A/r/tography and improvisation in practice
During the course I did an exposition called: Exposition - A/r/tographical process - in a landscape of Improvisation, where I explored a/r/tography at a theatre where I work in Stockholm. A group of 10 students joined in a living collective inquiry exploring questions about what improvisation can be in contemporary times. I was also interested in how I/we could practice as constructed in interaction. Theorizing through inquiry is a process that involves an evolution of questions (Irwin et al. 2006, p. 71) and further questions emerge as the process and the practice take place.
How do we use the personal and political? Gunes, Aksoy and Özsoy (2020, p. 4909) mean that using personal life experience in artograpical practices helps students create original and creative works. It's about understaning yourself and the world and change it. ”A journey to the unexpected as opposed to following fixed ideas and established perspectives” (ibid. p. 4915). Also, it creates meaning (ibid. p. 4912). Irwin and Springgay (2008, p. 173) underscore that a/r/tography is a living practice, a life-creating experience examining our personal, political and/or professional lives, an engagement with the world. Another question is the concept of listening. Listening in a process. Listening taking place in the present. What does listening mean for the process we are in? How to use listening as a metaphor? Through metaphors we make sense of the world (ibid. p. 173). How can I/we listen more to understand the world? How and in which ways can I (and the group) give more focus on the process and let it guide us? Instead of a leader, how can we rely on giving focus to the process as a rhizome in spaces in-between that guide us? Irwin et al. (2006, p. 71) mean that people, locations and objects are important in a process of creation. Can we use that?
How can I work with ethical aspects? Østern (2017, p. 18) writes that you need to be conscious of your safety and also to be prepared of strong emotions taking place. Processes can be tiring when you get close to each other. I need to be clear of my and the group’s boundaries. To be able to find spaces for creativity.
- Introducing a/r/tography
- Introducing the question - what is improvisation in contemporary times. Together trying to find new questions and not looking for answers.
- Giving suggestions and ideas on activites - letting the collective respond and take more and more responsibility, also listening to the process and see where it guides us. Making conversations, in and through practice.
- Being in a collective inquiry - learning together, stepping back from leader position. Participating and learning together in the activities.
- Finding new spaces.
- Using ourselves, our lives in improvisation, meaning making.
Leadership practices constructed in process, practice and interaction
Crevani, Lindgren and Packendorff (2010, p. 78) refer to Gronn (2009) and Wood (2005) who believe that if we want to develop the phenomenon of leadership, we must challenge the view that leadership is something that belongs to the individual. Crevani, Lindgren and Packendorff (2010) and Wood (2005) use the term "ontology of becoming" within leadership practices. An ongoing state of being. Crevani, Lindgren and Packendorff (2010) also give us the perspective that leadership can be studied from a process ontology, i.e. that leadership practices are constructed in process, practice and interaction. They refer to Wood (2005), who, like Wilson (2016), also argues that leadership should be studied as a process of becoming (Crevani, Lindgren & Packendorff 2010, pp. 77, 79).
Wilson (2016) believes that leadership cannot be applied to cause-effect, as leadership is complex and involves relationship, technology and processes. Leadership takes place in the interaction between leaders and followers, i.e. theories of relational leadership (ibid. p. 36). The context is also central to understanding that political dimensions of leadership knowledge are necessary. Wilson argues that leaders not even need to be present in every model (ibid. p. 198).
Uhl-Bien (2006, p. 654-663) believes that a relational orientation is based on processes and asks questions: how are organizations formed from collectively generated knowledge and how are decisions and actions embedded in collective meaning-making made? She writes about relational leadership theory, RLT, which instead of dyadic relationships focuses on the relational processes through which leadership is produced. She believes that one should focus on how an entire workplace develops leadership from relational dynamics (ibid. p. 672).
Crevani, Lindgren and Packendorff (2010, p. 80) mean that a reaction to the tendency of leadership theories, to include some and exclude others, can contribute to emancipatory approaches. They refer to Hosking (2007) who claims that when we generalize, exclusion can occur, we should instead treat leadership practice and interactions as local-cultural processes in which multiple voices and interpretations take place.
Openings
Openings in a/r/tography is about opening up to conversations, and constantly questioning rather than informing and telling others what has been learnt (Irwin & Springgay, 2008, p. 174-175). "Research and theory are not there to explain a phenomenon, instead we are theorizing through inquiry to seek understanding" (ibid. p. 166).
- How and in what ways can we allow more of not having answers, but posing more questions, allowing open threads, being in the unknown?
- How and in what ways can we not lose clarity but still be open and let the process guide us?
- How and in what ways can we allow us to take more risks?
