“Ready to fly with a lust for life” : Utopian Performatives in The Cultural Schoolbag

The Cultural Schoolbag (TCS) is a national programme designed to provide all school pupils in Norway access to professional art and culture. On average three times a year, in their school time, children and youth get to experience art and culture in various forms, spanning literature, film, music, visual arts, cultural heritage, theatre, and dance. To build and maintain Norway as a democracy is an explicit aim of the programme. Securing all children and youth equal access to professional art and culture regardless of geography, economy, religious or cultural background is but one aspect of its democratic scope. Also important is the belief that being exposed to art and culture is instrumental in educating future citizens who are able, ready, and willing to take active part in a democratic society. Reflecting this rather utopian vision of TCS, the county municipality of Vestfold used to launch their TSC programme under the motto: “Livslysten og flyvedyktig”, in English; “Ready to fly with a lust for life”.In what sense, however, do these utopian rationales influence the programme that is offered in the schools? How, exactly, may performance events and theatre experienced in TCS contribute to bringing up citizens that are “ready to fly with a lust for life”?Presenting an outline of current ideological, cultural political, and educational discourses surrounding TCS, this study addresses how, and to what extent, political and educational guidelines have an impact on its artistic programme. Offering two recent TCS productions as examples, I discuss how the utopian spaces provided by these theatre and performance events prepare the grounds for enactment and reflection that may take performative effect in influencing the lives and futures of the participating children and youth

Interactivity that matters

Skilfully applied, interactivity is an ingredient that may boost engagement and enhance the performance experience of a young audience. However, it can also lead to confusion, banalization and even embarrassment. What are the parameters for interactivity to be experienced as meaningful, and when is it unproductive? In this article I shall address how conceptions of artistic quality is challenged by contemporary practices of interactivity and audience participation in theatre for young audiences. The question will be discussed in relation to three performing arts productions presented in The Cultural Schoolbag (TCS): One participatory theatre performance and two interactive digital productions. The latter two were developed as part of Kulturtanken – Arts for Young Audiences Norway’s 3-year development project in digital mediation, FoNT (Formidling og Ny Teknologi/Mediation and New Technology). Equipped with theories of games and play, I shall discuss how the three projects succeed in presenting the kids with opportunities for meaningful interaction. I conclude by pointing out some of the parameters that are vital in order to provide meaningful interaction in performing arts aimed at a young audience – interactions that matter

Crossing Cultures: Creating a PhD Programme in Engineering, Art and Design

In this paper, challenges and potential rewards of multi- disciplinary cooperation in engineering and design education are discussed with reference to the specific case of developing a joint PhD program in technology, engineering, art and design at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences. A point of departure for the discussion is C.P. Snow’s identification of a conflict between two academic cultures: science and humanities. Snow argued that the mutual ignorance of the other group’s world view had become a direct hindrance to our ability to cope with the grand challenges of the future, such as famine, overpopulation and poverty . Today, more than 50 years later, Snow’s pessimistic diagnosis has still not lost its relevance. Cooperation and genuine understanding across disciplinary boundaries is encouraged, but seldom realized. The paper describes the current status of a multi-disciplinary PhD program in development in which Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is applied as a unifying, program defining perspective. Explaining how RRI may attend to needs and shortcomings in both academic cultures, the supplementary method of “critical making” is introduced and discussed The main content and structure of the program is presented, before a final evaluation of the challenges, potential risks and rewards of venturing into such a contested territory is offered

For en mediespesifikk spillestetikk

A media-specific aesthetic of play considers the game mechanic to be the primary modality of play grounded in interaction design. Usually, evaluations of games as «art» are based on criteria drawn from aesthetic genres such as the visual arts, film or literature. However, literary qualities, for instance, may often be enjoyed at the expense of interactivity in games, creating a curious opposition between games that are enjoyed for their gameplay and games that are enjoyed as «art». In this situation, recognition for games as an art form in its own right may be difficult to obtain

L’homme qui n’y était pas

Les effets de présence de la machine à comportement humain Voir des objets non-humains apparaître comme s’ils étaient en vie peut être une expérience inquiétante et inconfortable. Mais cela peut aussi avoir un effet opposé et rassurant. Pensons à notre relation avec les poupées et les ours en peluche : aussi longtemps qu’ils ne deviennent vivants que sous notre contrôle, leur présence apporte du réconfort. Toutefois, lorsque les poupées deviennent vivantes « pour de vrai » – un thème propre a..

For en mediespesifikk spillestetikk

A media-specific aesthetic of play considers the game mechanic to be the primary modality of play grounded in interaction design. Usually, evaluations of games as «art» are based on criteria drawn from aesthetic genres such as the visual arts, film or literature. However, literary qualities, for instance, may often be enjoyed at the expense of interactivity in games, creating a curious opposition between games that are enjoyed for their gameplay and games that are enjoyed as «art». In this situation, recognition for games as an art form in its own right may be difficult to obtain