Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
text & photographs by David Aldridge
the pattern that connects how does the aesthetic heal ? the work of art the working of art Gregory Bateson, Mind and nature: A necessary unity. Fontana 1980 all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
how are we related, connected to one another, to nature? how do we respond to the pattern that connects? with
re cognition and empathy
all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
the aesthetic;
David Aldridge
is to be responsive to the pattern that connects “The link between heart and the organs of sense is not simple mechanical
sensationalism; it is aesthetic. That is,
the activity of perception or sensation,
in Greek is aisthesis which means at root “taking in” and “breathing in” - a gasp,
that primary aesthetic response” (p31) Hillman, J. (1981) The thought of the heart. Dallas: Spring.
what connects me to you? the making of sense? all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
what is perceived by the outer senses is conceived by an inner sense. aesthetic is the relationship between the external and the internal; how we make sense of the world - making this sense is an activity. how does the immaterial achieve form? understanding this is the basis of transformation. all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
creativity and engagement •
the challenge to engage with the ‘other’.
•
creare - to cause to grow, to come into existence.
•
relationship, the performer and the participator, not an objective knowledge but the process of creating.
•
creativity is the embellishment of forms all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
dialogue •
to engage with the other as dialogue
•
listening is central
•
the threshold of intelligibility
•
dialogue as mutual form / ing
•
we need the ‘other’ to share the consequence of our being. all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
extended breath and phrasing how long is NOW? movement and tempo agency all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
different dimensions of music popular
inducing motions of the body
technical
satisfying the intellect
artistic
that which has a tendency to beauty and grace
appealing that which pierces the heart uplifting
that in which the soul hears the harmony of the spheres all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
rhythm and form • biological basis of communication, • cultural overlay • repetition, simple form • timbre
all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
health / healing as performance; living as “jazz”
“I perform therefore I am” performances occur in context a search for meaning in an architecture of healing culture too is performed all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
healing rituals we need to understand the rites and symbols of healing ritual is shared performance with defined roles outward performance / inward shared meaning communities of understanding - meaning is negotiated repertoire of healing music all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
an intentional act • achieving the new is an intentional act by promoting optimal conditions. • the projection of the body into an expressive medium, • the projection of the self into an expressive medium. • the forming of the sensuous and the clarifying of the self, in relationship, as re-cognition all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
a developmental ecology •
achieving a potential that is aesthetic
•
to perform a new identity
•
the aesthetic of purposeless purpose, play
•
aesthetic expectation of self-in-relationship is positive - it is hope made manifest.
all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
the work of art and distance “Aesthetically the work of art creates a world with its own logic, one that is simply not dictated by the facts. The two ideas, a work of art with its own logic and of ethical principles that in reflecting on the world present reasons that are not in the world, are united through the common denominator of distance.” (p377). Norman Fischer “Frankfurt School Marxism and the ethical meaning of art:
Herbert Marcuse’s The Aesthetic Dimension 1997 Communication Theory 7,4, 362-381. all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
fundamental communication “Thus feelings lose nothing by not being
expressed. Perhaps they even gain in sincerity and intensity the less they are
verbalized...there is a fundamental
communication which embraces all forms of
existence and which, because of its immediacy, must abandon the medium of words�. Herrigel, E. (1988) The method of Zen. London: Penguin Arkana. all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
from out of the silence • the unfolding of reciprocity • private to public
all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
a developmental ecology •
achieving a potential that is aesthetic
•
the aesthetic of purposeless purpose, play
•
“I can”
•
mirror neurons
is hope made manifest.
all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
performance not ‘What am I?’, but ‘How am I?’ tenderness is intentional we take a leap, which is hope, into a new consciousness not “cogito ergo sum” - I think therefore I am, but “compono ergo sum- I compose therefore I am. forgiveness is an activity not treatment but accompaniment all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
Love is flowing over me, I am waiting Love is flowing over you, you are waiting, Love is flowing over us, we are waiting.
I will take you in my hands, I am reaching, You will take me in your hands, you are reaching, We will take you our hands, we are reaching.
I will open up my heart, I am waiting, You will open up your heart, you are waiting, We will open up our hearts, we are waiting.
I am calling out to you, can you hear me? You are calling out to me, I can hear you? We are calling out to you, can you hear us?
I will take you in my arms, I am waiting You will take me in your arms, you are waiting We will take you in our arms, we are waiting.
There is music in my heart, I am listening There is music in your heart, you are listening Love is flowing over us, we are waiting.
Peace is flowing over me, I am waiting
There is forgiveness in my heart, I am forgiving
all rights reserved
Swedish Music Therapy Conference, Kristianstad, Sweden, March 2015
David Aldridge
Singing with a friend Birdsong brings relief to my longing. I am just as ecstatic as they are, But with nothing to say! Please, universal soul, practice Some song, or something, through me! Birdsong Rumi p1., Translated by Coleman Barks MYPOP Athens, Georgia 1993
all rights reserved