIS - Nordic Journal for Artistic Research #2 on the theme Estrangement was published in 2020 through RC. In the period 2020-26 Animalium has become a new site specific research project, looking at post humanist approaches to different sites such as kindergarten spaces, libraries and art exhibition spaces, documented as an ongoing research project here. In 2026 a new version of Sky & Sea will be produced for kindergarten touring: Himmelfiskene.

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).

An overview of Elisabeth Belgrano's artistic / performance / research and teaching in higher arts education 2004-ongoing

Post-Interpretive Criticism: Doctrine of Restraint, Witness, and Moral Proximity in Contemporary Art Writing Author: Dorian Vale This doctrinal essay codifies the foundational ethics and philosophy of Post-Interpretive Criticism—a radical departure from traditional art writing that prioritizes interpretation, explanation, and performative analysis. In its place, Dorian Vale introduces a critical framework rooted in restraint, witness, and moral proximity. Rather than dissecting or decoding art, this doctrine teaches the critic to hold space, remain present, and write with reverence. Art, especially that which emerges from grief, trauma, displacement, or sacred silence, is not a puzzle to be solved—but a presence to be honored. This doctrine offers a structured alternative to the dominant critical paradigms. It affirms that the most ethical art writing does not always speak—it listens. It does not clarify—it shelters. It does not interpret—it witnesses. Blending philosophy, aesthetic ethics, and literary rigor, this foundational text establishes Post-Interpretive Criticism as both a movement and a method. It calls for nothing less than a revolution in the way we engage with meaning, silence, and the unseen. Vale, Dorian. Post-Interprative Criticism: Doctrine of Restraint, Witness, and Moral Proximity in Contemporary Art Writing. Museum of One, 2025. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17012559 Dorian Vale is a chosen pseudonym, not to obscure identity, but to preserve clarity of voice and integrity of message. It creates distance between the writer and the work, allowing the philosophy to stand unclouded by biography. The name exists not to hide, but to honor the seriousness of the task: to speak without spectacle, and to build without needing to be seen. This name is used for all official publications, essays, and theoretical works indexed through DOI-linked repositories including Zenodo, OSF, PhilPapers, and SSRN. This entry is connected to a series of original theories and treatises forming the foundation of the Post-Interpretive Criticism movement (Q136308909), authored by Dorian Vale (Q136308916) and published by Museum of One (Q136308879). These include: Stillmark Theory (Q136328254), Hauntmark Theory (Q136328273), Absential Aesthetic Theory (Q136328330), Viewer-as-Evidence Theory (Q136328828), Message-Transfer Theory (Q136329002), Aesthetic Displacement Theory (Q136329014), Theory of Misplacement (Q136329054), and Art as Truth: A Treatise (Q136329071), Aesthetic Recursion Theory (Q136339843) Post-Interpretive Criticism, art criticism ethics, Dorian Vale, doctrine of restraint, moral proximity in art, witness-based art writing, contemporary art theory, post-critical aesthetics, slow art, minimal criticism, sacred witnessing, aesthetic responsibility, trauma in art, ethical language in criticism, writing without harm, non-interpretive criticism, viewer as evidence, presence in art, philosophical criticism, art and reverence

Dimensions of an Encounter: A Sculpture & Its Shadow explores how sculpture negotiates the opposing forces of gravity and levity, presence and absence, object and support. Tracing a lineage from Leibniz’s theory of individuation to Melanie Klein’s theory of object recognition to various sculptural practices, the essay considers how spatial arrangement mediates psychic projection and self-recognition.

Afterwork explores the shifting relation between human labour and automation through the lens of political imagination and speculative fiction. Building upon new iterations of the live action role-play (LARP) Afterwork, firstly run at Kunsthalle Wien in 2023, it investigates how art-based world-building methods can serve as critical tools for thinking beyond prevailing labour ideologies in the context of rising automation.