Research Catalogue

Arts-based-philosophy is an emerging research concept at the cutting edge of the arts, philosophy and the Sciences in which cross-disciplinary research collectives align their research practices to finally stage their investigations in field-performances, shared with the public. Our research explores the significance of the HEART in artistic research and performance philosophy from a cross-cultural perspective, partially based on the concepts of the HEART in the works of two artist-philosophers, in which philosophy already became arts-based-philosophy: Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Aurobindo’s poetic opus magnum Savitri. We generally assume that the works of artist-philosophers are not only engaged in “creating concepts” (Deleuze), but their concepts are also meant to be staged artistically to let them bodily matter in fact. The role of the HEART in respect to this process of “bodily mattering” is the core objective under investigation: Firstly, because we hold that atmospheres trigger the HEART of a lived-body to taste the flavor of things it is environmentally engaged with basically in an aesthetic manner (Nietzsche). In this respect the analysis of the classical notion for the aesthete in Indian philosophy and aesthetics, sahṛdaya––which literally means, “somebody, with a HEART”––becomes crucial. Secondly, because the HEART is said to be not just reducible to one’s manifest Nature, but has access to one’s virtual Nature as well. The creation hymn in the oldest of all Vedas (Rgveda) for instance informs us that a HEART is capable of crossing being (sat) & non-being (asat), which makes it fluctuate among these two realms and even allows its aspirations to let virtual possibilities matter. Such concepts show striking similarities with contemporary concepts in philosophy-physics, e.g. the concepts of “virtual particles” and “quantum vacuum fluctuations” (Barad).

What triggered me to start this research is the multiplicity of reality. How something is represented, how it actually is and then how we all perceive it in our very own way. In that sense reality doesn’t exist, only versions of it. The lack of awareness of this multiplicity affects a lot our lives; what we believe, what we take as granted and how he behave.Through this practice based research I am experimenting on how to create moments of surprise and realization for the spectator. I work with copies and representations, replicas as I like to call them. The Replicas can be made of different materials, can be virtual or very physical. Until now I used scale models, mirrors and projections but the list is endless; so are the different ways to use the replicas or the impact that they will have. The way that the replicas are introduced to the spectator and their interaction is also very crucial in my work and another field to research. The movement and the body play a significant role to this. The special relationship that we have with our body, the way that we perceive it and how the movement can reset these relations and affect how we experience things.

Jenny Sunesson (b. 1973) is a Swedish artist predominantly working with sound. Her practice ranges from field recording and live collages to conceptual sound art and video. Sunesson uses her own life as a stage for her dark, tragic and sometimes comical re-contextualised work where real and invented characters and derogated stereotypes, collaborate in the alternate story of hierarchies and normative power structures in society.

Environmental science has shown that the global use of concrete has led to significant challenges today and will seriously trouble future generations. Nevertheless, international building industries advertise concrete as a natural, regional, sustainable, and hence green material. In 2020, global human-made mass exceeded all living biomass, with concrete accounting for nearly half of it, making it a signal of the Capitalocene. A radical transformation of industrial building culture is asked for, otherwise anthropogenic mass will be three times biomass by 2040. The growth of the technosphere is amplifying multiple negative currents in the pluriverse — air pollution, lithospheric extraction, and hydrosphere depletion — all with catastrophic effects on biodiversity. This exposition displays the steps in and findings of the artistic research project Greenwashed Concrete. Setting out to widen understanding of the multi-layered material concrete, this project applied a methodology of juxtaposing two sculptural practices in order to collaboratively design experimental settings to engage scholars from heterogeneous fields. Download Accessible PDF

Throughout the history of China, from early dynasties into contemporary times, aspects of poetry, painting, and writing have been grounded in varied but deeply connected ‘rules of rhythm’. These ‘rules’ permeate in diverse yet identifiable and recognizable forms. The research in this project is aimed at both adopting and adapting these rules of rhythm or rhythmic patterns in an experimental form that reimagines a tradition of ‘lyric aesthetics’ in the context of the contemporary interplay between sound, image, and writing. In this sense, the investigation is at once one of ‘reclamation’ and extension. The basic ‘question’ in these experiments is whether it is possible to represent sonic patterns themselves — that is, by both visualizing sound structures and ‘sonifying’ visual forms (irrespective of textual content). The text focuses on the historical establishment of methodological approaches (as a way to identify their forms) and then transforming/translating these in combinations made possible by blending the sonic and visual. As a particular attribute of Chinese expression, these ‘rules’ or forms are cultural traits that have endured through many centuries and challenges and, more importantly in this case, can be (re)iterated in dynamic, fluid, and revitalized contemporary artistic configurations that aim at seeing sound, writing sound, and performing rhythm. Download Accessible PDF

