Conference Reports

 

Conference Rethinking Screenwriting
Helsinki, 10 – 12 september 2009

 

Symposium Dare #4, Urban Knowledge
Utrecht, 9 september 2009

 

European Forum for Research Degrees in Art and Design (EUFRAD)
Glasgow, 4-6 september 2009

 

Pevoc8 - Pan European Voice Conference
Dresden, 26-29 augustus 2009

 

The Difference of Art and Art Research across the Disciplines
Zürich, 23-24 april 2009 – Zürcher Hochschule der Künste

 

The 6th International Conference for Research in Music Education
Exeter, 14-18 april 2009 – School of Education, University of Exeter

 

Design Connexity. European Academy of Design Conference
Aberdeen, 1-3 april 2009 - The Robert Gordon University

 

The Reflective Conservatoire. Building Connections
London, 28 februari tot en met 3 maart 2009 - Guildhall School of Music & Drama

 

 

Conference Rethinking Screenwriting

Helsinki 10 – 12 September 2009
Screenplay Research. Areas in which research is performed

Attended by: Hugo Vercauteren

Commentary: Hugo Vercauteren

The congress was attended by a very diverse audience. I will try to make my own classification of the various research areas below. It is definitely so that there were research areas that were not addressed during the conference (see below). Some sessions ran simultaneously, so I wasn’t able to attend certain lectures. The texts of the presentations will be published on the website of the Helsinki University of Art & Design.

1. The practice of screenplay writing

Has been addressed for quite some time now through various workshops. Some of the lecturers discussed the specific technical skills involved in screenplay writing.

2. Dramaturgical questions

I quote speaker (Riikka Pelo, doctoral student, University of Art and Design Helsinki): “The screenplay stands in relation to the movie the way choreography stands in relation to ballet, a manuscript to theatre, a libretto to opera, a composition to a performance, an architectural plan to a building.” She specifically talked about the dramaturgical elements of the screenplay as compared to the abovementioned artistic disciplines.

She specifically discussed the dramaturgical and narratological elements as prerequisites for the reading of the screenplay as literature. (a lecture which I personally much enjoyed).

 3. (The) Archiving and studying (of) screenplays

There is hardly any archiving in Europe (only one to two percent of all screenplays are available). Systematic comparative research is therefore not possible. A systematic study of different versions of screenplays is also rather impossible. This is mainly the domain of Professor Ian Macdonald of the University of Leeds . He launched a warm request to make the necessary changes in this respect (my own remark). Screenplay writers and directors can benefit from these theoretical studies through scientists’ systematic comparative studies of screenplays and screenplay versions (in cooperation with people in the field).

4. Exact and human sciences regarding film (in general), and screenplays in particular

For instance:

Biology: according to some scientists (there were various from different countries) there is a relation between the Aristotle structure and the functioning of our brains (“as a problem solving organ”). One of the professors gave an exposé on “neurotransmitters” and the like.

Professor Torben Grodal of the University of Copenhagen gave a scientific explanation (again about the functioning of the brain) of why people like horror movies, romantic comedies, and Arthouse movies. He has published his findings this year in: “Embodied Visions, emotions, culture and film”, Oxford University Press. ISBN 978 0 19 537132 1 9000.

Attempts to explain the existence of “disconnected narratological structures” are also being made (it all has to do with the functioning of the brain).

5. Screenplay and Film History

The history of Indian film by Anubha Yadav, professor at the University of New Delhi : “Present wihin a Past ‘Formlaic’ – Reflections on the ‘un’ changing form and narrative of the Popular Hindi Scripts” was quite unusual.

The Screenplay as a continuation of “verbal narratology” in ballads. Adam Ganz, teacher at the Royal Holloway University London used a British ballad as an example. His lecture can best be summarized as “Quentin Tarantino in the Middle Ages” (his kind of screenplays has existed in ballads for years).

6. Power relations surrounding the screenplay writing

Quote by professor Ian Macdonals: “are there good screenplays as such?” does a good screenplay not solely exist within a specific social or industrial context? Hollywood is a good example. There, a certain kind of screenplay is valued within an industrial context. A “good” screenplay cannot be seen apart from its social and/or industrial environment.

