Research Catalogue

Bachelor of Choreography 4th Year Exposition

PERFORMING PROCESS is a research group within the Artistic Research Centre at Nottingham Trent University, co-led by Emma Cocker and Danica Maier, both Associate Professors in Fine Art. We ask: what is at stake in focusing on the process of practice — the embodied, experiential, relational and material dimensions of artistic making, thinking and knowing. What is the critical role of uncertainty, disorientation, not knowing and open-ended activity within artistic research? How might a process-focused exploration intervene in and offer new perspectives on artistic practice and research, perhaps even on the uncertain conditions of contemporary life? PERFORMING PROCESS has origins in a number of critical precedents: Summer and Winter Lodges originating within the fine art area (practice-research residencies or laboratories dedicated to providing space-time for making-thinking and for exploring the process of practice), collaborative artistic research projects such as No Telos, for exploring the critical role of uncertainty, disorientation, not knowing and open-ended activity; the DREAM seminar series with PhD researchers which focuses specifically on the ‘how-ness’ of practice research by asking - How do we do what we do?

Towards a (per)sonal topography of grand piano and electronics How can I develop a grand piano with live electronics through iterated development loops in the cognitive technological environment of instrument, music, performance and my poetics? The instrument I am developing, a grand piano with electronic augmentations, is adapted to cater my poetics. This adaptation of the instrument will change the way I compose. The change of composition will change the music. The change of music will change my performances. The change in performative needs will change the instrument, because it needs to do different things. This change in the instrument will show me other poetics and change my ideas. The change of ideas demands another music and another instrument, because the instrument should cater to my poetics. And so it goes… These are the development loops I am talking about. I have made an augmented grand piano using various music technologies. I call the instrument the HyPer(sonal) Piano, a name derived from the suspected interagency between the extended instrument (HyPer), the personal (my poetics) and the sonal result (music and sound). I use old analogue guitar pedals and my own computer programming side by side, processing the original piano sound. I also take out control signals from the piano keys to drive different sound processes. The sound output of the instrument is deciding colors, patterns and density on a 1x3 meter LED light carpet attached to the grand piano. I sing, yet the sound of my voice is heavily processed, a processing decided by what I am playing on the keys. All sound sources and control signal sources are interconnected, allowing for complex and sometimes incomprehensible situations in the instrument´s mechanisms. Credits: First supervisor: Henrik Hellstenius Second Supervisors: Øyvind Brandtsegg and Eivind Buene Cover photo by Jørn Stenersen, www.anamorphiclofi.com All other photo, audio and video recording/editing by Morten Qvenild, unless stated.

Thesis / Research Document of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, 2023. BA Interactive / Media / Design on the inner climate of the body This study investigates the relationship between the inner experiences of the human body and the state of balance of earth’s climate. The current state of the earth is worsening and the current way of living is not sustainable, climate change wise but also health and mental health wise. Changes need to be made to the way humans live their lives, for (men- tal) health, environment and survival of all beings. There are three stages in which this research takes place: meeting, befriending and becoming. The meeting chapter looks at the human body experiences of breathing, emotions and (graceful) movement and what these mean in relation- ship with environmental awareness. During befriending we dive into the human body’s microbiome, neurodiversity, mental illness, burn out, education and war and how these influence the climate crisis. The last chapter called becoming, looks into the philosophy of time and space in relationship with environmentalism and viewing the earth as one’s own body. The three stages are designed to help us understand the rela- tionship to the disturbance of the climate and our role in it. The research looks into methods to become aware of one’s body. For instance, Just being—breathing—gives the body and its microbiome time to heal. Another method being zooming out and metaphorically seeing the human bodies as the microbiome of earth. .

An artistic research project exploring the art of live remixing through the lens of the music philosophical framework "The Remixician's Triaxis". The project resulted in live studio recordings with multi-camera video of my duo with Alessandra Bossa - Before Without.

I dette kunstneriske utviklingsarbeidet har jeg eksperimentert med ulike måter å bruke Ableton Live som et kreativt verktøy. Dette med utgangspunkt i mitt hovedinstrument - trommer. Jeg har som en del av masteroppgaven komponert og produsert tre låter. Beskrivelsen av og refleksjonen rundt komposisjonsprosessen presenteres i kontekst av vitenskapelig teori og metode. I løpet av refleksjonen setter jeg ord på en ny bevisstgjøring rundt min kombinerte rolle som utøver, komponist og produsent gjennom solo-komprovisasjon og hvordan dette har gitt meg ny innsikt i egne estetiske preferanser. Jeg reflekterer også over hvordan teknologien jeg benyttet meg av påvirket komposisjonene, hovedsakelig hvordan trommespillet, sound, lydvalg og formen på låtene ble direkte påvirket av hvordan jeg samhandlet med teknologien.