Centre for Ideas - Theses

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    Naked awareness: the private performance of inscribing skin
    Stellmach, Natascha ( 2018)
    This practice-led research reflects upon the testimonies and engagement of participants and audience in my art practice, The Letting Go, which is performed both privately and in galleries and is informed by the intersections of visual art, psychotherapy, somatic practices, Buddhism and ritual tattooing. Drawing on my experiences, private sessions and participatory performances the thesis asks the question: Can this practice inform a new social practice for artists - a “private practice” model that collaboratively addresses shared vulnerability and self-awareness?
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    Assisted solo: navigating relational & representational failure in music-dance collaboration
    Hunter, Myfanwy ( 2017)
    This practice-based research asks how failure can be harnessed as a generative tool for locating, articulating and extending creative capacity in Assisted Solo music-dance collaboration. Throughout this research, the term Assisted Solo is a solo work derived from improvised interaction between one instrumentalist (myself) and one dancer. The problematic of defining failure in improvisation is addressed through theoretical discourse on relational and representational aesthetics. Failure in praxis is explored in three interrelated bodies of work. Sounding – three audio albums of Assisted Solos based on research-informed provocations of failing, falling, convoluting, and capacity. Seeing – a series of photographs and drypoint etchings reflecting thematics of cracks, gaps, rupture, and repair. Interplay – interactive interviews with creative practitioners exploring the afore-mentioned provocations and thematics. A rhizomatic methodology permits multiple associations between the practical work and the main theoretical, philosophical underpinnings of Heidegger’s non-privative lacunae, Priest’s surplus of failure, and the Japanese concept of ma – a space, gap or interval. The practical and written work coalesce to form an argument in favour of embracing failure as a tool for locating, articulating, and extending capacity within the Assisted Solo and related fields of inquiry. Access the practical work via http://www.assistedsolo.com.
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    The poison garden
    Deurwaarder, Beau Anthony ( 2017)
    In their three 'Memories of a Sorcerer' passages in 'A Thousand Plateaus', Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari identify as sorcerers instead of as philosophers, and draw a line between the practice of sorcery and writing philosophy. At the heart of these passages, they mysteriously state that "[i]f the writer is a sorcerer, it is because writing is a becoming, writing is traversed by strange becomings that are not becomings-writer...". This thesis is an effort to investigate the strange becomings that dictate the practice of writing philosophy. More firmly, it is an attempt to practice sorcery through the discipline of reading and writing philosophy. To do so, it targets the strange-becomings that traverse Friedrich Nietzsche's writing as cues of an untimely and sorcerous philosophy. In particular, it poses Nietzsche's doctrine of the eternal return as a philosophically ripe motif for practicing sorcery. The allure of the eternal return is at once a blessing and a curse, depending on how its cast is received. Nietzsche articulated the weight of his doctrine philosophically in 'The Gay Science' and 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra'. He also recounts literally experiencing the thought of the eternal return in Sils-Maria in 1881. This experience haunted Nietzsche's life and his writing from its arrival until his collapse in 1889. Accordingly, this thesis will revolve with Nietzsche's thought of the eternal return at its axis, in tandem with a definition of sorcery inspired by Deleuze and Guattari. It will consider significant episodes from Nietzsche's main works, as well as biographical details, and perspectives put forth by other philosophers in his wake, such as Isabelle Stengers, Luce Irigaray, Gilles Deleuze, George Bataille, and Pierre Klossowski. This work treats citations from their texts as fragments of a larger incantation which, when read together, cast Nietzsche's thought of the eternal return into a new light. The practice of sorcery will be rethought philosophically as an active expression of the will to power, and further, as a means of fidelity to Nietzsche's overman and his untimely hope for the future. This will be put in direct contrast to reactive expressions of the will to power championed by ideologies of late-capitalism and neoliberalism. Throughout its course, this strange pairing of sorcery with Nietzschean philosophy is bound by an implicit thematic refrain, The Poison Garden, which is formally addressed and summarised at the conclusion of the work.
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    The seam: from/of construction to deconstruction
    Cibis, Remie ( 2017)
    The seam is the principal construction technique employed by the contemporary fashion industry. It produces both garments and, in turn, the semiotic or fashioned body. The implications of the semiotic relationship - between clothes and bodies - are however largely obscured by fashion, which secrets the seam away inside the garment. As such, fashion is often considered under-coded compared to other semiotic systems, such as images or text. In contrast, this research seeks to both comprehend and reconsider the semiotics of the seam by drawing upon the notions of blindness and deconstruction in the work of Jacques Derrida. This deconstructive understanding of the seam is used to inform a close reading of Roland Barthes’ The Fashion System that makes visible the implicit signification of the garment within the text. Furthermore, these notions are explored through fashion practice in the form of clothing which itself makes visible the obscured signification of the seam and reconsiders the garment’s relationship to the body.
