Den kunstkliturgiske kiste
(2025)
author(s): Liv Kristin Holmberg
published in: Norwegian Academy of Music
Kunstens grenser. Prosjektet er både er performativt og diskursivt: Kunstliturgien er en undersøkelse av kirkerommets potensial som kunstarena og en utprøving av kunstens grenser og stedsforandrende kraft i kirkerommet som offentlig rom. Man kan si at kirken befinner seg i et estetisk vakuum. Dette eventuelle tomrom kan tenkes som et mulighetsrom.
Kirkemusikerens performative potensial. Prosjektet er samtidig en undersøklese av kirkemusikerens performative potensial. Prosjektet innbefatter en ambisjon om å utvikle og utvide organistens rolle og utvikle en performativ estetikk for musikere, basert på egne erfaringer og kunstnerisk utvikling av rituelt musikkteater og liturgisk orgelspill.
Utvikling av liturgisk musikk. Som del av det kunstneriske utviklingsarbeidet inngår samarbeid med et utvalg komponister- der vi i fellesskap vil utvikle musikalske material og konsepter, spesialskrevet for prosjektet og meg som utøver.
Kunst og religion. Kirken var, en gang i tiden, stedet for kunst. Er det fortsatt slik? I lys av Reformasjonsjubileet i 2017, innehar prosjektet, på et overordnet plan, en refleksjon over spennet mellom samtidskunsten og kirkekunsten siden reformasjonen, i norsk kontekst.
Parallelt er Kunstliturgien en undersøkelse og refleksjon over forholdet mellom tro og kunst, estetikk og religion.
Prosjektet har også en spirituell og eksistensiell ambisjon: Kunstliturgien er en undersøkelse av kunstens transformerende dimensjon.
The Boundaries of Art
The project is both performative and discursive: The Art Liturgy is an exploration of the church space’s potential as an arena for art, and an examination of the boundaries of art and its transformative power within the church as a public space. One might say that the church exists in an aesthetic vacuum. This possible emptiness can be understood as a space of possibility.
The Performative Potential of the Church Musician
At the same time, the project investigates the performative potential of the church musician. It includes an ambition to develop and expand the role of the organist and to cultivate a performative aesthetic for musicians, based on personal experience and artistic development within ritual music theatre and liturgical organ performance.
Development of Liturgical Music
As part of the artistic development work, the project involves collaboration with selected composers — together we will develop musical materials and concepts, written specifically for the project and for me as a performer.
Art and Religion
The church was, once upon a time, the place for art. Is that still the case? In light of the Reformation Jubilee in 2017, the project carries, on an overarching level, a reflection on the tension between contemporary art and church art since the Reformation, in a Norwegian context.
In parallel, The Art Liturgy serves as an inquiry and reflection on the relationship between faith and art, aesthetics and religion.
The project also holds a spiritual and existential ambition: The Art Liturgy is an exploration of art’s transformative dimension.
Optimism of Nostalgia
(2025)
author(s): Anja Susa
published in: Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH)
Having departed from the idea of exploring the subject of “childhood politics” and memory (topics that both Anja Suša and Dejan Kaludjerović have been interested in and invested in through their own artistic practices in theatre and visual arts, as well as in this collaboration), they soon found themselves caught up in the discussion about artistic mandates and the potential artistic format as the output of the research project. The discussion became so intense that it entirely changed the focus of the collaboration—from the content of the project to collaborative protocols—and finally landed in what is best described by Claire Bishop as the “Grey Zone,” which can also be understood as a liminal space between contemporary artistic practices in the fields of performing and visual arts.
Coming from the ideologies of the Black Box and the White Cube, which have been further reinforced by many years of institutional practice that still revolves around the idea of formal artistic education and artistic mandates, the artists soon realized that they wanted to embark on the journey of reinventing themselves in the artistic field of the “other,” despite the lack of formal training or any previous experience. They tried to explore the possibility of entering each other’s art fields based solely on artistic experience, and not on any particular art training.
Dispositions of Being-With: Redistributing Heterogeneity among the Concert Audience
(2025)
author(s): Kelvin King Fung Ng
published in: Research Catalogue
The concert setting, as standardised through the worldwide prevalence of Western Classical music, offers a unique condition in which audience members from various backgrounds coexist in the same time and space, and are prompted to act and interact, restrictedly yet often intensely, by attending and orienting themselves to a medium frequently marked by its intangibility and ineffability. Despite such a richly layered social practice, existing musical works that aim to bring about divergent models of communion tend to eschew this listening convention, rather than harnessing the aforementioned characteristics to unleash new forms of togetherness.
