RESONANCE: (Re)forming an Artistic Identity through Intercultural Dialogue and Collaboration

Nathan Riki Thomson

Thomson, Nathan Riki (2021). RESONANCE: (Re)forming an Artistic Identity through Intercultural Dialogue and Collaboration. Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki. EST 57. This artistic doctoral research examines how the third space emerging from intercultural dialogue and transcultural collaboration can be a catalyst for new musical discoveries, intercultural humility, and the (re)forming of artistic identities. The body of this project is centred around three doctoral concerts, a CD/LP recording, and a documentary film, which took place between 2016 and 2021. In addition, I draw on the embodied experience of a five-year period I spent living and collaborating with musicians and dancers in Tanzania and Zambia prior to the doctoral project. As a double bass player, multi-instrumentalist, and composer, I place myself in a series of different musical and multi-arts contexts, engaging in dialogue with musicians, dancers, and visual artists from Brazil, Colombia, Estonia, Finland, France, Madagascar, Mexico, Poland, Sápmi, Tanzania, the UK, and Zambia. Various solo, duo, and ensemble settings act as case studies to examine how this process takes place, the new knowledge gained from the collaborations and their resulting artistic outcomes, and the effects of intercultural dialogue, collaboration, and co-creation on my own artistic identity. The instruments and forms of artistic expression used by my collaborators include the Brazilian berimbau, Chinese guzheng, dance, live electronics, experimental instrument making, Finnish Saarijärvi kantele, Sámi joik, vocals, percussion, live visuals, image manipulation, animation, photography, and film. The key concepts that I investigate in this research are: artistic identity, global citizenship, hybridity, interculturalism, intercultural humility, liminality, third space theory, and resonance, the latter being viewed both as a physical phenomenon and as an approach to thinking about the ways in which we connect with the world around us. This research contributes to new knowledge and understandings in the areas of artistic identity formation, intercultural collaboration, and interculturalism in music education through the interweaving of artistic processes, audio, video, photographs, artistic outcomes, and text. Findings emerge in terms of new musical discoveries that surface from the dynamic third space created through transcultural collaboration; the expanding and deepening of musicianship through intercultural dialogue and collaboration; the interconnected nature of interculturalism in music and its reliance on openness, empathy, dialogue, and constant negotiation with sonic material, people, and place; and the crucial role of fluidity and resonance in forming a personal artistic identity. Further research outcomes include new techniques and the expansion of the sonic palette of the double bass, enabled by developing custom-made attachments, preparations, and electronic manipulation. The complete scope of this doctoral project includes four artistic components (three concerts and a recording), a documentary film, and an artistic doctoral thesis comprising two peer-reviewed articles and an integrative chapter, all housed within the main multi-media exposition, Resonance: (Re)forming an Artistic Identity through Intercultural Dialogue and Collaboration. Keywords: artistic identity, global citizenship, hybridity, intercultural collaboration, intercultural humility, liminality, third space, third space bass, transcultural, resonance

Concert 1

N E X T ➝

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Concert 1: Resonance 1. Working notes by Nathan Riki Thomson.

SUMMARY

Concerts

ONE TWO THREE CD/LP

Artistic Component One

Artistic working group and performers:

Amos Darkwa Asare (Ghana), spoken word

Jouko Kyhälä (Finland), live electronics, harmonica

Otso Lähdeoja (Finland), live electronics and sound design

Juhana Nyrhinen (Finland), instrument maker

Fornier Ortiz (Colombia), dance

Ville Tanttu (Finland), visuals

Nathan Riki Thomson (Australia), double bass, prepared bass, ilimba, stomp box, vocals

Satu Tuomisto (Finland), choreography

In Concert 1, the theme of Resonance is explored in three interconnected ways:

Sonic Resonance: resonance as a sonic phenomenon and the ability of frequencies to shape physical form;
Personal Resonance: with a place, the land, an idea, an emotion, etc.; and
Community Resonance:the importance of finding points of understanding, connection or resonance with others. How does this happen and how can we cultivate this skill?

In musical terms, inspiration is drawn from the natural resonating qualities of traditional Aboriginal Australian, Brazilian, Gambian, and Tanzanian instruments:

Ilimba: thumb piano from the Wagogo people of central Tanzania;
Filimbi: overtone flute from the Wagogo people of central Tanzania;
Litungu and Bolon: bass end lutes from Tanzania and The Gambia;
Brazilian berimbau/Tanzanian Ndono; and
Australian Aboriginal Yolngu Yidaki.

Rhythmic and timbral elements, as well as the physical playing techniques of these instruments are explored on the double bass as a means for expanding the sonic palette and approaches to the instrument. Themes of personal and community resonance act as inspiration for the emerging new music and dance. Resonating frequencies travel in the space through a multiple speaker set-up, as well as through the seats of the audience through a speaker system installed under the seats. Salt, seeds and dried flowers are placed on a metal plate above a speaker and react to changing frequencies and rhythmic impulses in real time at various points during the concert.

The concert was recorded and filmed live for the University of the Arts Helsinki YouTube channel.

Concert 1: Resonance 1

Black Box, Helsinki Music Centre, 3 June 2016

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