Research Catalogue

This thesis emerges as an exploration of the crisscross nature of music, identity, and the enduring spirit of a people living through profound challenges. Anchored in autoethnographic reflection, it offers a contemplative journey into how sound becomes a vessel for presence, a mirror for resilience, and a space for transformation. Through music, this inquiry seeks not merely to articulate personal narratives but to connect them with the shared pulse of collective memory—a memory shaped by the ongoing realities of displacement and the longing for freedom. At the heart of this research lie three case studies that illuminate the potential of music: Sonic Exile, where traditional Arabic modalities and experimental soundscapes dissolve into a single, resonating voice; Bethlehem Echoes, an improvisational encounter with Palestinian Nay master Faris Ishaq that speaks to the essence of being fully present in sound and spirit; and the work of the Amwaj Choir, where the act of singing transcends the confines of physical and cultural erasure to assert vibrant, enduring humanity. The findings suggest that music is not a static act but a living practice—an unfolding dialogue between tradition and innovation, self and other, silence and sound. Improvisation, as a way of being, becomes a method of both reflection and resistance, enabling a deeper connection to the present moment while engaging with the complexity of the past. The research reveals music’s profound capacity to heal, to resist, and to imagine new pathways for freedom and belonging. Rather than offering definitive conclusions, this thesis extends invitations: to listen, witness, and remain open to the spaces where sound and silence meet, where identity and memory evolve, and where the human spirit, despite all, continues to create and endure.

50 A3 drawings black and coloured markers, including: 3 A3 collages on paper with newspaper cutouts and printed photos. 12 A3 drawings on paper with coloured markers + 1 A3 with black ballpoint pen and markers. 13 A3 drawings on paper with black marker, and red, pale blue, gold, pink and orange markers +1 A3 wo-sided. 17 A3 drawings on paper with coloured markers. 1 drawing on sketchbook cover with red nail polish. 1 text drawing on sketchbook cover inside. 1 drawing on sketchbook cover back inside with black, orange and gold markers. Some of the above is preparatory work for 4 large prints and 13 paintings. 22 A4 drawings with ballpoint pen. I did the art between 2023-2024. I adopted the visual vocabulary of the graphic novel, which I partly studied and read a lot about looking at different graphic artists' work, when I was attending classes at the University of Malmo, Sweden, in 2012. I mixed this with stylistic elements of the architectural sketch, using heavily the black marker and stick figures. Much of this work is, amongst other, about children. I wanted to emphasise that, by intentionally applying stylistic elements from children's drawings, too, in a naive architectural composition. Using this visual approach, I wanted to give a comically sharp twist to the otherwise dark subject matter. "Pop and Politics" (Pop Og Politikk) Where does the boundary run between art and popular culture? Pop art embraces the iconography of mass culture. Themes are taken from advertising comics, cinema and TV. The slick, impersonal style is a deliberate provocation. In Norway, pop art is part of a broader left-wing protest movement. Everything from capitalism and imperialism to environmental and gender politics is subjected to critical scrutiny. The exclusive, unique artwork is replaced by mass-produced prints and posters, well suited to spreading a political message." From the National Museum, Oslo, Norway, 2024. For Nikos, Filip and "Brandon". See exposition in connection with "The Origins of The Game", "Debris", and "The Loot".

