FORUM+ - Volume 31, Issue 1, 2024

The following contribution is a written account of Jaana Erkkila-Hill’s keynote lecture at the FORUM+ symposium The art school as an ecosystem: Future perspectives on higher arts education, co-organised with ARIA during the research festival ARTICULATE on 20 October 2023. The event also marked the launch of the FORUM+ October 2023 issue and new dossier “The art school as an ecosystem”.

This text draws on a recent work experience at the WEEE recycling centre in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, during which I wrote a series of auto-ethnographic texts. Through a performative of framing recycling work, I attempt to gain insight into the way we relate to the electronic waste we produce. I apply media-archaeological concepts to some of the work experiences I wrote about and address my findings in ecological terms.

Although the organ frequently occupies a prominent place in an acoustic space, the player of the instrument is often barely visible. In this special concert and listening situation, questions are raised regarding certain (missed) expressive-visual opportunities. In this article, we explore how an analysis of the organist’s score-driven movements and performative experiences can lead to the development of a basic choreographic framework. Olivier Messiaen’s organ piece Subtilité des Corps Glorieux (1939) is our case study. The ultimate goal is to use that framework as a practical tool for interdisciplinary creation and communication.