7. Screenplays and new media

The lecture by Rosamund Davies of the University of Greenwich specifically highlighted the different approaches in screenplay writing (narrative structures) and the writing for video games, which can be characterised as “storyspaces”. More and more screenplay writers are involved in the writing of said storyspaces. It is important they get involved from the very outset (beginning).

8. Writing for a broad audience versus Arthouse writing

Still a delicate matter at this conference also, although tensions seem to be easing.

9. Screenplay formatting

While Final Draft seems to become the standard worldwide, the formatting of documentaries still remains quite diverse. The documentary screenplay is more like a project presentation in this respect.

Topics barely touched upon:

* Issues concerning cross-border screenplay writing (intercultural screenplay writing).

* The link between theory and practise: the going together of theoretical studies and the practice of screenplay writing. A systematic research of archived screenplays (see Prof. Ian Macdonald) can prove very insightful for screenplay writers and filmmakers.

* The present British-Scandinavian dominance. Prof. Ian Macdonald is very aware of this fact. He would prefer more collaboration with “originally Latin-speaking” countries ( France, Spain, Italy, Portugal ….).

 

 

Symposium Dare #4, Urban Knowledge

Utrecht , 9 September 2009

Attended by: Yves Knockaert, Instituut voor Onderzoek in de Kunsten

Commentary: Yves Knockaert

The symposium DARE #4 was held on the 9th of September at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht under the title ‘Urban Knowledge’. DARE or Dutch Artistic Research Event is an initiative of Henk Slager, dean at MaHKU, Utrecht Graduate School of Visual Art and Design.

The theme ‘Urban Knowledge’ represents all the possible knowledge that can be gained from art in the public space, more specifically art in relation to the urban space. This ‘knowledge’ is not limited to the artistic research domain itself. It also involves knowledge in a social context or knowledge gained by the audience and the inhabitants of a specific place; it involves judicial knowledge regarding author’s and property laws, political ‘knowledge’ or the political implications concerning socially engaged art in public spaces and so on. More specifically related to the production of art itself, is the issue of knowledge in terms of the aspect of curatorship: how can the organisation of art in the public space differ from a classical art event, and how temporary or permanent an intervention is it? And finally, the question needs to be raised of how in these kinds of events artistically interesting data and a high level of artistic quality can be safeguarded, in other words: how can the art be kept from being entirely dominated by its (own) public-orientedness.

These were the kind of issues which were addressed by the international assembly of speakers in a more than satisfactory way, with a range of answers including actual cases and philosophical positions.

The Finnish artist Jan Erik Andersson highlighted the issues surrounding the construction of his ‘Leaf House’, which he built in cooperation with architect Erkki Pitkäranta. Andersson’s doctoral project centers on a house in which the leaf shape is the dominant design element, present on every level, from the ground plan to the smallest of embellishments. Contrary to the assumption that an artist involved in architecture would keep within the boundaries of model-making, Andersson aimed to really build the house. This created issues in terms of urban planning, more specifically where the positioning of the house in appropriate surroundings is concerned. It took local authorities years to grant the artist permits for a building lot which they considered ‘undisturbing’, in other words, far enough away from any other built areas. Now that he house is built, nobody walks past without having a look, wondering about its presence, or knocking at the door asking for a look around. The public questions and confronts itself through this unusual architecture. It is odd that this ‘organic’, ecological style leaf-architecture had to be realised in concrete: it was impossible to build in any other material.

As an artist, Kobe Matthys specialises in creating databases and archives about subjects such as the difference between nature and culture or the mechanism of reappropriation. As one of the founders of Agency/Agentschap, located in Brussels , he has, since 1991, handled more than 1.200 cases or incidents. In his lecture he focussed on one specific case: 25 years ago, Chapman Kelley exhibited a flowerbed in a park in Chicago . The flowerbed remained there unaltered for twenty years, until the City of Chicago decided to change the zoning for the area and the flowerbed had to go. This immediate lead to a great deal of judicial fencing: who is the owner, is this a work of art, and so on. Typical questions that can occur regarding art in the public sphere and that are very hard to answer. Kelley had to prove that his flowerbed was a ‘painting’ or ‘sculpture’ in order to claim the property rights. The trial is still pending.

