Research Catalogue

The first edition of the Professional Doctorate (PD) Day took place on Tuesday 18 November at the Social Impact Factory in Utrecht. This event brought together PD candidates and their networks from all seven domains of the Professional Doctorate pilot to exchange ideas, explore crossovers, and strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration. The theme of this first PD Day, '𝘙𝘦𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘜𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 - 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴,' focused on the future of urban life. This theme is grounded in the United Nations 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘢𝘭 11: 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 and during the PD day, the theme is structured around five subthemes. Within these subthemes, we reflected on how we can shape cities that are inclusive, safe, resilient, and ecologically sustainable.

"My Public Stage" is not merely an artistic practice; it is a dynamic fusion of performance art and civic engagement that transcends conventional boundaries. At its core, this practice navigates the intricate relationship between the artist and the public sphere, offering an unconventional perspective on how art can reshape our understanding of the world. The essential aspect of this artistic journey lies in the intentional placement of artistic interventions and performances within public spaces, where the encounter with viewers is not a predetermined spectacle but a meeting. This deliberate approach seeks to dissolve the traditional separation between the artist and the individual, fostering a unique connection that is spontaneous and genuine. I view public space as not only a material but also a social environment that is produced, reshaped and restructured by the citizens through their experiences, their intentions for action and the relations they develop in it. My project draws on Lefebvre’s (2019) approach to urban public space not as a neutral container of social life, but as a fluid entity, both constructed and produced by social practices. Lefebvre’s approach confirms and expands my view that public space is not fixed, yet it requires a conscious effort to intervene in its production. The philosophy driving "My Public Stage" aligns with the concept of civic engagement. By presenting long durational performances in the heart of everyday life, the artist consciously assumes the role of a creator, using performance art as a medium to unveil the interconnected elements that bridge art with life. This philosophy echoes the sentiment of Joseph Beuys, who believed that everyone is an artist, actively sculpting the intricate sculpture we call life. In embracing the public sphere as its canvas, this practice transcends the conventional boundaries of art and daily reality. It becomes a catalyst for a different perspective on how individuals perceive and engage with their surroundings. The transformative power of performance art is harnessed to reveal the latent artistic potential within each person, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between art and life.

The research explores 'ornamenting' as a transferable method in inter-disciplinary studies, inter-faith dialogues and artistic/therapeutic practices. Adapting techniques of Renaissance musicology, the processes we have developed de-create and re-create vital connections. It is a communica-tions strategy for times of crisis. Starting with simple sonic relations we extend the method far be-yond its traditional musical setting. The practice utilises 'Nothingness' as a component of creativity, providing a novel response to figurations of nothingness as mere negation. Preliminary results sug-gest its potential as a counter force to nihilism and social dislocation. The work divides into four areas. 1. Primary research on relationships between sound, meaning, and the sense(s) of self, exploring how sense is made of Otherness via processes akin to musical praxis: consonance, dissonance, 'pure voice' and ornamentation. 2. To apply this new perspective to a range of exile experiences – mourning, social disconnection, ex-communication and aggres-sive 'Othering'. 3. To investigate the cancelling of normal time-conditions in crisis situations such as trauma, dementia, and mystical experience, relating non-linear temporality to creative practice and healing. 4. To widely disseminate our results and methods as contributions to the methodology of artistic research via journal articles, live workshops and performances, and a book of original, praxical, testable, and teach-able interventions.

A Museum of Breath: Designing Spaces for Attention, Not Spectacle proposes an alternative architectural and curatorial ethic for contemporary museums in an era increasingly governed by speed, spectacle, and attention economies. Departing from the dominant model of the museum as a site of circulation, visual consumption, and algorithmic visibility, the essay advances the concept of the Museum of Breath—an institution designed not to display objects efficiently, but to protect and cultivate human attention as an ethical resource. Drawing on architectural phenomenology, aesthetic philosophy, and sacred spatial traditions, the essay argues that attention is not merely perceptual but moral: to attend fully is to suspend ego, resist extraction, and honor presence. Museums, once spaces of reverence and contemplation, have gradually adopted architectures optimized for movement, accumulation, and self-documentation. This shift, the essay contends, is not accidental but infrastructural, embedded in circulation patterns, lighting regimes, material choices, and curatorial metrics that privilege velocity over duration. The Museum of Breath is proposed as a counter-model. Its design principles emphasize subtraction, stillness, and respiratory rhythm. Architecture is treated as a living system—one that expands and contracts, modulates light and air, and guides the visitor’s pace through compression and release. Influenced by the work of architects such as Tadao Ando, Peter Zumthor, and Louis Kahn, as well as artists including Agnes Martin, Marina Abramović, and Eija-Liisa Ahtila, the essay situates breathing as both a physiological and aesthetic organizing principle. Curation within this framework becomes an ethics of restraint. The curator is reimagined as a custodian of attention rather than a manager of content, responsible for creating conditions of duration, silence, and perceptual humility. The essay further critiques the market logic that renders spectacle measurable and stillness invisible, proposing alternative evaluative values grounded in slowness, absence, and unrecordable experience. Rather than offering a finalized architectural blueprint, A Museum of Breath presents a speculative yet rigorous proposal for rethinking museum design, curatorial practice, and institutional purpose. It invites architects, curators, and theorists to reconsider the museum not as a theatre of objects, but as a sanctuary for presence—one that restores the human pulse in spaces increasingly designed to exhaust it. 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), The Journal of Post-Interpretive Criticism (Q136530009), Canon of Witnesses (Q136565881),Interpretive Load Index (ILI) (Q137709526), Viewer Displacement Ratio (VDR) (Q137709583) , Ethical Proximity Score (EPS) (Q137709600) , Institutional Alignment Indicator (IAI) (Q137709608), Post-Hermeneutic Phenomenology (Q137711946) Dorian Vale is a chosen pseudonym, not to obscure identity, but to preserve clarity of voice and integrity of message. It creates distance between the writer and the work, allowing the philosophy to stand unclouded by biography. The name exists not to hide, but to honor the seriousness of the task: to speak without spectacle, and to build without needing to be seen.

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.