| Recidency center | |
|---|---|
| Recidency type | |
| Art form | |
| Time of residency | May 2024 |
| Country |
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| Contact info | +46 763078787, siri.b.bengten@live.se |
| Definition of artistic practice? | Playwright, directing, creating interactive room/spaces/audiowalks, performing |
| Title of the investigation at the residency | Finding the way home/investigating in the 500 remaining porpoises of the Baltic Sea |
| Description of investigations and findings | My investigation was in reading, writing and researching about the mammals of the ocean – both in The Baltic Sea and the world. About their lives, their way of communicating and their history. And by doing this – trying to get closer to them and to create interest and connection to this species as a political act to enhance focus on the perseverance of their lives (since they are an endangered species). I alsoI investigated in “singing maps” which is the singing communications/echolocation that whales use and tried to mimic this by making human singing maps as a way to honor this species but also as a way to try to get closer to them. |
| What are you most curious about or invested in in your own practice? | I am curious about what happens when you spend focused time with a subject and question, how art and writing and creations can develop gradually when we are allowed (as at this residency) to take the time and focus to delve deeper into our art research questions. |
| What questions did you bring to investigate and what questions are you leaving with? | How can we get closer to other living species? How can we coexist with other species instead of colonizing other mammals, animals and living things? Can we get closer to other animals and by that create a deeper connection and empathy for them? I am leaving with questions of: how can we share our planet with other living beings? How can we give all living beings a right to a home? Can other species flourish and be nourished when the human race lives on this planet? |
| Transformative, creative moments at the residency | The book “Undrowned” inspired me to write poetry about the subject. Also, when showing the little “project-presentations” with Tora Balslev at her workshop, I got inspired to think of the whale body - to be under it, and try to create a feeling of having our bodies in the same imagined place that they live their lives in the ocean to create a feeling of lying on the bottom of the sea - which is something I took with me to the “big” performance. This point of view I will continue to use. |
| Keywords for the work done at the residency | coexistence, Echolocation, Ocean, Porpoise, Whale |
| Research locations | Baltic Sea |
| Further documentation | Death from a human perspective |
| Photos documenting the research |
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| Videos of work in progess or reflections | |
| Webside links |
Siri Bengtén
