KIMA: Voice is a participatory art piece enquiring the role of the arts in perceived social connectednes

Evgenia, E.

Gingrich, Oliver

Negrao, D.

Renaud, A.

English

Bournemouth University Research Online

Oliver GingrichKIMA: VoiceExploring the effect of participatory art on Social Connectedness15.07.2019RESEARCHER:RESEARCH OUTPUT:Dr. Oliver Mag GingrichWith an Engineering Doctorate in Digital Media, a Master in Fine Art and a 14 year long career as professional within the creative industries, my research focus centres around conceptions of presence, the societal impact potential of participatory art. With a strong practice based research focus, my research outputs discuss the disruptive potential of digital art, to bring communities together, foster societal cohesion and to contribute to social connectedness and mental health. Section 1Section 2Section 3Section 4Section 5Section 6Section 7Research Question(s) / Problem Statement Research OutputResearch ContextResearch MethodsContribution to the FieldDisseminationAppendixSection 1Research Questions ORProblem Statement  Can participatory arts practices facilitate social connectedness?Loneliness is a major national issue affecting 9 million people, a fifth of UK adults. Perceived social connectedness can help to reduce feelings of loneliness and improve mental health. Can participatory art forms contribute to increased feelings of social connectedness? Section 1: Research QuestionsSection 2The Research OutputResearch OutputsThe artefact KIMA: Voice is a participatory art installation that was exhibited at Imperial College’s Great Exhibition Road Festival, followed by the Event Two Exhibition, 30 years of Computer Arts Society at Royal College of Art in Summer 2019. 200 Participants took part in he experimental study at Imperial College, shedding light on the effect of participatory art experiences, through a Before / After Trial. The artefact, the participatory art piece KIMA: Voice invites audiences to engage in collaborative sound and music making. A visual interface, in this case a holographic screen, represents their voices in real-time indicating harmonies between the two voices as 3-dimensional form. The interface thus invites audiences to find harmonies between their voices. A questionnaire designed in conjunction with Imperial College was facilitated before and after the participatory audience interaction. Results were conclusive and presented subsequently at two conferences EVA –Electronic Visualisation in the Arts as well as the SPARC – Audience Participation in the Arts Conference at Sheffield University. Section 2: Research OutputResearch OutputsResearch outputs of KIMA: Voice were multifold:- The artefact itself KIMA: Voice- Exhibition at Great Exhibition Road Festival- Exhibition at Event Two / Royal College of Art- Exhibition at UCL’s AI & Art event at Barbican, London- Conference presentation at EVA London- Conference presentation at SPACE, Sheffield- Peer-reviewed Paper publication at EVA London Proceedings Section 2: Research OutputResearch OutputsSection 2: Research OutputKIMA: Voice at Great Exhibition Road Festival 2019, Imperial CollegeResearch OutputsSection 2: Research OutputKIMA: Voice at Great Exhibition Road Festival, audience interactionResearch OutputsSection 2: Research OutputKIMA: Voice at Great Exhibition Road Festival, performance by Kate SmithResearch OutputsSection 2: Research OutputKIMA: Voice at Event Two Exhibition, Royal College of Art, July 2019Section 3The Research ContextThe Research ContextThe research team was collaborating with the HEartS Study Team at the Centre for Performance Science (CPS), an interdisciplinary research centrewith an award-winning track record of research and knowledge exchange in the arts and wellbeing, to understand the effect of participatory artwork on audience’s perceptions of social connectedness and wellbeing. HEartS, a research project funded by AHRC, situated at the CPS, investigates the Health, Economic and Social Impact of the Arts.The role of the arts in promoting health and well-being throughout the life course is increasingly documented (All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts Health and Well- being, 2017; Lomas, 2016; Royal Society and Public Health Working Group, 2013). There is now evidence to suggest that across art forms (e.g. music, literature, the visual arts, and drama), engagement with arts-based activities can enhance various aspects of well-being and subjective experience, for example enjoyment, meaning, bonding, and aesthetic appreciation. CPS played a key role in providing evidence for the impact of participatory arts on health, but more research is needed to understand the effect of arts on perceived social connectedness better.Section 3: The Research ContextThe Research ContextThe role of participatory arts in promoting feelings of social connectedness or preventing feelings of loneliness has been relatively overlooked in empirical research. Previous research body from the Centre for Performance Science using a range of methodological approaches suggests that engaging with music, often a social activity in itself, can enhance social wellbeing and facilitate creation and maintenance of social connections. For instance, music-making has been found to enhance social interactions in older adults (Rhythm for Life, Perkins and Williamon 2014), mental health service users (Making Music for Mental Health, Perkins et al. 2016) and new mothers (Music and Motherhood, Fancourt and Perkins 2017, 2018). Nonetheless, the few studies which explored social benefits of arts engagement focused on participation in single, traditional art forms, and the benefits experienced at the individual level. Section 3: The Research ContextThe Research ContextEvidence of the effect of participatory arts on mental health and wellbeing remains limited in scope: The Arts Council of England report