* Context In short, context can be described as a map, a field, a dynamic terrain, that you find yourselves in the middle of. ‘A geography in which you are navigating, finding connections, exploring potential, making new circuitries. Context does not have to be genre specific, it is transversal, it goes across and beyond category. ‘And even if we do mappings of our context, it is continuously changing, as you are changing within it, through it and are changed by it. Context is not static, flat or stable. It's oceanic. Context is also about relations. It is about how you relate to the world around you (music, art, society), and how you enter in relation with this world. Through activities, actions, acts. In more strict RMC-terminology, context is primarily thought of as a musical context, and how you position yourselves in a given context, that is mapped and outlined by yourself, Remember, you choose your own contextual playmates, you draw your own history. (How did Frank Zappa come up with his music, which lines did he draw?) So, the question is: how do you find a place, a spot, an opening to dive further into? Which lines (historically, contemporarily, aesthetically) converge into what you are doing and where are you operating right now? And what potential is virtually there to be actualized by you, through you? Context is also about re-contextualisation: recycling, reinterpreting, refolding materials, concepts, ideas that were put forth by other artists. Think about J Dilla’s influence still today, and how he showed a potential that was stil to be uncovered by later generations. Or put differently: Does the world look different, sound different after Frank Ocean's Blonde? After John Cage's 4:33? What movements made them move? Context can also be interdisciplinary in connecting different art practices, such as video, film, theatre, painting, writing, sculpture, architecture, dance and music. Think about how artists like Iggy Pop, Brian Eno and David Byrne went from conceptual visual arts to music practice. How Patt ‘Smith gives expression to poetry in sound (writing off from Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Gertrude Stein). How composer Simon Steen-Andersen incorporates film and choreography into chamber- compositional setting. And how the likes of Varese and Xenakis convert architecture, mathematics and physics into composition. (etc. etc.) Context is also brought into play through the ones you are playing with. Say, in improvisational settings, to invite someone with different aesthetics, in order to diversity the music. Or, to mix acoustic and digital elements, samplers and hand-held-instruments etc. Contextuality can of course also be about a kind of mixing up temperatures, temperaments, putting together different elements of musical resources, cultures, materials. Interplaying, interweaving. So, you see, it’s sort of complex what context is and can be, and it takes a lot of research and contemplation to heighten that kind of contextual awareness. The idea of emphasizing the importance of contextual thinking, is that you become more aware of Where you find yourself operating (in a bigger field than the local studio, RMC, Copenhagen). Where your music is going, and how you can give voice to your intentions so they come out clearer in any given context, Letting that context also become a back curtain, a hidden choir in the voicings of what you do.So, the questions you could ask yourself concerning your musical context are: What kind of music (or artists) inspires you? What exactly in that music/with that artist is inspiring? Which perspectives does this music opens up for in your own artistic practice? (eg. form, structure, expression, energy, instrumentation, production, methods, performance) Which elements in this music can you possible transfer and shape into something in your own music (compositional, aesthetic, production wise, performative etc) What are your placement in relation to this music/artist? How are you different? What have you learned and what is it that have enabled you to be more conscious about in your own artistic practice (also regarding your development) by listening to this music?** Methods (the different ways leading to your different results) Play/Record/Rehears/Improvise/Compose Read/Mrite/Articulate/Discuss What do | already know? What kind of knowledge do | need to get? Where can | find that and from whom? Who are my peers? (the others in my field) Knowledge and experience from peers? Former projects/research on my topic/ in my field? Are there inspirations to be taken outside my specific artistic field? Experimentation!***Process: « How can | get the new knowledge/insights in an effective way? e Plan and structure (what to do, when to do it?) Important practical matters to organize ¢ To create a good and steady development in the project e Changes? (new methods needed, new collaborations etc..)Reflection: (on the artistic result, method choices, the artistic process and context) « What's the learning outcome of this project? « What would you do different next time? « What have you realized that you need to learn? What possible effect/contributions could my music and research have in my field and outside my field? e Any interesting or innovative findings? « Have | changed as an artist during the project? « What have been the challenges in my project? « How do | use my (possible)new insights/knowledge and how can | share them with others? « Have | changed my perspective/understanding of art?