Anna zur Nieden
Hidden hierarchies
Visual transmission of dance impressions in reflection of sociocultural concepts.
Art theory and social science have been broadened by artistic practice and vice versa. This artistic research aims to explore societal dynamics and their visualisation by use of painting and dance. Theoretical aspects such as aesthetic cognition and body images will determine the artistic conception. The respective fields of interest in dance and art theory, such as corporality and use of space, have been, in general, investigated separately.
My hypothesis: This approach can enrich art and dance theory while offering an emotional, accessible and revealing understanding of structures and lacks in society.
For the conceptual preparation, in the first part of my thesis, research in the field of body, cognition and space and will be accomplished by exemplary analysis of art pieces. Field notes will help to identify hidden hierarchies in society, informing the concept of a flash mob. The outcomes will be visualised by drawings. These artistic results will be then compared to concepts in the past.
The second part of my research, which focuses mainly on artistic work, involves creating a performance addressing the observed social issues at unusual locations. Prior experiences of transferring conceptual findings into practice will guide this collaboration. Sketches, notations and photos of the performance, understood as part of an ethnographic-artistic analysis, will be the starting point of a new painting series.
The paintings are a documentation and an interpretation while simultaneously they question the strict separation of these terms.
The culmination of this analysis evaluates the interplay of theoretical and artistic processes, setting the stage for a critical examination of art's societal role. The proposed approach introduces fresh dimensions to painting composition and performance conception. The intersectional nature of this research contributes substantively to art and dance theory within the prescribed parameters.
The aim is to implement a working method to which other artists and research centres can connect to.