Islington studio flat 4, at 14 Barnsbury Road, London, 2022, privately rented. Interior design as an art installation. Looted, 2024. My personal belongings were still at the property for two months, after I left on 27 March 2024 and was asked to collect them by 3 or 4 April from Woolwich. After I left, the landlords moved in two or three under aged, who I have never met, for them to pretend to be my daughters. After that, they must have been removing them one by one over the last few months and until October 2024. 14 Barnsbury Road was deemed illegal through the courts, on 22 April, shortly after I was forced to leave in March. The maintenance employed many Polish citizens, all dressed in black with black caps, like all XRW supporters dress. Twenty-one (20+1) digital photographs for twenty (20) missing Albanian and of Albanian ethnicity non-EU immigrants and one (1) missing Italian citizen. The twenty-one persons whose details got stolen were abducted by mainly Golden Dawn and, secondarily, the NRM; they are deceased. Golden Dawn were originally pagans, drawing from the ancient Greek mythology and ritualistic practices, also of human sacrifice. My personal details were also stolen. Was I going to be the twenty-second? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loot_(magazine) Investigatory research with artworks. The art world has been traditionally male dominated. This has changed a bit in contemporary art, but not dramatically. Female artists have sometimes adopted male attitudes or personas to break into the art scene; see Sarah Lucas and Tracey Emin from the YBA movement. I hold the view that art is not gendered, for instance that there is no art for women or so-called women's art. Good art transcends such categories, tapping into more universal experiences. Saying this, I would like to quote Nancy Spero, who doesn't crudely distinguish between male and female art, as follows: "What if the default gender for 'artist' were female? What if, when we looked at a work by a woman, we said to ourselves, "That is art," and when we looked at a work by a man, we automatically identified it in our minds as 'men's art'?" In 1999, I wrote a long essay on the architectural uncanny that I submitted as my graduation thesis for my first MA in architectural theory. I called it "Space as a 'Bad' Object: A criminal investigation on the notion of space"; I got inspiration from detective novels and real-life crime stories. The long essay was about the role of architectural space in crime. It was completely unsupervised: I received a distinction by a Bartlett staff member. I took the digital photographs in conceptual adherence with that essay. I was a postgraduate philosophy student 9/2017-11/2019 at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. In this exposition, I include two new photographs from a series of digital photography called "Forensics", taken with my mobile phone, after I was forced to leave the property I was renting on 27 March 2024. I gave the photography series that name, because it has served the purpose of investigating, recording and tracking a crime, for which architectural space has been used. For Chris, who was suddenly transferred by his employer, from London, where his daughter lives, to somewhere outside of London; and for Lawrence, whose temporary post was prematurely terminated, though he was planning to return to his legal studies. To all those who don't just "play" the cultural and racial diversity clause. See exposition in connection with "The Origins of The Game", "Debris", and "XRW (Implicature)".

"Heaven on Earth: Revelation of the 10th Avatar" makes connections between ancient myths and Earth's topography that correspond to Hinduism's ten incarnations of Vishnu, resulting in visual evidence of the prophesied return of Kalki to usher in the Golden Age of Satya Yuga.

Operating at the intersection of fine art walking practice, psychogeography, critical animal studies and ecology, the practice of Deep Canine Topography seeks to reframe the humble act of the ‘walkies’ as a co-authored act of ‘making’ or ‘performing’ together. As part of the practice based element of my PhD thesis, Deep Canine Topography, 10 - 10 - 10 Edge-lands, is a further investigation of the methodologies of Deep Canine Topography (O'Brien & O'Brien 2018). This series operates as a visual and sonic essay for each walk and explores memory, deep topographical imprints, and entropy between wild and post-industrial spaces and sub-urban sprawl, on the edge of the city of Leicester and the county of Leicestershire. During the 2020 Covid 19 pandemic lockdown, as part of permitted exercise, we undertook 10 Walks, of up to 10 miles, within a 10 mile circle of our home, just outside of the city centre. Covid 19 restrictions, remained in place in Leicester longer than in any other UK city or region. Each title will take you to a different walk. Click return to return to the title page. Click Base Map to open a GoogleMap of the walk locations and GPS tracklogs (in a new window). Clicking on the round MAP circle, on the title page, will take you to the central exposition of my PhD: Deep Canine Topography.

Operating at the intersection of fine art walking practice, psychogeography, critical animal studies and ecology, the practice of Deep Canine Topography seeks to reframe the humble act of the ‘walkies’ as a co-authored, multi-species act of ‘making’ and ‘performing’ together. This exposition operates as a central point from which to explore a number of mini expositions, undertaken as part of my practice based PhD. Instruction: When you arrive at the page you can use the map legends as hyperlinks to navigate to random points, or the mouse/trackpad to move around the page. Alternatively, you can navigate the page via the page map in the collapsible header menu. An accompanying soundscape will automatically play throughout and documents a single walk from the human sonic POV. You can leave this to play whilst exploring the canine POV videos or pause it if you wish. Click on the videos to play and again to stop. You can play more than one at a time. X returns to the map. This central Exposition acts as a meeting point through which to explore various experiments in Deep Canine Topography. Titled hyperlinks navigate to individual mini expositions. Each mini exposition has a route back to the landing page via the round MAP link. You may feel lost or disorientated at times, but don't worry, this is all part of the process of navigation and hopefully offers a playful interactive and performative meander. PLEASE WEAR HEADPHONES: Headphones are advised throughout to explore the immersive sonic elements of some of the practice encounters.