Huib Haye van der Werf, curator at NAI Rotterdam, used a number of striking examples to illustrate how artists, working in the public space or for official clients in official spaces, can rapidly enter into a conflict (of interest) with clients or authorities. In more than one case this leads to the curtailing of artistic freedom or even the prohibition of exhibiting the artworks in question.

From a more politically engaged background and with a feeling of social concern (fostered by his family origin and history, the past situation in Eastern Europe), and on the other hand referring to for instance the interdisciplinary interest in the work of Stephen Willats, curator Adam Budak threw some light on his activities at the Kunsthaus Graz. Budak, among other things, tries to find answers to the question of proprietorship regarding art in public spaces or the public space surrounding art. This is for instance immediately clear in the issue of the ‘Volksgarten’ (People’s Garden), and the question whether the people (Volk) are the owners of this park in the middle of a working-class neighbourhood which functions as a playground for the children and a meeting place for the inhabitants of the area. And if the people are not the owners, can they occupy the park, or appropriate it? Can a public space be opened up/closed by a particular segment of the population?

Claire Doherty from Bristol testified of her year-long experience as director of ‘Situations’. She attempts to develop ‘urban knowledge’ through ‘situations’ that are created in the city of Bristol . These situations can be described as actions, but more than installations or interventions, they are interruptions, unannounced disruptions of the reigning urban ‘order’, instantly drawing the public into the events, provoking response. These disruptions are preferably kept short, with a duration of for instance one day, to counteract the possibility of the public becoming accustomed to the new situation. When the city awakes with an abundance of flowers everywhere, then the public is forced to respond to the nocturnal rain of flowers; when after one day the inhabitants are allowed to take the flowers home, spontaneous and unexpected ‘flower arrangements’ occur, and people take the intervention literally into their own homes. When traffic becomes obstructed because of a pile of rubble and stacked car wrecks placed like a wall across the street, then this street, as a connective axis and communication line, acquires a different meaning, and is viewed with a different kind of attention.

Mika Hannula, professor Artistic Research at the university of Göteborg, gave a lecture entitled ‘From Social Imaginary Towards Social Imagination’ as an introduction to his book ‘Politics, Identity and Public Space Critical Reflections In and Through the Practices of Contemporary Art’ (publication date: October 2009). The title reflects the broad rationale Hannula is aiming for; he is a curator and critic and received a doctorate in political sciences. His exposé was very brainstorm-like, replete with a myriad of concepts which shed a light on the various aspects of the multilayered issue of urban knowledge, and its counterparts. Hannula is an advocate for openness, movement, and flexibility. at the end of the day he summed up not only his own ideas, but those of other speakers as well, in a few concise words: ‘something is happening’ is very important in this respect, stable definitions concerning ‘urban knowledge’ are impossible, conflict and the immediate real-time response are important. Also, urban knowledge is unconventional, its consequences and effects are unpredictable, and control is impossible. All these aspects warrant that, in the future, the contribution of art in the public sphere to the development of urban knowledge will remain significant and ongoing.

 

 

European Forum for Research Degrees in Art and Design (EUFRAD)

Glasgow, 4-6 September 2009

Attended by : Cel Crabeels, Thierry Lagrange, Paul Cruysberghs, Hoger Instituut voor Wijsbegeerte, K.U.Leuven en Edith Doove, IvOK

Commentary: Edith Doove

The pilot European Forum for Research Degrees in Art and Design (EUFRAD) brought together a group of third cycle/PhD students and their supervisors for a long weekend of presentations and discussions. By exchanging experiences and talk about research methods the idea was to get a clearer few on the diversity of approaches to research in the arts across Europe .

EUFRAD forms part of the activity of the European Thematic Network artesnet, which is jointly coordinated by the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts (NAFTA) in Sofia and the European League of Institutes of the Arts (ELIA).

Host of this first EUFRAD was Klaus Jung, director of the Glasgow School of Art.

