Taking off the mask: embracing vulnerability on stage
(2021)
author(s): Marlon Valk
published in: KC Research Portal
Many musicians think that experiencing and showing vulnerability is a weakness. I see it differently. To share our music with the world, without any assurance of acceptance or appreciation, is to be vulnerable; to be real, to choose courage over comfort, to take off your mask, is vulnerability. The exposure and risk we face, are not optional. In my own musical journey, I discovered that I cannot escape vulnerability on stage. What if embracing our vulnerability is key to convincing, yet authentic performances?
This research is not about finding the magic solution for performance anxiety. It is not about avoiding vulnerability, but about embracing it. Embracing vulnerability starts with defining, recognizing and understanding it. That is exactly where this research started: a literature review was done and experts in the field of psychology were interviewed. This led to the design of strategies that can help embracing vulnerability when performing and when preparing a performance. These strategies are used in an intervention over 13 performances that have been documented with audio/video recordings, a journal and a self-questionnaire.
Results show that performance preparation is a crucial element in dealing with vulnerability. Also, embracing vulnerability led to more experiences of ‘flow’, enhanced focus and increased trust in my abilities to perform music. Besides, I felt more authentic as a performer. These findings, although subjective, provide insights and strategies that could be of great benefit to other musicians.
Den emotionellt hållbara filmprocessen
(last edited: 2023)
author(s): Emilie Löfgren
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
Hur skapar och utvecklar jag metoder för en filmprocess som värnar mitt eget och mina medarbetares mentala och känslomässiga välbefinnande när vi gör film om svåra frågor? Hur tar jag hand om mina medverkande? Hur ser min film ut som är sprungen ur en sådan arbetsprocess? Hur har arbetet med terapeuten Cilla Holm, tidigare filmproducent, bidragit till en hållbar filmprocess? Filmbranschen präglas av högt tempo och utmattningssyndrom är inte ovanligt. För fyra år sedan blev jag utmattad och efter att ha sörjt mitt gamla jag och min nya stresskänslighet kom jag fram till att jag inte tänker acceptera att jag inte ska kunna arbeta med det jag älskar, film och skrivande. Jag tänkte att det måste finnas andra sätt att arbeta med film och fortfarande få må bra.
En exposition om skapandet av min dokumentärfilm Om sorg (2022) och metoden som jag kallar för den emotionellt hållbara filmprocessen.
English abstract:
How do I create healthy working methods that benefit my own and my team members mental and emotional wellbeing while making film about difficult subjects? What does a documentary sprung out of these methods look like? How has the collaboration with Cilla Holm, film therapist and former film producer, contributed to make the process emotionally sustainable? The film industry is fast paced and burnout is not uncommon. Four years ago it happened to me and I had a total identity crisis. After grieving my old self, my ability to multi-task and my newfound stress intolerance, I came to the conclusion that I will not accept that I have to leave the film industry. I wanted to keep working, I just had to find another way to do it.
An exposition about the creation of my documentary About Grief (2022) and the method that I call The emotionally sustainable film process.
Tools of Vulnerability
(last edited: 2020)
author(s): Maria Walczuk
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
My film work has revolved around a hypothesis of vulnerability with my artistic research question:
in the context of interviews and the larger scope of cinematic storytelling, how can tools to access vulnerability be a symbolic key to unlocking the transformative power of resilience in a narrative?
Proposed Methodology:
I. The Privilege of Listening
II. The Power of Silence
III. Trust & Intuition
IV. The Light of Vulnerability
V. Discovery of Resilience