Pia Tikka – Authoring Enactive Cinema
Abstract
My research orientation emerges from two decades of filmmaking practice in a range of international film productions, including my feature films Daughters of Yemanjá (Brazil-Finland 1996) and Sand Bride (Finland 1998). In November I will defend my doctoral thesis Enactive Cinema: Simulatorium Eisensteinensis, which has been inspired by the visionary montage considerations of Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948) on one hand, and Antonio Damasio’s treatment of consciousness as multisensory ‘cinema-in-the-brain’ on the other. An associated cinematic installation project Obsession (2005) introduced the concept of enactive cinema, which implies that the narrative flow is driven by unconscious psychophysiological enactment of the participant, or the enactor. The objective of my future research is to deepen the understanding on the role of what I describe as second-order authorship. The focus is on the process of authoring emergent behavior of enactive system, its inherent dynamics, e.g. context-dependency of the cinematic content, and in particular emotion dynamics.
In my presentation I will reflect research-based practice as a reciprocally complementary methodological approach to the established practice-based research widely promoted in European art universities today. Perhaps, the extended reach of the mind’s conceptual grasp (read ‘research’) may provide the practical domain of art with new insights.
Biography
Pia Tikka is a researcher at the University of Art and Design Helsinki. Her background is in film, cinematography and graphic design. She has directed long feature films ”Daughters of Yemanjá“ (Brazil-Finland 1996) and ”Sand Bride“ (Finland 1998), and worked in a range of feature film productions, including films by director Mika Kaurismäki 1989-2000. Pia Tikka introduced her enactive cinema project ”Obsession“ (2005) in the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki and was awarded with Möbius Prix Nordic prize for ‘interactive storytelling. It has also been shown in anumber of other venue including ISEA 2006 & Zero One, san Jose, CA; Ars Nova, Turku 2007.
Tikka’s doctoral thesis ”Enactive Cinema: Simulatorium Eisensteinensis” introduced the concept of enactive cinema, which implies that the narrative flow is driven by unconscious psychophysiological enactment of the participant. At present Tikka holds an associate researcher position in the Brain Research Unit at the Helsinki University of Technology. Tikka is currently working on the biological basis of cinema (‘Cinema and the Brain’) and the notion of enactive media.
