Research Catalogue

GOON In 2023, at the age of 28, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. This life-altering event led me to take a closer look at my sexual desire, question my relationship with my genitals, and rethink how I perceive my gender identity. Today, as I navigate a healing period, I seek to explore sensuality as a space of resistance and emancipation. GOON is an attempt to free myself from the shame surrounding (my) queer sexualities. GOON is a research performance inviting the audience to look up close at the way they see and seek pleasure. With a choreographic approach, I am researching queer eroticism as a place of joy. Ignoring the constraints of sexual norms, this exploration focuses on shaping a body that is both playful and desired, despite its apparent dirtiness.

This exposition reflects on how machine learning can be integrated with algorithmic composition and live coding to expand digital music creation. The research examines how ML-driven sound analysis, training data, and interactive models reshape compositional workflows. By viewing machine learning as an interpretative and generative process rather than a mere tool, this project challenges conventional boundaries between data gathering, system design, and artistic practice. The discussion is framed through experimental approaches that merge sound synthesis, live coding, and model training, questioning how algorithmic systems can act as both agents of composition and reflective mirrors of musical intention. Through the interplay of structured data, generative models, and exploratory workflows, the study situates machine learning within a broader conversation about creativity, computation, and the evolving role of the composer-programmer.

This page is under construction It contains material created for and in the context of the research project Gifts from the Sentient Forest at the University of Lapland. See https://www.sentientforestproject.com

This exposition investigates the potential of a/r/tography as a methodological framework within an artistic context characterized by improvisation in movement, dance, and theatre. Through a small-scale exploratory study, theory, practice, and reflection are integrated to examine how knowledge and understanding are generated within and through improvised artistic processes. The exposition includes documentation of practical components, reflective writings, and theoretical perspectives, and illustrates how a/r/tography can operate as a dynamic and responsive research methodology within the field of performative arts. This exposition is part of the peer-reviewed article: Østern, T. P., Reppen, C., O’Connell, S., & Daneberg, M. (2025). Choreographer/researcher/teacher - developing a/r/tography as an approach to dance pedagogy at Stockholm University of the Arts in a professional learning community of teachers. Nordic Journal of Art & Research, 14(2).

This visual essay explores images generated through AI-based expansion of a simple photographic composition. Without commands or prompts, the system infers human gestures, shadows, and presences — inventing what was never there. The project questions authorship, visibility, and the power of symbolic residue when language no longer mediates creation. It is not about representation — it is about refusal, inference, and the unsettling persistence of images beyond intention.

This thesis, The Alien Between Us, explores the intersection of touch, technology, and human connection through interactive installations designed to foster intimacy, empathy, and ethical engagement. Rooted in a technofeminist framework, the research examines how mediated interactions can challenge power dynamics, reimagine consent, and empower marginalised groups. Drawing on psychoanalysis, affect theory, and feminist philosophy, the work investigates the triadic model of the Imaginary, Symbolic, and Real, as proposed by Jacques Lacan, to analyse human-machine relations and embodied communication. The installation utilises haptic technologies to create symbolic connections between participants, obscuring identity and gender biases while emphasising bodily empathy and mutual care. Through wearable sculptures and mediated touch, participants engage in spontaneous, fluid interactions that reveal new possibilities for connection and self-awareness. The thesis also critically reflects on the ethical implications of technology, addressing its potential for empowerment as well as its dangers, such as reinforcing societal inequalities. By integrating personal experiences, artistic practice, and scientific research, the thesis proposes a model of interaction that equalises power dynamics, protects against abuse, and promotes responsibility. It envisions technology not as a tool for exploitation but as a medium for fostering meaningful, inclusive relationships between humans and non-human agents. Ultimately, The Alien Between Us seeks to heal our relationship with technology and the body, offering a vision of a more equitable and empathetic future.