Resonating moments. Exploring socio-material connectivity through artistic encounters with people living with dementia

• Published in: Dementia
• Main Author: Mittner, Lilli
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2021
• Subjects: VDP::Social science: 200; VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200; Entrance Point; Norway; Northern Norway
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10037/23051; https://doi.org/10.1177/14713012211039816

In this article, I introduce insights from new material feminist theories into the understanding of connectivity on the basis of an aesthetic analysis of artistic encounters with people living with dementia. I draw on data from a situated art intervention conducted within the Resonance Project at a residential care home in Northern Norway where researchers, artists, health-care professionals, people living with dementia and family members came together in co-creative music sessions. I analyse two resonating moments from the sessions by way of an abductive process, oscillating between theory, written notes, video recordings and my own embodied experiences in the field. I discuss the ways in which materiality, listening and the group matter when it comes to our ability to connect during the sessions. Based on these findings, I conclude that the notion of socio-material connectivity provides an entrance point for studying different ways of relating to people living with dementia and enquiring into relations that matter.