Artistic Choices Research Articles

Electronic music as music heritage

In the past, many institutions of electroacoustic music positioned electroacoustic music as being the ‘music of the future’; in the first two decades of the 21st century, however, a focus on electroacoustic music’s past has grown, in particular with the aim to preserve this past. If pastness could once make electroacoustic music obsolete, it can now be valuable for electroacoustic music. Therefore, this article investigates how the view of electroacoustic music as music heritage has influenced the present understanding of this kind of music at Elektronmusikstudion (EMS) in Stockholm, Sweden. By analyzing the stages through which electroacoustic music at EMS has become heritage and by conducting and analysing qualitative interviews with composers/sound artists working at EMS, this article explores electroacoustic music as heritage. Furthermore, it investigates the possible effects this understanding of electroacoustic music has on artists’ practices and reflections. The main conclusion is that the institutional history of electroacoustic music influences how it is regarded as music heritage. Furthermore, understanding electroacoustic music as heritage allows various people involved at EMS to reflect on its past, and it becomes clear that this past can influence artistic choices. At the same time, these reflections contribute to creating a many-faceted history of electronic music rather than maintaining a history with a single grand narrative.

Turning it sustainable: implementing sustainability goals in theatre productions at NTNU

This article proposes ways of implementing sustainability goals in theatre productions to create interesting creative expressions. It is a case study that examines the work done by the author in the first-year bachelor course on “Theatre Production” in 2021-2023, to turn the course sustainable by addressing UN Sustainable Development Goal no. 12 “Responsible Consumption and Production”. In the article, I describe the course’s design and curatorial choices, and the tools used to identify and implement sustainable goals. I discuss the impact of integrating the 4R principles (Reuse, Reduce, Repurpose, Recycle) and the Climate Policy and Action Plans in the creative process. I then argue that the qualities of the sustainable process – the counting and the measuring – impact the artistic choices in unexpected ways. Cover image: From the performance “People and their enemies” (2021). Photo: Elena Perez

Поетичні присвяти Леоніда Глібова як відображення культурницьких взаємодій

Ukrainian literature is an integral part of the world civilizational process, a phenomenon of national cultural development, because during the historical progress it has generated educational and patriotic tendencies of past, present generations, addressed to the future. The article reveals a polylogist led by Leonid Glebov with famous Ukrainian worlds of spirit. His poems with dedications to contemporaries and contemporaries were published: Elena Pchiltsi, Sofia Rusova, Mykola Lyssenko, Alexander Tyszczynski. The information about the Gleb friend of Alexander Tyszynski, co-publisher of «Chernihovsky’s leaf », based on an essay by Boris Grinchenko «Alexander Tyshchinsky» (1896), about Ivan Rashevsky, author of the drawing to the 50th edition of Leonid Glibov’s literary work in « Call» (1891), based on the memoirs of Sophia Rusova (1928). Borys Grinchenko’s letter to Maria Zahirnya dated 1899.VII.1 about the commemoration of Leonid Hlibov in Chernihiv (1899) has been put into scientific circulation, G. Kovalenko’s recollections about the consecration of the monument at his grave (1899) are presented. Attention is drawn to the fact that this year marks the 130th anniversary of the Ukrainian writer’s death. L. Hlibov resorts to the genre of dedication poem in his work.This is an important component of his poetic works, because it performs non-literary and actually artistic functions. The non-literary meaning of the dedication is usually associated with a friendly attitude towards the addressee, his activities. It is through this function that the author makes the appropriate artistic choice of presenting the material. In the works of L. Hlibov, dedications are addressed to Elena Pchiltsa, Sofia Rusova, Mykola Lysenko, Oleksandr Tyshchynskyi. The variation of the dedication genre as a way of semantic heterogeneity is the result of the content meaning of the poetic work. Dedicatory poems are not only aesthetic phenomena, but also additional factual material for the study of biography, worldview of the lyricist, literary process, and cultural relations. We have valuable historical facts, materials related to further creative scientific research, research, appreciation of cultural figures, the literary process, which are important not only for Ukraine, but also for the world literary process, confirming the role of the Ukrainian nation in world history and culture.

