Research Catalogue

HEIMILDALEIKSÝNINGIN: FÚSI, ALDUR OG FYRRI STÖRF. UM VERKIÐ: Fúsi, aldur og fyrri störf er heimildaleiksýning um Sigfús Sveinbjörn Svanbergsson. Verkið var frumsýnt 17. nóvember á Litla sviði Borgarleikhússins og var sýnt frá haustinu 2023 til vorsins 2025. Í sýningunni fer Fúsi yfir ævi sína og valin atriði úr fjölbreyttu lífi hans eru færð í leik- og söngbúning með aðstoð leikara og söngvara. Verkið fór í leikferð til Leikfélags Akureyrar og var sýnt á 80 ára afmæli Leikfélags Sólheima á Sólheimum í Grímsnesi. Fúsi er húmoristi, fótboltaáhugamaður, leikari, söngvari og lífskúnstner sem minnir okkur á að lífið er alltaf þess virði að lifa því þó að stundum sverfi að. Hindranirnar í lífi Fúsa hafa eflt hann og hvatt hann til að lifa lífinu til hins ítrasta með fötlun sinni og njóta hvers einasta dags. Stundum er lífsreynsla þó þess eðlis að aldrei verður fyllilega hægt að komast yfir hana, sama hversu jákvæður og sterkur einstaklingur er. Sýningin byggir á viðtölum við Fúsa, sem Agnar Jón Egilsson frændi hans og leikstjóri sýningarinnar tók við hann á meðan covid faraldrinum stóð. Tilurð sýningarinnar er því samband frændanna Fúsa og Agga og samverustundir þeirra. Í samstarfi við sviðslistaframleiðandann Monochorme og MurMur Productions LEIKARAR: Sigfús Sveinbjörn Svanbergsson, Agnar Jón Egilsson, Vala Kristín Eyríksdóttir, Þórunn Arna Krjistjánsdóttir, Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, Bergur Þór Ingólfsson og Egill Andrason. Leikstjóri: Agnar Jón Egilsson Höfundar: Agnar Jón Egilsson og Sigfús Sveinbjörn Svanbergsson Leikmynd og búningar: Svanhvít Thea Árnadóttir Aðstoðarleikstjóri: Ástbjörg Rut Jónsdóttir Tónlistarmaður. Egill Andrason Aðstoð við söng: Gísli Magna Framkvæmdastjórn: Davíð Freyr Þórunnarson fyrir MUR MUR Production. Tilnenefningar og verðlaun: Sýningin fékk Múrbrjótinn, viðurkenningu Landssamtakanna Þroskahjálpar árið 2024. Múrbrjóturinn er veittur þeim sem þykja hafa skarað framúr í að ryðja fötluðum nýjar brautir í átt til jafnréttis. Í rökstuðningi kom fram að verkið hlyti m.a. viðurkenninguna á forsendum þess að í Fúsi, aldur og fyrri störf sé skrifað og leikið af leikara með þroskahömlun og að það sé í fyrsta skipti sem slíkt gerist í atvinnuleikhúsi á Íslandi. Fúsi, aldur og fyrri störf fékk einnig hvatringarverðlaun ÖBÍ árið 2024. Hvatningarverðlaunin eru veitt þeim sem hafa með verkum sínum stuðlað að einu samfélagi fyrir alla og endurspegla nútímalegar áherslur um þátttöku, sjálfstæði og jafnrétti fatlaðs fólks. Fúsi, aldur og fyrri störf hlaut tvö Grímuverðlaun árið 2024, leikstjóra ársins og Sprotann (hvatnigarverðlaun Grímunnar). En sýninginn fékk samtals fjórar tilnefningar til Grímunnar 2024, fyrrnefndar tvær ásamt Sýningu ársins og Leikara ársins í aukahlutverki (Agnar Jón).

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.

Documentation of preliminary steps and collection of musical material and related reflections during the first Term of the Master's Program in Improvisation and World Music. December 2022