- How and in what ways can we find ethical ways to open to processes in a learning context without letting students/participants feeling exposed? How can we challenge power structures in these processes?
A/r/tography - becoming - improvising
Author: Stina O'Connell
"To improvise is to follow the way of the world, to unfold with the intensity of the movement in each event" (Irwin 2013, p. 207). "To improvise is to join with the World, or to meld with it" (Deleuze & Guattari 1987, p. 311).
Part 2 - A/r/tography and leadership in practice. The entangled teacher role in a collective inquiry
Excess
Excess opens up for complexifying the simple and simplifying the complex (Irwin & Springgay, 2008, p. 174). Leadership practices as constructed in interaction; how can we make that happen in practice? What can improvisation be in contemporary times? Simple and complex at the same time. Being in constant movement and in a process is where I can identify myself not only as a teacher, but also as an artist and a researcher. Life itself becomes present and a wholeness and complexity with rhizomatic threads is possible. Finding answers is not as relevant as finding new questions. In the creative process - constantly finding new concepts.
Context to the exposition
In this exposition I have extracted concepts, experiences and knowledge I have gathered in the course a/r/tography in Higher Education (7.5 credits), at the Dance pedagogy department at Stockholm University of the Arts. Link to the exposition of the course: https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/2088698/2088699
During the course I explored a/r/tography in different ways, by reading, discussing, interviewing and doing an artographic project and expositions, where improvisation was my focus. This exposition explores what becoming artography is to me when working with improvisation.
Follow the arrows to be guided through the exposition.
Giving space to the process
By constantly reflecting, in practice, art making, relation making, I can sense that my approach to teaching, researching, artmaking is something that is in the state of constantly becoming. A/r/tography - becoming artist, teacher and researcher and becoming in the spaces in-between - opens up for living inquiry (Irwin & Springgay, 2008, p. 172). I am moving forwards and backwards. Sometimes in a flow, sometimes with more friction. From someone who is outside, to someone who is inside. Giving more space to the process. The material and the practice guides us.
A/r/tography - a hybrid research methodology
A/r/tography is an art and educational practice based research methodology dedicated to acts of inquiry through the arts (and writing) (Irwin, et al. 2006, p. 70). A/r/tography is a hybrid research methodology. However, it is based on concepts and processes, so-called 'renderings', rather than predetermined, ready-formulated research methods. The methodology gives us a toolbox of concepts and renderings: in-betweens, metaphors, reverberations and openings. This allows us to be in the unknown, and rather than searching for answers, it encourages us to look for further questions and complexity (Irwin & Springgay, 2008, p. 171-175).
Hybrid: Artist/Researcher/Teacher - an inquiry
LeBlanc and Irwin (2019) helped me enter an artographic moving landscape where the identity of being a teacher, artist and researcher are intertwined, leading to new perspectives on learning, knowledge, art and inquiry. Taking you from the known to the unknown. Being in the movement and present is a part of teaching. Hit the moment as it is. We need to experience this. Expressions then become true, they becomes authentic.
Two participants (A &B) voices about becoming a/r/tography
A talks about a flow and presence during the sessions as something that helps the process. "Regardless what we do during the rehearsals there is a clarity in it, which brings us together. Regardless what we do, we find puzzle pieces", A says.
A says that interaction is something that helps the group to move forward. A also says that it is relieving to follow instructions and to follow a clear plan. At the same time A stresses that we are in a process, that at the moment doesn't have a goal, and that it is wonderful to be in the process.
My reflection: Wanting clarity at the same time as being in an uncertain process reveals an ambiguity, which I'm not surprised to hear. As we improvise we want clear directions to stay on path, at the same time as we want the freedom to lose ourselves where ever, at any time. Boundaries to find creativity. Movement. In-between. Becoming. Being in interaction also helps everyone finding the path forward.
What can improvisation be in contemporary times? Doing, talking, writing, drawing. A says it's hard to write.
My reflection: Feeling the room, giving opportunities all the time. Responsiveness.
A says that the group is present during the process. The relational leadership is highlighted.
My reflection: Presence keeps coming up. It seems that presence is a key to relational leadership and a leadership practice constructed in process, practice and interaction.
B says that I'm creating calmness in the group. That I have a clear idea for the rehearsal at the same time as I take in what is happening, which results in flexibility.
B says that even though I'm "the expert", I don't have that approach. Instead B says that the feeling is that when I have presented an exercise or an idea, the feeling is rather that we are doing and exploring this together. B feels that my approach is relaxed and prestigeless. B says that this kind or leadership is rare from B's point of view, i.e. having a clear idea but open for multiple possibilities as we go along.
