As I write in my thesis “Crafting Material Bodies – exploring co-creative costume processes“:

This artistic research stems from my artistic practice and as I unfold in the artistic projects, in the slow process of crafting textile materials become more-than-human co-creators. Even though the last artistic projects in this research were conducted in 2021 I continued to craft new versions of connecting costumes which I explored in different settings with different people/audiences. I crafted as pauses or getaways from the theoretical readings. However, the crafting provoked me to linger with the theoretical readings that I was doing. Craftings became intuitive-intellectual exercises of listening-with theories through the craftings  — or perhaps it was vice versa. Either way, craftings became ways of approaching theoretical concepts and thus the continual craftings became critical for the development or movement of the research. 

In Living a Feminist Life Sara Ahmed writes that “a movement comes into existence to transform what is in existence. A movement needs to take place somewhere. A movement is not just or only a movement; there is something that needs to be kept still, given a place, if we are moved to transform what is” (Ahmed 2017, 3).

Ahmed points at feminist movements that ripple like waves that transforms us. At the same time, Ahmed argues that to explore what moves and transforms us we need to keep still. We need to be attentive to the matter that moves us, and potentially what moves and transforms our practices. In this research I do not explore feministic movements per se. However, I argue that during the research craftings acts like Ahmed’s “place”. Craftings’ places or situations enable me to explore which theoretical concepts resonated as co-creating partners that moved, evoked and provoked my thinking and my language.

Thus, through craftings I have, for example, explored that kin-making (Haraway) are acts of listening with textile materialities. I realised that craftings orientate (Ahmed) me towards textiles and techniques and towards people, places and perspectives. I have explored that crafting entanglements (Barad) include much more than textiles and me. Craftings (re)awoke and (re)attuned my sensitivity of the vibrant matter(s) (Bennett) in the artistic projects.  

Read the entire text on my artistic research method here