Making it my own
(2023)
author(s): Mikael Lars Åke Bäckman
published in: Research Catalogue
Abstract
In the audio paper which forms the center piece of this exposition I have examined the idiolect of country harmonica player Charlie McCoy. In order to gain a multifarious understanding of McCoy’s idiolect I have made transcriptions of his recordings and interviewed McCoy himself and two other prominent harmonica players. With the aim of obtaining a more refined engagement with the performance, I have sought to embody McCoy’s playing by learning to play my transcriptions. The paper shows the prominent features of McCoy’s idiolect and how he created his idiolect while negotiating the affordances of the diatonic harmonica. The paper also shows how I am using transcriptions of his recordings with the intent of transforming my own artistic voice.
Keywords: Harmonica, Charlie McCoy, Idiolect, Voice, Affordances, Country music
Embodying Recognition: Dance Improvisation for Scientists
(2023)
author(s): Susanne Martin
published in: Research Catalogue
In this exposition (text, videos, photos) I discuss a series of participatory lecture performances as one major outcome of my artistic research on dance improvisation in and for science and technology oriented higher education. These lecture performances aim to give different stakeholders in the science field an initial insight into dance improvisation and to facilitate discussion of its potential for the scientific learning, teaching and research culture. From the perspective of a dance artist and artistic researcher, I trace the details of how and why I created events for scientists to encounter dance improvisation through shared exploration and shared reflection. Interlacing descriptive and reflective writing, I unfold the argument that by engaging in improvisation as an embodied recognition practice, reflective processes can be set into motion, which critically question habituated forms of bodily, social and epistemological exclusions within academia. In other words, by conceptualising dance improvisation as recognition practice, I hope to shed light on its critical potential which exceeds questions of spontaneity and creativity.
PRESENCE as an actor
(2023)
author(s): Ann-Sofie Nurmi
published in: Research Catalogue
During my master in Performing Arts at Stockholm University of the Arts, I have been looking into finding a greater presence, in a text based theatre rehearsal and workshop context. I have tried to look at things how they appear in front of me. A dilemma is, that when I afterwards try and look at presence, it has already gone. Therefore, I used different tasks/exercises, that can be recreated in order to try and catch presence again.
When exploring presence in a rehearsal and workshop context, I found a few clues how to find/create presence and doing tasks in order to find/create a greater presence. In this exposition you can find some of these clues. They are all entangled with each other so one will not work without the other so please see them all as a whole. This exposition is a tangible ans embodied complement to my master essay.
NAVIGATING NOISE
(2023)
author(s): Simon Rydén
published in: Research Catalogue
Simon Rydén
Documentation for the MA Project Navigating Noise at The Department of Performing Arts at Stockholms Konstnärliga Högskola.
This project explored how different art practices from different fields cross-pollinate in the process of making interdisciplinary art. I want to trace how the process of exploration and thinking in different mediums create a dynamic interchange of ideas that leads to the development of new ways of relating to practices.
I used different approaches and techniques, from somatic practices to experimenting with digital tools, to understand how different practices interact with and inform each other. The process becomes an intricate system of similarities and feedback loops, where one can reflect and interpret in many different mediums.
Pause in Nature, then Carry on with Hope
(2023)
author(s): Vija Anna Moore
published in: Research Catalogue
In this project, I set out to investigate and increase my understanding of the ways in which art and music can be used to give us the strength to process difficult emotions arising from complex societal issues and injustices. In psychology, artistic processes can be seen as a way of bridging the external world with the artist's internal world, thereby creating individual logic and organised chaos. (Kogan, 2018; Stratou, 2014; Hagman, 2010). Creating art is a process of the artist processing the outer world within their inner world and channelling the combined emotions into a form of artistic expression, (Stratou, 2014; Kogan, 2018; Hagman, 2010) which, in my case, is music.
With my current work, the creation process itself takes place in the forest because to me, that is a space that balances the complex and at times overwhelming external world and my internal world. By going into the forest I become immersed in the natural external world, rather than composing conceptual ideas of music in a practice room, isolated from the multi-sensual external world. As a consequence, the natural environment of the forest provided rich inspiration for composing music, providing stability and calm between my inner world and current external complexities. Urban landscapes and nature provide a haven for people in urban environments, especially those living in apartments, such as myself (Tan, Liao, Hwang, & Chua, 2018).
Throughout the project I uncovered new reflections and discoveries about moral responsibility following my research question of: How can art and music enable us to process difficult societal issues, emotions and give us hope?
Hugging Atmospheres
(2023)
author(s): Elena Mooibroek
published in: Research Catalogue
The main question around this research paper is how can we translate ambiances? This ungraspable ‘something’? What is our relationship with the atmosphere of spaces that brings out our emotional state? Can we characterize atmospheres by simply giving them names? Giving them a place for their selves to develop.
I researched six certain atmospheres, Masculinity, Sound, Death, Warmth, Lust, and Serenity. They are the ones that I went through most recently before writing this research paper. I wanted them to all come together and hopefully come across an answer on how they might be useful in day-to-day life as an artist in creating art, but also in general, can we understand each other better while talking about them? They are unseen yet as important as our imagination.
Hoping for a translation of the ungraspable ‘something’. Into moments of poetry and storytelling to get a grip on where they touch each other. Giving them a platform/to create a world where atmospheres/ambiances are more visible. To have conversations with them to create an understanding of what they mean. And how they would look like. Along the way I figured, one can not stand on one’s self, they are all in need of the other. Which seems like a reflection of our reality.