(OM COTEUREN) : Regifunktion i omvandling genom samskapandets processer

The aim of this documented artistic research project is to investigate functions of directing within an expanded understanding of co-created performing arts. My main question concerns the following. What practices and principles of directing in co-created performing arts are revealed in the sample narratives, expositions and final productions of the thesis, and what do these say about transformations within different spatial and social contexts? The project process consists of four documented stagings and a final performance. It is this way I develop the concept “The Coteur” which stands for a directorial function combining a unique, biographical director function (The Auteur) with the openness of a co-created process formed around place, collaborators and contexts, where the development of an original work start without a script. Here I am interested in what I call ”staged absence” which I consider to be an artistic principle based on the removal of “the expected”. What happens, for example when the lead vocalist and the music are taken out of a popular song to leave behind a group of beat counting back-up singers, looking for their cue and a rhythm. Or when boxers are taken out of the ring and only the choreography of the referee remains. In my artistic research project I want to challenge the premises of co-creative performing art, and the director function, by also using forms for seminars and association meetings, to stage collective readings aloud, from manuscripts. This is combined with autobiographical and reflective writing, influenced by the principles for knowledge in practice, to uncover and develop artistic principles for a co-creative director function.Syftet med detta dokumenterade konstnärliga forskningsprojekt är att undersöka regifunktionen i en utvidgad förståelse av samskapad scenkonst. Min huvudsakliga frågeställning gäller följande. Vilka praktiker och principer för regifunktionen i samskapad scenkonst frilägger avhandlingens exem-pelberättelser, expositioner och slutproduktion, och vad säger detta om regifunktionens omvandlingar inom samskapad scenkonst i olika rumsliga och sociala kontexter? Processen som helhet är verket. Vilket består av fyra dokumenterade iscensättningar och en slutföreställning det är i och med detta jag utvecklar begreppet coteur som står för en regifunktion som kombinerar en biografiskt grundad regiposition (Auteuren) med öppenheten i samskapande processer och som omformas i och med plats, medarbetare, och sammanhang och ur detta sammanhang skapar originalverk. Jag arbetar utifrån en tankemodell av ”iscensatt frånvaro” vilket jag ser som en konstnärlig princip baserad på synliggörande genom borttagande som exempel vad visar sig när en ledsångare och musik plockas bort från en känd låt och lämnar en grupp takträknade och rytmsökande backupsångare efter sig? Vad visar sig när det som varit i bakgrunden kommer i förgrunden. Eller när boxare tas ur ringen och endast domarens koreografi återstår? I mitt konstnärliga forskningsarbete utmanar jag samskapandets premisser och undersöker regifunktionen genom iscensättningar i formen av kollektiva högläsningar ur manus. Mitt projekt bygger som helhet på iscensättningar i kombination med reflekterande berättande med utgångspunkt i den praktiska kunskapens teori för att synliggöra och utveckla konstnärliga principer för samskapande regifunktioner.LÄSANVISNING:Textdelen av det konstnärliga doktorandprojektet är tänkt att läsas enligt linjär berättarmodell där filmerna utgör rörliga illustrationer till texten. </p

Staged Conversations : Using dialogue as both method and form when staging documentary material for theater and film

Between 2017 and 2024, I have conducted an artistic research PhD project at Stockholm University of the Arts resulting in a feature length documentary film (The Raft, 2018), a documentary based theater play (The Invisible Adventure, 2020) and a book with my work diaries documenting the process of creating the two works (Staged conversations, 2024). The research project focuses on using the conversation as both method and form for staging documentary material for theater and film.  The Raft reunites seven people who were all part of a social experiment crossing the Atlantic on a raft in 1973. The film mixes archive footage from the original journey with scenes shot in a studio, where participants share memories onboard a scenographic replica of the real raft. In The Invisible Adventure three characters – a scientist, a video artist and a transplantation patient – meet for an intimate conversation on identity and transformation. The performers who interpret the characters through repeating dialogue from a sound script in hidden ear-pieces, sit together with the audience members in a circular scenography, where there is no separation between stage and audience seats. Both the film and the play are using the staged conversation as a shape for the storytelling and share similarities in their visual expression with wooden scenographies set in a black box studio environment. In the film it is the real people from the raft journey who reunite 43 years later in the studio. In the play the script is based on three separate interviews with people who have never met, but who are interpreted by performers. The research project will be finished and presented publicly in January 2024. The film and play will be presented together with the release of the book at Gothenburg International Film Festival in collaboration with Gothenburg City Theater.The book will be available as pdf in June/2024.</p

