MDX online session FOCUS AROUND RESOURCES....
Yesterday we had another useful conversation around resources, looking our literature, what it is to seek to expanding through resources, what kind of engagement need to be, how to find an inspiration, how to research through online material range resources, where to look? This whole idea around finding for a good books, sources, literature sounds really tiring but in the end this is about us, this is our practice, our ideas, and we must be busy within it. And we should look for that kind of literature, concepts from different perspectives, reaching out to scholars, other researchers but stick to our project, our practice and engage to open oneself to different perspectives. This will also help us to give our voice to this newborn project. In our practice and research we must find an excitement of researching. When we find the GAP (Helen mentioned in conversation), what we are looking at, that cognition raise the blood and temperature in our body, (in a good way)and when we find scholars who were write before us about the concrete subject and than we use citations and making our own project around the same subject that becomes our victory, finding our voice in that written topic. Choice making and how we set ourselves for the readers, trusting our own guts to make a good choice, engage more broadly and we do not need to agree with anything but to have an opinion is what giving our project the value. Keeping questioning, self-reflecting, keeping a site of resources (one never knows when will need the article or book which was never meant to be a source for the project). Everything can be useful for the research.
Like Paola, i am doing very logically my research and looking for the literature in the same way. I am starting with the idea, than key words, attending some webinars or going through many articles with the same topic and then intuitively decide about some titles or kindly ask Sue librarian or Helen, my tutor to help with the core books and than just there is a sea of many possibilities. Sometimes i am going thru videos, publications regarding the main idea of my research. I know that i am still on the very beginning. 
Hi Sandra, I really love what you've said about choice making and trusting out guts! I've had to really remind myself on several occasions that this is self reflection of my own work and professional practice and that there's no right or wrong answers. You are so right, we just need to have an opinion on literature we find that adds value to our projects or perhaps even questions it?! I have just been reading 'Understanding Dance' by Graham McPhee and he talks about science not being the piecemeal accumulation of facts; rather, it is a struggle between competing theories. I found this really helpful and to me it just highlights everything you've said above. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Natasha, thank you for sharing the title and yes you are so right, there is no right and no wrong. Last night i took beautiful somatic class with amazing Wilhelmina Ojanen and we were exploring micromovements and sensations in the body while doing the touch (the wall, the floor, other things in zoom room and our skin) and it is amazing what one can explore and find out only through the touch but the important accent was to open your senses to that task and not judge, just observe. there is nor right, no wrong.
ReplyDeleteI am aware of this things also while writing, or reading many theories, i literally use the Csikszentmihalyi's concept of flow (trying to have a clear goals, being creative, making a good balance between challenge and skill, and in the end a good absorption, concentration) and i can start playing with the words like in the studio with the somatic research or movement. When we forget ourselves, and when we are focused on what we are doing, than we are in control and this state becomes intrinsically rewarding. And afterwards, finding a good theory for our work is not even an issue:) well ok, maybe this sounds very simplified, the things are what they are, but in the middle of any research is a bit struggle and enjoyment, it must be, otherwise, we need to pay attention to something else.