Research Catalogue

The EcoSomatics Conversations Series invites sharing of engagement, practices and thinking around environmental awareness through embodiment activities, dance and art. It posits a definition of EcoSomatics as of the body-mind-ecology and takes the form of open public dialogues between two (or more) people: independent artists, practitioners, and academics. The project was conceived by Dr Polly Hudson, (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Birmingham City University), and the conversations are co-convened with Dr Karen Wood, (Birmingham Dance Network and C-DaRE). The conversations took place virtually with a large international audience, and the podcasts are audio recordings of the live events. It is supported by funding from ADM Faculty Research Investment Scheme, Birmingham City University. Image by Ming de Nasty.

This technical and philosophical treatise represents a profound intersection of chemistry, Eastern philosophy, and neurodivergent perception. Below is the formal translation into English, maintaining the academic and ontological rigor of your "Giusirames Protocol."

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).

Journalistic storytelling should move away from the hero narrative. Instead, drawing on Ursula K. Le Guin’s Carrier Bag Theory, it should adopt a “carrier-bag” perspective: to gather, carry, and connect—collecting attentively, bringing home what matters, and linking insights through pencil-based drawing. Drawing becomes a journalistic method for deepened research. Through the nouvelle histoire (Annales School, longue durée) and the sculptural contrast between Rodin (monumental condensation) and Medardo Rosso (fragile appearance), the text shows how attention to everyday life, materiality, and in-between spaces generated new forms of relevance and helped initiate social shifts. Drawing is proposed as a research practice that makes complexity visible, marks uncertainty, and enables more peaceful, context-rich modes of storytelling in newsrooms and teaching.

Questa esposizione fa parte di un progetto di ricerca artistica più ampio, articolato in diverse declinazioni. Il focus presentato si concentra su un’indagine specifica della violenza attraverso il dispositivo dell’auto-conferenza, intesa come pratica performativa e riflessiva. La ricerca prende avvio dalle conferenze autofinzionali di Sergio Blanco, in particolare dalla sua elaborazione della violenza come costruzione narrativa, e si sviluppa attraverso la rielaborazione di un’esperienza personale di violenza subita. In questo contesto, l’autofinzione diventa uno strumento metodologico capace di mettere in relazione l’esperienza vissuta, il discorso teorico e la rappresentazione. L’auto-conferenza viene quindi intesa come una vera e propria metodologia di ricerca artistica: uno spazio in cui l’esperienza personale si intreccia con riferimenti teorici e visivi, generando una riflessione critica sulla rappresentazione della violenza e sulle possibilità del racconto di sé come pratica di conoscenza. L’elemento autobiografico, sempre in bilico tra attendibilità e finzione, diventa così il punto di partenza per una riflessione che supera l’io dell’autore e si apre a una dimensione collettiva, coinvolgendo lettori e spettatori.

Interviews about where artistic research is heading The work Paths of artistic research is a collection of interviews with artistic researchers - Andrea Buršová, assistant professor at the Nika Brettschneiderová Dramatic Acting Department, Faculty of Drama, JAMU, Jiří Honzírek, director, manager of the Feste Theatre and PhD student at the Theatre Faculty, JAMU, Barbora Klímová, head of the Studio of Environmental Design at the FFA BUT, Lenka Klodová, head of the Studio of Body Design at the FFA BUT, Lucia Repašská, researcher at the Cabinet for Theatre and Drama Research, Theatre Faculty, JAMU, Hana Slavíková, head of the Studio of Radio and Television Dramaturgy and Scriptwriting, Theatre Faculty, JAMU, Pavel Sterec, artist and former head of the Intermedia Studio at the FFA, BUT, and Lenka Veselová, researcher at the Department of Theory and History of Art at the FFA, BUT and PhD student at the FFA, BUT. These are artists who have been associated with art colleges in Brno, specifically with the Faculty of Fine Arts of the BUT and the Theatre Faculty of the JAMU. Through interviews with the artists, the reader will learn under what circumstances they began to engage in artistic research, how they perceive it, what meanings they attribute to it and the purpose it serves for them. The selected group of artists is very diverse and their creative and research strategies are different, as are the purposes for which they use artistic research. The work does not aim to provide an exhaustive overview of the methods used in artistic research, but it does aim to show that there are many approaches to artistic research and to present the paths that have brought particular artists to artistic research.