Research Catalogue

Arts-based-philosophy is an emerging research concept at the cutting edge of the arts, philosophy and the Sciences in which cross-disciplinary research collectives align their research practices to finally stage their investigations in field-performances, shared with the public. Our research explores the significance of the HEART in artistic research and performance philosophy from a cross-cultural perspective, partially based on the concepts of the HEART in the works of two artist-philosophers, in which philosophy already became arts-based-philosophy: Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Aurobindo’s poetic opus magnum Savitri. We generally assume that the works of artist-philosophers are not only engaged in “creating concepts” (Deleuze), but their concepts are also meant to be staged artistically to let them bodily matter in fact. The role of the HEART in respect to this process of “bodily mattering” is the core objective under investigation: Firstly, because we hold that atmospheres trigger the HEART of a lived-body to taste the flavor of things it is environmentally engaged with basically in an aesthetic manner (Nietzsche). In this respect the analysis of the classical notion for the aesthete in Indian philosophy and aesthetics, sahṛdaya––which literally means, “somebody, with a HEART”––becomes crucial. Secondly, because the HEART is said to be not just reducible to one’s manifest Nature, but has access to one’s virtual Nature as well. The creation hymn in the oldest of all Vedas (Rgveda) for instance informs us that a HEART is capable of crossing being (sat) & non-being (asat), which makes it fluctuate among these two realms and even allows its aspirations to let virtual possibilities matter. Such concepts show striking similarities with contemporary concepts in philosophy-physics, e.g. the concepts of “virtual particles” and “quantum vacuum fluctuations” (Barad).

What triggered me to start this research is the multiplicity of reality. How something is represented, how it actually is and then how we all perceive it in our very own way. In that sense reality doesn’t exist, only versions of it. The lack of awareness of this multiplicity affects a lot our lives; what we believe, what we take as granted and how he behave.Through this practice based research I am experimenting on how to create moments of surprise and realization for the spectator. I work with copies and representations, replicas as I like to call them. The Replicas can be made of different materials, can be virtual or very physical. Until now I used scale models, mirrors and projections but the list is endless; so are the different ways to use the replicas or the impact that they will have. The way that the replicas are introduced to the spectator and their interaction is also very crucial in my work and another field to research. The movement and the body play a significant role to this. The special relationship that we have with our body, the way that we perceive it and how the movement can reset these relations and affect how we experience things.

Jenny Sunesson (b. 1973) is a Swedish artist predominantly working with sound. Her practice ranges from field recording and live collages to conceptual sound art and video. Sunesson uses her own life as a stage for her dark, tragic and sometimes comical re-contextualised work where real and invented characters and derogated stereotypes, collaborate in the alternate story of hierarchies and normative power structures in society.

This exposition brings together a collection of images, thoughts, and descriptions of the initial stages of a doctoral research project that explores the concept of 'notational actants': materially-focused, 3-dimensional objects intended for touch-based interpretation in musical performance. The majority of the content in this exposition was created during a one-month residency at Mustarinda (Hyrynsalmi, Finland).

The exposition provides an insight into the collaborative process of creating and performing Fragmente2 (2021) a choreomusical work by musician Kerstin Frödin and choreographer-dancer Åsa Unander-Scharin based on the Japanese avant-garde composer Makoto Shinohara’s solo piece for tenor recorder, Fragmente (1968). The exposition is an attempt to describe the methodology and creative process in this project, wherein music and dance intertwine in a non-hierarchical manner. The exposition follows the structure of the performance, which consists of a series of fragments, each of them analysed and descibed in terms of choreomusical interaction. We used Don Ihde’s experimental phenomenology and perspective variation (1986) as an artistic method to analyse and explore different aspects of our choreomusical materials and interaction concepts. To address and elaborate the choreomusical elements, we used Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s distinction between abstract and concrete movements (1945/2012), Pierre Schaeffer’s musical objects (1966/2017), and our own concept of choreographic objects. Furthermore, to jointly analyse and evaluate different interaction concepts we used video recordings, annotated scores, choreography scripts, movement instructions, personal reflections, and metaphorical descriptions of the 17 fragments. The process resulted in a contrapuntal choreomusical work where music and dance act as equal parts.

In my dissertation, I examine the manifestation of identity through material means - interior and clothing - and observe their dialogue in offline and online environments. I explore the occurrence of these spheres on social media, in everyday life and across history. I look for interesting connections in the context of the modern Western society we are part of. The key analysis was carried out by the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, where various artificial intelligence methods looked for visual and conceptual parallels and colour schemes in the so-called mirror seflies, which I consider to be artefacts of contemporary society. The current academic year has been conducted mainly on the theoretical level, while the following year I plan to implement practical outputs that will materialize the data and findings.