Att gestalta klaverutdrag : operarepetitörens perspektiv

En repetitör är en pianist vars uppgift är att musikaliskt instudera sångarnas partier, både i utbildningssammanhang och i professionella sammanhang inför föreställningar. Det tillkommer spel under sceniska repetitioner, orkesterspel under föreställning och repetitionsdirigering. Det händer också ofta att pianister får ackompanjera hela operaföreställningar, när man inte har möjlighet att anlita en orkester. Ett klaverutdrag är i sin tur ett arrangemang eller en komprimerad version av en orkestersats, som är skriven för piano. Pianot får ofta agera orkester på grund av sitt breda register och möjlighet att spela många toner samtidigt. Det gör att pianot ofta får ersätta orkester i väldigt många sammanhang. Det kan vara ackompanjemang av andra soloinstrument, agera orkester i operasammanhang, balettrepetitioner och liknande. Å andra sidan är det ett instrument som saknar väldigt många av kvaliteterna som många av orkesterinstrumenten har. Tonen på ett piano dör ut ganska snabbt, det går inte att utveckla en ton i styrka och intensitet utan att ta om den. Det medför en del utmaningar med att försöka återskapa orkesterklang på piano.  Jag är själv pianist och repetitör och använder klaverutdrag i mitt arbete nästan dagligen. Intresset för att utforska den orkestrala klangen i klaverutdrag väcktes ganska tidigt, redan under mina studier på Kungliga Musikhögskolan i Stockholm, när jag spelade en sångcykel av Gustav Mahler och arbetade med hans orkestrering av sångcykeln. Att arbeta med att utveckla gestaltningen av orkesterklangen är inte bara ett intresse, det är dessutom absolut nödvändigt för varje repetitör. Därför valde jag att utforska det här spåret i mitt magisterarbete.Min främsta forskningsfråga i det här arbetet lyder som följande: Hur gestaltar jag operamusik för orkester på pianot utifrån klaverutdrag med hjälp av partitur och befintliga inspelningar? Eftersom jag som operarepetitör jobbar med sångare, är det också relevant att ta in deras perspektiv, därav min andra fråga, eller en underfråga: Vilka val i gestaltningen av klaverutdraget främjar arbetet med sångare bäst?