IvOK was invited to participate in this forum and sent doctoral students Cel Crabeels and Thierry Lagrange, as well as supervisor Paul Cruysberghs and advisor Edith Doove as its representatives. The other participants were delegations of the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London; the Politecno, Faculty of Design, Milan; the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama (RSAMD), Glasgow; the Birmingham Institute of Art & Design (BIAD), Birmingham City University; the Glasgow School of Art; the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK); Central Saint Martins School of Art & design, University of the Arts, London; the Higher School of Art & Design of Saint-Etienne (ESADSE); the Estonian Academy of Music & Theatre (EAMT), Tallin; the University College of Dance, Stockholm, the Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg, the Theatre Academy Helsinki (TeaK), the Academy of Fine Arts & Design Bratislava (AFAD) and the Bergen National Academy of the Arts (KHiB). Keynote lectures were given by Stuart Evans of Central Saint Martins School of Art & Design and Dame Janet Ritterman, Associate Fellow, Institute of Musical Research , University of London .

This wide variety of institutions and their representatives ensured a very stimulating multi-disciplinary conference with lively discussions. The program consisted of brief introductions on the institutions followed by a presentation of the PhD research and feedback from a representative of another institution. This proved to be an excellent way of learning about the different approaches towards research in the arts throughout leading European institutions. With a total of 16 presentations and so called lounge discussions in the late afternoon it turned out to be a very densely organised forum. The discussion on research strategies, especially on issues like the quality of the artistic component and the age at which doctoral students should be allowed to enter, were very lively and informative. It is clear that the differences throughout Europe are very wide and that one can discuss the necessity to either sustain this variety or try to introduce minimal standards to which each institution should adhere.

The question whether there should be another EUFRAD was greeted enthusiastically since the need to talk in person and exchange experiences in order to arrive at a high standard of quality in the research in the arts was clearly proven.

 

 

Pevoc8 - Pan European Voice Conference

Dresden, 26-29 August 2009

Attended by: Lieve Jansen, Lemmensinstituut Leuven; Wim Lambrecht, Sint-Lucas Beeldende Kunst Gent and Wivine Decoster, Expertisecentrum Stem en Afdeling Experimentele Oto-rino-laryngologie, Faculteit Geneeskunde, K.U.Leuven

Commentary: Lieve Jansen

During this conference Lieve Jansen gave a lecture on the research project In Tränen unendlicher Lust (IvOK, OPK) and Wim Lambrecht presented two video installations, both originating from the same project: the manipulated performance of “Nun hast du mir den ersten Scherz getan” by Robert Schumann and images recorded in the larynx during the singing of “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen” by Gustav Mahler.

The biannual Pevoc is a meeting place for anyone concerned with voice-related matters and attracts speakers and participants from the whole world. This eighth edition was held at the Carl Maria von Weber Music University in Dresden, with its grand new concert hall and spacious classrooms. The conference was presided over by Professor Dr. Dirk Mürbe, who, aside from his specialisation as ORL physician also holds a position as vocal pedagogue at the university, and manages the “Studio für Stimmforschung”. He is also the author of various books on the singing voice. Amongst the participants were ORL physicians, speech therapists, researchers, singers (classical, rock, and pop), spoken word artists etc. Manufacturers of medical equipment and publishers of voice-related books exhibited in a separate area. A poster exhibit which ran throughout the halls presented topics which were not addressed in the conference itself. Lectures and workshops ran parallel to the main conference in nine different rooms, sadly making it necessary to choose from the wide offer: the only flaw in this otherwise well-organised event.

The main theme was: “The professional voice in communication today– towards the integration of science and voice education“.

The programme began every morning with a concert, followed by a plenum meeting with a guest speaker. After that there were “Free paper sessions” and workshops. After lunch there was another guest presentation followed by workshops and lectures and a round table discussion.

Noteworthy presentations which I sat in on during the first day included: “The evolution of the voice“ by T. Fitch (Vienna), “Glottis configuration during inspiration after high and low vocal emissions in singers“ by P. Pontes (Brazil) “Differences in voice disorders in classical and non classical professional singers“ by F. Sram (Prague) and the very interesting exposé “Influence of body posture and balance on functional voice problems in classical singers“ by Antonia Breiter (Vienna). Her lecture was a more in-depth study, similar to the research which was recently undertaken in Leuven with students from (the) Lemmensinstituut, a collaboration between Prof. Filip Staes, Prof. Wivine Decoster and me. Unfortunately there was no further opportunity to explore this topic further but it is clear that we are not the only ones involved with this topic.

