Periodic Reporting for period 2 - REPTARQ (Ecstatic Utopias: Reorienting audiovisual Evocations of Place Towards A Relational Queer future)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-02-01 bis 2024-01-31
We live in a world in crisis. We are living through and causing ecological collapse. Societies across the world exist in a seemingly permanent state of inequality. It can be hard to see beyond this present, beyond attempting to preserve the environment we live in, beyond attempting to preserve hard won efforts to move society towards equality. However, preserving what we have is doomed to failure as it does not change the conditions that created these crises.
Ecstatic Utopias sought to create opportunities through art to give its audience an experience that transcends the present and the conditions that created the crises we live through. This transcendent experience aimed to offer a perspective that looks beyond the present and into a future of utopian potential. The Ecstatic Utopias project generated audiovisual art that aimed to help us see and feel beyond the present and towards the future. Reorienting our perspective away from preservation of the present and towards the creation of the future. This was an important and timely endeavour as it not only allowed some escapism for the audience who experienced the pieces but it could also have changed their frame of mind, encouraging them to think about a positive future rather than repeating the mistakes of the past.
Drawing on queer theory and phenomenology, a theoretical framework was created which studied how queer aesthetics can be used to create transcendent experiences which give people the opportunity to reorient their perspective towards the future. This theoretical framework was then applied to the creation of an original, large scale artwork ‘The Here & Now is a Prison House’ - the theory informing the creative decisions made. The success or failure of this artwork was assessed and the framework updated based on the outcome. This process was repeated twice more to create a total of three original artworks including ‘Ephemeral Futures’ and ‘Clouds’ as well as a clear theoretical framework informed by experimentation and feedback.
By the end of this project, a clear theoretical framework had been developed which shows how queer aesthetics can be used to potentially create transcendent experiences. This framework is supported by a portfolio of artworks which demonstrates how the framework can be put into practice and may be able affect people's experience of the world.
The results from this project have shown that the framework and pieces may have been successful, however this is ultimately inconclusive as more evidence of audience reaction needs to be gathered before more concrete conclusions can be drawn. The portfolio and framework therefore stand as the groundwork for further investigation into the possibilities of transcendent queer art and its potential as a medium for rethinking the future.
Ecstatic Utopias sought to create opportunities through art to give its audience an experience that transcends the present and the conditions that created the crises we live through. This transcendent experience aimed to offer a perspective that looks beyond the present and into a future of utopian potential. The Ecstatic Utopias project generated audiovisual art that aimed to help us see and feel beyond the present and towards the future. Reorienting our perspective away from preservation of the present and towards the creation of the future. This was an important and timely endeavour as it not only allowed some escapism for the audience who experienced the pieces but it could also have changed their frame of mind, encouraging them to think about a positive future rather than repeating the mistakes of the past.
Drawing on queer theory and phenomenology, a theoretical framework was created which studied how queer aesthetics can be used to create transcendent experiences which give people the opportunity to reorient their perspective towards the future. This theoretical framework was then applied to the creation of an original, large scale artwork ‘The Here & Now is a Prison House’ - the theory informing the creative decisions made. The success or failure of this artwork was assessed and the framework updated based on the outcome. This process was repeated twice more to create a total of three original artworks including ‘Ephemeral Futures’ and ‘Clouds’ as well as a clear theoretical framework informed by experimentation and feedback.
By the end of this project, a clear theoretical framework had been developed which shows how queer aesthetics can be used to potentially create transcendent experiences. This framework is supported by a portfolio of artworks which demonstrates how the framework can be put into practice and may be able affect people's experience of the world.
The results from this project have shown that the framework and pieces may have been successful, however this is ultimately inconclusive as more evidence of audience reaction needs to be gathered before more concrete conclusions can be drawn. The portfolio and framework therefore stand as the groundwork for further investigation into the possibilities of transcendent queer art and its potential as a medium for rethinking the future.
First, the theoretical framework of the project was constructed and published on the project website. This 8900 word document combines theory from multiple disciplines in order to create a coherent, queer approach to creating transcendent art designed to give participants a glimpse into the future.
Next, the first artwork derived from the framework was created. To this end, a broad range of sound recordings, videos and photographs were taken and edited in order to form a resource pool for the creation of the piece. A series of photographic images, videos and sound files were created through the application of the theoretical framework to the artistic process as well as through new skills learned as part of ongoing training.
In order to create a more successful second piece the framework was amended primarily in the sections on place and memory. Furthermore the framework itself had personal anecdotes, memories and half memories added into the text. This was to add context to the construction of the framework and to show practical examples in queer life of the kind of transcendent affect that the artworks based on the framework are designed to create.
Once the second iteration of the framework was complete, photographic and sonic materials were gathered with the specific intention of creating a more coherent personal narrative based on the new framework and a second piece was created.
