Research Catalogue

A cross disciplinary artistic research project that departs from, and investigates several encounters and alignments between Contemporary Art and Archaeology. Its primary goal is to create a broad selection of autonomous and collaborative artistic, poetic and scientific expressions and responses to Prehistoric Art and its contemporary images. It will seek to stimulate a deeper understanding of contemporary and prehistoric artistic expression and the contemporary and prehistoric human condition. The participating artists and archaeologists will create autonomous projects, but also interact with each other in workshops, seminars and collaborative artistic projects. The secondary goal of Matter, Gesture and Soul is to establish an international cross disciplinary research network at the University of Bergen and strengthen the expertise in cross disciplinary artistic and scientific work with artistic research as the driving force. The project is financed by DIKU and UiB and supported by Global Challenges (UiB)

Timelessness and temporality (Kruse, 2011) are widely studied topics in the classical music of the second half of the 20th century and the 21st century, mainly concerning the perspective of musical composition and auditory perception of music. But what is the perspective of temporal layeredness in the performer’s experience? This quote offers a starting point (Noble, 2018): “music whose temporal organisation optimises human information processing and embodiment expresses human time, and music whose temporal organisation subverts or exceeds human information processing and embodiment points outside of human time, to timelessness .” Specialized in the repertoire of Karlheinz Stockhausen, I want to investigate the role of temporality in music from the perspective of a performer. I will delve into the richness of different layers of temporal awareness in an artistic experience through experiential, embodied, and sensorial knowledge, using different temporal compositions by Stockhausen as case studies: HARMONIEN (2006) for flute solo,, Xi (1986) for flute solo and STOP (1969) for ensemble.

WITHDRAWING THE PERFORMER WITHDRAWING THE PERFORMER is conceptualized and conducted collaboratively by Charlotta Ruth (SE/AT) and Jasmin Schaitl (AT). The starting point are two artistic practices based on methods of mindfulness and game/play; Performances for the Mind and Choreographic Clues. These two individual perspectives on participation emerge from the project leaders’ ongoing artistic research and merge in their common artistic curiosity in the facilitator role and facilitating the creation of immaterial material. Accompanied by neuroscientist and performer Imani Rameses (US/AT) the research asks: How does immaterial material perform within participatory situations? What role does participatory setting play and how does participation differ if situations are communicated as a workshop, a treatment, a practice or a performance? How can neuroscience support how immaterial and participatory art practices are developed and described? What relation exists beyond involvement and how can a participant become the situation rather than being part of a situation? What has to occur in the mind and body for this to happen? Through practice and dialogue conducted with experts in the fields of contemplative sciences, sound art, choreography, game art and somatics, the research explores how input from participants (e.g. memory, thought, emotion) can be placed at the centre of a flexible yet framed performance situation. WITHDRAWING THE PERFORMER was realised in collaboration with the Angewandte Performance Laboratory 2021-2022. In the course of the project, a lecture was given at the Center for Didactics of Art and Interdisciplinary Education, and a public series was realised at Kunsthalle, Wien & Angewandte Performance Lab. Collaborating expert practitioners and dialogue partners are: Philipp Ehmann (AT), Nikolaus Gansterer (AT), Mariella Greil (AT), Dennis Johnson (US/AT), Anne Juren (FR/AT), Krõõt Juurak (EE/AT), Imani Rameses (US/AT), Christian Schröder (AT), Lucie Strecker (DE/AT).

Taking as a departure point my experience working with war survivors in Peru, this project investigates how art can enable the collectivization of mourning. I connected my interest in the act of mourning human losses with my experiences living in Athens, Greece, where I encountered depression as a common diagnosis on both the individual and collective levels. If being depressed relates to unresolved mourning processes, what are the objects of loss caused by economic crisis and political disillusion? How can art help us to mourn an abstract loss, such as a political project, a certain sense of dignity, a particular relation with time and nature, or a fixed role in the familial structure? How could mourning be shared to allow communities to reframe and re-signify those objects of loss, towards transforming our relation to the economic and political? Lost and Shared creates dialogue between theory and affective labour, through collective experiences that connect emotions, critical thinking, body and space. The intuitions and questions brought by conversations with Greek activists and artists are the core of the project. Later on, facing the impossibility of working as planned due to the pandemic, Lost and Shared was adapted to the new socializing conditions and to acknowledge how crisis and mourning had become a global concern. Thus, the project ends up proposing the idea of “fertilizing mourning” as a concept in the making - an open invitation to collectively create practices that help us reconsidering the entanglements between life, death, and regeneration. Urgent practices we need today in order to contest the increasing, global processes of loss caused by capitalism.

Warm-up routines are essential for preventing injuries and enhancing performance, not only for athletes but also for musicians. While technical exercises like scales are common, physical and mental preparation is often overlooked. Research shows that musicians experience a high incidence of injuries, yet many neglect a comprehensive warm-up that includes both physical and mental aspects. This study explores the importance of incorporating a warm-up routine that goes beyond the instrument itself. It introduces a "warm-up menu" that allows musicians to select exercises based on available time, integrating disciplines and techniques such as Yoga, Body Mapping, Flow, and Imagery, while also highlighting the significance of Core engagement for musicians. These practices enhance body awareness, reduce tension, and promote overall well-being, ultimately helping to prevent injuries. The research combines a literature review, expert interviews, and a case study in which three musicians experimented with different warm-up routines over a week, reflecting on their experiences and the impact on their performance and physical condition. Findings suggest that incorporating non-instrumental warm-ups, especially those influenced by Yoga, can reduce tension, improve posture, and enhance performance while lowering injury risks. Experts, including musicians, psychologists, and physiotherapists, confirmed these benefits but emphasized that warm-ups should be part of a broader injury prevention approach. This study provides initial insights into the benefits of holistic warm-ups and encourages further research. By understanding and implementing better warm-up strategies, musicians can cultivate a more sustainable and healthy career.

This study seeks to illuminate a body of forgotten repertoire, documented in the Dutch Republic's courts, theatres, military, amateur circles, and churches. Comprising of a dissertation and two appendices, this study explores how double-reed instruments were used in the Dutch Republic in the years 1677–1725, focusing on seven types and sizes of instruments made by Richard Haka (<1646–1705). This critical period in double-reed history marks Europe's transition from the direct descendants of Renaissance-type instruments to the French-style instruments of the high Baroque period. The Dutch Republic, being the origin of one quarter of all pre-Classical oboes and the earliest-surviving datable bassoon, was one of the first places to adopt these French instruments outside of France — though the older forms of double-reed instruments continued to be used throughout the period of study. One could question the need for having so many of these instruments in a region which is largely unexplored in terms of historical performance practice and repertoire. Double-reed players of the Republic served in a variety of capacities and could be found playing several genres of music, but due to the historically-inconsistent use of terminology, determining the exact introduction and extinction of these instruments is nearly impossible; however, by contextualising an array of seemingly-unconnected primary sources and analysing details in the iconography of the period, a more-informed perspective on the matter can be gained.