Am I Human?

Am I Human? is a personal journey of identity transformation, construction, and revelation with post humanist tones. This project is a continuation of research processes and methods I developed in Abstract Narrations, (with Klas Dykoff, Mamdood Aldifie, Anders Bohman), completed in 2022. It is a reflection of my performance and visual art, as well as my own accidental amputation. Am I Human? becomes manifested as a hybrid-opera form through a series of interwoven phases: a reading, watching, (re)writing phase, conversations and improvisations with collaborators phase, a live production phase, and a final reflective phase. The readings were focused on the area in the literature and in the performing art field where identity, disability, and performativity intersect. I was searching for academic and artistic models that aligned with the argument for my abstract disabled body in performative spaces. I attended a one week reading and writing workshop at Bard College which helped unlock revisions and a new libretto. Two electronic composers were consulted. Opera singers were consulted. Scenic carpenters and riggers were consulted. Visits to the Hugo theater began in November, 2023. We moved in on Janauary 2nd, building sets, props, improvising, rehearsing, and on January 17th we presented our collaborative work in front of a live and online audience. The presentation was recorded, and has been used in the final reflective findings phase.

My aim with this project is to identify and then interpret, via improvisation, discussion and rehearsal, the nexus of identity, disability, and performativity in order to create stage or mediated characters that are abstracts of my own life. My methods are both academic (reading the literature, watching the videos), and artitistic (an exploration through the process of co-constructing two scenes of a one act opera). As a director, my aim is to gather insights on how to frame interactions between collaborators, theater technicians, moderators, fellow researchers, administrative staff, and a committed audience. I am attempting to provoke reflection about the assumptions we make and expectations we have when we are introduced to live and mediated identities (i.e. characters). I will state that identity is both an abstraction and a storytelling pursuit and has relevance in the performative space for disabled artists specifically. Pedagogically, this research is tied to idea and character development as it is reflected in what I would call inner-world building. The work also has tried to explore the artistic leader’s understanding of the multi-modal interactional dynamics involved with collaborative artistic projects. The goal was to gain a better understanding of how we as people construct and transform our identities/characters/compositions/designs within a particular art-making context.

The research began in July, 2023 with a one week writing workshop at Bard College entitled, “Creative Nonfiction: Hybrid Narratives and the Power of Voice”. I used the workshop to both rework a previous libretto as well as develop a new libretto for a new opera scene. In parallel, through the following months, the research was a mix of writing, reading through the literature of identity, disability and performance as well as locating and watching videos of artistic performances, conference panel discussions, academic lectures, etc. I also reached out to theater, dance, and opera companies whose work focuses on topics of identity and disability in order to locate my own research within the field. In September, I traveled to Venezuela to work with collaborator Miguel Noya on developing the electronic score for one of the opera scenes. In October, I began to design and build the scenic elements for the stage. In November & December, I met with composer Christoph Abé and opera voice teacher, Robert Hyman to continue reworking a scene. January was two weeks of improviasation, rehearsal and reworking of all elements and included the participation of two soprano singers. On January 17th, the two scenes were presented as a work-in-progress before a live audience. The research continued with a thorough examination of the presentation videos, resulting in an edited version of the performance and reflective notes intended for both future pedagogic use and performance development.

Collaboration with the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello, in Caracas Venezuela focusing on post humanist studies and mediated production. Collaboration with an electronic music composer from Venezuela Collaboration with local drum and bass composer Collaboration with Bard College summer writing program

SKH Research Center

Maria Hedman Hvitfeldt

July, 2023- Bard College writing workshop, “Creative Nonfiction: Hybrid Narratives and the Power of Voice”. July-August, 2023- reading of academic literature, watching of academic presentations, conferences. Watching performance artists, documentaries September, 2023- visit composer Miguel Noya in Caracas, Venezuela for tow weeks of electronic music and psot humanist discussion. October, 2023- design and build the scenic elements and props. November, 2023- meet with opera singer and voice professor, Robeert Hyman, and drum and bass compose, Christoph Abé to discuss the salon scene additions, including two new soprano voices. December, 2023- visits to the SKH opera school to meet with riggers, lighting technicians, and building personnel. January, 2024- move into Hugoteatern and begin two weeks of improvisational sessions involving singers, composers, and director culminating in a performance/presentation in conjunction with SKH’s research week. February-May. 2024 – reflective time watching the video recordings, rehearsal, improvisation, and brainstorming notes. Write final report.

https://vimeo.com/1004276629/f4e11dbfb6?share=copy