Simulate This! Virtual Production and Cinematic Education with cineDESK

Due to the increased availability of computing power, hybrid image production – combining live-action image components with virtual assets – can now be performed in real-time, enabling filmmakers to seamlessly visualize, manipulate and incorporate digital assets into their shooting process. The related novel workflows are commonly referred to as “Virtual Production”. Here, we focus on the use of Virtual Production techniques for cinematic simulation. In 2020, the Zurich University of the Arts created cineDESK, a simulation tool to facilitate the previsualization of film scenes and stimulate the artistic choices of filmmakers. Using cineDESK, directors, cinematographers and production designers can collaboratively explore how space, light, props and acting are translated into cinematic sequences. In educational settings, students benefit from cineDESK’s capacity to explore specific aspects of the filmmaking process in isolation. cineDESK allows them to repeatedly rework their scenes, rearranging and optimizing camera angles and movements, lighting, production design elements and even the appearance of their (virtual) actors. Thus, cineDESK helps filmmakers to develop an idiosyncratic visual language and make informed aesthetic choices without being overwhelmed by the complexities of a real film shoot.

Survival or Revival?: C.S. Lewis's Medievalism in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has often been considered overly eclectic in its use of mythologies and literary sources. This essay argues that the unity of the story is not impaired by frequent allusions to previous texts but is grounded in Lewis's particular brand of medievalism, which encourages a playful renewal of medieval romance, not least by means of a rewriting of authors such as Thomas Malory. Lewis's use of allusion and pastiche help explain many of his artistic choices, from the characterization of the White Witch to the archaic language in the Hunt for the White Stag. The essay uncovers several important, unrecognized allusions and demonstrates that Lewis's use of his medieval source material is not only humorous but also purposeful and culturally relevant.

An Alchemist of Super‐Cooled Liquid: The Art and Craft of Danny Lane

AbstractSculpting with glass is often the choice of artist and designer Danny Lane. He can combine it with steel, timber, acid etching and numerous other techniques and materials, yet at its root Lane's life's work is glass. He teases it to its limits for artistic effect – extruding, moulding, dripping, colouring, striating, cracking and nibbling at its edges. The other partner in his arsenal is light, the way it flickers, beams, glitters and projects. In an interview with AD Editor Neil Spiller, he reveals his thoughts on his creative history, his beloved material and his influences. Danny Lane, Etruscan Chair, 2016 This design for a glass and steel chair was originally conceived in 1986, and has been through various modifications since then; 1990s glass became 25mm thick and the metal was refined, with Jimmy Choo high‐heeled shoe tips.

Multiply‐translated Chaucer in the Korean classroom

AbstractThis paper introduces a teaching experiment that uses a set of local translations of a European medieval text—in this case, Korean translations of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales—as teaching texts in the Korean classroom alongside the original work. Students compare a range of translations dating from all periods of the 20th century, including one from as early as 1915 and others from the 1960s, 1980s, and 2000s. Tracking the variety of translation methods and different linguistic and artistic choices employed by these multiple translations allows even students unfamiliar with Middle English to gain a better sense of the particulars of Chaucer's language and character‐making. Treating translation itself as a creative mode, this paper argues that even bad translations and messy histories of linguistic interference can be put to productive pedagogical use. Recuperated local translation archives can be used in the teaching of Middle English literature by helping students understand Chaucer's own positionality as a translator and compiler. Such archives also contribute to the study of comparative literature more broadly as they present case studies of how ideas of world literature are formed over time and space, and encourage a critical engagement with the canon even as it is being taught.

Intersections of Multiculturalism, Education, and Identity in 'Entre les Murs’: A Comparative Analysis of Learning Experiences

