Weeks 43, 44, 49 - October / December (see for exact dates below)
(Michael Redgrave and dummy Hugo, 1945; Anri Sala, Intervista, 1998)
This seminar will explore “voice” as a material and as a cultural theme that is intimately entwined with ideas around presence, subjectivity and cultural identity. "When I speak, I articulate and produce myself, for others and for myself, as a self-producing being", Steven Connor writes in his seminal Cultural History of Ventriloquism. Our culture regards voice as the substantiation of will and intention. Vocal power is the power to self-direct, to exert one’s persistent presence and purpose. The possession of a voice is therefore the main condition for personal and political agency. The loss or defectiveness of voice implies disempowerment.
From this starting point, we will explore the properties of voice independent of as well as in relation to the language it may speak; and the role of voice in shaping our sense of self and our relation to others. Paradoxically, these issues come to light in an intensified way when voice and vocalizing become a struggle, when language fails us or our voice breaks.
Artists such as Samuel Beckett, Wendelien van Oldenborgh, Imogen Stidworthy, Katarina Zdjelar and Artur Zmijewski will lead us into this territory, through their
fascination with subjects such as self-identification, aphasia, accent (or accent removal), language politics, and multiplying voices.
Reading will include texts by Mikhail Bakhtin, Roland Barthes, Bertolt Brecht, Steven Connor, Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari and Mladen Dolar. A reader with all texts will be available as from October 19. Many of the texts can already be found in the KHIB library or online (as indicated below).
The theme can be taken in different directions, and can be adapted in relation to the practices and interests of the group. Part of the activities in the first week of the seminar are individual tutorials with all seminar participants.
(speech therapy; Katarina Zdjelar, Would that be alright with you...?, 2006)
Monday October 19, Thursday October 22 & Friday morning October 23: studio visits
(please sign up via the notice board)
Friday October 23, 13.00-15.30, Lecture room: Introduction lecture & screening "Voice, Body, Subjectivity" (open to all students)
optional reading:
Monday October 26, 13.00-15.30, MA seminar room: Seminar "The Grain of the Voice"
required reading:
Wednesday October 28, 10.00-12.30, MA seminar room: Seminar "Strange Voices and Language Politics"
required reading:
Week 49 (exact date and location to be confirmed): Seminar "Multiple Voices"
required reading:
Week 49 (exact date and location to be confirmed): Closing Seminar: student presentations
Each participant is asked to highlight a question around "voice" that seems pertinent to them, by bringing in material -- an artwork, a piece of text or music, an observation from popular culture or everyday life, etc -- for joint discussion.
Arbeidsform:
Reading, discussion and individual tutorials
Krav til forkunnskaper:
Open to all MA students. Note: if you sign up for this seminar you must make a commitment to follow all of the sessions. This is one of the theory options available to MA students for academic year 2009 - 2010
Kurset starter 19.10.2009 / Uke 43, og varer til 04.12.2009 / Uke 49
Sted: Lecture room Academy, MA seminar room & visits to individual studios
Tilbyder: MA kunst
Målgruppe: MA Kunst
Årstrinn: Alle årstrinn
Antall plasser: 16
Kurs/prosjektleder:
Faglig stab: