Veronika Romhàny: Only one discipline: define yourself! Mind Maps - collaborative digital art practices as self- and system critical tools

Veronika Romhàny, PhD in the Arts

I aim to experiment with the creation of a self-reflective, collaborative art practice and turn it into a conceptual, digital art form - somewhat similar to an interdisciplinary organism. I envision it as an interactive, virtual artistic space like an atelier, with the help of game design methodologies to enable co-creation between practitioners from different disciplines of art. It would function as an online, interactive open studio where the recordings of collaborative art sessions are inseparable from the resulting artworks. The artistic platform would contain a ‘massive’ collection of audiovisual, mixed media art pieces, sculptures, etc. with no formal or thematic limitation and within only one discipline: defined by the participants themselves as a group; and I would like to cooperate purposefully with DIY artist collectives,in order to examine their collaborative self-definition in their local context. This research offers to conceptualize artistic relations (individually and collectively) in relation to interaction and self-expression with an artistic, playful form. Moreover, it may help to recognize hidden similarities in the style of different contributors and the way they use digital media tools, yet bringing different creative mindsets - but fueled by similar, system-critical positions. I want to involve the audience in this discovery to form their own opinion through their own subjective experience during this conceptual game.

Supervisors:

• Dr. Steven Malliet (supervisor, KU Leuven/LUCA)
• Dr. Frank Maet (co-supervisor LUCA)

Research unit: Inter-Actions

Duration: 2021 - 2025