Title: Solidifying the Ephemeral: The Alchemy of the Liquid Canvas Artist-Researcher: Giuseppe Rametta Giusirames 1. Professional Biography Giuseppe Rametta Giusirames is an Italian artist and material researcher whose practice lies at the intersection of contemporary art and chemical experimentation. Rejecting standardized industrial media, he develops proprietary material mixes, treating the creation of the "base" as an integral part of the creative act. His most significant breakthrough is a specialized technique designed to "solidify the sea," transforming the fluid and ephemeral nature of marine environments into a permanent, solid canvas. Through his work, he explores themes of environmental memory, the alchemy of matter, and the tension between natural flux and artistic preservation. His studio is a continuous laboratory where traditional aesthetic values meet innovative material engineering. 2. Research Statement This research focuses on the chemical and poetic transformation of natural and volatile elements. The core of the project is the stabilization of fluid environments through a unique technical process. Material Hybridization: Sea, Smoke, and Antisepsis My investigation extends beyond seawater to the stabilization of other volatile and antiseptic substances: * Seawater: Capturing the essence of the ocean to create a structural canvas. * Amuchina (Chlorine-based solutions): Integrating antiseptic elements to explore the tension between hygiene, sterilization, and nature. * Smoke: Attempting to fix the weightlessness of air and fire into a solid surface. By inventing these material compounds, I investigate how artistic practice can "fix" a moment of environmental flux without losing its vital energy. 3. The Poetics of Painting on the Sea For me, painting is not a gesture performed on a surface, but a dialogue with an element. To "paint on the sea" means to accept the fluid’s rebellion before fixing it into eternity. It is a poetic act of translation: capturing the rhythm of waves, the transparency of the water, and the ghost-like presence of smoke within the physical constraints of a canvas. This practice transforms the artwork into a relic of a moment that was, by nature, impossible to grasp. 4. Visual Documentation Per le tre foto che mi hai inviato, usa queste descrizioni: * Figure 1 - Organic Textures: A demonstration of how the proprietary mix creates an organic "skin," allowing pigments to settle in a cellular structure. * Figure 2 - Marine Diffusion: The interaction between color and the solidified sea base, mimicking the natural movement of underwater currents. * Figure 3 - The Molecular Membrane: A macro view of the stabilized material. This transparent, alveolate structure proves the successful transition from liquid/volatile states to a solid artistic medium.

Title: Solidifying the Ephemeral: The Alchemy of the Liquid Canvas Artist-Researcher: Giuseppe Rametta Giusirames 1. Professional Biography Giuseppe Rametta Giusirames is an Italian artist and material researcher whose practice lies at the intersection of contemporary art and chemical experimentation. Rejecting standardized industrial media, he develops proprietary material mixes, treating the creation of the "base" as an integral part of the creative act. His most significant breakthrough is a specialized technique designed to "solidify the sea," transforming the fluid and ephemeral nature of marine environments into a permanent, solid canvas. Through his work, he explores themes of environmental memory, the alchemy of matter, and the tension between natural flux and artistic preservation. His studio is a continuous laboratory where traditional aesthetic values meet innovative material engineering. 2. Research Statement This research focuses on the chemical and poetic transformation of natural and volatile elements. The core of the project is the stabilization of fluid environments through a unique technical process. Material Hybridization: Sea, Smoke, and Antisepsis My investigation extends beyond seawater to the stabilization of other volatile and antiseptic substances: * Seawater: Capturing the essence of the ocean to create a structural canvas. * Amuchina (Chlorine-based solutions): Integrating antiseptic elements to explore the tension between hygiene, sterilization, and nature. * Smoke: Attempting to fix the weightlessness of air and fire into a solid surface. By inventing these material compounds, I investigate how artistic practice can "fix" a moment of environmental flux without losing its vital energy. 3. The Poetics of Painting on the Sea For me, painting is not a gesture performed on a surface, but a dialogue with an element. To "paint on the sea" means to accept the fluid’s rebellion before fixing it into eternity. It is a poetic act of translation: capturing the rhythm of waves, the transparency of the water, and the ghost-like presence of smoke within the physical constraints of a canvas. This practice transforms the artwork into a relic of a moment that was, by nature, impossible to grasp. 4. Visual Documentation Per le tre foto che mi hai inviato, usa queste descrizioni: * Figure 1 - Organic Textures: A demonstration of how the proprietary mix creates an organic "skin," allowing pigments to settle in a cellular structure. * Figure 2 - Marine Diffusion: The interaction between color and the solidified sea base, mimicking the natural movement of underwater currents. * Figure 3 - The Molecular Membrane: A macro view of the stabilized material. This transparent, alveolate structure proves the successful transition from liquid/volatile states to a solid artistic medium.

This exposition is an archival gesture emerging from the Dramaturgical Ecologies research-creation collective. Rooted in the entwined inquiries of Blacknesses and Dramaturgy, it gathers the dialogues, encounters and an artistic residency that unfolded through the SSHRC-funded Murmurations project. Between the viscous resonance of okra and the shifting flight of murmuring birds, this exposition shares choreokratic ecologies - a garden of study where movement, thought, and relation co-compose. Here, Blackness becomes a method, a lens, a refrain, challenging the neutrality of the performer-dancer body and inviting modes of collective creation that are relational, porous, and opaque. Murmurations attends to what forms in the formless - like a swarm of birds: a living archive of bodies, voices, and ecologies composing a landscape.