No Show
(2024)
author(s): Steinunn Knúts Önnudóttir
published in: Research Catalogue
This exposition contains six letters about the work No-Show that was performed in Reykjavík in 2020. The performance is a part of the artistic PhD research "How Little is Enough?" Sustainable Methods of Performance for Transformative Encounters in Malmö Theatre Academy at Lund University. The letters address different aspects of my artistic practice and research such as motivation, method, affect, ethics and the findings.
No Show is a series of five immersive participatory performances, solitary experiences performed in five private homes in different neighbourhoods of Reykjavík in June – August 2020.
HOW LITTLE IS ENOUGH? Sustainable Methods of Performance for Transformative Encounters.
(2024)
author(s): Steinunn Knúts Önnudóttir
published in: Research Catalogue
The exposition is an artistic PhD thesis and contains research outputs in three categories, Performance Archive, Research Publications and Method Development tied together by an essay.
I.Essay:
Testimony of a Pilgrim.
II.Performance Archive:
No Show - exposition.
Island - exposition.
Strings - exposition.
Pleased to Meet You - exposition.
III.Research Publications:
Porous and Embracing Dramaturgy for Transformative Encounters - video article.
A Quest for Existential Sustainability - video article.
Transformative Encounters - podcast series.
IV.Method Development:
ME-THOD.
How-little-is-enough-approach.
Abstract
At the core of this artistic doctoral thesis are four performance projects designed to counter the consumer-driven nature of contemporary performance-making while also addressing the need to develop sustainable methods of performance. Guided by the question: how to construct sustainable methods of performance for transformative encounters? the inquiry transcends the different layers of performance-making to explore the potential of performance as a catalyst for societal change.
As a part of the Agenda 2030 Graduate School, an interdisciplinary research initiative at Lund University, the project focuses on existential sustainability and investigates how performance can enhance participants' sense of meaning and motivation for adopting sustainable lifestyles and increasing sustainable awareness.
The thesis output is presented in three categories; a performance archive documenting, detailing and analysing the performances and their impact; research publications, disseminating findings and key concepts through different public formats; and method development accounting for the methodological approaches that have emerged through the process.
The four performance works of this artistic research are: No Show (2020), Island (2020), Strings (2022), and Pleased to Meet You (2022/2023).
The three publications of the project are: How Little is Enough? Embracing and Porous Dramaturgies for Transformative Encounters, a video article; How Little is Enough? A Quest for Existential Sustainability, a video article; and the podcast series Transformative Encounters.
Utilizing Me-thod, a pluralistic situated methodology grounded in the artist´s personal background and skillset, together with the how-little-is-enough approach, which minimizes production and focuses on essential needs, the project has collected insights into how performative encounters can initiate transformation in participants and foster connections to the world around them, thereby enhancing existential sustainability and nurturing care for the environment. Through repeated cycles of action-based artistic research, employing qualitative materials and autoethnographical approaches, rich data was generated. The findings emphasize the importance of personal engagement, embodiment, and authentic exchange as catalysts for transformation within performative encounters.
Through this investigation, the thesis aims to contribute to the development of sustainable approaches to performance-making that facilitate profound and meaningful human experiences in an era marked by unprecedented societal and environmental challenges.
ISBN:978-91-8104-107-1
Island
(2024)
author(s): Steinunn Knúts Önnudóttir
published in: Research Catalogue
The exposition is a documentation and dissection of the performance Eyja/Island that was peformed in 2020. The performance is a part of the artistic PhD research "How Little is Enough?" Sustainable Methods of Performance for Transformative Encounters in Malmö Theatre Academy at Lund University.
It contains a video essay about the process of creating the work that describes both motivation and methods, a manuscript, photographs of the performance and a video interview with Gréta Kristín Ómarsdóttir a co-creator of the work.
Island
Eyja is a piece about what it means to belong; what ties a person to a community or a place and what kind of commitment it requires to be a part of something.
The challenges of the island reflect the global challenges of current times. In the performance guests are invited to critically investigate their own ideas on what it means to belong.
The guests are invited to mirror themselves in a staged journey through the life and values of the islanders. Through walks, observations, genuine exchange, symbolic gestures and structured dialogue, topics on quality of life on the ´island´ are contemplated.
STRINGS
(2024)
author(s): Steinunn Knúts Önnudóttir
published in: Research Catalogue
The exposition is a documentation and dissection of the process of creating "Strings", a series of performative encounters with members of Agenda 2030 Graduate School. The performance is a part of the artistic PhD research "How Little is Enough?" Sustainable Methods of Performance for Transformative Encounters in Malmö Theatre Academy at Lund University. The exposition is a logbook of the process from the moment of conception to the aftermath and follows two dramaturgical tracks, an inner journey and an outer chain of events. The exposition holds a personal diary, correspondence, manuscripts, qoutes from participants, pictures and a video interview with the artistic researcher.
Pleased to Meet you
(2024)
author(s): Steinunn Knúts Önnudóttir
published in: Research Catalogue
This exposition is a documentation and dissection of the work Pleased to Meet You, a performative encounter with the more-than-human. The work has been presented in two editions, at Lokal/RDF, Reykjavík, Iceland, November 2022, and at IAC, Malmö,Sweden, March 2023.
The exposition examines the relations specific elements of the work and connects it to the artistic PhD research "How Little is Enough?" Sustainable Methods of Performance for Transformative Encounters in Malmö Theatre Academy at Lund University.
Transformative Encounters Podcast
(2024)
author(s): Steinunn Knúts Önnudóttir
published in: Research Catalogue
"Transformative Encounters" is a podcast series dedicated to the exploration and unpacking of the concept "performative encounters" within the realm of contemporary performance and how it can be understood. This series forms an integral part of the knowledge dissemination deriving from the artistic research project How Little is Enough? that is centered on sustainability and social change, conducted at the Malmö Theatre Academy by Steinunn Knúts Önnudóttir under the umbrella of Agenda 2030 a transdisciplinary Graduate School within Lund University. In the podcast, Steinunn extends invitations to european artists and theorists, fostering performative encounters where they engage in in-depth discussions and multifaceted explorations of this concept from diverse perspectives.
The podcast series is edited and produced by Steinunn Knúts Önnudóttir with the support of Inter Arts Centre at Lund University and Malmö Theatre Academy.
Music: Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir
