Artefact Research

The purpose of the artefact:

The general understanding of an artefact is that it is a man-made object that has historical value. However, in this case, it is a visual or physical representation of my research report. As creatives, whether students are musicians, teachers, actors, dancers, we can use the artefact as an outlet to express ourselves other than in the form of formal essay writing. 

My artefact idea is to write a voice-over, using the spoken words as my music to dance to. I will choreograph a dance to my words, as supposed to music. But then again, who defines what music is? What validates worthy music to dance to? Percussion is used widely in contemporary dance, and many choreographers have used voice-overs as their stimulus (Alexander Ekman's - Cacti). I cannot determine how powerful dancing to my spoken words will be, in terms of explaining my learning journey throughout the course, that is up to the person on the other side of the screen. 

After writing up my 'speech', and filming the dance piece, I plan to put the video, link, annotations all onto a slideshow PowerPoint, ready for the oral presentations 6-7th January 2021. I mentioned my idea in a previous Skype session, and I found others asking me questions really beneficial. Hearing other people's perspectives allowed me to critically think about why I had chosen this method of presenting my artefact. Adesola recommended I did some research around choreographing to spoken words, and I came across a video (Ahmed, 2018). Ahmed's video explores the subject matter of mental health, using the creative outlet of dance and movement. I thought it was beautiful. 

I noticed a change in rhythm and pace of the spoken words. This in turn can increase the speed of the movements, imposing a panicked atmosphere. I could play on the speed at which I recite my spoken words, to create a multitude of emotions. 

After the Skype discussion, it was understood that it is about the process not the product. The creative nature of the artefact is about how it came to develop, how we feel about what we have produced, not the outcome. In light of this, I thought to make a mistake on purpose in the voice over! Everyone is human, so why not include dance bloopers too! What do you guys think? 

Let me know what you think of the video in the comment section below. Also for module 1 and 2 students, look at my reference for an example of correct Harvard referencing! 

Ahmed, S. (2018) S O U P - A Spoken Word Dance Piece on Mental Health. 5 October. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwff7dvjNv0 (Accessed: 30 November 2020).