This scholarly article delves into the intricate layers of the French banlieue film Entre les murs (2008), directed by Laurent Cantet. The article aims to unravel the multifaceted portrayal of banlieue culture and its significance within the cinematic and socio-cultural landscape. It comprehensively analyses the film's narrative, characters, social themes and artistic choices, navigating the complexities of cultural diversity and identity formation within the banlieue context. The film's characters, students, and teachers become focal points for analysis, shedding light on the challenges and possibilities within the education system.
 Further, the article explores the film's cinematic techniques and aesthetics, including its visual style, cinematography, editing, and use of sound and music. The documentary-like approach of the film is examined, considering its impact on the storytelling and the portrayal of authenticity. By analysing the film's artistic choices, this article aims to uncover the subtle nuances and intentional creative decisions that contribute to the film's overall impact.
 Moreover, the article evaluates the critical reception and lasting legacy of Entre les murs. It explores the film's reception among critics and audiences, highlighting its awards, nominations, and influence on subsequent French cinema. It also discusses the film's socio-political relevance and contribution to the discourse on education, multiculturalism and social inequality.
 In addition to drawing upon various scholarly works and theories, the article seeks to place Entre les murs within the broader academic discourse, including areas such as auteur theory, social realism, postcolonial theory, cultural studies and sociological perspectives. Together, these serve to deepen the understanding of the film and its socio-cultural implications.
 Regarding the social context, the article examines the film's position in time-space and the situation of the French educational system in the poor and multicultural neighbourhoods of France. It considers the challenges faced by the education system and explores the plans to address them, contributing to a comprehensive analysis of the film's socio-cultural context.
 In conclusion, this academic article unveils the depths of Entre les murs, shedding light on its portrayal of banlieue realities, the educational system's challenges, and the complexities of multiculturalism and identity. By combining meticulous analysis, scholarly perspectives and an appreciation for the film's artistic merits, this article contributes to the ongoing academic dialogue surrounding the film and its enduring impact on French cinema.

Zu einer Ästhetik der Schwelle. Philosophische Reflexionen am Beispiel vom Musiktheater im Revier


 
 
 The essay develops an aesthetic of the threshold from an analysis of the artistic collaboration between Werner Ruhnau and Yves Klein for the realisation of the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen. The threshold is a figure of thought that stands for the artistic choice to create zones of interaction between work and spectator, in which exchanges of roles and production of meaning take place. The aesthetics of the threshold in Ruhnau manifests itself through the architectural design of playful theatrical spaces in which the theatre audience can stage new identities. In Klein, the threshold becomes a meditative space, through which the subject trains his faculties of feeling and making sense. In the “Verfransung” (Adorno) between the strategies of Ruhnau and Klein, the theatre becomes the threshold for an interaction between public space and sensibility.
 
 

Thematic Construction of Digital Visual Arts: Implications for Digital Pedagogy

This paper attempts to describe the signifier choice of student artists in thematic representations of digital visual arts and determine its implications for digital pedagogy. Utilising a qualitative approach to research and covering a corpus of six digital artworks of student artists, the semiotic analysis utilising Peirce’s (1991) sign modes showed the student artists’ preference for mostly indexical and symbolic signifiers in thematic representations of Filipinos’ resiliency to the pandemic. This signifier choice of student artists was influenced by their experience, family, self, other artists, and their initiatives for finding information and drawing inspiration from online sources, as revealed in the conducted Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with the participants. Moreover, the individual interviews with the participants demonstrated that the student artists’ choice of signifiers served as a vehicle for expression, representation, and impression of ideas, themes, and abstractions dominating their artworks. This study calls for the integration of digital artmaking tools into pedagogy to provide opportunities for artistic expression and support diverse representation. Teachers can introduce various digital tools and platforms, create assignments that encourage creative experimentation, and foster a safe and inclusive classroom environment. Future research could explore the practical applications of digital pedagogy in visual arts education.

REALIST SCULPTURE IN CHINA - DISCOVERY AND FORMATION OF ART METHOD

Chinese sculpture has a long history and is a world-renowned art treasure and cultural heritage. With the changes in the global political structure and China's internal social system in the past two hundred years, they have directly affected the development direction of Chinese sculpture. The traditional Chinese sculpture system has gradually weakened. In line with the trend of 'learning from the West' at the end of the Qing Dynasty, students, policymakers, and practitioners of sculpture-related industries began to reach a tacit agreement, with many factors contributing to a new choice for Chinese sculpture, which had long been closed to the outside world and self-development. During the Republic of China period, the popularization of Western theories of sculpture and the cultivation of Westernized talents made Chinese sculpture present the budding trend of realism in this period. These include the enlightenment of European sculpture, the establishment of art schools and the self-cultivation of talents, and the staged upsurge of studying abroad. This article explores the origin and development of realism art in China by describing the history of modern Chinese sculpture art in the context of a specific historical period from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. Of course, Chinese realism has its special presentation and historical significance. There is no necessary connection between the birth of realism consciousness and the germination of Chinese realist sculpture. The realist sculpture from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China was the natural choice of artists who learned from the West and met the needs of society. Therefore, this article will not cover a broader discussion of the origins of realism.

