This PhD project in artistic research investigates how female experience is materialized through the evocative use of space in mixed media moving image. The evocative use of space refers to design choices that transform the dimension of recognizable everyday spaces in experientially suggestive ways. In this research, mixed media moving image encompasses documentary, fiction, live action, and animation which are explored in their capacity to materialize female experience. Script writing will provide an additional layer in this investigation.
The premise of the research is that film forms such as animated documentaries can enrich our understanding of unfamiliar mental states and experiences by prompting our imagination (Annabelle Honess Roe). This artistic research asks how the deliberate fusion of animation and live action, or other media mixes, contributes to the charting of strange or indescribable experiences. I argue that hybrid spatial design is particularly apt for materializing layered, complex and even unruly experiences.
The research engages with a variety of methods that include interviews, autoethnographic reflection and notation, screen tests, live action experiments, documentary shoots and drawing. These are used to explore how female experience is materialized through the evocative use of space. The final output will be a script for the mixed media feature film “Make Her See”.
Denise Hauser is a director/filmmaker and current PhD candidate in Artistic Research at NTNU with a primary focus on film and moving image. Since 2008 she has written and directed films that went on to screen at over 100 international film and animation festivals. She has been a visiting lecturer at Høyskolen Kristiania and NTNU, along with a stint as assistant professor in Film & TV production at Nord University. She has also directed films in the commercial sector, among other for institutions such as the Smithsonian Archives of American Art and DOGA Norway, both in New York and Oslo. Hauser holds a Master of Arts in directing animation from the Royal College of Art London (2008) as well as a Bachelor in Graphic Design with specialisation in Illustration from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design (2006).
In my second-year PhD presentation, I will discuss my methods and artistic processes using specific audio-visual experiments as examples. I will address current challenges and propose potential solutions. Additionally, I would like to engage in a dialogue about ethical considerations and concerns, some of which are: What are the ethical ramifications of materializing the experiences of others?