Circus as Practices of Hope : A Philosophy of Circus

My doctoral artistic research project, Circus as Practices of Hope, responds to the growing complexities emerging from the convergence of the fourth industrial revolution, the sixth mass extinction, and the eco-socio-political turmoil of our time. What does it mean to be human today? What does it mean to be a circus artist today? How is circus relevant in today’s context?   Core to this inquiry is the assertion that although circus arts hold the potential to foster significant knowledge, they simultaneously perpetuate outdated worldviews that restrict their transgressive potential. With this research, I investigate alternatives to regressive models of thoughts and modes of composition, aiming to identify and articulate circus’ inherent epistemic, ontological, and ethical specificities and their relevance for navigating and steering the current planetary paradigm shift. I conducted my research through embodied practices as a circus artist, as a pedagogue, and from the perspective of a human on Earth. My inquiry occurred through Multiverse, an iterative series of compositional performative experiments and discursive activities. I engaged critical posthumanism and neo-materialist philosophies to challenge and evolve my relation to risk, mastery, and virtuosity.   The project conceptualizes circus arts as nomadic and fabulatory practices, culminating in a series of artistic, choreographic, and conceptual tools and methods that articulate circus arts within and beyond their disciplinary boundaries. The project advances a philosophy of circus that highlights circus-specific kinetic, aesthetic, and embodied relevancies in today’s context, situating circus arts as hopeful practices for the future. Mitt konstnärliga doktorandprojekt, Circus as Practices of Hope, är ett svar på den växande komplexitet som uppstår när den fjärde industriella revolutionen, den sjätte massutrotningen och vår tids ekologiska, sociala och politiska turbulens sammanstrålar. Vad innebär det att vara människa idag? Vad innebär det att vara cirkusartist idag? På vilket sätt är cirkus relevant i dagens sammanhang?  Kärnan i denna undersökning är påståendet att även om cirkuskonst har potential att främja betydande kunskap, vidmakthåller den samtidigt föråldrade världsbilder som begränsar dess gränsöverskridande potential. Med denna forskning undersöker jag alternativ till regressiva tankemodeller och kompositionssätt, i syfte att identifiera och formulera cirkusens inneboende epistemiska, ontologiska och etiska särdrag och deras relevans för att navigera och styra det pågående planetära paradigmskiftet. Jag genomförde min forskning genom förkroppsligade praktiker som cirkusartist, pedagog och utifrån perspektivet av att vara en människa på jorden. Min undersökning skedde genom Multiverse, en iterativ serie av kompositionella performativa experiment och diskursiva aktiviteter. Jag använde mig av kritisk posthumanism och neo-materialistiska filosofier för att utmana och utveckla min relation till risk, behärskning och virtuositet.  Projektet konceptualiserar cirkuskonst som nomadiska och fabulerande praktiker, och kulminerar i en serie konstnärliga, koreografiska och konceptuella verktyg och metoder som formulerar cirkuskonst inom och bortom dess disciplinära gränser. Projektet främjar en cirkusfilosofi som lyfter fram cirkusspecifik kinetisk, estetisk och förkroppsligad kunskap, och som lyfter fram cirkus som en hoppfull praxis inför framtiden.Introduction to DocumentationThis text introduces the parts of the documented artistic research project (doctoral thesis). As such, it is a navigation tool for moving across the project’s parts and a guideline for "reading" the entire project’s documentation. The documented artistic research project (doctoral thesis) consists of - The live performance Multiverse - A digital spherical exposition- A written exegesis- Artifacts By combining several modes of documentation, I wish to affirm the various modes of research, honor their discursive and aesthetic specificities, and recognize their linguistic incompossibility.Live PerformanceThe live performance Multiverse has been continuously developed throughout the research project through a series of iterations. It has been presented internationally in different contexts and will be presented at the making public of the thesis on April 29th, 2024, at Stockholm University of the Arts. Multiverse offers direct access to the research as performance and aesthetics praxis. The performance contains elements considered “unarchivable,” necessitating it be experienced live. Digital ExhibitionThe digital exhibition, located on the Research Catalogue, an international database for artistic research, provides a spherical exposition of the research processes through a repository of images, texts, and diagrams. The exposition intends to honor the aesthetics of the research by employing the concepts and principles that emerged from and steered the process. With a diffractive structural mode of composition, the exposition offers transversal and anarchic ways of moving within the project's various mediality. By adopting a cosmological approach to documentation, I wished to explore the potential of non-linear accesses, multiple partial views, and the built-in ambivalence that comes with these. The digital exhibition has been fed and transformed throughout the research project through evolving and unstable indexicalities, manifesting the fugitive and kinetic aspects of knowledge formation. Exegesis The exegesis is a critical textual articulation of the research project. The text exposes and discusses the research's questions, methods, and findings. The text accounts for why and how I conducted the artistic research project. It elaborates on and discusses the concepts and processes that were activated through and emerged from the project. ArtifactsThe artifacts—one volvelle, one bubble, and one piece of foil—are physically archived at Stockholm University of the Arts. The purpose of the physical archive is to give material access to a few of the bodies/objects/materials that have been significant in conducting the research project.  Notes on Documentation Alternative modes of knowledge production (such as knowing through circus) require alternative ways of articulation. The field of artistic research enables researchers to develop alternatives to traditional academic documentation. In this thesis, I aim to provide a situated account of my project without conforming to academic conventions but without rejecting them entirely. The parts above constitute my doctoral thesis. Each part is distinct yet complementary. While this documented artistic project is best understood in its entirety, my hope is that each part is independently valuable and accessible.  </p

Artists and machine intelligence : An archaeology of an autoregressive language modelthat uses deep learning to produce human-like texts and images.

