Artistic Research in Performance through Collaboration by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030385996
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Documenting Creative Dialogue

To theorise how creative collaboration works is to explore how those participating communicate through their propositions, or their responses, to reflect on where the differences and meeting points are between the different artists and to ultimately chart the process(es) through which this collaboration occurs. As such this chapter is about process, a process which happens in the moment .

Surveying the issues concerning the process of communication and performance dialogue need further attention,25 and so I explore and self-reflect on the collaborative dialogue between me and Thompson, through interviews and questionnaires, with reference to discussions with other Soundpainters during the 2013 Soundpainting Think Tank. Table 7.1 illustrates the collaborative journey of Thompson and I from 2008 onwards. I do not question the cultural context of the signed gestures here, nor do I question the reach of this method. Rather, I am interested in how those involved in a Soundpainting, including me as an insider to the ensemble, collaborate. Robin Nelson stated that the ‘individual or collaborative critical reflection on experience, in the form of a documented conversation, may, through gesturing towards a more abstract conceptualisation, assist in disseminating the (initially embodied) mode of knowing’.26 I have been documenting my conversations with Thompson through formal questionnaires and interviews (2010, 2015) publishing these online, as well as keeping a diary of our regular skype meetings. In order to be able to reflect on my own practice, as a developing Soundpainter, I documented my process in diaries and used the same approach to documenting the various workshops and sessions I have attended with other Soundpainters over the last decade. This amounted to noting the following: (1) the workshop session, date and location; (2) the content of the session, specifically noting any new signs, outlining the gestural movement and shape and their meaning, and also documenting any of my own questions, musings about the role of the Soundpainter versus the performer, and drawing the gestures. As a result of this process, I repeatedly asked myself two questions: (1) ‘How would I use this sign as a Soundpainter?’, considering what effect it might have on the piece, and (2) ‘How would I respond to this sign as a performer?’ Most commonly I would choose to play trumpet within the ensemble, and my intuitive understanding of my second skin (trumpet) lent itself to my using my comfort zone often (mid register, high dynamic levels, percussive rhythmic tonging and so on). But sometimes I would sing, play piano or act. I have become aware, over the decade, that when I perform using something less familiar, I have been more able to experiment. This is not because of a different skill level; I realised during the 2013 Think Tank, as we all sang as a choir,27 that using another medium made me question not only the meaning of the signs, but how I could work within the ensemble in ways which might contradict, counter or challenge, rather than blend, mimic or imitate another.

The freedom came by challenging my own intuition.

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