Research Creation Project of Sensory Scapes: collecting the fleeting sensations of traveling across East/West

Biliana Vassileva
​
“My soul is a hidden orchestra; I know not what instruments, what fiddlestrings and harps, drums and tamboura I sound and clash inside myself. All I hear is the symphony.”  writes Fernando Pessoa in his The Book of Disquiet. 

This study will focus on the collection of sensations as an interplay of images within the development of academic based research creation project, called « Drifting ». It takes place(s) from 2012 till today, and consists of a coherent series of videos, based on traveling and performance practice.  Coherent stands for the use of same method of collecting sensations by capturing fleeting images and editing, based on « stream of consciousness » assembling associations.

Thus the study will also question the usefulness of establishing a methodology  of creative use of the concepts of "drifting" and « collection » itself. It is based on qualitative research on dance and somatics through a transcultural fieldwork, practice based dance improvisation and embodiment orientated movement studies, while traveling in West/East destinations. 

The talk based on short videos, questions the transformation of images, the transitions between light and darkness, the vibrations of the hand, filming, almost as a craftsman’s attempts to capture nomadic traces of the sensations swirling during the unpredictable journeys. Each video is about drifting, linked to particular practice of collecting images on camera, mixing alternative realities inspired by the dancer’s work, on the road.

The research creation project is conducted by the author, Biliana Vassileva, who holds a tenure position of professor and researcher in Dance and Somatics studies at the University of Lille, France, at the CEAC - Center of Contemporary Arts Studies, encouraging « practice as research » approaches to aesthetics.