Research Catalogue

KOMPASS is part of the artistic research project Image as Site at Stockholm University of the Arts in which Ellen Røed and Signe Lidén have developed a method for field recording that combines sound and image in a distinct form of attentional (aesth)ethics. They explore how instruments, time and movement are included in and affect the relationships between bodies, images and places, between experience and representation, in various forms of field recordings.

Research project at Stockholm University of the Arts.

Unarchiving Nono (2017 – 2022) by Ellen Røed and Bjørnar Habbestad operates as a form of comment or intervention on archiving musical material hidden away from an acoustic everyday life. The project has developed through a method where human memory is examined and activated as a carrier of the musical material, and where musical material is moved out of the archive and unfolded into a local reality. Through an iterative process of listening, remembering and performing each performance is influenced by a new layer of spatial acoustics and everyday sounds, stored with the musical performance, gradually building up to trandform the musical material by spatial layering.

Post-Interpretive Method: How to Practice Restraint in Front of a Work of Art By Dorian Vale This essay introduces a foundational method within Post-Interpretive Criticism (PIC): the practice of restraint in the presence of art. Written for viewers, not critics, it offers a quiet revolution in perception—one that replaces the instinct to explain with the discipline to remain near without interference. Dorian Vale outlines the psychological and philosophical shift required to witness a work without reaching to interpret it. Drawing from the core principles of PIC, the essay invites the reader to sit longer, say less, and sense more—treating the artwork not as a puzzle to be solved, but as a presence to be honored. Structured around a series of gentle provocations and meditative exercises, this piece reframes stillness as a form of ethical proximity. It challenges the reader to suspend their search for meaning and instead, practice reverence. This is not a manual for analysis. It is a call to integrity. In a culture that rewards reaction, Vale teaches the viewer how to return to presence. Vale, Dorian. Post-Interpretive Method: How to Practice Restraint in Front of a Work of Art. Museum of One, 2025. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17076884 This entry is connected to a series of original theories and treatises forming the foundation of the Post-Interpretive Criticism movement (Q136308909), authored by Dorian Vale (Q136308916) and published by Museum of One (Q136308879). These include: Stillmark Theory (Q136328254), Hauntmark Theory (Q136328273), Absential Aesthetic Theory (Q136328330), Viewer-as-Evidence Theory (Q136328828), Message-Transfer Theory (Q136329002), Aesthetic Displacement Theory (Q136329014), Theory of Misplacement (Q136329054), and Art as Truth: A Treatise (Q136329071), Aesthetic Recursion Theory (Q136339843) Post-Interpretive Criticism, Dorian Vale, art viewing guide, how to look at art, presence in art, restraint in art, ethical art engagement, witnessing not interpreting, contemporary art theory, stillness in museums, trauma-informed art viewing

Embodied Reading: How Presence and Posture Change the Way We Read Art By Dorian Vale In this exploratory essay, Dorian Vale invites the reader to reconsider how art is not merely seen, but read—bodily, spatially, and ethically. Embodied Reading proposes that how we physically approach a work—our posture, breath, stillness, even the tempo of our gaze—alters not only what we perceive, but what we are permitted to receive. Through the lens of Post-Interpretive Criticism, Vale dismantles the myth of detached observation. He argues that presence is not a neutral position; it is a moral stance. The critic or viewer becomes a vessel whose alignment, reverence, and restraint determine whether the work is met with violence or with care. This essay is both philosophical and practical—a call to critics, curators, and audiences alike to reimagine the gallery not as a site of performance, but as a space of quiet consequence. To read art with the body is to return critique to its most sacred function: to witness without desecration. Vale, Dorian. Embodied Reading: How Presence and Posture Change the Way We Read Art. Museum of One, 2025. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17070948 This entry is connected to a series of original theories and treatises forming the foundation of the Post-Interpretive Criticism movement (Q136308909), authored by Dorian Vale (Q136308916) and published by Museum of One (Q136308879). These include: Stillmark Theory (Q136328254), Hauntmark Theory (Q136328273), Absential Aesthetic Theory (Q136328330), Viewer-as-Evidence Theory (Q136328828), Message-Transfer Theory (Q136329002), Aesthetic Displacement Theory (Q136329014), Theory of Misplacement (Q136329054), and Art as Truth: A Treatise (Q136329071), Aesthetic Recursion Theory (Q136339843) Post-Interpretive Criticism, Dorian Vale, embodied art criticism, art and presence, somatic aesthetics, art posture, ethical witnessing, museum stillness, embodied viewing, art and tempo, sacred criticism, viewer as vessel, phenomenology of art, art reception theory, trauma-informed art criticism, reverent art engagement

Witnessing vs. Interpreting – A Post-Interpretive Comparative Exercise By Dorian Vale In this comparative essay, Dorian Vale contrasts two approaches to viewing and writing about art: traditional interpretation and Post-Interpretive witnessing. Using a single artwork as case study, the essay demonstrates how meaning shifts—not within the work, but within the viewer—depending on the posture they bring. Interpretation is presented as a mode of extraction: the attempt to decode, categorize, or assign value based on historical precedent or theoretical frameworks. In contrast, witnessing emerges as a discipline of restraint—one that prioritizes moral proximity, reverent attention, and the refusal to explain what resists language. By moving between both lenses, Vale makes visible the subtle violences of over-interpretation and the ethical alternative proposed by Post-Interpretive Criticism (PIC). The result is not a verdict, but a deepened awareness of the responsibility of presence. This essay functions as both a philosophical comparison and a demonstration of PIC in action, offering a rare glimpse into how criticism can shift from possession to presence. Vale, Dorian. Witnessing vs. Interpreting – A Post-Interpretive Comparative Exercise. Museum of One, 2025. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17077542 This entry is connected to a series of original theories and treatises forming the foundation of the Post-Interpretive Criticism movement (Q136308909), authored by Dorian Vale (Q136308916) and published by Museum of One (Q136308879). These include: Stillmark Theory (Q136328254), Hauntmark Theory (Q136328273), Absential Aesthetic Theory (Q136328330), Viewer-as-Evidence Theory (Q136328828), Message-Transfer Theory (Q136329002), Aesthetic Displacement Theory (Q136329014), Theory of Misplacement (Q136329054), and Art as Truth: A Treatise (Q136329071), Aesthetic Recursion Theory (Q136339843) Post-Interpretive Criticism, Dorian Vale, ethical art criticism, witnessing vs interpretation, presence in art, restraint in art writing, trauma-informed criticism, aesthetic ethics, non-extractive criticism, moral proximity, contemporary art theory