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    Hurdy-gurdy: new articulations
    Nowotnik, Piotr ( 2016)
    The purpose of this thesis is to expand existing literature concerning the hurdy-gurdy as a contemporary musical instrument. Notably, it addresses the lack of hurdy-gurdy literature in the context of contemporary composition and performance. Research into this subject has been triggered by the author’s experience as a hurdy-gurdy performer and composer and the importance of investigating and documenting the hurdy-gurdy as an instrument capable of performing well outside the idioms of traditional music. This thesis consists of a collection of new works for hurdy-gurdy and investigation of existing literature including reference to the author’s personal experience as a hurdy-gurdy composer and performer. It will catalogue and systematically document a selection of hurdy-gurdy techniques and extended performance techniques, and demonstrate these within the practical context of new music compositions created by the author. This creative work and technique investigation and documentation is a valuable resource for those seeking deeper practical and academic understanding of the hurdy-gurdy within the context of contemporary music making.
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    Throwing into the public: improvise, intervene, interact
    Liu, Chun-liang ( 2016)
    This research is comprised of two major components: unauthorised, improvised interventions/performances in Taipei and Melbourne, and a written analysis of previous improvisatory practices. The creative components of the research include nine video documentations, two sets of field notes, and one poem. The main text of this thesis is divided into seven chapters. This thesis draws upon observations from daily life, improvisatory public performances/interventions, and socio-cultural/political con/subtexts that emerge in both cities. Using a feminist, existential, phenomenological methodology inspired by Iris Marion Young’s discussion of “body-in-situation,” the research asks two interrelated questions. Namely, “How can an improvisatory movement practice reveal subtexts of governance and sociocultural/political contexts in public spaces” and “How can improvisation change the status quo of public spaces, and lead to the creation of an authentic Public Space?” Chapter One is an introduction to my overall practice. Including my background, my theoretical inspiration from Iris Marion Young, my methodology and views on the importance of improvisation, and an overview of each chapter. Chapter Two is a literature review and elaboration of the phenomenological, sociological, and improvisational methodology of my research. Chapter Three depicts my initial field observations in Melbourne and a subsequent public intervention for the Umbrella Movement in 2014. Chapter Four investigates the visually-oriented governance and the roles of private security guards in both cities. I argue that “complaints” are the subtext of governance. Chapter Five presents the confrontations of the public interventions in Taipei and Melbourne. I compare both confrontations by explaining the political violence and recent public participation in Taiwan. Chapter Six is an examination of my later interventions, focusing on the shifting attitude from being protest-like to being playful. Chapter Seven is a review of previous practices and analyses. I propose that to view human beings as animals is vital in creating authentic public space.
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    What lies buried will rise: exploring a story of violent crime, retribution and colonial memory
    Jones, Dianne ( 2015)
    This thesis explores historical connections between colonial violence, memory and representations through art. It examines archival documentation and oral histories of an 1839 murder case in York; Sarah Cook and the hanging of Aboriginal men, Barrabong and Doodjeep. This case was the catalyst for the some of the worst massacres in WA. As an Aboriginal woman from York, I examine how art engages with story telling to investigate critical events in colonisation and imagine how what lies buried might rise.
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    Resounding cinema: exploring misconceptions of the nature and obligation of nonfiction film through the challenges of the ‘music documentary’
    Franz, Emma Kate ( 2015)
    This research analyses how nonfiction cinema might best elucidate abstract attributes of music and its practice. The word ‘documentary’ as applied to film connotes and is typically understood as a representation of actuality. As a musician and filmmaker, I argue that Music, with its propensity to elude representation, requires a cinematic approach liberated from documentational forms. This paper maps a conceptual framework for nonfiction cinema that conveys abstract ideas via sensory cognition. It illustrates a difference between documentational moving image formats, whose primary concern is representation, and modes of cinema whose primary concern is to seek knowledge through Idea creation, aesthetic construct and the sensorial and transformative qualities of cinema. Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy of concept creation provides a framework through which to understand nonfiction cinema as a mode of thought and sensorial creation. I argue that meaning is not to be found, but created, and that the significance of such nonfiction cinema lies in its capacity to reconstitute thought and agency. This research is conducted through stages of the production and assembly scene edits from 170 hours of footage for a feature film I am making with master guitarist, Bill Frisell. The creative component is eight scene assembly clips (provided on DVD), with a total duration of 104 minutes. I produced, directed, shot and edited the material, which has not yet been professionally sound mixed or colour matched and graded. I approach this material with the particular combined experience of having worked as a full-time professional musician through thirty-three countries over fourteen years, and eleven years full-time as a film director-producer and cinematographer. Through a rhizomatic layering of cinematic, musical and philosophical ideas, and my own practice and experience, I hope to revalue the role of creative construct in nonfiction film.