The afternoon plenum about “Principles in voice production - recent developments in vocal tract modelling“ by B. Story from Tucson, gave a clear insight into the usage of the computer model of the “human voice tract” for further developments in speech technology. A workshop from a more artistic perspective was Olaf Bär’s “Interpretation in das Deutsche Lied” which runs closely to what we have addressed in our own artistic research In Tränen unendlichter Lust regarding the studying of Lieder.

The second day began with the lecture “Scientific underpinnings of voice therapy and voice training“ by world authority Ingo Titze, the singer who became a scientist.

Then it was my turn to present my lecture in the large concert hall about the scientific aspect of our artistic research In Tränen unendlicher Lust: “Song interpretation supported by acoustic voice analysis“, more specifically about the influence of voice analyses through spectrograms produced by Prof. Wivine Decoster and her students. These voice analyses have definitely had an influence, used as technical supports for our singing students and clearly indicating the difference between the various participating vocalists. It was therefore a great honour for us to be taken as an example of a successful cooperation between vocal pedagogical aspects and science by chairman Dirk Mübe during the round table discussion “Voice science and voice education-friends or foes”. My first exposé yielded interesting contacts, for instance one with a pianist who studied with Norman Shetler (one of the accompanists of Peter Schreier and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, among others), and subsequently became a physician, specialised in injury prevention for instrumentalists. He is connected to the music department of the University in Dresden, where prevention takes an important place.

On the third day, the workshop “Changes in song interpretation over the last century” by baritone Andreas Schmidt brought an interesting exposé on the evolution of the interpretation of the German Lied, with sound fragments from 1905 until now. Equally interesting was the lecture “Emotions and voice professionalism” by Claudia Spahn from the Voice Research Lab in Freiburg. The way emotions and stage fright are addressed in Freiburg definitely deserves our attention: direct feedback seems extremely important in this respect.

Pevoc8 addressed a wide variety of very divergent and interesting topics. Not every subject was equally well presented and the scientific researchers particularly often presented provisional data or a current state of affairs. Not every speaker was inspiring and some had difficulty to express themselves in English. Still it is important to know that much is happening regarding the voice and vocal research world-wide.

The programme of the conference and the abstracts can be found on www.pevoc8.de

 

 

The Difference of Art and Art Research across the Disciplines

Zürich, 23-24 April 2009 – Zürcher Hochschule der Künste

Attended by: Yves Knockaert (IvOK), Carl Van Eyndhoven (Lemmensinstituut, Leuven), Johan Verbeke (Sint-Lucas Architectuur Brussels-Ghent)

Commentary: Yves Knockaert

The Zürcher Hochschule der Künste symposium is a yearly reoccurring event organised in close cooperation with ELIA. This year, roughly 150 participants from more than 30 educational institutions attended the event. Amongst the participants were a number of official representatives of institutions from Switzerland and other countries, which sponsor research in the arts presently, or will do so in the near future.

Content-wise, the symposium was split up into three different types of sessions: experienced researchers and research theoreticists addressed the conference’s main theme; there were various plenum contributions about the situation in Switzerland; participants were divided into smaller groups for the workshops. There was always ample time for discussion. The theoretical approach of the main theme by specialists in artistic research was hosted by, among others, Nina Malterud (Can you make Art without Research?), head of the National Academy of the Arts in Bergen (Norway) and organizer of the yearly reoccurring conference ‘Sensuous Knowledge’, and Henk Borgdorff (Artistic Research: Articulating the Contingencies and Realism of Art), connected to the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten and the Academie der Kunsten of the University of Leiden. There were not that very many new insights; rather it seemed that a number of visions concerning artistic research are becoming increasingly more consolidated. Nevertheless, a number of speakers managed to accentuate a number of aspects regarding the difference between art practice and research in the arts.

Malterud stressed that she considers research as a tool within the arts, art being the ‘supplier’ for artistic research, and that the arts always challenge the research methods and methodology.

Borgdorff is one of the few who insist on keeping the discussion on the difference between artistic and scientific research alive, a point of discussion which now seems dated within the frame of the theory of artistic research. The speaker made an effort to broaden the topic, or leave it entirely, by situating artistic research in an intermediary position between the world of art and ‘academia’, where artistic research then functions as a binding agent. This binding agent originates from present developments in the arts, where the connection between art and daily life takes on an increasingly important role, which leads Borgdorff into thinking that contemporary art can be imbued with moral significance. Art ‘after its fall’ or free from the demands for autonomy, transcendence or metaphor, is given a new function, which is what artistic research should address.