Tutustuminen koillisen Siperian alkuperäiskansojen musiikkiin on ollut koko musiikillisen ajatteluni käännekohta. Se ei ole ainoastaan vaikuttanut kuulemiseeni vaan myös kyseenalaistanut ymmärrystäni musiikista. Muutos ajattelussani alkoi kenttämatkoilla koilliseen Siperiaan, Sahaliniin, Kamtšatkaan ja Tšukotkaan vuosina 2004–2019, jolloin tutustuin paleosiperialaisten alkuperäiskansojen lauluperinteeseen, musiikkiin, jollaista en koskaan aikaisemmin ollut kuullut, mutta joka outoudestaan huolimatta lumosi minut. Mielenkiintoni herätti erityisesti tšuktšien henkilölaulu, joka kuuluu arktisten alkuperäiskansojen kulttuuriperinteeseen. Siinä musiikki ei ole vain ihmisen aikaansaama tuotos vaan osa hänen identiteettiään. Tohtorintutkintoni Kuulokulmia koillisen Siperian alkuperäiskansojen musiikkiin koostuu viidestä taiteellisesta osiosta ja kirjallisesta osiosta. Kirjallinen osio Kuulokulmia tšuktšien henkilölauluun – Säveltämällä kuuleminen taiteellisen tutkimuksen menetelmänä on musiikillinen tutkimusmatka tšuktšien henkilölauluun. Taiteellisen tutkimukseni peruskysymyksenä on, mikä tässä musiikissa koskettaa minua niin voimakkaasti, etten voi sitä sivuuttaa. Kuulokulmat tutkimukseni otsikossa eivät merkitse vain kuuntelemista, vaan häilyväisen ja usein hyvin ristiriitaisen kuulemisen ja musiikin tekemisen vuorovaikutuksessa syntyvää ymmärrystä. Kuulokulmat on tutkimusprosessi, jossa säveltäminen on toiminut tutkimukseni menetelmänä. Sen avulla olen taiteellisia osioita työstäessäni pyrkinyt ymmärtämään, kuinka tšuktšien musiikki käyttäytyy. Taiteellinen tutkimukseni on kuin kalastusretki. Viitekehys on kalaverkkoni, jonka punoslankana on muusikon hiljainen, kokemuksellinen tieto. Siitä on kudottu verkon solmut: kenttämatkojen kokemukset ja kohtaamiset tšuktšien kanssa. Näihin yhdistyvät aiempi etnomusikologinen tutkimus, fenomenologia, musiikin perusolemuksen filosofia ja luonnon äänimaailma. Tutkimus jakaantuu kolmeen osaan. Ensimmäisessä osassa tutustutaan tšuktšeihin ja heidän kulttuuriinsa, josta he itse kertovat äänitettyjen keskustelujen ja matkapäiväkirjojen muistiinpanojen välityksellä. Toinen osa keskittyy tšuktšien laulukulttuurin ominaispiirteisiin, joka ovat avautuneet kuuntelemisen, muistiinkirjoittamisen ja musiikin tekemisen kautta. Esittelen niitä runsaan 30 nuotinnoksen ja niihin liitettyjen äänitysten avulla. Kolmas osa kertoo säveltämällä kuulemisen prosessista työstäessäni taiteellisia osioita Ulitan kävely, Ääni vastaa ääneen, Musiikin virta, Henkilölaulua etsimässä ja Polar Voices. Jupik-vanhimman Asikongaun laulun sanoin olen usein ihmetellyt: Kuinka saan kalan vedettyä ylös vedestä? Saaliiksi on tullut paljon kaloja, joita monet muut jo ennen minua ovat kalastaneet. Mutta myös muutama uusi kala on tarttunut verkkoon. Niitä ovat horisontaalinen harmonia, sattumanvaraisuus ja hiljaisuus musiikkina, tai kun ihminen on musiikin kanssa kahden. Ne ovat uusia kuulokulmia siihen, mitä musiikki minulle on. Getting to know the music of the indigenous people of north-eastern Siberia has been a turning point in my perception of music. It has not only influenced my hearing but has also made me question my understanding of what music is. The change in my thought process began with the fieldtrips that I carried out in north-eastern Siberia, specifically in Sakhalin, Kamchatka and Chukotka between 2004–2019, when I became acquainted with the musical traditions of the Paleo-Siberian indigenous peoples. Never before had I encountered music like this, yet despite its strangeness it enchanted me. My interest was particularly awakened by the Chukchi Personal Song, which belongs to the cultural traditions of the indigenous people of the Arctic. Music is not just an outcome of human activity but is part of their identity. My Doctoral degree, Aspects of hearing the music of north-eastern Siberia consists of five artistic components as well as a thesis. The thesis, Aspects of hearing the Chukchi Personal Song – Hearing through composing as an artistic research method is a musical expedition into the Chukchi Personal Song. The question at the root of my artistic research is: What in this music touches me so strongly that I cannot pass over it? The title of my research – Aspects of hearing – does not only mean listening, but rather the understanding created by the interaction of ambiguous and often contradictory hearing and music making. Aspects of hearing is a research process in which composing is used as a research method. Through composing I have tried to understand how the music of the Chukchi behaves. I would compare my artistic research to a fishing trip. The theoretical framework is my fishing net, which has been woven from the thread the tacit knowledge and the experience of a musician. From this fibre the knots of the fishing net have been woven. These are my experiences from field trips when I lived with the Chukchi and from earlier ethnomusicological research, phenomenology, the philosophy of the essence of music and the soundscape of nature. The thesis is divided into three parts: Part one introduces the Chukchi and their culture, as they speak themselves in recorded conversations and through the notes in my travel diaries. The second part concentrates on the characteristics of the Chukchi singing tradition that have revealed themselves through my listening, notation and composing. These have been presented by over 30 notations and their attached recordings. The third part concentrates on the process of hearing as I composed the artistic components: Ulita’s Walk, Sound answers Voice, The Flow of Music, Seeking the Personal Song and Polar Voices. In the words of the song of the Yupik Elder, Asikongaun, I have often wondered “how to pull the fish out of water”. I have caught a lot of fish, which are the same species that many fishermen before me caught. However, there are also new fish that have been have caught in my net, such as horizontal harmony, music that one hears randomly or in silence, or indeed when a human being is alone with music. These are the new aspects of hearing which reveal what music is for me.