Research Catalogue

PROJECT DESCRIPTION “Working Title” is an art performance about labor conditions and class structures. The motivation behind the piece is to interrogate the many ways in which work affects us. The boundaries between labor and art are also examined, as the physical and mental demands placed on the performers reflect the burdens of modern working life. The format mirrors a regular workday: the performance lasts eight hours, including a break. It is presented in two versions—a day shift and a night shift. Today, many sectors are marked by rapid change, demands for efficiency and ever-increasing productivity. Which values are prioritised, and which are undermined to meet the needs of such a labor market? In the piece, structural challenges will be studied and observed through scenarios acted out on stage. Some examples of questions that will be used to form these scenarios: -At what cost do you actually sell your time? -What kind of value is, beyond the monetary, created for those who buy your time? -In what ways, physically and mentally, do you experience your labouring hours, after you have clocked out? The performance will explore themes such as: - Monotony and repetition as fundamental elements of labor - Power dynamics in the workplace and how privileges are maintained and reinforced - The body’s needs in relation to work: illness, disabilities, menstruation, and pregnancy - The physiological consequences of labor - The value of time as an economic and social divide - The close link between economic stability and mental health In a time when the job market is shaped by rapid technological development, climate change and an uncertain future, thinking through alternatives for how to organise ourselves has become crucial. With this performance, we aim to dig into the mechanisms at stake in order to hopefully be able to both raise questions and think deeply about how we may face the challenges ahead collectively. A dynamic, experimental and collectively driven form of artistic expression is combined with societal critique. We believe in art as a way of adding to the discourse in poetic manners, activating questions through embodied experiences. With this unique format, we hope to open new perspectives on what labor means for individuals and society—and what values we wish to build our common future upon.

Based on the Jungian concept of the shadow, I wanted to develop illustrations that depict a journey within the self, leading to the discovery and understanding of one’s own shadow. It represents the dark side of our personality, which we refuse to acknowledge and accept.

When preparing for the dead, may we peep into the future? In the broader geography of the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean, we cook our coffee in the briki or cezve. Every region has its own variation, some heat up the water before adding the powder, some add spices, some make it thick, others thinner. And every person has their own variation as well. Coffee is something as personal as communal. Apart from the daily morning and evening consumption, we also share two uses of the coffee that are central of interest here: the coffee cup reading and the tradition of coffee drinking in funerals and memorials. Imagination and memory, future and past, the association with grief; and the unique timelines traced in each cup. I think that it has been with me for years, the memory of my grandmothers, my mother’s morning ritual of cooking a light Greek coffee in a big cup. The familiarity of the Kafenio. And most importantly, community dynamics; sharing others, participating. Here I aspired to create a meeting space with people, artists or not, with whom I have met over the years and share the subtle fascination about this type of coffee and its rituals. Acknowledging the blood, oppression and displacement behind and around the product. The Cafe Imperial.

