Research Catalogue

Performance philosophy is still something of a ‘wild frontier’ where fundamental questions can be re-posed concerning the nature of wisdom and love, life and truth. For if love and wisdom are not co-extensive with verbal communication, then philosophy may be legitimately pursued by performative means. In this session the participants aim is to enact and unfold a set of trajectories rather than describe or 'define' their work in words alone. Passion and grief are disruptive currencies. Passion and grief not only seem un-necessary for biological life, they frequently threaten it. Yet a life lived without them would seem impoverished. Whether one views these turbulent affects as parasites, invaders, or as the engines of higher culture, they inhabit philosophy as an ineradicable black-market haunts all states and empires. We aim to consider this under-zone on its own terms, weaving theory with demonstrations of transferable techniques for cross-disciplinary research.

This is the shape that my temporary virtual studio had during NPP –New Performative Practice MA SKH Uniarts, Stockholm–.

We left Eden Performed by Marius Igland Group Musicians: Sebastian Grüchot Violin Trygve Rypestøl Sax Bjørn Rønnekleiv Clarinets Marius Igland Guitar Espen Grundetjern Bass Trygve Tambs-Lyche Drums Production Camera Andi Gyberg Lights design Andi Gyberg Sound Engineer Espen Grundetjern Consultant Espen Grundetjern Producer Marius Igland Editor Marius Igland Mix/master Marius Igland Music All compositions and arrangements by Marius Igland Timestamps: 0:14 - Prologue 3:18 - I - A different Animal 11:55 - II - Exploring 19:15 - III - Ambience 27:55 - IV - Water 32:59 - V - Anthropocen 41:07 - VI - Chronophobia 48:31 - VII - Forward we go 53:12 - VII - Returning This production was shot live in Kristiansand, Norway 12th of May, 2024

This artistic PhD project is based on the author’s practice as a recorder player and chamber musician in contemporary Western art music. Through an initial study of the embodied and tacit knowledge of chamber musicians and how it is articulated through gestural interaction during performance, the perspective of the thesis widens to explore how such qualities can be used as a creative resource in interdisciplinary collaboration. At its core, the PhD work has explored long-term collaborative processes in projects where a series of chamber music works have been brought to a staged context, but always keeping the qualities of chamber music at its centre. The research questions that emerge from these conceptual and artistic aims are: – How can I understand and transfer the communicative and embodied qualities inherent in chamber music playing to staged interdisciplinary contexts? – How can the concept of the gestural-sonic object, and the multimodal understanding of human perception which it implies, constitute both an analytical tool and a source for artistic experimentation? – How can musical interpretation be applied in the creation of staged interdisciplinary performances? The method and design of the project builds on collaborations with artists from the fields of composition, choreography, dance, theatre and visual arts. In the projects, the participating artists have aimed to explore and develop collaborative methods and staged formats where the artforms at the same time have been considered as autonomous and as part of a compound whole. The results of the artistic work are published online in the Research Catalogue. The project findings suggest that interdisciplinary approaches, such as experimental music theatre, composed theatre and choreomusical practices, may enable the liberation from traditional roles, hierarchies and predetermined formats and can lead to what can be described as a radical interpretation of the original score. Through a study of musical gesture – building on a theoretical framework grounded in embodied cognition and phenomenology – the thesis presents examples, both artistic and theoretical, of processes through which boundaries between artistic disciplines have been consciously blurred, thereby providing novel creative opportunities for the classical music performer.

This research aims to combine my two artistic identities as a Chinese zither (古筝) player and as a classical singer. After researching, interpreting and analyzing two art song cycles from the 20th century, 5 Poems of Ancient China and Japan by Charles Griffes and Songs of Autumn (秋之歌) by Zhongrong Luo (罗忠镕), I integrate Chinese traditional music forms, ornamentation and instrumentation into my vocal performance. The methodology includes literature review, expert interview, internet media review, score analysis, language analysis and experimental music practice. The outcomes highlight my approach of incorporating inspiration from zither music and folk singing styles into the art song cycles, while also addressing the ethical considerations encountered throughout the research process.

When sounds meet in space, they interact with each other, they diffract, change, and create new ones - these artefacts are always present, have always been heard, but here they become the music itself. Creating a space of both extreme clarity and overwhelming complexity, they lay bare a music that exists within our perception of steady sounds, a music that listeners create themselves through listening in space. What forms of creating, performing, and listening can be developed by making the phenomenon of wave interference my main musical material? And what implications can this phenomenon have as a figuration for the entities involved in performing and listening?