In the dynamic interplay between art and technology, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) has opened new frontiers of exploration and expression. Our research project, initiated in 2021, ventured into this evolving landscape with a mission to examine the relationship between AI and contemporary artistic practices. Focusing primarily on text and image synthesis using AI technologies, our project embarked on an in-depth exploration of the creative potentials and limitations of Large Language Models (LLM).This journey was far more than a technical exercise; it represented a deep dive into the fusion of creativity and technology, examine traditional workflows, especially related to pre-production in filmmaking. The project revealed AI's capacity to both emulate and stimulate human creativity, offering insights into the capabilities and boundaries of LLM inartistic creation. These reflections are not just a recount of past achievements but a lens through which one can view the potential and future intersections of art and machine intelligence. Leading the research project are Linda Janson, a production designer with over 30 years of experience in the art departments of films, TV series, and commercials, currently serving as a senior lecturer in production design at Stockholm University of the Arts, and Mirko Lempert, founder of the company Monocular. Monocular specializes in integrating AI with traditional 2D/3D techniques for practical applications in visual content creation. This project is driven by their collective goal to investigate the practical applications of AIin visual arts, combining Linda’s extensive industry experience and academic background with Mirko’s expertise in applying AI technologies. Their joint effort focuses on enhancing the methodologies of visual arts and design education to align with the ongoing advancements in digital technology. We would also like to recognize and express our gratitude to PhD candidate Marc Johnson, whose significant contributions were instrumental in initiating this research endeavor and who has continuously supported the process with valuable advice and expertise. Lastly, we wish to emphasize that Chat-GPT served as an editorial assistant in the composition of this report. This involvement was twofold: as an integral part of our research methodology and as a proficient contributor, aiding in the summarization, formalization, and articulation of arguments to deepen the discourse on the topic of Artificial Intelligence in the visual arts

Ear close to mouth : conversations between film and philosophy

Doktorandprojektet är en studie i och genom filmiska samtal. Det genomförs i relation till samtalets roll i lärandet av filosofi. Medan filosofi oftast antar individuellt skriven form studeras hur filmiska samtal kan fungera som filosofiskt uttryck, främst utifrån filmen Samtal om samtal som är projektets huvudmaterial. Filmen börjar i ett försök att prata om hur vi pratar med varandra på seminariet, och i en förlängning hur det kan bestämma vilken filosofi som alls blir möjlig: Vem talar och vem lyssnar? Vilka erfarenheter räknas och vilka idéer är välkomna? Samtidigt är samtalet inte bara av intresse som praktik utan också som uttryck. Ibland sägs något i samtalet som inte skulle bli sagt annars. Vad skulle hända om samtal, som ett slags gemensamt sägande, kunde utgöra ett filosofiskt uttryck i egen rätt, liksom den individuellt skrivna texten? Hur skulle ett sådant uttryck i så fall alls kunna ta form? Skulle det kunna göras med film? I och genom studiens filmiska samtal leder detta också vidare till frågor om representation och ansvar: Vad är det att göra film om eller med någon? Hur påverkas de som är del av en film och vad gör den på egen hand? Vad är det att ta ansvar i det filmiska arbetet och för den film som blir till? Utöver Samtal om samtal läggs texten Eftertext fram. Den försätter studien kring samma frågeställningar, men försöker därigenom också svara an till det filmiska arbetet i Samtal om samtal. Eftertext hänvisar även till filmerna Ett jag som säger vi och Rehearsals samt dokumentet Transkription. Dessa ingår som appendix då de utgör delstudier i arbetet med Samtal om samtal.This PhD project is a study in and through filmic conversations. The project addresses the role of conversation in philosophy education. While philosophy often is manifested in individually written form, this is a study of how filmic conversation can act as philosophical expression, mainly based on the film Samtal om samtal which is the principal material of this PhD project. The film begins by addressing the manner of which we speak to one another in a seminar; and by extension how that manner decides which philosophy is at all made possible: Who is speaking and who is listening? Whose experiences count and whose ideas are welcome? Yet, conversation is not only of interest as practice but also as expression. Sometimes something is said through/as conversation that could not have been expressed in any other form. What would happen if conversation, as a communal way of saying things, would constitute a form of philosophical expression in its own right, on par with the individually written text? What form would such an expression be allowed to take? Could philosophy be expressed through the medium of film? In and through the filmic conversation of this study, these queries also lead on to issues of representation and responsibility: What signifies the practice of making a film about or with someone? How are those involved in a film project affected, and how can the film act (in the world) independently? How could responsibility be understood in the process of making a film and regarding the final result? In addition to Samtal om samtal, the text Eftertext is submitted. The text further explores the previously mentioned questions, but adds another layer in commenting on the filmic work of Samtal om samtal. Eftertext also refers to the films Ett jag som säger vi and Rehearsals, as well as the document Transkription. These works are included as appendices, forming sub studies of the Samtal om samtal project. DOCUMENTED ARTISTIC RESEARCH PROJECT (DOCTORAL THESIS)consisting of1. Förtext (text)2. Samtal om samtal (film)3. Eftertext (text)Appendices: Ett jag som säger vi (film), Rehearsals (film), Transkription (text/image-document)</p