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    Body of water
    Edwards, Katherine Campbell ( 2015)
    Through a series of underwater video sequences, my exhibition Body of Water marked the culmination of my Masters research findings investigating the physical animation of the female body in the element of water. Using video and video stills to explore the process of thought and perception, the images trace the concept of the psyche moving between unconscious and conscious realms. The materiality of an aquatic dimension provides a suspended three-dimensional “canvas”, and womb-like space within which to construct the artworks. The accompanying written paper encompasses my research into philosophical and psychoanalytical texts, as well as feminist theory and video art, to further articulate the materials and methods used in my studio practice (and final exhibition). In the underwater filming process what becomes apparent is the potential for water to trigger both sensory and psychological notions, assisted by a dream-like sequence of the female’s journey. Dream theory is introduced as a way of understanding the unconscious process as an art practice, and the project sets out to locate its manifestation within psychosomatic experience. My art process echoes the process of dreams vaporizing from the unconscious as the camera’s blind operation first captures the imagery without judgment, before the images are later edited, layered and juxtaposed to create the work. The underwater swimmer gives further expression to symbolizing “thresholds” of outer and inner phenomenological experience. The term a “psychical interior” is used frequently to refer to metaphysical dimensions of thinking about the swimmer in water as a metaphor for the process of “unconscious” thought. Concepts derived from psychoanalytical research including a “psychical envelope” and “skin-ego”, are juxtaposed within my phenomenological descriptions of water’s materiality. The skin-ego is a concept derived from skin’s dual sensory function, that of an outer sponge and an inner perceptual matrix. The female body immersed in water has been fashioned to enable a dialogue about metaphors of feminine space and its subjectivity. I have intentionally de-identified elements of the female body to instead focus on phenomenological frameworks including the body as a “container”, and tension between the environments of skin and water in defining the self. Bringing the viewer’s awareness closer to the “lived body” experience, my project aims to invite slowness from the visitor when entering the intimacy of the womb-like projection space. The immersive, dark exhibition space enables one to encounter the dream-like nature of the underwater sequences. Water as a moving element (captured by the camera) offers a spatio-temporal dimension of time literally dissolving before the viewer. Water imagery is potent with symbolic associations to the spiritual and maternal and has the potential to arouse in the viewer anything from a reflective reverie to a deep psychological introspection.
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    Essential gesture
    Dennett, Jacinta Irene ( 2015)
    My research into essential gesture has brought together the technique and practices of harp playing and eurythmy. I use Carlos Salzedo’s fundamental harpistic gesture, which I see as a distillation of a more universal concept that I call essential gesture, as the ground of departure. Through research into Rudolf Steiner’s eurythmy and collaboration with eurythmists I sought to find; a deeper understanding of the essence of music, a corrective for teachers of the Salzedo method for harp, greater depth in my own instrumental performance practice and a validation of my sense of essential gesture. The importance of the senses, especially seeing and hearing, to the conception of Salzedo’s method is outlined. Steiner’s twelve senses are introduced and the relationship of seeing and hearing in regard to perception, comprehension and memory is explored. This practice led research contains the documentation of the performance discussed in my written exegesis. The performance includes three compositions: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) ‘Adagio–Andante quasi Allegretto’ from The Creatures of Prometheus, Opus 43; Claude Debussy (1862–1918) Danses ‘I. Danse sacrée II. Danse profane’ for harp and string orchestra; and Johanna Selleck (1959–) Spindrift for solo harp. These three works align with the three themes arising from my research into essential gesture: archetypes, microcosm and macrocosm and metamorphosis. The performance also includes my own original poetry, tone and speech eurythmy and flamenco dance. The seven key concepts arising from the research describe how eurythmy has changed my instrumental performance practice and my methodology for teaching, they include: Focus and grounding; Creating space and freedom; Balance and becoming inwardly musical––A; Communion, embracing the harp––O; Subtleties and nuances in articulation––consonants; Waiting for something that never comes––duration; and Harmony––I give, I receive. This research is important for all harpists, not only those working with the Salzedo method. It can be used as a corrective for understanding the intrinsic conception of Salzedo’s fundamental harpistic gesture, unified with the core principles of his method for harp: mental relaxation, breathing and movement. The research is also significant for all musicians, who will be stirred to rethink their approach to their own instruments and study of music, in their performance practice and studio teaching, and also in the act of listening and experiencing the joy of music.