KiMuPe is an artistic research project (PhD), conducted by dr. Luc Nijs as member of the CORPoREAL research group at Royal Conservatory Antwerp (RCA). Promotors of the project are: Prof. dr. Kathleen Coessens (RCA) and Prof. dr. Erik Myin (Antwerp University) . The project is co-promoted by Prof. dr. Marc Leman (Ghent University).
Musicians move. Evidently. To produce sound, to show their musical intentions to other musicians, to communicate with an audience. But, can movement be used to develop musical skills? To develop improvisation skills? In this project I will explore the natural connection between music and movement as the basis for developing improvisation skills and study how artistic growth in improvisation can be steered and shaped by exploiting this connection. The driving questions are: How can movement be artistically deployed? Can movement become a basis for developing creative improvisation skills and my own musical language? In the past 10 years I have studied movement in the instrumental learning process from a theoretical, didactic and empirical perspective. However, increasingly I feel confronted with the need to search for an answer to such questions through my own artistic practice. I am convinced that my artistic practice must become a fundament that underpins my current work and constitutes the basis for its further development. So, I want to unfold an artistic path that explores the integration of music and movement through an iterative process using free artistic exploration and a constraints-led approach based on different movement approaches. I will investigate my own artistic growth, using quantitative measurement of my bodily engagement over time in connection to my musical growth. This will be connected to phenomenological explorations throughout this process of change.
KiMuPe is the acronym for kinemusical performance. Interestingly, in Maori language it means: give a spoken or written account of something that one has observed, heard, done, or investigated. In this way, this acronym beautifully combines the essence of this artistic research project: the artistic process (kinemusical performance) and sharing one’s meta level findings and insights with the community.