The musical contribution remained limited to a performance by young researcher Elena Alessandri, who is connected to the Lugano conservatory, and who started research into interpretation as a pianist at the Orpheus Instituut in Ghent. Her lecture was not as much a reflection on the title ‘Why on Earth should a Musician do Research?’ but rather a series of first steps in the exploration of what a researcher-performer can do more than what he or she is used to do when studying on a score.

As for the Swiss contributions, the most important lecture was the contribution by Marc-Antoine Camp and Florian Dombois of the Hochschule der Künste Bern. It was a report on a recent research into which they participated: ‘Artistic Research in Switzerland’. Aside from a summary of the institutions and a historical overview of the evolution of research at art institutions, they stressed in their exposé the stringent conditions which Switzerland imposes on research: for the arts as for any other field, an important input from and an intense collaboration with the economic or service-oriented sector is a prerequisite. The search for suitable partners is a particular challenge to the art field. Switzerland also recognises the need for the organisation of a doctorate in the arts from a research-oriented perspective, which is currently non-existent. The realisation that young artists are currently not very interested in research could be countered by said doctorate. This is why the promotion of artistic research will become necessary in the near future, along with the search for appropriate budgets, reserved solely for research in the arts.

 

 

The 6th International Conference for Research in Music Education

Exeter, 14-18 April 2009 – School of Education, University of Exeter

Attended by: Thomas De Baets & Jan Haspeslagh (Lemmensinstituut, Leuven)

Commentary: Thomas De Baets

The School of Education and Lifelong Learning of the University of Exeter organised the sixth edition of the ‘Research In Music Education Conference’ (RIME) which ran from the 14th until the 18th of April. Sarah Hennessy, teacher Music pedagogy at this faculty, was invited in 1999 by Routledge publishers to start up a magazine for research in Music pedagogy, following the example of ‘Research in Drama Education’. The magazine was baptised ‘Music Education Research’. At the same time, she took the initiative to link a biannual conference to this publication. She hosted the event this year also. The conferences are held without a single general theme, but, as with the magazine, they aim to provide a forum for all music pedagogy-oriented researchers.

The presentations took on various forms: keynote speakers, 20 minute-long papers, workshops, and poster presentations. Keynote speaker Dr. Gordon Cox (Reading University, UK) opened the conference with the lecture ‘Why music education history matters: The legacy of Bernarr Rainbow (1914-1998)’. In an almost symbolic opening at the beginning of the lecture, he stressed the importance of the historical dimension of music pedagogy: “Studying the past is not only a manner of anticipating the future, but also a way in understanding the here-and-now”. He is currently finishing his book ‘Origins and foundations of Music Education’, with participations from many colleagues from various (mostly western) countries. A study of the past would teach us, according to him, that methodological and didactic differences should not be viewed as rivalling, since it is precisely the ‘interaction of possibilities’ that enhances the quality in music education.

‘Dichotomies in Music Education’ were exposed and analysed in the keynote presentation of Dr. Magne Espeland (Stord/Haugesund University, Norway). In his paper he explored which dichotomies exist, what their significance is and what this means for us, in terms of how we can (or should) handle hem. His dichotomies were: digital vs. non-digital education, formal vs. informal learning, teacher-pedagogue vs. musician-artist. The attending audience affirmed these polarisations unanimously: of course these are not choices to be made but rather three different axes onto which a dynamic music pedagogy can exist.

Liane Hentschke’s presentation (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazilië) did not go by unnoticed. In her function of immediate past president of the International Society of Music Education (ISME, www.isme.org), she has travelled around the world for the past two years to attend various conferences and other music pedagogy-related initiatives. Her lecture was in this sense a rendition of her intense experiences, but also an analysis of the working of the ISME as an international platform. In this way she primarily presented possibilities for the establishment of an international network for music pedagogic research.