B thinks that embracing the room leads to a leadership in interaction. Also that creating energy by taking part in exercises instead of being a leader on the outside.
B feels seen and can influence the process which creates a feeling of us doing this together as a collective inquiry.
Reflection: a/r/tography is a methodology of embodiment, of continuous engagement with the world: one that interrogates yet celebrates meaning (Irwin & Springgay, 2008, p. 173). Constantly relational processes creates and recreates learning and community. Being present, exploring together, affecting each other, being grounded.
A/r/tography invites to a collective living inquiry
A/r/tography can enable a focus shift towards collective work - to expand leadership positions, to challenge power structures, to give space to processes and facilitate a collective inquiry. Finding the in-betweens where we share experiences, explicit and tacit knowledge.
In the collective space you can discover yourself in a collective. Mosavarzadeh et al. (2022) describe in their article "Walking with water", that by walking, with no pre-definitions, with their bodies in different places and through art making relations are created and recreated in movement, in common learning - ”Collective living inquiry” (Mosavarzadeh et al. 2022, p. 93).
In collective living inquiries we can give space to ourselves and to each other; relating, artmaking and learning. Collective spaces can give strength and energy where we can learn from ourselves and each other.
Reverberations
Improvisation is a constant movement and emphasizes that movement can be both sudden and drastic or more subtle. We need to listen to the movement
and follow it while it unfolds. Reverberations is a dynamic movement, dramatic or subtle, that forces artographers to shift their understandings of a phenomenon (Irwin & Springgay, 2008, p. 174).
A reverberation - Presence. In collective processes. In interaction. Presence can give space to be in the state of becoming. Finding the sweet spot - not being in the past, not in the future - but being in the present. Being present starts with you, and then you can relate to others. Constantly relational processes creates and recreates learning and community. Being present, exploring together, affecting each other.
Renderings: Metaphores, Openings, Excess, Reverberations, In-betweens.
Interaction - Relations
Ethical aspects need to be considered and leadership as interaction gives space to create a communicative leadership. Østern (2017, p. 18) writes that you need to be conscious of your safety and also to be prepared of strong emotions taking place. Processes can be tiring when you get close to each other. What boundaries need to exist to be able to find space for creativity? Ravn (2020) means that the concept of agency refers to the dancer's capacity to make decisions and influence both their own movement and the dynamics of the group. Improvisation works as a way to explore and express personal and collective creation, where the balance between spontaneity and control becomes crucial. She menas that improvisation can help develop a deeper understanding of how people interact with and affect their surroundings through movement and bodily expression.
Metaphors
Through metaphors we make sense of the world (Irwin & Springgay, 2008, p. 173). Metaphors can guide us to concepts when we are in a process. "Knowing (theoria), doing (praxis) and making (poesis) are all important in A/R/Tography and also the relations between them - folded together as a rhizome, a way of understanding the world" (ibid. p. 167).
What is the In-between?
Mosavarzadeh et al. (2022) describe in their article "Walking with water" how they work with different themes, for example, walking with water. They are at different places but still walking together. They walk with water (by a lake, or the sea) and pause at the same time as they share their art in a group chat where they get encouraged to get oriented, disoriented and reoriented. They describe the water as ”in-betweenness” which creates possibilities, uncertainty, reflexivity and constant movement (Mosavarzadeh et al. 2022, p. 98-101). This gives opportunity for rendering, which for me means that the listening becomes prominent. The listening gives us a space and lets us be affected.
Irwin (2013, p. 206) writes about walking in relation to becoming and means that "walking pedagogy is one pedagogical and research strategy/methodology that embodies the liminal in-between of two multiplicities of teaching to teach and learning to learn". It invites individuals to pay attention to their senses by slowing down and being aware of one's surroundings and one's experiences. "Experiences that are multi-layered, sensory and affective, which help us reach beyond the personal to social understanding" (ibid. p. 204).
References
Barad, K. (2014). Diffracting diffraction: Cutting together-apart. Parallax, 20(3), 168-187.
Crevani, L., Lindgren, M. & Packendorff, J. (2010). Leadership, not leaders: On the study of leadership as practices and interactions. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 26, 77-86.
Deleuze, G. & Guattari F. (1987). A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. University of Minnesota Press.
Gronn, P. (2009). Leadership configurations. Leadership, 5(3), 381-394.
Güneş, N., Aksoy, S., & Özsoy, V. (2020). The Role of the A/r/tography Method in Art Teacher Training. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(10), 4909-4919.
Hosking, D. M. (2007). Not leaders, not followers: A post-modern discourse of leadership processes. In Shamir, B., Pillai, R., Bligh, M. & Uhl-Bien, M. (Eds.) Follower-centered perspectives on leadership: A tribute to the memory of James R Meindl. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
Irwin, R. (2013). Becoming A/R/Tography. Studies in Art Education: A Journal of Issues and Research, 54(3).