My artistic research seeks to instigate such novel social configurations by creating musical works that articulate previously unexposed relationships among concert audience members. Through factoring in their differing preconditions relative to the performance, my works aim to redistribute what can be sensed by whom (Rancière 2004).
Grounded in a pragmatist view of music-listener co-articulation, I introduce the concepts of circumscribed and preferred affordances. Their dynamics at work are examined through pieces that resonate with my approach, including und als wir (1993) by Mathias Spahlinger and Quadraturen V (2000) by Peter Ablinger. These help illuminate my strategies in redistributing the sensible while motivating intersubjective awareness, as exemplified in D!V£R#!M&NT! (2024) and Brief Version of Seoljanggu (2021–), which configure heterogeneous sets of affordances in relation to individual and cultural differences. Knowledge and experiences generated through this endeavour aim to deepen our understanding of the intricate intersubjectivities of listening, while also opening new routes for broader reflections on the social dimensions of human relations.
Big Resonators and Earpieces
(2025)
author(s): Eléonore Bak
published in: Research Catalogue
With the big resonators and earpieces (écoutoirs) that were created in 2022 as part of the exhibition “Esprits des lieux” for the Chapelle de l’Observance in Draguignan, I try to look into a hitherto invisible landscape and to deal with new perceptions and gestures. The reality of this landscape eludes frontal observation and emerges through a kind of sensory, sensual immersion. My personal idea of empathy and exploration comes to the fore: not to be inspired by the place or nature, but to lose ourselves in them in order to find out what still needs to be searched for, explored and built. In my lecture and the subsequent sound presentation, I will focus in particular on the question of togetherness and mutual awareness of space and research, space and art.
Passive Listening: Exploring Interpassivity in Ambient Music
(2025)
author(s): David Chechelashvili, Alan Brown
published in: Research Catalogue
The landscape of ambient music presents unique challenges for critique and classification due to its wide range of subgenres, functions and goals. Often defined by its atmospheric and immersive qualities, ambient music is traditionally seen as providing a backdrop for relaxation or as a means to block out the harsh reality of the outside world. This dominant theory, while valuable in certain contexts, tends to oversimplify the multifaceted nature of ambient music and ignores the potential for more nuanced listening experiences. The proposed alternative theory of interpassivity challenges existing understandings of ambient music production and consumption modes.
Drawing on psychoanalytic theory, aesthetics and media studies, interpassivity suggests that, under certain circumstances, audiences can choose to delegate the experience of enjoyment to the music itself. This delegation involves a passive surrender of agency that allows the music to shape the listener’s experience without direct, conscious participation.
To illustrate this, we contrast ambient music with more conventional music styles. Exploring both compositional and audience perspectives, we examine how ambient music’s intentional lack of participation distinguishes it from active and attentive music listening practices. By understanding the interplay between the compositional choices of musicians and the passive role assumed by the audience, we may gain a deeper understanding of the various expressions of the genre. We examine the modes of listening commonly associated with ambient music as a means for interrogating the interpassive nature of the genre.
Scholars argue that ambience in the arts is an active and complex force that shapes our perception and understanding of sound and that it should not be dismissed as passive or inconsequential, but rather be seen as a dynamic element that demands critical engagement. In contrast to an emphasis on active engagement, our perspective accommodates instances where listeners engage in a more passive experience. We advocate for an expanded view of the listener’s role in ambient music, recognising the potential for aesthetic experiences that may emerge from the intentional relinquishment of involvement. This nuanced perspective aligns with the complexities inherent in the genre and enriches the discourse surrounding ambient music, offering a broader framework for its classification and appreciation.
The Witness Openlab: Worlding Through Socially Engaged Art Practice
(2025)
author(s): Iulia-Andreea Smeu
published in: Research Catalogue
This paper examines The Witness Openlab, a transdisciplinary artistic research project conducted in fall 2023 as part of the pilot phase for a new Master of Arts program at Basel Academy of Music/FHNW. Inspired by Pauline Oliveros' score The Witness, twelve emerging artists and students explored deep listening practices, embodiment, and community-building through two key projects: Urban Witnesses, investigating trans-border communities around Basel, and Soil Witnesses, exploring human-more-than-human relationships in urban gardens.
Drawing on concepts of "worlding" from Martin Heidegger and Donna Haraway, the project positioned the body as an active medium for understanding ecological and social interconnectedness. The methodology integrated ecosomatic practices, and community engagement, culminating in a public presentation at Tinguely Museum Basel that translated collaborative processes into immersive experiences.
While highlighting the transformative potential of embodied practices in fostering ecological consciousness, the paper critically examines the limitations of privileging somatic approaches, arguing for their integration with theoretical frameworks and systemic analysis to avoid aestheticizing ecological connection.