N/nature as an impetus for the creation of a sonic experience for babies

This article explores the creation of a sonic experience for babies driven by conceptual notions of Nature at large, as well as the natural dispositions of babies. Using the researcher’s background as an experimental musician on the guzheng, parallels are drawn between contemporary music practices (e.g. John Cage; R. Murray Schafer; Toru Takemitsu) that explore Nature as theme, as well as Chinese perspectives (e.g. Book of Rites, Record of Music; Zhuangzi of Nature). Both speak to the diminution of the dualism of self and other such that one’s experiences could be viewed as interconnected within self and the environment, achieving attunement with Nature to be in a state of spontaneity. Babies seem to exist in such a state of attunement with Nature, where the self is in harmony with the other. Such existence allows one to be in a state of constant receiving and responding to sounds through multiple modalities of the body. According to Colwyn Trevarthen’s theory of innate intersubjectivity, this is fundamental to babies’ intersubjective communication, where babies innately seek attunement. Through the observations of four sonic experience sessions created for babies, the conceptual notions of Nature and its application onto the sessions are presented. These were evident through the artistic choices made in the structure, set and props, music explorations and babies’ engagement. Due to the nature of babies where they exist in spontaneity with the environment, it was noted that despite an experience designed especially for sonic functions, babies’ perceptions were multimodal in nature. The experience of sound was not purely auditory. Babies’ innate need to seek attunement, such as companionship through an imitative other was also significant to the experience. This has implications on the affordances of experiences in infant care environments in childcare settings.

Caravaggio’s Loyalty to “the Truth”: The Accessibility of His Paintings

Caravaggio is famous for his mastering of chiaroscuro and controversial subject matters. From both a technical and social perspective, Caravaggio’s works were revolutionary. As he broke the decorums, he was redefining aestheticism and pushing the boundaries of the artistic society, sometimes also facing rejections. This paper will examine how Caravaggio committed to paint truthfully, thus, making his works accessible to the general public and changing the artistic landscape. By looking into both Caravaggio’s artistic compositions and his interactions with the society at large, this paper examines his unique loyalty to truthfulness and the consequences to his artistic choices.

Aimpathy

Much research has been done to better understand the emotional experience of music; from the philosophical, artistic, psychological, and statistical approaches. In this research we conduct a cross-domain experiment based on those four disciplines, to further understand the factors that influence the emotional perception of music; and in particular the difference between the artist’s emotional conception and the audience’s perception. In the experiment we train a novel model of an Artificial Neural Network, to predict the perceived emotion from a short musical phrase. We then feed the machine curated input, which simulates artistic choices, to explore its most significant factors in determining the perceived emotions. In the conclusion we describe the results, as well as the possible follow-ups to the experiment, such as an emotional expression training tool for musicians.

Two God-Kings, Two Skulls: Artificial Cranial Deformation in Akhenaten of Egypt and Khingila of the Huns.

Separated by half a continent and over 1800 years, Akhenaten, the "Heretic Pharaoh" of Egypt, and Khingila, "The God-King" of the Alchon Huns, had a great deal in common. Both rulers laid claim to divinity, labeling themselves as gods amongst men, and both are represented in their official imagery with unusually shaped skulls consistent in appearance with artificial cranial deformation (ACD) performed upon them soon after birth. This article compares the evidence - including the KV55 mummy, likely the remains of Akhenaten himself - between the two God-Kings and determines that Khingila almost certainly possessed an annular erect ACD consistent with the wider Hun culture. Akhenaten's ACD in his state-sponsored imagery was likely solely an artistic choice meant to emphasize his oneness with the divine. In both men, their represented ACD was ultimately intended to solidify their power through two different avenues. For Khingila, it was to emphasize a common ethnic and cultural heritage with his subjects. For Akhenaten, it was meant to set the pharaoh even further apart from the rest of humanity.