Articulating dance knowledge : – a study investigating aspects of knowing when performing a parallel pirouette

In this article, we describe the results from the dance section of a ULF project. ULF is an abbreviation for Development, Learning, Research (Swedish: Utveckling, Lärande, Forskning). Dance is a school subject at upper secondary level in Sweden with its own curriculum and grading criteria. Previous research has problematised teachers’ diffi-culties in verbalising and articulating their grounds for assessment. The research model used, a learning study, with its methodological and theoretical implications, is intro-duced. The model is collaborative and iterative and is combined with teaching practice. The results, presented as three categories of description in an outcome space with critical aspects, answer the research question: How can qualitative aspects of delimited subject-specific dance knowledge, namely, to perform a parallel pirouette, be articulated? We discuss the project’s results, gains and challenges and argue that the model used can be a way to gain knowledge about knowing expressed in a physical form, knowledge which is described as partly tacit. Considering the notion of tacit knowledge can be a way to understand the formation of dance knowledge and how it can be researched, in order to develop a subject-specific language

FACT : stage one

The research project FACT stage one aims to test the sonic capacity of fragmenturgy (developed by Sunesson 2014–19) as a method to unsettle polarised positions of areas and sites existing outside of the visual power structures and political strongholds.   The long-term purpose is to develop a Fragmenturgy ACtion Tool (FACT); a transitory toolbox for cultivating fragmenturgy methods and actions. FACT stage one consists of a comprehensive case study carried out in collaboration with a group of students aged 18–23 based at Uppsala Community College in Sweden, which was explored as a site during 2021.RESEARCH QUESTIONSThe purpose of these questions is to gather new and detailed knowledge towards the development of "the FACT" (Fragmenturgy ACtion Tool):• What factors define fragmenturgy communication and transformation? • What are the effects of fragmenturgy communication and transformation? • How should fragmenturgy actions be carried out? • In what way can fragmenturgy actions be useful in societies?</p

Dramaturgy and Research in Devised Theatre

The publication is a written report/reflection which materialised from the collaborative research project Dramaturgy, Devising and Artistic Research. The project investigated the relationship between dramaturgy, artistic research and devising, positing that creative processes arguably constitute innovative processes of research. The project participants were Synne Behrndt, Sodja Lotker and Jon Refsdal Moe. The authors of the report are Synne Behrndt (Performing Arts, Stockholm University of the Arts) and Sodja Lotker (Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, DAMU). The research was funded by Stockholm University of the Arts with publication contribution from Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

Sound/Body

I exhale. In the corner is a pile of cardboard boxes that I had just opened up. Stretched across the floor are many carefully measured lines of white duct tape. On the computer are countless browser tabs - from waves articles to small forums - telling me how to set up my new speakers. Equidistant triangles and other exact angles. All that is left to do is calibrate the volume so that each speaker reaches me equally. You see, I had decided to jump into surround sound. The thought of having a little personal cinema in my apartment to play with was not possible to pass on. I remember then sitting down in front of my digital audio workstation, with speakers surrounding me, and thinking.... Nowwhat? I had no idea what to do with it, what sound was supposed to go where, whether it should move or be still. I experimented with many surround things, never reaching a definite answer. I would go to the cinema to listen to other films - for research - but most of the time the sound never filled the room or left the screen, it is the spatial element of which I was mostly keen. What a waste. In the pursuit of discovering what surround means to me, the intimacy it can bring to a room; why mainstream films use it shyly, or don't use it at all. I discovered a rabbit hole."Sound/Body" consists of a titular video essay, and "Surround/Body" - a complimentary text essay.</p