Moroney, Kathleen (2017) STILLNESS IN MOTION An Interdisciplinary Study of Movement in Time and Space Through Ceramics and Dance. Doctoral thesis, University of Sunderland. Downloaded from: http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/8476/ Usage guidelines Please refer to the usage guidelines at http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/policies.html or alternatively contact [email protected]. STILLNESS IN MOTION AN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF MOVEMENT IN TIME AND SPACE THROUGH CERAMICS AND DANCE KATHLEEN MORONEY A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Sunderland for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2017 ABSTRACT The research investigates stillness as movement in time and space explored and exploited through an interdisciplinary study of ceramics and dance. Exercises consistent with Butoh, a Japanese dance form, are employed as an exploratory tool to facilitate a broader interpretation of stillness as motion through a corporeal processing of concepts such as time and space. Laban’s ‘principles of movement’ are observed, explored and employed as a method used in choreography to analytically study movement as still components of a flux within space to inform dance composition. This study maps a path to practice that involves the constructing of a material bridge that links two disciplines, ceramics and dance, through similarities and varying approaches to a shared area of concern: movement in time and space. The constructing of this path to practice and its effect on the composing and installing of ceramic composition is the focus of the study. The study begins with the contextualising of ‘stillness’ as a state of ‘movement in time’ through Bergson’s concepts in philosophy. The experience of real time is located internally by the philosopher Heidegger, who references real time as lived time felt in and through the body. At this point in the research the path transitions to a physical and performative engagement with ‘stillness in time and space’ in search of its qualities and textures, which shifts studio practice for a period of time from ceramics to dance practice. Two three-part case studies are constructed from participation in a Butoh dance workshop and through the observation of a choreography workshop. Studio experimentation follows which maps a ceramic path to practice through the perspective of dance, exploring the potential to share learning across a disciplinary divide. The final part of the case studies involves the composing and constructing of ceramic installations through the shared perspective of ceramics and dance. This thesis contributes to the discourse on interdisciplinary practice, specifically relating to ceramics and dance. It provides a transferable model of research that merges two fields of practice, broadening and intensifying the experience of learning through a combined kinesthetic, visual and cognitive approach. This model has been tested as an extension of this research within the field of dance and within a therapeutic environment to effect learning. 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the University of Sunderland and the research support team for providing and supporting the opportunity to pursue this research on a part-time and long distance basis. In particular my thanks and appreciation go to my director of studies Andrew Livingstone for his constant support, guidance and encouragement throughout. Thank you to my supervisor in the Dance Department, Lesley Younger, and in the Ceramics and Glass Department, Jeffrey Sarmiento, for providing valuable advice and recommendations at varying stages throughout this research. I would also like to thank Mary Nunan, who welcomed me into her Dance Department at the University of Limerick to observe her classes in progress. In grateful appreciation to the wonderful resource that is the Siobhan Davies Dance Studio Archive and to the members of the Butoh Dance Troupe Sankai Juku, whose performances and workshop inspired and motivated this research path. Special thanks also to dance artist Ambra Bergamasco, who collaborated with me for the dance component of both ceramic and dance workshops. A special thank you to my family. 2 DECLARATION I, Kathleen Moroney, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 3 CONTENTS ABSTRACT.........................................................................................................1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................2 DECLARATION ..................................................................................................3 LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................7 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH AND STUDIO PRACTICE....11 1.1 The Start.............................................................................................11 1.2 Formative Work ..................................................................................12 1.2.1 Inspiration for the research: the use of space..............................16 1.2.2 Introduction to dance...................................................................20 1.3 Research Aims ...................................................................................22 1.4 Research Questions ...........................................................................23 1.5 Research Objective ............................................................................23 1.6 Ceramics and Dance: Locating Common Ground ..............................24 1.6.1 Locating common ground – Stage 2............................................26 1.6.2 Locating common ground – Stage 3............................................29 1.7 Overview of Research Methodology...................................................30 1.7.1 The construction of a case study.................................................32 1.8 Commitment to Dance........................................................................37 1.9 Title of Thesis: ‘Stillness in Motion – An Interdisciplinary Study of Movement in Time and Space through Ceramics and Dance’.......................39 CHAPTER 2: CONTEXTUALISING THE RESEARCH .....................................40 2.1 Exploring Movement in Time – Relevant Theories in Philosophy that Underpin and Direct Research ......................................................................40 2.1.1 Parallel theories in dance practice...............................................43 2.2 The Development of a Parallel Path through a State of ‘Stillness’......44 2.3 Movement as Stimulus for Ceramic Practice......................................47 2.3.1 The performative nature of ceramics...........................................51 2.3.2 Dance as stimulus for sculptural form..........................................53 2.3.3 Dance as stimulus for ceramic practice .......................................57 2.4 Challenging Familiar Perspectives and Merging Two Disciplines.......60 2.5 Conclusion of Chapter .......................................................................63 4 CHAPTER 3: CASE STUDY 1..........................................................................64 3.1 Introduction to Case Study 1 ..............................................................64 3.2 Characteristics of Butoh Relevant to the Research ............................65 3.3 Butoh Dance Workshop......................................................................66 3.4 How is Movement Felt in the Body? ...................................................69 3.4.1 How is space felt in and outside the body? .................................71 3.4.2 How is time felt in the body?........................................................72 3.4.3 How is movement, time and space composed? ..........................74 3.5 Conclusion of the Workshop...............................................................78 CHAPTER 4: REFLECTING ON LEARNING, STUDIO EXPERIMENTATION.80 4.1 Introduction to Chapter .......................................................................80 4.2 Reflecting on a Butoh Dance Workshop.............................................81 4.3 Two Perspectives and Approaches to the Concepts of Movement, Time and Space ............................................................................................83 4.4 The Ceramic Studio – Returning to Familiar Methods of Practice ......85 4.5 From Live Performance to Static Ceramic Objects: Translating Learning Across a Disciplinary Divide ...........................................................87 4.5.1 The materiality of space and its effects on motion.......................93 4.6 Conclusion of Chapter: Reviewing Studio Experiments Moving Forward .........................................................................................................99 CHAPTER 5. NEW WORK: FOUR CERAMIC INSTALLATIONS...................103 5.1 Introduction to Chapter .....................................................................103 5.2 Installation 1, ‘The Still Point of the Turning World’ ..........................106 5.3 Introduction to a Three-Part Installation............................................111 5.3.1 Installation 2, ‘Anchored’ ...........................................................113 5.3.2 Installation 3, ‘When Shadows Exhale’......................................115 5.3.3 Installation 4, ‘Where Past and Future are Gathered’................119