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publications, resources, reflections

publications

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An exploration of our moving, felt, embodied hearing technologies

Petts, L., Artpradid, V., Hayward-Smith, L., Johnson, P. & Wood, K. (2022). The Shape of Sound: An exploration of our moving, felt, embodied hearing technologies, Riffs, 6(1), 27-43.

The Body Ecologic

20th - 31st December 2021, Shanghai

This video introduces the documentation of the two-year interdisciplinary research project  ’The Shape of Sound’, which explores a range of perspectives taken by the sonic body across time.

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Rehearsal footage

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Coventry, 2021

Practice as Research
in The Shape of Sound Project

…an invisible dynamics of communication set in motion by our moving bodies in relation to the various ecological systems of which we are part... (Petts et al. 2022, 30)

We frame our project as practice research, utilising this process as a methodology to explore research questions through movement and public engagement. The art, our practice of weaving, of visual exhibition, of dance scores, of dance sharing and witnessing, is the substantial evidence of our research inquiry (Nelson, 2013, p. 9). More so, these artistic practices as research magnify the inherent knowledge we hold in ourselves. In our movement practice specifically, we engage in deep listening and movement processes, drawn from practices such as Body-Mind Centering® (BMCsm), Authentic Movement practice and Skinner Releasing Technique™ (SRT). As noted by Cohen, this practice of Body-Mind Centering is an ‘ongoing, experiential journey into the alive and changing territory of the body. The Explorer is their mind- our thoughts, feelings, energy, soul, and spirit. Through this journey we are led to an understanding of how the mind is expressed through the body in movement’ (2008, p.1). By engaging with these movement practices and processes, we reconnect with our own embodied technologies, working to amplify the internal process of hearing and listening through moving with the thread installation warps. We also find inspiration from Experiential Anatomy, whereby we draw on connecting to our internal focus to project something to inner and outer landscapes. Here, we explore the parallels between experiential anatomy and Body-Mind Centering by experiencing our anatomies in an exploratory, improvised way through movement. Our …attention is given to what is already there, such as the movement of the breath, various body parts and their anatomical/ functional characteristics, and the pouring of weight and mass that comes with rolling, shifting, falling and travelling across the floor and space (Glaser, 2015, p. 45). We first focus our attention on the anatomy of the ear, journeying our way through to the cochlea, to the hair cells, gradually integrating these individuated body parts into our whole-body dance movement. Through playing with the threads, we orientate our kinaesthetic awareness in relation to our bodily selves in action (Batson, 2007, p.48). Practice research through a meditation on visual analogies in sound and movement can facilitate new meanings for that which is unheard. The combination of the threads and movement artists provide visual, kinaesthetic, material representations of sound that are engaged with using the body. Whilst the movement artists initiate the engagement, the threads move in response thus forming a symbiotically dynamic movement relationship. From: Petts, L., Artpradid, V., Hayward-Smith, L., Johnson, P., & Wood, K. (2022). The Shape of Sound: An exploration of our moving, felt, embodied hearing technologies. Riffs, 6(1), 27-43. https://riffsjournal.org/2022/08/01/louisa-petts-vipavinee-artpradid-lily-hayward-smith-petra-johnson-and-karen-wood-the-shape-of-sound-an-exploration-of-our-moving-felt-embodied-hearing-technologies/

Reflections of rehearsal time

Vip Artpradid
23rd February 2023
Studio day reflection
Louisa Petts
23rd February 2023
Studio day reflection
Lily Hayward-Smith 
23rd February 2023
Studio day reflection

Early reflections

Louisa Petts
The Anatomy of the Orchestra (2022)
Petra Johnson
On Weaving Three Warps
Louisa Petts
A New Experience of Sound (2021)
Beginnings (2019)
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