Accretions and Dissipations:
Archipelago Thinking in Artistic Research

A forthcoming Jakarta conference on “archipelagic” and “island” metaphors for relational thinking reflects the growing influence of a philosophical and artistic discourse rooted in Caribbean thought. This presentation explores its relevance to the Asia-Pacific region, with its complex cultural, linguistic, political and historical trajectories. Part of a larger project titled Theory for Artistic Research, it develops three implications of archipelagic philosophy through artistic practice.

First, it considers musicking as a form of thinking that produces knowledge through practice, drawing on Kamau Brathwaite’s concept of “tidalectics” to describe thought in motion. Second, it seeks to decentre conversations about the future of artistic research by establishing south-south connections between people, places and concepts. Third, it proposes an iterative form shaped not as a circle but as a wave, modelling the movement of sea against shore through processes of accretion and dissipation. In doing so, it challenges teleological models of research in favour of a design-in-motion that is relational, problem-posing and affective.

The presentation incorporates a performance of Archipelagos, a new solo work for trombone and electronics.