Research Catalogue

an international database for artistic research

• 1. Doctoral Research Doctoral research undertaken in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media at Birmingham City University.

• 
  Reconstructing Verses by Henry Loosemore and John Coprario (2020) author(s): Helen Roberts published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
  This exposition comprises a package of outputs from practice-led research around two unique pieces of instrumental music with winds from early seventeenth-century England. Along with the first critical performance edition and a world premiere recording of these two pieces, I present a detailed discussion of the investigation which informed the editorial process, focussing on three historical artefacts: MS Drexel 5469, the fragmentary source of the music in question; the Christ Church cornetts, two original instruments that may historically have been associated with performance of this type of repertoire; and the St Teilo organ, an instrument reconstructed after Tudor archaeological evidence and representative of the style of instrument in use when MS Drexel 5469 was compiled. I examine each artefact in turn, establishing the wider historical context of each and assessing the connections between all three. This process has not only shed new light on two pieces overlooked by historical performers until now, but raised important questions surrounding the performance of early-seventeenth century liturgical music in general.
  open exposition comments (0)
• 
  Performing the compositional act with bouncy castles, soap and shh (2020) author(s): Andy Ingamells published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
  The three creative works presented in this exposition are practical examples of ways in which notation can be reframed to become an integral part of the physical theatre of a musical performance. This act of reframing is presented as part of a process of reimagining relationships within musical performances through an interpreatation of a diagram by Fluxus composer George Brecht (1926–2008). In these three works the act of reading is integral to the theatre of musical performance.
  open exposition comments (0)
• 
  Up Down Left Right (2020) author(s): Andy Ingamells published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
  On Saturday 11th March 2017, forty people responded to an open invitation to conduct the Salvation Army brass band at the Ashley Road citadel in St Paul's, Bristol. No prior musical experience was necessary. Together, over the course of the day, a new piece of music was created. The aim of this research was to explore alternative ways of being a composer by: -collaborating with a performing ensemble that is tied to a specific locality; -engaging with the history and traditions of the organisation associated with the ensemble; -including the wider community of that locality as participants in the creative process. The project culminated in the creation of the 3-minute video and 42-page printed publication through an extensive process of selection, re-presentation and re-performance.
  open exposition comments (0)
• 
  Notions of Queerness as compositional building blocks in "There are more of them than us - a Queer Concerto for 9 Saxophones and Orchestra" (2020) author(s): Michael Wolters published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
  This exposition examines how notions of queerness can be built into the construction of a 15-minute long concerto for 9 saxophones and orchestra. I am presenting the full orchestral score, a video of the premiere performance and a commentary on the research process.
  open exposition comments (0)
• 
  Catalogue d'Emojis (2020) author(s): Paul Norman, Michael Wolters published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
  Catalogue d'Emojis is a Live Performance and CD release of a new work for two performers and two pianists by Dr Paul Norman and Dr Michael Wolters (who together work under the name 'Difficult Listening').
  open exposition comments (0)
• 
  Necessary Amendments (2020) author(s): Stuart Whipps published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
  During the passing of the New Towns bill in 1946 the minister for Town and Country planning invoked Moore’s Utopia only to be dismissed, ridiculed and lampooned by opposition politicians in the UK parliament. Whipps’ artistic research takes this moment's crude dichotomy as a starting point to investigate the places that were built and the people who live in them 70 years later. The outcomes (films, exhibitions and publication) allow for the different reading of historical materials from the perspective of memory and community. Whipps’ creates a change to the way we remember and think of ‘new towns’ today by both; representing the stories of people who lived and live in those ‘new’ places and by reflecting upon what happens when idealism and optimism is confronted by bureaucracy and the status quo. This research utilises historical and archival materials from Milton Keynes City Discover Centre and vintage educational videos from The Open University that were presented alongside newly created photographs, films and personal testimonies. Whipps developed a new body of work that centres around a series of films ‘Necessary Amendments’ (2014 - 2020) supported by community engagement events (e.g “Cycle Tour” around Milton Keynes public art displays, 2018), new photographic and film material from the sculpture garden created by a Harlow New Town architect Sir Fredrick Gibberd, and commissioned writing by Dr Honor Gavin (The University of Manchester). His findings in a form of films, contemporary art exhibitions, public talks and publications were supported by MK Gallery, The Open University and the University of Hertfordshire. The project was exhibited nationally in MK Gallery, and internationally in CURRENT Athens. “Necessary Amendments: Homes for the People” film was commissioned and exhibited as part of New Geographies (funded by ACE). Whipps published a peer-reviewed paper in ‘Art & the Public Sphere’ journal (2017).
  open exposition comments (0)