Research Catalogue

By researching crematoria and graveyards I try to break the taboo surrounding grief and death. What are the elements of design at these places that could provide comfort? What are the stereotypes about death culture that prevents us from fully accepting what happens to us when we die?

Artist, actress and writer Nina Goedegebure conducts artistic research into the polyphony of a disease process at the Master Crossover Creativity @HKU, with two transdisciplinary projects; Fertility and 'Will You Carry Me?!' Starting from the question: How are we carried within a disease process? she investigates the effect of art during a disease process, and/or treatment. She is driven by the idea that in destruction lies creation. 'Through Research Catalogue I want to provide an open insight into this artistic process including my sources of inspiration, questions and finds.'

RESIDENCIAL DA BOAVISTA II No centro da cidade do Porto, pendurado na Avenida da Boavista e junto à barulhenta VCI, está um lugar onde quase nada acontece, o Foco. No Bairro Habitacional do Foco, neste bairro modernista, o tempo parece estar suspenso. Prédios podem ser construídos à sua volta, plenas mutações citadinas e o bairro ainda manteria a sua estética e ambiente. O bairro é como um corpo refastelado, com a sua cabeça pousada na avenida da Boavista e os pés sobre a VCI, sempre em contradição à movimentação e ruído constate da cidade envolvente. Os vizinhos encontram-se na entrada dos blocos, a senhora do 1.º esquerdo limpa a varanda, o porteiro vigia, solitário, o majestoso átrio. Entretanto, na urbe surgem, diariamente, novos movimentos, os metros descarregam milhares de pessoas, os citadinos saem à rua desenfreados na motivação de vivenciar um novo dia. Numa primeira fase, desenvolvemos este estudo da cidade e a sua relação com o bairro residencial colocando em foco os seus cidadãos e como os diferentes espaços são vivenciados, refletindo os seus movimentos. A cidade tece uma manta de retalhos. É na Boavista onde estes se juntam prolongando-se da cidade ao mar. Artefactos de várias épocas são unidos por uma linha invisível. O Bairro Habitacional do Foco, este bairro modernista, marca o meio desta Avenida, mudando o ambiente. A avenida comercial torna-se habitacional. O ruído torna-se em calma. A confusão citadina abre espaço a uma tranquilidade aparentemente suburbana. Numa segunda fase, uma nova promenade, com enfoque nesta relação recém-descoberta. Habitando o espaço do Bairro, entendemos que este é contaminado por figuras geométricas em contraponto à natureza.

Conny Zenk (Center Research Focus, PhD candidate PhD in Art), Bianca Ludewig (researcher and journalist) and Magdalena Scheicher (researcher) are interested in taking not only unusual paths but also using vehicles in different ways. In their contribution "A Collective Cycling Body Of Sound", they reflect on the bicycle as a medium for art and sound and present activist strategies of collective cycling to open up queer-feminist, solidarity-based perspectives on the city. In doing so, they explore the possibilities of public space as a sound space and discuss insights from Zenk’s activist practice. Inviting Ludewig and Scheicher for interviews, Zenk discusses bikefeminism and counterpublics, and approaches soundrides as a form of empowerment.

In his contribution "Post-Digital Angst – The Direct Experience", Mong-Sum Joseph Leung (Center Research Focus, PhD candidate PhD in Art) explores anxiety in the post-digital age, examining it as a basic anthropological condition in relation to concepts such as hollowness, nullity, and the unknown. Leung intertwines personal experiences from daily life with his artistic practice and ontological reflections on the human condition, working with Heidegger’s notions of Sorge and Angst, to reflect on affective experiences in a digitalized world.

Gabriela Krist (Institute of Conservation) and Marie-Christine Pachler (Institute of Conservation) provide solutions for challenges in seemingly obvious everyday situations in their contribution "Sustainable Behavior with Cultural Heritage: Study on Visitor Awareness". This text provides insights and findings from a study of awareness-raising measures conducted at Schönbrunn palace. This site is particularly popular with tourists and must deal with the wear and damage of displayed objects. As conservators, the authors draw attention to the damage that visitors can cause, and examine different educational measures to improve awareness among tourists and staff members.