She plays angel music (where people might die)
(2020)
author(s): Michael Wolters, Paul Norman
published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University: Faculty of Arts, Design and Media
She plays angel music (where people might die)
Post-Internet Music as a comment on the absorption of knowledge
This exposition articulates the research within the artistic work She Plays Angel Music (where people might die), a 60-minute concert-installation for 5-25 female harpists. The research was triggered by highly questionable and incomplete information on the history of harp composition found on Wikipedia. While it is generally accepted that Wikipedia is not a reliable source in academia, it still a powerful source of knowledge amongst the general public. Thus, the incomplete display on the site promotes
a) the historic and continuing discrimination of women from music composition in the classical music world and
b) the continuing rejection of contemporary music in favour of music by dead composers in the classical music world.
This exposition takes the reader through the compositional steps that were performed in order to create a post-internet work that attempts to highlight political situations by gathering publicly available information into a controversial context.
Divergent voices – Different dialogues in the artistic research project Wikiphonium
(2015)
author(s): Hilde Blix, Geir Davidsen
published in: Journal for Artistic Research
In this exposition we present the outlines of the artistic research project Wikiphonium, and discuss how the Bakhtinian concept of dialogue can function as a theoretical, practical and methodological approach in artistic research projects.
The Wikiphonium project was an investigation into new ways of playing the euphonium and creating new music for the instrument, in close dialogue with various composers and musicians. The work contributed to the expansion of the sonic possibilities, expressions, and repertoire for brass instruments in general. Three interrelated parts together constituted the practice as artistic research: thirteen concerts and performances consisting of new works for euphonium based on experimental collaborations with composers and musicians, experimentation with the instrument's possibilities, and development of different tools enabling these developments, including a wiki with a library of sounds and notations.
The exposition contributes to the general methodological discussion in the field of artistic research, illustrated through examples and experiences from the dialogic approach in the Wikiphonium project. A genuine dialogic attitude in artistic research processes enriches critical reflections embedded in the practice. Documentations of process and results together with the multimedia tool wikiphonium.org constitute a transparent and open communication of artistic practice as research.