How do I grow and develop as a musician in the Western musical environment?
(2023)
author(s): Fan-Qi Wu
published in: Research Catalogue
This research mainly analyses and discusses the process of cultural adaptation and cross-genre/culture integration- how the pipa was fused and adapted into Western ensemble settings through different projects as case studies. Besides, this study uses Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to analyze the changes in the author's mindset as a traditional musician and to explore the challenges and self-identity of being a minority in the larger community.
Furthermore, this study also discusses how the author consciously and unconsciously blends her cultural heritage with Western musical influences, which later helps her to develop her own musical language and voice.
Personal and Academic Blurred Spaces Hinged on Synchronous Gravities in Nature: Conceptual Musings from Events of (Re-)configurations during COVID-19 Pandemic
(2023)
author(s): Haris Adhikari
published in: Research Catalogue
This paper inquires into a two-fold issue: (i) blurred personal and academic spaces during the pandemic and their impact, and (ii) nature’s role in them. As a transformative arts-based research (TABR) within an experimental framework deploying concepts of liminality, Derrida’s ‘teleiopoiesis’, and an adapted outlook of experiential interconnectedness or consciousness of Advaita Vedanta, the paper forwards pedagogically useful findings and implications as these: (i) blurred spaces as bizarre or third space entities that were both stressful and productive, (ii) increased exposures to nature and eco-spirituality, followed by heightened realizations of nature’s place in life, learning and being during the pandemic, (iii) heterotopic university as a space or place that effectuated a surge in self-internalization of learning via intense involvement, (iv) compassionate/ empathic living as a door to self-improvement and joy, (v) formations of new habits and routines as coping strategies in the difficult times, and (v) newly formed wholesome habits and synchronous gravities in nature as great contributors to increased reflective or creative productivity during the pandemic. Additionally, yet more importantly, it highlights the instrumentality of human senses as lower rungs in realizing the interconnectedness or consciousness that experiential Advaita proffers, and this it does by communicating the need for individually unique, radically nonlinear, and adventurously inter-/ trans-disciplinary celebrations of the phenomenon. Besides, it celebrates interrelated questions and curiosities throughout.
Music Education Through Autobiographical Digital Storytelling (METADS) at the 14th SAR International Conference on Artistic Research
(2023)
author(s): Jeffrey Cobbold
published in: Research Catalogue
METADS stands for “Music Education Through Autobiographical Digital Storytelling”. It’s a special initiative for furthering interdisciplinary arts thinking and production that is inspired by music. METADS’ history started in 2017 with Jeffrey Cobbold’s musically rich digital audio sermon album focused on his autobiographical story as a music educator. Included in the sermon are observational digital stories of various music students, which offer approaches to confronting fear through various modes of truth-telling.
In 2020 METADS was mastered by audio engineer Johnny O, who also sang on the song "JOURNAL PROMPT" on the METADS album. The album’s cover art was created by graphic designer Lauren Meyer. In 2021 METADS expanded into a visual art project through Cobbold’s invitation to Meyer to create visualizations for the digital audio sermon album into a comprehensive visual guide/coloring book. Meyer’s involvement in METADS has furthered its progression toward interdisciplinary arts thinking and production inspired by music and storytelling.
For the 14th SAR International Conference on Artistic Research, METADS makes an urgent appeal for music educators and musicians to tend to the stewardship of their relationships in music through the creation of their own autobiographical digital stories, offering them as artistic research in this sensitive area of our musical lives. This is an effort to improve professional practice through investigation of relational fears and the expression of rare relational truths that are often concealed or neglected. METADS also seeks to appeal to the non-musician at the conference who engages in personal storytelling inspired by music or other mediums with a concern for the moral fabric of their creative relationships.
The Ecology of Artistic Research
(2023)
author(s): Elizabeth Torres
published in: Research Catalogue
In the past decade, artistic research has emerged as a prominent means of generating new knowledge while addressing pressing issues such as sustainability and environmental concerns. However, due to its relative newness, the field lacks a clear mainstream understanding regarding its potential, meaning, structures, and limitations. The Ecology of Artistic Research is an interdisciplinary investigation that aims to explore the multifaceted dimensions of the field, with a particular focus on the significance of artistic research to researchers and practitioners themselves, and how they perceive, process, and embody knowledge through their practice. This project seeks to identify sustainable approaches to artistic research, demystify and clarify the language of artistic research for lay audiences, visualize the mechanisms of the field, and visibilize structures and networks that pay closer attention to the narratives of our world in transformation.
The investigation is conducted through a cycle of conversations and artistic responses, with a particular focus on the Nordic countries of Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Through engaging contemporary artistic practitioners, academic institutions and researchers in conversations, the project seeks to gain insight into their work, concerns, and personal experiences. The output of this research takes various interdisciplinary forms, including audiovisual interviews, articles, and a multimedia exposition.
How art made me (in)sane
(2023)
author(s): Nabila Ayu Aviani
published in: Research Catalogue
From the moment I was born, my grandmother said the following words to my mother about me:
“Be careful with this one, this child will be tough as a rock.”
My grandmother was not wrong. I was a tough child – I am a tough child. It was not until later during my teenage years that I was diagnosed with the disorders that would completely shift my world. I spiralled down deeper into agony and self-destructive behaviours. My mental health consistently deteriorated, my disorders consuming every bit of me, and I felt insane.
In art, I found my escape. Through Edvard Munch, a mastermind who was able to decipher and express his troubles in art, I felt less alone. Unable to cope with my intense emotions, I have always been convinced that I am, in one way or another, insane.
And for the first time, through art, I felt somewhat sane.
Territórios Expansivos / Expansive Territories
(2023)
author(s): Diogo Alvim, Matilde Meireles, teresa luzio, Michael Schwab, Sara Morais, Joana Braga
published in: Research Catalogue
Territórios Expansivos é o tema subjacente a um programa de atividades de investigação artística desenvolvido pela OSSO – Associação Cultural, e coordenado por Diogo Alvim e Matilde Meireles desde janeiro de 2020. O programa culmina nesta publicação, um pequeno projecto editorial que procura estabelecer relações entre diferentes perspectivas e modos de operação em investigação artística, bem como entre diferentes instituições. Nela participam quatro artistas que foram convidados para desenvolver ensaios à volta deste tema. A publicação foi acolhida em parceria editorial pela Cátedra UNESCO em Gestão das Artes e da Cultura, Cidades e Criatividade do Instituto Politécnico de Leiria.
Expansive Territories is the theme underlying a program of artistic research activities developed by OSSO – Associação Cultural, and coordinated by Diogo Alvim and Matilde Meireles since January 2020. The program culminates in this publication, a small editorial project that seeks to establish relationships between different perspectives and modes of operation in artistic research, as well as between different institutions. Four artists were invited to develop essays around this theme. The publication was hosted as an editorial partnership by the UNESCO Chair in Arts and Culture Management, Cities and Creativity, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria.