SODA Research Presentations 2016

MA soda RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS 5 – 7 July 2016

MA Solo/Dance/Authorship
3rd semester Research Presentation 2016
Art as the production of knowledge.
What is meant by the term research presentation
when it comes to arts practice?
What does artistic research do and what can it
produce?
What form could it take?
Who and what is it for?
Over the two years of the SODA masters program,
students are asked to respond to these questions
through the specificity of their work and practice.
How can art practice be considered knowledge,
and, how can the acquisition of this knowledge
be demonstrated and accounted for as scholastic
discourse? What are the means by which learning
procedures and insights of such knowledge production,
can be made visible, aside from direct contact
with the work itself. What are the questions, investigations,
experiments, and critique, the practice
led, thinking by doing and doing as thinking, not to
mention the endless decision making mechanisms
which go into performance making?
In short how do the students learn what they learn?
The 3rd semester research presentation requires
students to take up this task by showing evidence
of practice enquiry in the form of live or real time
performance, orally contextualising this research,
through a critical frame of perception, based on
negotiated assessment criteria, agreed with staff
in close consideration of the issues at stake. Briefly
then to outline their method of documentation
in the form of an artists workbook and, to give an
insight into their projected aims for their final masters
presentation in the following semester.
It’s a tall order to bring all of these requirements
under one hat, but this is the challenge faced with
the claim of being busy revealing that which is not
yet known in body based performance practice. To
validate the specificity of these claims, students are
encouraged to curate their presentation by employing
those means best suited to their own practice.
There is no SoDA formula, short of an endless curiosity
in the potential of the moving body as art.
Prof. Rhys Martin
Program leader

301 research soda 2016
Akseli Aittomäki
Production desired value added

The economic, experiential and production
meaning, experience, sensation
phOTO: Tani Simberg. Territories, 2015
I approach experience as a kind of extended or
repeated, stretched sensory event. It is based
on an ability to sense, on abilities that are
learned and developed. Accepting that sensory
events are something physical, the process of
constructing the capacity for these events could
be called physical training.
Meaning I think has two dimensions: on one
side it is experiential meaningfulness, while on
the other, it is something abstracted, belonging
to the regime of signs and signification. Signification
is always somewhat broken, because
it depends on experience that is never fully
appropriated by the abstract.

All social institutions depend on meanings attached
to them; one could say they always have
an element of the aesthetic and the ideological.
Not everyone who is affected by the institution
needs to perceive and experience its signs in a
similar way – yet the institution could not function
if it was devoid of meaning.
For an institution to be powerful, it needs an
ability to excite, to be a mechanism of production
of experience. Institutions define and control
experience, and enable judgements about
the value of experiences.
PHOTO: Tani Simberg. Territories, 2015
contemplations on sensing bodies,
institutionalisation of meaning

Institutions define themselves through defining
things that are desirable and good. The exact
use of the meanings is a matter of potential
political struggle – an institution could mean
many things. The most dominant institutions,
however, will attempt to extend their code as far
as possible.
Economic exchange introduces measurement. As
the conditions to produce and reproduce experiential
meanings may depend on economic exchanges,
they will need to be compared against
exchange-values. Choices made about the use of
bodies‘ ability to work are an essential element
of any economy of exchangeable values.
institutionalised desires
value and the economic
phOTO: Eeva Hannula & Ville Kumpulainen. Potentia, 2016

While exchangeability is driven to infinity in
neoliberal economy, it has already ceased to
be the driving characteristic of money or the
economy. It is not so much anymore about
abstraction of value to maximum comparability,
but more about productivity, capability to generate
profit, about abstracted potential. Circulation
is not maintenance of equilibrium, but a
fight to find ever more breaking points, where
unsettling the system offers more possibility for
profit. Innovation means new opportunities for
profit – which equals to it meaning the power of
corporation over everything else. It is supreme
power through an empty signifier (capitalist
money). An extreme abstraction of the aesthetic
and discourse.
PhOTO: Marianne Lagus & Akseli Aittomäki. 7 ½ intensities, 2013
and value production
productivity and capitalist money

301 research soda 2016
Lulu Obermayer
Act II // Scene V

Giacomo Puccini
Tosca
Vissi D‘Arte
I give my love and thanks to:
Sandra Umathum, Aline Benecke, Florian Feigl, Ernestine Müller-Loeffelholz, Boyan Manchev, Nikola Pieper,
SoDA Staff Team, my class, Kunsthaus Kule and most importantly to my family.

301 research soda 2016
Yuebing Luo
Modest Spectacle

the line grows from a point that has been set in motion
by making and being with multiple entanglement of lines
be it a web, a helix, a periphery- to-centre, a rhizome
i intend to lay down the condition of possibilities, possibility of conditions
where movements and dynamics of
my body and many line-making Things
can be registered in the studio space
“the essential relation, in a world of life, is not between matter and form, or
between substance and attributes, but between materials and forces”
(Deleuze, G. and F. Guattari, 2004, A Thousand Plateaus, trans. B. Massumi. London: Continuum, p 377)

as a metabolizing, walking, touching, gesticulating creature
there is a constant line-making process happening
inside me, by me, around me
my skin binds a surface i call myself
i am moving about
on surfaces
leaving traces with no phenomenal presence
inscribing groups of lines to signify my thoughts
on what you are now reading
a line is visual and virtual linearity that
organizes perception of forms and motion
extension, fluxes, strength of connections
myriad stored in the tiniest
ultimate complexity unfolds through
the forming, deforming and transforming of lines:
performance of lines
the very modest but magnificent expression

301 research soda 2016
enrico d. wey
this feast once removed

this feast once removed, forewarned in and of out of fury fastidious on flesh fast. flash floods empty at once moved
- feast - to heretic false statements suffer. fall back without warning without warming up, to out a semblance of a
recognition of recalled removal once stated sated in frenzy. founded on ground stood upon both, both by
bystanding to still stand stock still glacial pace place upon folds by, by bilateral contract unspoken or broken upon
this pike up on this this plinth this pith in precepts, details these plucked out with forceps, states shaken and
shuddered, follies not left to fate but leftover and shuttered. this feast once moved, this feast, once moved, founded
in faulted floors, steadfast in surface in service to stake claim. surfaces slide, on plates built, silent swells in song
shattered, uprooting two to what was barely there, there now, there there now. how how finding faults in fictions.
grind ground down and out to a hush, a hook to hang a hat on, to set scenes these frays frayed on edges there lack
an entry. to what for what and what heretofore foregoes a land landing, for eye brought this overview, sediment in
openings awled in slack jaws, yet odd in awe, nary an entry. an ode to salt seas this, this feast, seared and solemn,
slips through fingers, this held tight, carry codes to coda, exhume underneath in parted past, and nod on pinched
paltry sums. moves are laid waste to reservation, reheat to serve, purpose shunted on failures forged, to direct to
offer direction, to set forth, disintegration in migration. fresh-squeeze a softening, form a memory that smells
strong of what since passed, now sketched, a sketch stretched and seated: silted mouth that evades recognition on
skin, sweat-sloughed layers to lay to say shhhh, overed into silence these mashed melodies held over half hard in
hand to mouth to hard turns to dive down beared under sheeted silks. weak could be better, a fraught phalanx, two
curled in anticipation too in resistance to admission to cross fainted lines: but in case, present, tenses to this
missed. means not soft in slumber but steeled over in stasis, a body left, over in crossings. skins tighten around,
scars, pulls back to something once resembled, recovers in effect full but wrung wrought in faulty reminders. once
moved in furied flesh, this fast, reclaimed, in parts, imparts, perhaps, a constitution, a sort of, in unrest, restitution.

this feast once removed is the title of a body of research currently supported by the solo/dance/authorship master
of arts program at hochschulübergreifendes zentrum tanz berlin. at this present moment, the research continues
to revolve around the associative nature of my process for working. i proposed to approach my work with the
metaphorical structure of a vortex. if one were to imagine the themes and images related to a specific project as the
debris caught within forceful spiraling winds, and then placed the body in the calm eye of the storm, one would
perhaps be able to see the connections between the aforementioned objects swirling around the body in the center.
this is simply an imagistic tool implemented in hopes to catalyse and crystalise the thought processes surrounding
the work at hand. in the development of this approach, i tapped primarily into the words of jose esteban munoz,
wayne koestenbaum, and ezra pound. using this approach personally offers a method and a return to what could be
viewed as an anchor for or entry into and out of the process for making, ( for eye brought this over with the intent
to place my own body at center.) in the coming months i am attempting to seas this, this feast, seared deeply into
my recollections. this shared meal serves as a placeholder for a particular event in parted past, and nod s to greater
considerations for the construction of memory. i am suggesting that memory forms on failures forged, to variables
in a negative correlative relationship to time. as temporal distance increases, the ability to form a memory that one
can readily recognise as truth becomes increasing less possible and results in something that evades recognition - a
resulting otherness. the act of recall is a series of failures, a looping cycle of impedance wherein each repetition is
met with greater resistance. however, perhaps memory recall is not a binary dynamic: in adherence to a recipe for
success or to a recipe for failure. it is mutable in nature, this cycle, or to be bold, this vortex. peering into the words
of judith halberstam, maybe the acts of failing, forgetting, and looping, offer queer alternatives to truths. the
practice of event recall offers new returns to the event in question… this remains to be seen. this query is also
furthered by the literary memoirs of justin chin and ernest hemingway, respectively, ‘gutted’ and ‘a moveable feast’.

