creative (mis)understandings - Methodologies of Inspiration by Zheng Kuo

This project aims to develop transcultural approaches of inspiration (which we regard as mutually appreciated intentional and reciprocal artistic influence based on solidarity) by combining approaches from contemporary music composition and improvisation with ethnomusicological and sociological research. We encourage creative (mis)understandings emerging from the interaction between research and artistic practice, and between European art music, folk and non-western styles, in particular from indigenous minorities in Taiwan. Both comprehension and incomprehension yield serendipity and inspiration for new research questions, innovative artistic creation, and applied follow-ups among non-western communities. The project departs from two premises: first, that contemporary western art music as a practice often tends to resort to certain degrees of elitism; and second, that non-western musical knowledge is often either ignored or merely exploited when it comes to compositional inspiration. We do not regard inspiration as unidirectional, an “input” like recording or downloading material for artistic use. Instead, we foster artistic interaction by promoting dialogical and distributed knowledge production in musical encounters. Developing interdisciplinary and transcultural methodologies of musical creation will contribute on the one hand towards opening up the—rightly or wrongly supposed—“ivory tower of contemporary composition”, and on the other hand will contribute towards the recognition of the artistic value of non-western musical practices. By highlighting the reciprocal nature of inspiration, creative (mis)understandings will result in socially relevant and innovative methodologies for creating and disseminating music with meaning. The methods applied in the proposed project will start out from ethnographic evidence that people living in non-western or traditional societies often use methods of knowledge production within the sonic domain which are commonly unaddressed or even unknown among western contemporary music composers (aside from exotist or orientalistic appropriations of “the other”). The project is designed in four stages: field research and interaction with indigenous communities in Taiwan with a focus on the Tao people on Lanyu Island, collaborative workshops in Vienna, an artistic research and training phase with invited indigenous Taiwanese coaches in Vienna, and feeding back to the field in Taiwan. During all these stages, exchange and coordination between composers, music makers, scholars and source community experts will be essential in order to reflect not only on the creative process, but also to analyse and support strong interaction between creation and society. Re-interaction with source communities as well as audience participation in the widest sense will help to increase the social relevance of the artistic results. The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (MDW) will host the project. The contributors are Johannes Kretz (project leader) and Wei-Ya Lin (project co-leader, senior investigator) with their team of seven composers, ten artistic research partners from Taiwan and six artistic and academic consultants with extensive experience in the relevant fields.

<著陸＞

「你是誰？」。

我們通常會不假思索地說出自己的名字，同一個名字，在不同時空、不同對象面前有不一樣的意涵與故事，但說出名字的瞬間，我們從來都不需要過問名字的意義。

什麼時候，一個名字需要內容？

什麼時候，我需要被辨識、需要那些差異？

又是什麼時候，我能夠確定我真的知道自己是誰？

我們藉由許多過往形成當下的自己，用國籍、血統、親族系統與外在形象辨認自己的身份，包括用自己的文化介紹自己，這一切都是如此的自然而然。然而，在這個信息分享便利、價值觀交錯的時代，「文化」如何作為身份辨認的證據？在這個講求個人特色，普世價值觀與生活模式卻勁直趨向統一的時代，「文化」該以什麼姿態存在與被解讀？

我困惑的並不是生命存在的意義，而是作為這個時代的人，該如何定義自己？尤其是當我與生俱來的文化身份並非因實踐而存在，那些屬於我的語言、屬於我的生活方式、屬於我的價值觀，都在文字與談話間遊蕩，在父母實踐的聲音裡，在觀光者的期待裡。並不是質疑我的文化本身的價值，而是質疑我是否真的能夠理解並且使用它？

透過電影＜尤利西斯的凝視＞和小說＜無知＞，我似乎找到一條可窺探的道路，能夠引領我到下一個階段的探問。所以在影片中引用了它們的內容作為開頭，我也因而明白這不只是一個被殖民後的少數族群會面臨的問題與故事，只是在後殖民主義裡我們能更明顯看見人如何看待自己的身份與文化，又如何定義自己的歸屬。

第一章，僅僅只是探問的初始。

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<LAND ON>

Who are you?

We usually say our names without thinking too much, one name has different meanings or stories in different spaces and times with different people. But the moment we speak out our own names, we never really need to ask what it means?

Since when , a name needs a content?

Since when, I need those differences to be recognized ?

Since when, I can be really sure that I know who I am?

We build ourselves by those past moments we have, we use nationality, descent and our external image to recognize our own identities. Including using our culture to introduce ourselves, they all seems naturally. However, in this age, when sharing information can be so convenient and the different values all are crossing together, how can the culture be an evidence of identification? In this generation that advocate personal characteristics, at the same time the universal values and the mode of life are going toward unity, how should we read the meaning of "culture"? Which attitude can it take for presence?

I’m not confused about the meaning of life, but wondering how can we identify ourselves in this life? Especially when this cultural identity I born in doesn’t exist through my practice. All my language, my life style and my values are floating into words and dialogues, into the sound of my parents’ practice, into the expectations of tourists. I don't question the values of my own culture, but I question if I can really understand it and use it.

Through the movie Ulysses’ Gaze and the book Ignorance, I feel like I found a way to look into my question. It might lead me to the next step of searching. So I use the content of them to start my film, and I also realize it is not just a problem or a story that indigenous peoples in post-colonial era would have, but just more clear to see how people treated their own identities and cultures in the post-colonial time. Also I see more clear, how we could define our own belongings.

Chapter 1 , it’s just a beginning.

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