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Home Shores: Documentary Filmmaking and Fieldwork in Arts and Sciences in the Archipelago
Master of Arts Thesis
2024 - Aalto University, Department of Art and Media (FI)
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Home Shores explores the intersection of artistic and scientific research through the experience of documentary filmmaking and ecological fieldwork in the Baltic Sea archipelago. The research investigates how documentary fieldwork can serve as both a method and a context to engage with the complex narratives of contemporary environmental crises.
This methodology or documentary fieldwork was developed along with my practice-based research of making the short film Amphibia. It extends beyond traditional film genres, emphasising the collaborative and relational nature of documentary filmmaking. The thesis integrates its findings into a broader curatorial framework, in a montage of field notes, poetic essays, narrated discussions, and notes on theory. The scope of research stems from my personal experience of fieldwork in arts and sciences, informed by the interactions between human and non-human entities, and the thoughts that later emerged in relation to this specific context.
The research highlights the potential of fieldwork in arts and sciences as a space for embodied and situated production of knowledge, supporting interdisciplinary and more-than-human encounters. The documentary fieldwork, guided by relationalities of care and collaborative methods within a feminist and more-than-human framework, proved effective in facilitating meaningful exchanges and communicating environmental complexity through the medium of film