PhD | ‘Capturing Plastic: Art and Activism in the Anthropocene’ – Airin Farahmand
PhD-candidate: Airin Farahmand
Supervisors: Prof. dr. Hanneke Grootenboer (promotor), Dr. László Munteán (supervisor)
Institute: Radboud University, Department of History, Art History, and Classics

This research investigates the ways in which plastic informs the aesthetic function of art in the Anthropocene. Plastic is woven into the fabric of contemporary reality. Its production on a massive scale over the past decades has resulted in a “plastic crisis”, one of the great environmental challenges of our time. Contemporary art is one of the sites in which the ecological emergency of plastic has been repeatedly addressed. In the hands of artists, objects of plastic evolve into objects of art provoking critical thought and spurring political action. By analyzing a number of artworks that specifically engage with the plastic crisis, this project sheds light on the role of art in coming to grips with the crisis.

PhD | Dismantling the Nostalgia: Art Practices Dealing with Colonial Leftovers
PhD-candidate: Timoteus Kusno
Institution: University of Amsterdam
Supervisors: Prof. dr. ir. B.J. (Jeroen) de Kloet and Dr. L.K. (Leonie) Schmidt

This research critically examines the artist’s practice in relation to (de)colonial issues in the complex terrain of Indonesian history. The primary objective is to investigate the institutionalized and lasting influence of colonial thinking and knowledge production on shared colonial historiography and the contemporary Indonesian context, using the artist’s art projects as a lens. To achieve this aim, an autoethnographic approach will be utilized to scrutinize the pervasive power dynamics of coloniality that extend beyond physical and tangible objects. This research also reflects on the artist’s practice, which involves working with colonial objects, matters, and discourses, as well as the artist’s collaboration with the Rijksmuseum for the “Revolusi!” exhibition, the video art and film project series titled “Phantoms,” which feature colonial footage, and the long-term project of the ‘fictional’ Centre for Tanah Runcuk Studies.

PhD | ‘Resounding Gender: Sound in Gendered Human-Nonhuman Entanglements’
PhD candidate: Luca Soudant
Supervisors: Sarah de Mul, Aagje Swinnen, Louis van den Hengel

My research interest was triggered by Doritos’ (a crisp brand) proposal to design a “lady-friendly” crisp: specifically designed for women and crunching less loudly. The brand claimed that women do not like to take much acoustic space while eating crisps and therefore need a less crunchy crisp. After a backlash of cynical and angry outlets on social media, of which many framed this sound design as sexist, Doritos withdrew from producing the “lady-friendly” crisp.

The relationship between gender and sound has been studied, predominantly with a focus on the sound of the human voice and gender relations in music, which falls short of theorizing sound in gendered human-nonhuman entanglements, such as in the act of eating a crisp. Therefore, to profoundly understand the complexity of gender as a power mechanism, I will study the cultural construction and performativity of gender in sonic relations humans have with objects in a Western context. Here, one can think of tapping high heels and growling motor vehicles. The main research question is: How is gender formed through sound in human-nonhuman entanglements? To answer this question, I study a selection of objects that, in interaction with humans, produce specific sounds. Theoretically, I use queer, posthuman, and sonic materialist approaches. I apply different methodologies such as (auto)ethnography and semiotic analysis. The PhD project also takes shape as artistic research: it seeks an interaction between making and thinking, in which artistic creation with sound is a crucial component of doing the research and that takes sound seriously as a political domain where gender exclusion, oppression, and violence can be studied and contested.

PhD | Transcending the Divide: Contesting Authoritarian Populism in Protest Music
PhD-candidate: Joanna Zienkiewicz
Institution: University of Groningen
Supervisors: Dr. Sara Strandvad, Dr. Melanie Schiller,  Dr. Elizaveta Gaufman

Throughout history, protest music has reflected political developments, expressed resistance, and led to social change. Today, ‘the rise of populism’ pervades the political climate. Populism is based in social divides—pitting ‘good people’ against ‘corrupt elites’—and flaunting coarse (‘low’) behaviours. With Poland and Hungary exemplifying its rapid escalation, the populism of many European parties transforms into authoritarian populism, which impedes the independence of media, judicial authorities and education, and hinders democracy. In this context, international research finds that music is often used by Europe’s populists to normalize their ideas. Yet, music also plays a central role in the mass anti-populist movements that are emerging in Europe.

Anti-populism, neglected in research, is the focus of this interdisciplinary project. In the last decade, anti-populism has often been criticized as largely unsuccessful and ‘feeding into’ the populist idea of social divides. To suggest ways for anti-populism to improve, I aim to analyze the new strategies expressed in widely consumed protest music and assess their sociopolitical effects. For this, I study the music used in Poland’s mass protests against the authoritarian populist party Law and Justice (2015–present). The main question of the proposed research is ‘How and with what effects does anti-populist protest music challenge authoritarian populism?’ I answer this using a grounded approach and innovative mix of analytical and empirical research methods. The case studies of Poland’s contemporary protest music provide novel insights into non-antagonizing methods of resisting populism, countering polarization, and protecting democracy: issues relevant for all of Europe.

PhD | Reading eroticism, a valorizing approach on erotic in popular music videos (the comparative case of Iranian and western’s most viewed videos, 2010-2020)
PhD-candidate: Amin Khaksar
Institution: Erasmus University of Rotterdam
Supervisor: Prof. Arjo Klamer
Co- supervisor: Dr. Lenia Carvalho Marques

Through employing the value–based approach, this study aims to reading erotic quality in popular music videos. Particularly, It seeks to examine how and why eroticism turns to a common language through which ordinary people can contribute their values beyond the conventional economics perspective that considers sexuality as a money making matter in art market; sex sales.

Meanwhile, this thesis is being fulfilled in the context of cultural economics. The fundament of the context is to highlight the notion of the value which is assumed the common point of economics and culture.

As a result, the study tries to offer the eroticism in popular music as a conversation and a shared practice with which practitioners put cultural and social values in shared. This shows how erotic comes to up against limiting conservative values regulated by government in the case study I come from; Iran.