Very much present at the paper sessions was meNET (Music Education Network, http://menet.mdw.ac.at). This Comenius 3-project, which originated from the working of EAS (European Association for Music in Schools, www.eas-music.net) is coordinated by the ‘Institut für Musikpädagogik’ (IMP) in Vienna. The project gathers information from the European countries on the following topics: Music Education in Schools, Learning Outcomes, Music Teacher Training, Comenius Projects, Examples of Practice in Context, and Lifelong Learning. Sarah Hennessy presented, together with Franz Niermann (IMP, Austria) and Adri de Vugt (Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag, The Netherlands) a First version of ‘Learning Outcomes for Music teacher training’. This well-thought-out document is to be a source of inspiration for specialised music teacher training programmes. This document will be presented to the competent European authorities and constitutes a supplement to the documents regarding ‘Learning Outcomes’ which are currently being developed by the Association Européenne des Conservatoires (AEC). The project will be completed at the EAS European Congress in Tallin. All conclusions will be published in a report, and made available online and on CD-rom.

Two attending Flemish music pedagogical researchers also presented their work. Ruth Rondas (research assistant Hogeschool Gent, Conservatory department) presented a paper on her doctorate research ‘Research into the one-to-one relation in instrumental higher education’. I personally presented my doctorate project entitled ‘An inquiry into the importance of the artistic-musical component of music teaching. A contribution to the development of a dynamical profile of the music teacher in the field of general education’ at the much-visited poster session.

All activities took place at the St. Luke’s Campus of the University of Exeter. Most of the speakers and participants also stayed on the campus. The organisation provided meals and also organised various evening activities (a number of concerts and a dance). This promoted, particularly in view of the fact that the number of participants is purposely kept low, an intimate atmosphere with plenty of room for exchange. This leaves the organisation convinced that many a research project actually found its origin in Exeter.

 

 

Design Connexity. European Academy of Design Conference

Aberdeen, April 1 to 3, 2009 - The Robert Gordon University

Attended by : Megan Strickfaden (Department of Architecture, Urbanism & Planning, K.U.Leuven)

Commentary: Megan Strickfaden

This year, the 8th EAD conference was structured around a series of keynote addresses that were linked together with discussion around design and innovation, people-centred design and critical design. The five speakers—Josephine Green (Philips Electronics, the Netherlands), Toby Scott (Pentacles, Ireland), Klaus Krippendorf (professor, Germany/USA), Fiona Raby (Dunne & Raby, UK), Julian Bleeker (Near Futures Laboratory, USA)—focused on practice-based issues and practice-led research. For example, Josephine Green said that we are now in an era that is “people-centred … moving innovation towards people”. She indicated that as result our discipline is in the process of reinventing research & innovation and that this new people-centred era requires social innovation, cross-disciplinary & cross-cultural practices. These ways of thinking about design were echoed by Toby Scott who emphasised that as people work towards co-creation with lay people there is need to use visualisation techniques but not design language in order to have a convergence towards “speaking the same language”, which was also the one of the core messages stated by Klaus Krippendorf who said, “much of what we do is what we say” and because designers are naturally unlike others there is bombardment of complexities between the multiple worlds of design stakeholders and the design process. The keynote addresses are available to listen to and watch on the design connexity website.

Following from the previous EAD conferences, the paper sessions were a mixture of work relating to design research, design practice, and design teaching. The variety of disciplines represented was vast, which was stimulating and exciting while a clear reminder of the interconnected of the discipline in general. As with all conferences, there were a few gems among bedrock. For example, Sabine Junginger (UK) presented two papers: Designing from the outside in: the key to organizational change? and Parts & wholes: places of design thinking in organizational life. Each of these research projects demonstrated rigorous theories and methods towards exploring design from alternate perspectives. Her first paper presents four paths: initial agreement, characteristics of purpose, characteristics of design process, characteristics of design strategy: sideways (horizontal not top-down) towards understanding design’s role in organizational change; and her second paper presents four archetypes of design thinking in organizations: design as resource, design as part, design as core, design as integral relating to how design fulfils different purposes. Another notable paper is the work of Katharina Bredies, Gesche Joost & Rosan Chow (Germany) titled Designers and users: comparing constructivist design approaches. This work examines the roles and relationships of designers and users using Krippendorf’s constructivist notion of situated meaning-production: participatory design, non-intentional design, critical design, human-centred design. A final notable work within product design education is Empathetic design research: disability & relevant design by Deana McDonagh, Joyce Thomas et al. (USA). McDonagh, Thomas et al. tell the story of designing with empathy towards a blending of boundaries of designers’ knowledge and understanding with people who have profound disabilities. In doing so, they seek to question the roles and relationships of designers and users and to develop their students empathetic horizons through language. The full papers are also available to peruse on the design Connexity website.

