Project development:
Net-work
The last two weeks in Norway have been hectic and turbulent, so I have unfortunately not thought too much about the project. However, I was lucky that I got to take some notes on my reflections the last days at Metochi. In my text I want to explore the ways the thread ties us together – to the place, people and the net – and the room that was created between the “walls” of our net-work. I want to focus on how it brought my group together and how it continued to expand and connect us to others. As a group we agreed to take down the net and let the installation be an event that started and ended at Metochi. Therefore I thought that the best way to document and present the work was through film. I captured videos from the process of making the net-work, working with it and taking it down. I will use these while exploring with sounds and videos to show my experience with the net.
I quickly wrote down some literature that could be relevant for my text:
- Working with the head , hands and the heart by Gert Biesta
- Materiell kollektivisme (Material collectivism) by Monica Klungland
- I will look up what Helene mentioned about relational art
I would like to get some input about other texts that could be relevant.
Dear Katrine. I think it is a nice point of departure when you write that “I want to explore the ways the thread ties us together – to the place, people and the net – and the room that was created between the “walls” of our net-work”. I also like the idea of making a video and/or sound piece about this theme, using the documentation that you produced in Lesvos. You can eventually ask for more video/photo-material from the other participants (I might have a some on my phone). So my basic advice is: go for it! Begin to write a text and to put the documentation together. The photos that you have posted are very beautiful and can also be used either as illustrations in the text or in the video as stills. When it comes to literature Biesta and Klungland ´will probably work fine, but you might want to add some more texts on community art and pedagogy. I have sent some texts to Tormod that he will post in the travelling library on this page. You can also write me an e-mail if you need more reference. helene.illeris@uia.no. Best wishes, Helene
Dear Katrine. Thanks for your post. It is so nice to see images of the net again, it was such a lovely project that will stay with me for some time. I very much like your idea of using video, but also agree with Helene that the images are stunning so remember you can take a multimodal approach and include both images and videos in your narrative. You can also incorporate stills into your video which can be nice as well. Always ask yourself why you are choosing a certain modality over another, so, if you are using film, explain to us why and how it helps you tell your story. What can you do in film that you can’t do in words, that you can’t do in images, and vice versa? Embrace the multimodal storytelling platform to explore your experiences from these angles. I also invite you to reflect on who ended up in your net, and how they got there. What was that process like for you? Who was left out of your network and why? Anyone you had hoped to include that slipped from the net? It all starts sounding like a fishing experience, though of course I want to steer away from extractive metaphors of just catching people and things. What you all did was build relationships and I encourage you to untangle the ways that your crafting skills opened doors for you. As far as readings, I will keep thinking but one thing that comes to mind is to check out a new book that just was published on practice-based research in the arts. The Routledge international handbook of practice-based research
Craig Vear editor. ; Taylor & Francis ; 2022. It might have some chapters that push you to think about what you did as a relational, craft-based research encounter. I will send you a few chapters but I encourage you to explore the book and see what jumps out at you if you have access through your library. Good luck, looking forward to seeing more! I also might encourage you to play with the form of your final essay in thinking about threads themselves, maybe there is a way that you can shape the essay similarly to how the net itself came together (if you are feeling creative!).
Dear Katrine and Jennie. Thank you for the comments, Jennie, I think they are very fruitful. Katrine, I look forward to follow your work. As I will be in Iceland next week with another project (actually including Anja and Maggi), please send me texts and/or other material by e-mail – or notify me by e-mail if you post something in here. Thank you and have a nice weekend! Helene