A Revisionist Reading of The Goddess: Visual Narrative Power in Chinese Silent Cinema

Abstract This article argues for a revisionist reading of The Goddess to redirect critical attention to its film form and narrative style. Yet, it also explores the social-economic and technological conditions of filmmaking in early Chinese cinema that circumvented the filmmaker’s aesthetic choices and devices. A political reading of the film within either the leftist-progressive or nationalist agenda is inadequate in explicating the film’s narrative capacity and affective power in engaging social commentary. Reading The Goddess as a Chinese manifestation of Hollywood’s maternal melodrama has equally dismissed the film’s contestation of the complex political and ideological discourses in which it was produced. Inspired by a neoformalist approach to studying film form and social reality, this article articulates the working of Wu Yonggang’s cinematic style as a crafted combination of artistic choices and interventions, which are made within the classical Hollywood paradigm and Soviet montage, to define an early Chinese cinematic language that is specific to 1930s Shanghai film industry and Chinese society, the filmmaker’s aesthetic pursuit, and Ruan Lingyu’s stardom.

Promoting Psychophysiological Play

Actors are often asked by directors to "play" with the material they are given in an attempt to create new artistic choices free of inhibitions. While proposed with no ill-intent, this request has the potential to create unwanted activations of an actor's sympathetic nervous system due to the removal of familiar rehearsal practices. Removing this ask from a director's vocabulary lessens the chance of negative interactions with an actor’s boundaries, but may leave other members of the creative team and actors may be left wanting more. By creating theatrical play grounded in the principles of Dr. Stephen W. Porges' Polyvagal Theory, potential trauma responses can be accounted for while allowing for an artistically fulfilling and consensual rehearsal process.

Jonsonian Stylistic Modes in Sutherland: A Study of Jonson’s Volpone and Sutherland’s The Marriage of Anansewa

Jonsonian dramatic theories gained notoriety during the Renaissance period and most dramatists and critics (of that century and beyond) have appropriated those theories in the construction of their literary crafts and criticisms all within the Eurocentric tradition. Limiting literary creativity and criticism to the Western tradition raises a question that this essay seeks to interrogate. Drawing inspiration from Wa Thiong’o’s (1997) advocacy for a metaphor of a flower garden to represent the wholeness of Literature and Borowy’s (1983) model, this paper studies Jonsonian stylistic modes in Volpone (1605) and compares them to Sutherland’s artistic choices in The Marriage of Anansewa (1975) to make a case for a refluence of aesthetic energies among the two artists despite the fact that four centuries elapse in the exhibition of those artistic skills. Keywords : Archetype, echoes, gull-knave pattern, moral legators, semblances, trickster. DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/96-01 Publication date: February 28 th 2023

El mal querer : Rosalía's Postmodern "Universe" of Meanings

Abstract: The juxtaposition of adoration and criticism that audiences have directed towards Rosalía's album El mal querer since its 2018 release has led scholars to take notice. Many scholars have tried to analyze the reasoning behind the album's sudden controversial success and have attributed it to everything from Rosalía's use of flamenco fusion and Andalusian elements (Peter Manuel) to the overall heterogenous nature of her work (Carlos Morales Gálvez, Marisol Salanova, Jorge Carrión, and Javier Blánquez). Only a few (Morales Gálvez and Salanova) have gone beyond discussing Rosalía's artistic choices and their impact to also mention the role of viewers, and even these two individuals have failed to provide an in-depth analysis of the global viewers' role in Rosalía's rapid rise to stardom. My article aims to fill this gap by concentrating on the instrumentality of Rosalía's global spectators in the impact of El mal querer . Through a focus on the aural and visual elements within the album's video chapter "Malamente," I will illustrate how both the album's popularity and controversy stem from its nature as a postmodern "universe" of intertexts that gives fans and critics around the world the agency to create an abundance of meanings alongside Rosalía.

The Lonely Hearts Club: A polyphonic reflection on the making of an erotica performance in India

Abstract: This essay is a multi-authored text by the creator and the six performer-writers of The Lonely Hearts Club —an erotica performance made in India during the pandemic. The Lonely Hearts Club initially unfolded on Instagram, and subsequently on Zoom as a digital show. The text below documents the collaborative spirit with which the show was realised. Rather than a singular authorial voice, here multiple perspectives with varied registers share their experience, process, and trepidation of making an online erotica show. This erotica does not cater to the hetero-normative gaze, but lies in-between and on the periphery—queer stories, feminist narratives and intimate chronicles in regional Indian languages. The essay is framed as a series of reflections, along with excerpts from the original performance texts, to offer a flavour of the language, artistic choices, and impulses. This recounting offers an insight into a documentary theatre making process in India.