Irwin, R.L., Beer, R., Springgay, S., Grauer, K., Xiong, G., & Bickel, B. (2006). The Rhizomatic Relations of A/r/tography. Studies in Art Education, 48(1), 70-88.
Irwin, R. L. & Springgay, S. (2008). A/r/tography as practice-based research. In Springgay, S., Irwin, R. L., Leggo, C. & Gouzouasis, P. (Eds.), Being with A/r/tography. Rotterdam.
LeBlanc, N., & Irwin, R. (2019). A/R/Tography. In Noblit, G. (Ed.). Oxford Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods in Education. Oxford University Press.
Lepecki, A. (2006). Exhausting dance. Performance and the politics of movement. Routledge: New York.
Mosavarzadeh, M., Mahlouji, S., Moussavi, Y., & Sarreshtehdari, E. (2022). Walking with water: (Re)making pedagogical relations through walking and artmaking. The Canadian Journal of Action Research, 22(2).
Musicant, S. (2007). Authentic Movement in Clinical Work. In Pallaro, P. (Ed.) Authentic Movement: Moving the Body, Moving the Self, Being Moved. A Collection of Essays. London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 116–127.
Ravn, S. (2020) Investigating dance improvisation: From spontaneity to agency. Dance Research Journal, 52(2), 75-87.
Stromsted, T, & Haze, N. (2007). The Road In. Elements of the Study and Practice of Authentic Movement. In Pallaro, P. (Ed.) Authentic Movement: Moving the Body, Moving the Self, Being Moved. A Collection of Essays. London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 56–68.
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Wilson, S. (2016). Thinking Differently about Leadership. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
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A/r/tography - Improvisation
To improvise, a way of becoming, is for me a way to be in and understand the world. To improvise is to follow the ways of the world, to unfold with the intensity of the movement in each event. "To join with the world, or to meld with it” (Deleuze & Guattari 1987, p. 311). Improvisation is a constant movement which can be both sudden and drastic or more subtle. We need to listen to the movement and follow it while it unfolds. Improvisation is a way of becoming in the world and this resonates with performative research which allows us to engage in the reality, not only to represent it. To be and know at the same time, onto-epistemology, i.e. not separating ontology from epistemology (Barad 2007; Østern et al. 2021, p. 6). LeBlanc and Irwing (2019, p. 15) refers to Barad (2014) and writes that diffraction, intra-action-relation is being-in and being-with the world as opposed to merely reflecting on it. Improvisation can be seen as a diffractive process where improvisers are constantly adapting to each other to create new concepts at the same time together, in the moment, driven by curiosity for the unknown and not yet defined.
In-between - Listening
The concept of listening. Body listening. Eye listening. Conscious listening. Listening in a process. Listening in improvisation. What does listening mean for the process we are in? Listening is important in improvisation. Can we use listening as a metaphor? How can we listen more to understand the world? I perceive this as one way to slow down, to render. Lepecki (2006) explores stillness, and slowing down in an ongoing world, where speed and movement are highly valued as generating productivity. Silence then becomes a political act. On the other hand, the act of listening, the pedagogy becomes something that does rather than is (Irwin 2013, p. 207) - which is in line with the performative research paradigm transitioning from being to becoming (Østern et al. 2021, p. 6). In the act of listening there exists conditions of sensing, feeling and thinking, and not at least becoming (LeBlanc & Irwin 2019, p. 7). In-betweens emerge. “Spaces in-between are vesceral, tactile and active engagement where one is led by wonder, curiosity and intuition. Although they can be uncomfortable spaces, they can also offer generative possibilities” (ibid. p. 7).
Listen. Allow yourself becoming in the unknown. Focus. Sensing the others in a collective inquiry. Relating.
"Listening to the body opens up a process which allows “the weaving and interaction of emerging unconscious material with the conscious elements of weight, time and space. Inner listening is often spoken of as “surrendering”, because it involves giving in to the unknown and waiting for the bodily felt sense, rather than making something happen” (Musicant 2007, p. 117).
Networking
In collective inquiries, networks are created, and pedagogical and artistic work is in constant process. LeBlanc and Irwin (2019, p. 7) writes that "Operating on variation, mutation and flows of intensities, the rhizome is a dynamic momentum that activates the in-between an invitation to explore the in-between spaces of art-making, researching and teaching". A network - a rhizome - fills the room, where there is no start and no end. It's a collective inquiry where learning takes place, composed by bodies, sounds, space, time and not at least relations.