Den akustiske og improviserte musikken er fundamentert på modeller som tar utgangspunkt i kollektivitet og samspill. Utgivelser av denne musikken baserer seg på å spille inn og dokumentere former for samspill, og altså lydfeste situasjoner som har foregått samtidig og i samme rom. ‘Stilarten’ vi karakteriserer som støymusikk er i høyeste grad også basert på samspill, men hvor innspillings- og utgivelsesprosessen er tuftet på andre kreative og skapende modeller. Her er prosessene rundt tid og rom ofte konstruert og manipulert via digitale eller analoge teknologier. Point of Return (improvisatoriske referansepunkt i tid og rom) er et prosjekt som går ut på å finne overføringsverdi mellom modellene, prosessene, rommene og bruken av tid. Største del av platesamlinga mi består av innspillinger fra 1960-tallet, for det meste jazzutgivelser fra USA, litt mindre av den såkalte europeiske improviserte musikken. Flesteparten er live-innspillinger tror jeg. Det er i hvert fall de jeg oftest setter på når jeg er alene hjemme – altså live platene. Etter hvert har vi blitt flere i husholdningen som jeg gledelig deler platesamlinga mi med, men ettersom min eldste datter på snart 8 år ikke har det samme romantiske (og analytiske) forholdet til den improviserte, akustiske og instrumentale musikken som meg, og ettersom jeg ikke har det samme romantiske forholdet til hennes Spotify-liste, har vi funnet ut at Beatles er noe vi begge kan sette på, noe begge kan nyte og synge med på. Vi har funnet fram til musikk innspilt lenge før vi begge ble født, men som begge har en emosjonell referanse til. Et lite segment av samlinga mi består av utgivelser fra den såkalte støymusikken. Disse platene hører jeg sjelden på (må jeg innrømme). Innkjøpene er som regel utført på grunnlag av (tidvis ikke helt edru) shopping på utenlandsreiser, og ofte på grunnlag av de kule omslagene. Likevel setter jeg stor pris på å være publikum på konserter med annonsert støymusikk. Det er noe magisk med disse konsertene, og jeg setter stor pris på at jeg ikke kan ‘sette fingeren’ på hva det er jeg liker med dem. Det handler kanskje om et fravær av analytiske egenskaper når det gjelder denne stilarten, jeg er litt ‘novise’, den er ikke min. Konsertene transporterer meg bort fra et analytisk ståsted og jeg setter stor pris på det oppstykkede lydlandskapet og de uvanlige elektroniske og soniske strukturene i musikken. Ingen av støymusikkplatene i samlinga mi er spilt inn live, og nesten alle er spilt inn av to utøvere, og på baksiden av omslagene oppgis det ofte at de har spilt inn musikken i hvert sitt studio, på ulik tid, men at utgivelsen likevel er produsert av begge to – som to adskilte og likeverdige improviserende komponister. Prosessen i mitt doktorgradsarbeid har i utgangspunktet gått ut på å spille inn musikk fra én og én utøver i isolasjon, for så å flytte dette innspilte materiale inn i en annen tid, i et annet sonisk rom, hvor musikken treffer (settes sammen med) annet innspilt improvisert materiale fra andre musikere. Arbeidet har i stor grad bestått i å eksperimentere med sammensetninger; versjoner av helheter, hvordan solistiske komponenter passer/ikke passer sammen, og hvilke felles og forskjelligartede referanser som er hensiktsmessig å benytte seg av i prosessen mot de offentliggjorte kunstneriske resultat.

The project presents a distinctive mythopoeic audiovisual language created to express the experience of aging in a female body in the period between the twenties and thirties. Within the context of life in a late capitalist patriarchal society, and both individual and global events, it reflects on the age-old questions of the passage of time and the search for the meaning of life. At the same time, it examines the feelings of pressure, heaviness, and disposability that are part of the shared common experience of women. Through written word, cinematic language, and original author-composed music, it interweaves symbols and situations in which mud and natural metaphors play a significant role.

This exposition is part of The Sonic Atelier – Conversations with Contemporary Composers and Producers, a series dedicated to examining the evolving role of the composer in the twenty-first century. Through a Q&A format, the project investigates how contemporary creators navigate hybrid identities across composition, performance, production, and technological craft. This interview features Arnold Kasar, German composer, pianist, producer, and mastering engineer, whose work spans improvisation, ambient sound worlds, classical heritage, and studio-based experimentation. Moving fluidly between the piano, prepared piano techniques, and digital production environments, Kasar constructs musical landscapes where acoustic gesture, electronic texture, and spatial depth coexist as a single expressive field. In the conversation, Kasar reflects on improvisation as the generative core of his practice, on the piano as both an instrument and a source of raw sonic material, and on the studio as an expanded compositional space. He discusses the continuum between writing, producing, and mixing; the role of technology as a creative partner; and the influence of spatial audio, room acoustics, and Dolby Atmos on his musical language. The interview also touches on collaborations, the aesthetics of ambient music, the cultural impact of streaming platforms, and the challenges and possibilities posed by artificial intelligence. Kasar’s reflections reveal a vision of music grounded in human presence and intuitive creation, yet deeply attuned to technological and spatial possibilities—where composition, sound design, and performance converge into a fluid, embodied process of listening, resonance, and transformation.