Informed by further skills training in photography and sound, as well as the previous two pieces and their successes and failures, a third piece was created and performed. In the process of its creation extra attention was paid to the quality, variety and clarity of the aural and visual documentation of place to ensure that there were no temptations during the creative process to cover up the field recordings and photos with abstraction.
The result of the research carried out during this project is both the pieces and the framework for creating transcendent queer art that pushes its audience to think about their place in the future. The result of this process was the creation of a style of art which brings together field recordings and photographic images which blend representation of place and evocation of atmosphere along with the interjection of the memorial and personal via spoken word narrative. Analysis, formal and informal feedback indicate that it may have been successful it its aims but further audience surveys are needed in a large scale public performance in order to reach more solid conclusions.
Next, the first artwork derived from the framework was created. To this end, a broad range of sound recordings, videos and photographs were taken and edited in order to form a resource pool for the creation of the piece. A series of photographic images, videos and sound files were created through the application of the theoretical framework to the artistic process as well as through new skills learned as part of ongoing training.
In order to create a more successful second piece the framework was amended primarily in the sections on place and memory. Furthermore the framework itself had personal anecdotes, memories and half memories added into the text. This was to add context to the construction of the framework and to show practical examples in queer life of the kind of transcendent affect that the artworks based on the framework are designed to create.
Once the second iteration of the framework was complete, photographic and sonic materials were gathered with the specific intention of creating a more coherent personal narrative based on the new framework and a second piece was created.
Informed by further skills training in photography and sound, as well as the previous two pieces and their successes and failures, a third piece was created and performed. In the process of its creation extra attention was paid to the quality, variety and clarity of the aural and visual documentation of place to ensure that there were no temptations during the creative process to cover up the field recordings and photos with abstraction.
The result of the research carried out during this project is both the pieces and the framework for creating transcendent queer art that pushes its audience to think about their place in the future. The result of this process was the creation of a style of art which brings together field recordings and photographic images which blend representation of place and evocation of atmosphere along with the interjection of the memorial and personal via spoken word narrative. Analysis, formal and informal feedback indicate that it may have been successful it its aims but further audience surveys are needed in a large scale public performance in order to reach more solid conclusions.
The framework builds on the researcher’s previous work on transcendent aesthetics and incorporates a selection of optimistic political and queer theories. Combining queer theory with transcendent aesthetics in the context of the current political climate and audiovisual art has not been done before and beyond that using these theories to create a practical framework with which to make art with a transcendent affect has not been done before. In particular the queer theory of José Muñoz and his idea of queerness as something which exists in the future (a cornerstone concept of this project) has not been applied to a practical artistic outcome, only used to analyse already existing art.
The pieces themselves continue the researcher’s progress beyond the state of the art in numerous ways. Firstly, using photography as an equal partner with sound in an artwork (as opposed to an artwork where one medium is there to support the other such as incidental music in photography gallery or a photograph on an album cover), in particular in an immersive and atmospheric setting where both aural and visual elements were designed to work together despite their contradictory temporalities. Secondly, as mentioned above the artworks use a specific and unique complex framework of queer, political and phenomenological theory in combination as their starting point to create affective artworks out of evocations of a sense of place. Finally, the second and third pieces created for this project have also incorporated queer narrative into this unique mix of aesthetics and theoretical underpinnings. This blend of media brings together stasis, movement, narrative and memory in a unique form that lies somewhere between podcast, live music and installation.
Analysis and informal feedback on the framework and the pieces created using it, indicate that the framework may have succeed in its aims. However, more data is needed in order to draw concrete conclusions and so beyond this project, more performances may be scheduled in future to gauge the success of the framework and pieces created over the duration of this project.
The pieces themselves continue the researcher’s progress beyond the state of the art in numerous ways. Firstly, using photography as an equal partner with sound in an artwork (as opposed to an artwork where one medium is there to support the other such as incidental music in photography gallery or a photograph on an album cover), in particular in an immersive and atmospheric setting where both aural and visual elements were designed to work together despite their contradictory temporalities. Secondly, as mentioned above the artworks use a specific and unique complex framework of queer, political and phenomenological theory in combination as their starting point to create affective artworks out of evocations of a sense of place. Finally, the second and third pieces created for this project have also incorporated queer narrative into this unique mix of aesthetics and theoretical underpinnings. This blend of media brings together stasis, movement, narrative and memory in a unique form that lies somewhere between podcast, live music and installation.
Analysis and informal feedback on the framework and the pieces created using it, indicate that the framework may have succeed in its aims. However, more data is needed in order to draw concrete conclusions and so beyond this project, more performances may be scheduled in future to gauge the success of the framework and pieces created over the duration of this project.