15 & 16 April 2024 - Royal Conservatoire Antwerp - Witte zaal
Initiated by Umut Eldem, Chiara Percivati, Giusy Caruso and Klaas Devos
A part of the contemporary artistic landscape is defined through combinations - between different disciplines, artists, and perspectives. As the artist creates something new through the reconstruction of older structures, it is often this act of reconstruction that is perceived both as the source and the destination of artistic creation. This impulse of reconstruction is further amplified by technology. A musician may reconstruct their own instruments to explore new dynamic relationships, a dancer may explore bio-data as a new type of movement material, or a composer may use commodified data to shape an AI model into a semi-creative presence on the stage.
In which ways can the interdisciplinary artist-researcher (re)construct their approaches, systems, and perspectives through technological tools and techniques?
The third edition of the Convergence seminar will focus on the concept and execution of (re)construction in the interdisciplinary artistic practices. This year the concept expands through the themes of Chiara Percivati’s doctoral research ‘Different Tubes’, in which she explores clarinet and bass clarinet preparation in a technologically up to date context. Researchers, artists, and anyone currently engaging with this subject are welcome to share their practices, experiences, and historical perspectives. The seminar will take place on April 15th and 16th 2024 at Royal Conservatoire Antwerp, Belgium. Our topics for this year are:
(Re)construction of Instruments: Structurally modifying an instrument involves approaches and consequences which question traditional notions of authority, status, and power—of which the instrument is a stronghold, the performer a minister. Which forms of new “virtuosity”, ways of out-of-the-box thinking, and connections between humans and instruments/technologies are made available by this practice of (re)construction?
(Re)construction of Performative Spaces: The development of increasingly complex machine learning algorithms make non-human presences possible on the performative space. Which creative new methodologies dealing with machine learning and artificial intelligence enable the (re)construction of the performative stage into novel musical expressions.
(Re)construction of Virtual Corporeality: The recent developments in technology open up different avenues in artistic corporeality for new means of experimentation. How does the integration of human-machine collaboration, digital media, and bio-data reshape ideas about embodiment, corporeality, and movement in dance and its dramaturgy?
Keynotes
by Wiggins Geraint, Helen Bledsoe, Adam Pultz Melbye, and CREW
Programme
15 April
- 10:30 - 11.30 Morning reception with tea and coffee
- 11:30 - 11:45 Introduction
- 11:45 - 12.15 Scott McLaughlin - The ‘punctured’ clarinet barrel in the Garden of Forking Paths project
- 12.15 - 12.45 EMU Ensemble - Echoes of the Ice Age - Bridging Millennia through Flute Reconstruction
- 12:45 - 13:30 Lunch
- 13:30 - 14:30 Keynote: Adam Pultz Melbye
- 14:30 - 15:00 Giorgio Sancristoforo - (re)construction of Instruments: Phonosomes
- 15:00 - 15:30 Coffee Break
- 15:30 - 16:00 Frederik de Bleser - FEET\BACK: A haptic AI experiment under development
- 16:00 - 17:00 Keynote: Geraint Wiggins
- 18:30 - 19:30 Concert:
- Atau Tanaka Quartet
- Jelena Perišić
- Ilya Ziblat Shay
16 April
- 12:00 - 12:45 Lunch reception with tea and coffee & Introduction
- 12:45 - 13.15 Irena Kukric - REHEARSING WITH NON-HUMANS: On the possibilities of (dis)embodied gestures
- 13.15 - 13.45 Kevin Toksöz Fairbairn - (Re)orientations in Brass
- 13.45 - 14:00 Coffee Break
- 14:00 - 15:00 Keynote: CREW
- 15:00 - 15:30 Patrick Quinn - The Potential of Infrasound and Haptic Listening in Sound Installation Art and Generative Musical Systems
- 15:30 - 16:00 Amit Gur - Using Audiovisual Analogies as Method for Artistic Reconstruction
- 16:00 - 16:15 Coffee Break 2
- 16:15 - 16:45 Carlo Siega - The Augmented Composing-Performer: Creative approaches and re-interpretation practice within video-art music
- 16:45 - 17:30 Keynote: Helen Bledsoe - Playing Off-the-Grid
- 17:30 - 17:45 Closing
This seminar is a collaboration between ARIA and research groups Creatie and CORPoREAL at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp. With the support of IASAS and Ars Music.
