Transforming with the Artistic Palette

Karin Emilia Hellqvist

Transforming with the Artistic Palette ‘Transforming with the Artistic Palette’ is my PhD project in artistic research, a practice-led exploration of performer creativity, agency and collaborative composition, carried out at the Norwegian Academy of Music in the years 2018–2024. The central idea of the project is the conceptualization of the artistic palette. The artistic palette comprises the skills and abilities I use in creative work (skillabilities). It develops with the creative work I engage in and is active in imaginative as well as evaluative processes. The artistic palette has been explored in collaborative work with five composers as well as in an own composition. I have explored it as a multidimensional concept, comprising embodied, contextual, relational and intuitive dimensions. By engaging with the artistic palette, new sonic materials and work methods have been created and I have shared compositional processes as a co-composer. It is a poetic and dynamic concept that keep developing with my experiences. By using my artistic palette in shared work, I have explored and expanded my creativity as a performer of contemporary classical music. The five composers involved in the project come from a diverse background of styles, aesthetics and compositional approaches, as minimalistic music, improvisation and music theatre. Some of the creative partnerships build on previous work together. The works created in the project are Gradients (2023) by Karin Hellqvist and Henrik Strindberg, Solastalgia (2022) by Carola Bauckholt and Karin Hellqvist, One and the Other (Speculative Polskas for Karin) (2021–22) by Liza Lim with Karin Hellqvist, Eiksmarka Omland (2024) by Christian Wallumrød and Karin Hellqvist, Pango (2021–24) by Karin Hellqvist and Chain of Triggers (2024) by Manos Tsangaris and Karin Hellqvist. Through the artistic processes undertaken in this project, I have experienced a transformation of my performer’s role into an increasingly creative one. From seeing myself as a faithful performer of works, I have come to view myself as a creating artist involved in the whole lifecycle of the works I perform and co-compose. By exploring the artistic palette in shared work, thoughts about connection, identity, responsibility, empowerment, complementarity, taste, ownership and transformation has come to the fore in my practice. Those topics are discussed across the works created in the project. The methodology of the project is rooted in the specific forms of collaborative composition it comprises; engaging in improvisation, developing technological skills, accessing embodied performance materials, engaging in interdisciplinary work with a printed publication and developing connection through cyclical patterns of work where materials are circulated between participants. A curatorial process of selecting material for research has along with text writing, peer-review and publication processes been important research methods of the project. The structure of this reflection is a compilation of six case studies wrapped with an introduction and a closing discussion. The reflection has been created over the course of the project and includes four already published articles. The project is situated in a broad artistic- and research field with connections to other collaborating performers and composers, artist researchers who develop their performance practices, historical composer-performer collaborations and the rich artistic contexts of the involved artists. I draw on theories of collaborative composition (Taylor, Lim, Östersjö, John-Steiner), Werktreue (Goehr), embodied knowledge (Merleau-Ponty, Lüneburg), eco-anxiety (Albrecht) and identity (Hargreaves, Markus & Nurius).

One and the Other (Speculative Polskas for Karin)

Liza Lim with Karin Hellqvist

One and the Other (Speculative Polskas for Karin) is composed by Liza Lim with Karin Hellqvist through a shared work process unfolding during 2021–22. The first performance took place at rainy days festival in Luxembourg 2022. The work is supported by Arts and Culture Norway and is published by Casa Ricordi Berlin.

The work on One and the Other (Speculative Polskas for Karin) is outlined in a peer reviewed exposition in JAR Journal for Artistic Research, to be published in JAR Issue 33 in September 2024. Other aspects of the work are further discussed in the Discussion chapter in the end of the portfolio. Click on the text to open the exposition in a new window:

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Hellqvist, K. (2024b). At the Knot of Presence: Weaving with my artistic palette in Liza Lim’s One and the Other (Speculative Polskas for Karin). Journal for Artistic Research, 33.

The programme note is published separately along with sketches and a reflection on the work written by Seth Brodsky in the interdisciplinary journal Portable Gray published by University of Chicago Press: Hellqvist, K. (2022c). Heartbeats at the knot of presence. Portable Gray 5(1) (not included in the PhD reflection).

Performances and presentations of One and the Other (Speculative Polskas for Karin) during the fellowship include:

Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival, Norway, 2024.
Presentation together with Liza Lim at Peggy Glanville Hicks House, Sydney, Australia, 2024.
Frequenz Festival in Kiel, Germany, 2024.
Royal College of Music, Stockholm, Sweden, 2024.
Swedish Society of Composers, Stockholm, Sweden, 2024.
Klangspuren Festival, Schwatz, Austria, 2023.
Broadcast in Radio Austria, 2023.
Akademie der Künste Berlin, Germany, 2023.
Kontinent Dalsland Festival, Sweden, 2023.
Workshop-presentation together with Liza Lim at DAAD Uncommon Grounds Festival, DAAD Gallerie, Berlin, Germany, 2022.
rainy days Luxembourg 2022.
Presentation together with Liza Lim at Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Germany, 2021.

One and the Other (Speculative Polskas for Karin) was featured on BBC4’s Woman’s Hour in May 2024, edited by Martha Owen.

Liza Lim with Karin Hellqvist: One and the Other (Speculative Polskas for Karin) I-III (2021-22).

From Palette (2024), LAWO Classics

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