FORUM+ - Volume 28, Issue 3, 2021

In this contribution we present a relational approach to dramaturgical analysis, in which we distinguish acts of composition, the address to the spectator, and the immanent context as key elements in any performance event. These components as such are not necessarily new, yet they are not always as equally integrated as we suggest. This is also a text about the methodology of dramaturgical analysis, as it offers a set of tools to do so, and actively reflects on the suggested approach.

In ‘On Becoming a Sound Object’, Camilla Peeters argues that noise as a musical movement has a place within new materialism. She combines Paul Hegarty’s and François Bonnet’s music theories with Amelia Jones’ and Gilles Deleuze’s new materialism to analyse Paul Puce Mary’s sixth studio album The Drought. Thus, she shows that noise uses specific techniques to create a new, non-hierarchical relation between the human subject and the sound object.

In the year 1900, graphic designer Hugo d’Alesi staged a voyage on a steamship that crossed the Mediterranean Sea, for the diverse crowd of the World’s Fair in Paris. In this essay, designer Sofie Deckers dissects this illusionary voyage by both recapturing the voyage as a passenger aboard the Maréorama and deconstructing this multidisciplinary spectacle in relation to its geopolitical context. This essay aims for a nuanced understanding of the Eurocentric representation of a pleasure trip to the authentic and sensual Orient, the supposed counterpole of the industrialized West.

During her PhD research bodies of knowledge – the public space as a forum for the exchange of repressed or underexposed knowledge, Sarah Vanhee tries to bring about an exchange of underexposed knowledge by non-dominant voices. During this process, Vanhee and her collaborator Flore Herman were repeatedly confronted with the importance of deep listening, and the lack of it. The following texts are an attempt to understand what deep listening is, as a mental, physical and political practice, and from a feminist perspective.

‘Jewellery, Matter, Time: True Cost of a Jewel’ focuses on the social contexts of mined precious materials - contexts of production, makers, trade, collectors, wearers - to trace true cost, and the renewed meaning of material usage.

The invisible impact of industry in fashion, design and architecture is increasingly gaining attention as a theme. Within the Anthropocene as an overarching framework, we ask ourselves: what is the role of a jewellery designer in this era?

In de zomer van 2019 verrees op de voormalige Slachthuissite op de Dam in Antwerpen de ‘Toren van Babel’. Met dit kunstproject brachten kunstenaarscollectief Rooftoptiger en dichter Maud Vanhauwaert de meertaligheid van de Stad Antwerpen onder de aandacht. Zonder een politiek debat te willen ontluiken was het project wel degelijk politiek. Aan de hand van Jacques Rancières politiek van de esthetiek beargumenteert Hanka Otte tot hoever deze ‘Toren van Babel’ als stem voor meertaligheid en diversiteit heeft kunnen reiken.