this feast once re moved , forewarned in and of out of fury fastidious on flesh fast. flash floods empty at once moved
- feast - to heretic false statements suffer. fall back without warning without warming up, to out a semblance of a
recognition of recalled removal once stated sated in frenzy . founded on ground stood upon both, both by
bystanding to still stand stock still glacial pace place upon folds by, by bilateral contract unspoken or broken upon
this pike up on this this plinth this pith in precepts, details these plucked out with forceps, states shaken and
shuddered , follies not left to fate but leftover and shuttered. this feast once moved, this feast, once moved, founded
in faulted floors, steadfast in surface in service to stake claim. surfaces slide, on plates built, silent swells in song
shattered, uprooting two to what was barely there, there now, there there now. how how finding faults in fictions.
grind ground down and out to a hush, a hook to hang a hat on, to set scenes these frays frayed on edges there lack
an entry. to what for what and what heretofore foregoes a land landing, for eye brought this overview, sediment in
openings awled in slack jaws, yet odd in awe, nary an entry. an ode to salt seas this, this feast, seared and solemn,
slips through fingers , this held tight, carry codes to coda, exhume underneath in parted past, and nod on pinched
paltry sums. moves are laid waste to reservation, reheat to serve, purpose shunted on failures forged, to direct to
offer direction, to set forth, disintegration in migration . fresh-squeeze a softening, form a memory that smells
strong of what since passed, now sketched, a sketch stretched and seated: silted mouth that evades recognition on
skin, sweat-sloughed layers to lay to say shhhh, overed into silence these mashed melodies held over half hard in
hand to mouth to hard turns to dive down beared under sheeted silks. eak could be better, a fraught phalanx, two
curled in anticipation too in resistance to admission to cross fainted lines: but in case, present, tenses to this
missed. means not soft in slumber but steeled over in stasis, a body left, over in crossings. skins tighten around,
scars, pulls back to something once resembled, recovers in effect full but wrung wrought in faulty reminders. once
moved in furied flesh, this fast, reclaim ed, in parts, imparts, perhaps, a constitution, a sort of , in unrest , restitution.

this feast once re moved , forewarned in and of out of fury fastidious on flesh fast . flash floods empty at once moved
- feast - to heretic false statements suffer. fall back without warning without warming up, to out a semblance of a
recognition of recalled removal once stated sated in frenzy. founded on ground stood upon both, both by
bystanding to still stand stock still glacial pace place upon folds by, by bilateral contract unspoken or broken upon
this pike up on this this plinth this pith in precepts, details these plucked out with forceps, states shaken and
shuddered, follies not left to fate but leftover and shuttered . this feast once moved, this feast , once moved, founded
in faulted floors, steadfast in surface in service to stake claim. surfaces slide, on plates built, silent swells in song
shattered , uprooting two to what was barely there, there now, there there now. how how finding faults in fictions.
grind ground down and out to a hush, a hook to hang a hat on, to set scenes these frays frayed on edges there lack
an entry. to what for what and what heretofore foregoes a land landing, for eye brought this overview, sediment in
openings awled in slack jaws , yet odd in awe , nary an entry . an ode to salt seas this, this feast , seared and solemn,
slips through fingers , this held tight , carry codes to coda, exhume underneath in parted past, and nod on pinched
paltry sums. moves are laid waste to reservation, reheat to serve , purpose shunted on failures forged, to direct to
offer direction, to set forth, disintegration in migration . fresh-squeeze a softening, form a memory that smells
strong of what since passed, now sketched, a sketch stretched and seated: silted mouth that evades recognition on
skin, sweat-sloughed layers to lay to say shhhh, overed into silence these mashed melodies held over half hard in
hand to mouth to hard turns to dive down beared under sheeted silks . weak could be better, a fraught phalanx, two
curled in anticipation too in resistance to admission to cross fainted lines: but in case, present , tenses to this
missed . means not soft in slumber but steeled over in stasis, a body left, over in crossings. skins tighten around,
scars, pulls back to something once resembled , recovers in effect full but wrung wrought in faulty reminders. once
moved in furied flesh, this fast, reclaimed, in parts, imparts, perhaps, a constitution, a sort of, in un rest , restitution .