and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing as well as the Creative Health report: Ars and Wellbeing highlight the role of participatory arts for Health, yet both deplore the lack of quantitative evidence. With the KIMA: Voice study, we used quantitative methods to provide further evidence. Section 3: The Research ContextThe Research ContextSection 3: The Research ContextSection 4Research MethodsResearch MethodsUse this part of the template to describe your research method(s). Explain how you conducted the research; talk about what you did, and why you did it. Crucially, this section should address the relationship between your research and your practice: does your practice respond to the insights of your research; does your research aim towards the advancement of practice; is your practice positioned as a method, through which your research is conducted? Explain how your working methods (and practices) have helped you to formulate and ‘answer’ to your research questions, or articulate a response to the problem that motivates your research. Section 4: Research MaterialsResearch MethodsIn conjunction with HEartS and the CPS team, we developed an interactive questionnaire that would measure perceived social connectedness, loneliness, as well as being in tune with one another and general feelings of happiness before and after the intervention. The questionnaire was electronically facilitated and directly linked to a server that would allow to capture the duration and quality of the audience interaction. Data on the frequency of audience’s vocal harmonisation, duration of interaction was captured during the audience interaction and directly correlated to the questionnaire results. Thereby, the research team was able to measure if there as a link between perceived social connectedness and duration and quality of audience interaction. For three out of four idioms (Social connectedness, general happiness and feeling in tune with one another) we were able to measure an impact of the audience interaction onto their mental wellbeing. Section 4: Research MaterialsResearch MethodsSection 4: Research MaterialsSection 5Contribution to FieldContribution to FieldThe study KIMA: Voice provides much needed evidence to highlight the role of participatory arts in providing a sense of social connectedness to members of the public. Through a novel mix of methods, combining quantitative data with a before/after survey, conducted with over 200 participants, the research result provides evidence that participatory arts can provide a sense of social connectedness to the public, thereby combatting loneliness across different strata of our society. The research conducted with the NCCA and members of CfPS contributes to an important discourse on Arts, Health and Wellbeing and in particular Mental Health.  Section 5: Research MaterialsSection 6DisseminationDisseminationThe piece KIMA: Voice was shown across two days, at the Great Exhibition Road Festival, a unique public facing festival organised by key institutions located at Exhibition Road including the V&A, Science Museum, National History Museum, Serpentine Gallery and Imperial College. The Festival brings together science and the arts in a unique programme of creative workshops, talks, exhibitions and performances - all in the spirit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s vision for the Great Exhibition.KIMA: Voice was shown across two days, where audiences were invited to explore their own voice as well as harmonies between their voices visually.More than 2000 people visited the installation, and over 200 people took part in the HEartS study about the effect of participatory art on periceivedsocial connectedness. Section 6: DisseminationDisseminationThe piece KIMA: Voice was shown across two days, at the Great Exhibition Road Festival from the 29th-30th June 2019, a unique public facing festival organised by key institutions located at Exhibition Road including the V&A, Science Museum, National History Museum, Serpentine Gallery and Imperial College. The Festival brings together science and the arts in a unique programme of creative workshops, talks, exhibitions and performances - all in the spirit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s vision for the Great Exhibition.KIMA: Voice was shown across two days, where audiences were invited to explore their own voice as well as harmonies between their voices visually.More than 2000 people visited the installation, and over 200 people took part in the HEartS study about the effect of participatory art on periceivedsocial connectedness. Section 6: DisseminationDisseminationKIMA: Voice was subsequently shown at the Event Two 30 year anniversary exhibition of the Computer Arts Society from the 12th – 17th July 2019 alongside a selection of most relevant media arts, curated by ART IN FLUX London. A catalogue accompanied the exhibition. KIMA: Voice and the results of the HEartS study were presented at Electronic Visualisation in the Arts London Conference, on the 10th of July 2019 and published in the peer-reviewed EVA London Proceedings.KIMA: Voice and relevant research results were also shown at the SPARC conference for audience participation, which took place from the 3-5th of July at Sheffield University. A performance of KIMA: Voice also took place at Barbican during UCL’s symposium on AI and Art entitled Art (I)Relevance which took place on the 12th of September 2019. Section 6: DisseminationDisseminationSection 6: DisseminationDisseminationSection 6: DisseminationDisseminationSection 6: DisseminationDisseminationSection 6: DisseminationDisseminationSection 6: DisseminationDisseminationSection 6: DisseminationDisseminationSection 6: DisseminationSection 7AppendixAppendixSection 7: Dissemination

KIMA Voice

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KIMA Voice

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