Researtch has a growing framework of theory in reference to various perspectives. It developed in my early youth from an experimental approach towards the fluidity of cognition; through self-automatic drawing, live action role play, self-developed personality hacks, studies of literature, philosophy and spiritual techniques. This led me to theater as a means to self-exploration and self-transformation; where the body-mind connection made itself evident, and symbol was married to impulse in my understanding. Physical theater, immersive performance art, intentional ritual within any setting between nature and poetic imagination, nurtured the forming of a workable foundation.
As I did my Master Thesis as Theater Pedagogue, creativity-research and Flow-theory was intermingling with methods from mask-work and the Balinese cyclic art-ceremony tradition.
Researtch is interdisciplinary and has, in alignment with an array of studies and practical explorations, been developed further by asking direct in-depth questions to chosen specialists in their fields – such as the methods of mask-work developed by Finn Hesselager and Per Brahe respectively, the research on Flow and cognition done by Frans Ørsted-Andersen and the deeply clarifying Arkography of Gunnar Olsson.
“What Hesselager is trying to make his students achieve, is an awareness strong enough, for them to be able to rest with complete attention in the moment as they perform, so that they can reinvent the scene each time. When watching him work, I noted, that in the moment, that a student had found some kind of ”safety” in the scene – a specific way that she felt worked each time – Finn would immediately force her out of that safety, to make her keep on inventing new ways instead.
When the student ceases to search for ”safety”, and dares to let new expressions emerge from her freely – while she is still concentrating intently on her performance – she ceases to solve her task from the standpoint of her ego. She opens up to her subconscious impulse, to guide her actions spontaneously. This is what is meant by ”unconscious competence”. In other words, she enters a state of flow, in her actions. What Hesselager is looking for, is what he calls transpersonal communication, between the actors on stage – and, ideally, everyone in the room.“
(Towards Personal Growth, Peter Tommila 2012)
Shaping a formula as activity in itself is continuously underway, by synthesizing combined methods and perspectives, translating them into a specific mold. A purpose which began as a personal intuitive interest with no specific long-term goal: a question of intrinsic motivation. This level of approach I find, is where resonance is felt on a personal plane as well as on the technical-theoretical, for anyone exploring these or similar themes.
”It is not only a matter of making the right movements – Taksu is a gift from Shiva, the god of art. It also comes from within the dancer, who has to be ready and open.
It ́s the dancer, not the dance, that has Taksu. It is hard to describe the sensation of the moment when it begins, since Taksu is already in you, when it happens to you. Taksu is not trance, where you forget everything. The sensation of Taksu stays in those who have experienced it, and can be seen on them by others.
The aspiration to dance is a great thing even late in life. Learning to dance opens one up for the appreciation of all art.”
Interview with Oka Dalem and Gusti Ayu Raka in the Balerung Theater Peliatan, during the Antonin Artaud Fringe Festival, organized 2008 by Per Brahe and Aole T Miller, Bali Purnati Center for the Arts
Work with Taksu, the notion of the highest state of inspiration within Balinese Hinduism, has been object for closer documentation. This in the form of a journey to Bali together with Robert Bolin, mainly at the Theater Work Center in Lodtonduh, where we received in-depth teaching by Per Brahe and Ida Bagus Alit, engaging in daily training, integrating the experience.
Explorations were made at shrines and sites, occasions and places of importance to the understanding of Taksu. Interviews were made across the Island of the Gods, including with Ida Bagus Alit, Ida Bagus Anom and Ratu Srim Empu Dharma Kerti, and with Per Brahe, who passionately shared with us the story, outline and essence of his system of teaching.
Acting: Robert Bolin. Acting, Directing etc: Peter Tommila
I was wearing too many hats in that project. I was it´s leader, a researcher, and also an acting student in front of the camera. After four weeks, the first part of the journey – the workshop at the Theater Work Center – was completed, and I had a few days rest. I was then at a restaurant on the beach in southern Bali. I watched the sunset and then walked across the beach alone in the dark. Strolling as I was out into the waves dreamily along the coast, I noticed only late as it happened, that the water-level was quickly rising. I could not see anything. I sensed that the ocean flood was rising and becoming stronger. Rocks with sharp edges everywhere with waves rushing between them and over me, the way towards land blocked by a wall – a sudden danger, typical tourist fatality about to occur. But my body was in an intense intuitive state of soft-strong fluidity. It was as if I could see everything around me. Later that night after a shower, I stood in front of a large shiny mirror that reflected back with intense clarity. A message coming across, about creativity as natural as breathing, without the hats and thoughts. The understanding in that moment changed everything – the conclusion of a lecture that began early that morning, and ended just before bed-time.
Researtch is a continuous living process. The main point is minimalistic and simply about engaging in the shaping of a formula by cracking it´s code, while simultaneously experiencing it from the inside.
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Let the dough rest in a cool place.
Line a tin with 2/3 of the dough.
Mix thinly sliced rhubarb with sugar and potato flour.
Pour the mixture into the tin.
Roll remaining dough into strips, place them on top in a pattern.
Bake until ready.
Serve with whipped cream.
RESEARTCH 