Even though this year’s EAD conference took place in Aberdeen, a city that is notoriously known as the “grey city” because of the colour of the majority of stone used for buildings, Design Connexity was far from grey or average. The conference was well organised, the venue was contemporary and conducive to discussion, and the keynotes and paper sessions were stimulating. Evening events and casual pub visits allowed the conference organizers to deliver what they hoped—an event that supports interconnected, design discourse and networking.

 

 

The Reflective Conservatoire. Building Connections

London, February 28th until March 3rd 2009 - Guildhall School of Music & Drama

Attended by: Carl Van Eyndhoven, Lemmensinstituut, Leuven

Commentary: Carl Van Eyndhoven

The ‘Guildhall School of Music & Drama’ (London) organised the second edition of ‘The Reflective Conservatoire’ which ran from February 28th until March 3rd. After the success of the first conference which was held in 2006 under the theme of ‘Apprentices & Sorcerers?” (a provocative interpretation of the ‘master – student-relation), this event gathered prominent researchers, inventors, performers, and teachers from all over the world to reflect on a wide array of subjects, grouped under the title ‘Building Connections’. Topics discussed in more than 90 simultaneously occurring sessions included, among others, curriculum development, learning methods, art and creativity, health care for musicians, the master class as a living environment, research practice, the professional doctorate, etc.

The lectures varied in quality and especially the practice-oriented workshops, which occasionally called upon the participation of all attendants, were positively evaluated by most. Aside from these sessions, a number of remarkable performances by Guildhall students were presented. Particularly engaging were the presentations of new compositions that originated from a collaboration with the ‘Materials Library’ (definitely recommended, see their website www.materialslibrary.org.uk/ ). Here, the boundaries between art and science were blurred, which lead to a surprising symbiosis, rather than a superficial cross-over.

Of all the keynote-speakers it was Sir Christopher Frayling, rector of the Royal College of Art, who left a deep impression. He began his lecture ‘Research in and through the arts: what’s the problem?’ with the notion that quite a bit of work regarding research in and through the arts has been done already, which makes it possible to define a specific profile for ‘our’ research through various examples of ‘good practice’. He made a plea to abandon the often prevailing defensive attitude towards the academic world and search for a redefinition of the ‘academical’ concept within an artistic context instead. A concept such as ‘practice based research’ (or one of the many definitions of ‘artistic research’ that are continuously being thought up) is for instance not appropriate: what is under consideration here is ‘research’, as defined by its context and the researchers conducting it. Perhaps it is also unnecessary to confront students/researchers with a variety of research methods; it is more appropriate to have them make a report of the covered artistic trajectory, in other words, the road towards the end product: the work of art. This could become an alternative interpretation of the doctorate‘s reflective aspect: instead of a description of the applied methodology comes a statement about the followed process, which Frayling describes as the ‘road map’. We can only begin to answer the many remaining questions regarding the doctorate in the arts after the (undertaking and) completion of many more doctorates. The conservatory needs to define itself as a ‘think and do tank’ in which the researcher acts as a ‘reflective practitioner’. In this context he referred to John Ruskin who stated in his lecture ‘The Unity of Art’:”Then Fine Art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together”. A thought which also applies to music performers and researchers.

Glen Carruthers (Brandon University Canada) noted in his lecture ‘Reactive and proactive conservatoire reform’ that conservatories have responded to the many changes in society (reactive), and have prepared their students accordingly, but that it would be better if they took the initiative for change (proactive). Pertinent questions followed regarding the role of conservatories in society. Carruthers summed things up with the words of Neil Young: “Just singin’ a song won’t change the world.”

As a common thread through these sessions one can see an art world inundated with questions yet dynamically and enthusiastically searching for answers. More and more it seems that the search itself becomes more important than the finding of answers. There are a lot of things in motion, things are changing. The future will show which changes will prove fundamental for conservatories and the artistic community in general.

The conference was held at Guildhall School and the umbilically connected Barbican Centre, ‘a building where there is always something rich and strange going on’. A building, both pleasing and plain, that personifies the concept of ‘building connections’ through its very architecture.