301 research soda 2016
Lisa Müller-Trede
z = x toward y ÷ drive

(y)
(z)
(x)
z = x toward y ÷ drive
Three dimensions in impact intact.

301 research soda 2016
LIAD HUSSEIN KANTOROWICZ
’terrorism’ is for everybody

i‘m a terrorist and I love you // i‘m a whore and I love you
i‘m a faggot and I love you // i‘m a dirty jew, I love you
I‘m a kanake and I love you // i‘ll betray you, but I love you
do you think i‘m gonna stab you with that? // maybe I will, how about that?
do you think i‘m gonna stab you with that? // maybe I will, how about that?
PHoto © Walid el Houri

ain‘t life always a paradox // we‘re born a proud people but we live in the gutter
we‘d rather die on our feet than live on our knees // but that saying was something that always made me wonder
me myself I ain‘t proud much // I got used to living on my knees
you wanna make me crawl, you best protect your dick // cuz I swear i‘ll bite it off when I get near
intifadat el sakikin // intifadat el sakikin
you wanna make me crawl, you best protect your dick // cuz I swear i‘ll bite it off when I get near
illustration: Naji el Ali, “The End“

i‘m not accepting the things I can‘t change // i‘m changing the things I can‘t accept
I know you said that ms. davis but I tell myself // your struggle and failure will be your death
my body isn‘t what it used to be // I‘m chained inside this body that fails me
this sack of injuries, of bad memories // of political failures I carry
I want to fly again, like a butterfly // don‘t wanna FUCK THE OCCUPATION till I die
standing next to me like a long shadow // of a nightmare that just won‘t let me go
hang on hang on to the ground // on which you stand on
hold on hold on to the ground // when it burns beneath you
our failure is not an end // it‘s an ongoing struggle
revolution is hanging on // hang on hang on to the ground
on which you stand on
PHoto © Walid el Houri

„a person can only be born in one place. however, he may die several times elsewhere:
in the exiles and prisons and in a homeland transformed by occupation and oppression into a nightmare.“
Mahmoud Darwish
in collaboration with: Moshe Kutner, Keren Korman, Walid el Houri, Sasha Marianna Salzmann, Siegmar Zacharias, Maren Strack.
Thank you: my soda professors, hzt technical staff and fellow sodis.

5 July
Tuesday
6 July
Wednesday
7 July
Thursday
19.00 – 20.00 Studio 9 Akseli Aittomäki Production desired value added
20.00 – 21.00 Studio 8 Lulu Obermayer Act II // Scene V
19.00 – 20.00 Studio 8 Yuebing Luo Modest Spectacle
20.00 – 21.00 Studio 9 Enrico D. Wey this feast once removed
19.00 – 20.00 Studio 9/Hof Lisa Müller-Trede z = x toward y ÷ drive
20.00 – 21.00 Studio 8 LIAD HUSSEIN KANTOROWICZ ‘terrorism’ is for everybody
The MA SODA research presentations are being shown in Studio 8, 9 and Hof at
HZT- Hochschulübergreifendes Zentrum Tanz Berlin
Uferstraße 23 - 13357 Berlin
U8: Pankstraße | U9: Nauener Platz | S-Bahn Gesundbrunnen
(Uferstudios Wedding) – www.hzt-berlin.de
Artistic Director: Prof. Nik Haffner
Administration: Sabine Trautwein
Technical Director: Maximilian Stelzl
HZT – Inter-University Centre for Dance Berlin is the joint responsibility of the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK)
and the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst “Ernst Busch“ (HfS) in cooperation with TanzRaumBerlin, a network
of the professional dance scene.

MA soda RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS 5 – 7 July 2016