Due to its three-dimensional, elastic and flexible properties the weft-knitted technique is especially functional within the realm of performance textiles. Within the knit one can create flexible and movement-specific structures fitting to the body without waste material. A capability which is valuable when creating costumes for dance performances. However, it is seldom that the material is the focus of the performance and even more so, that the material is equal to the dancer. This project aims to explore the intra-active relationship between knitted textiles and human, by designing flexible three-dimensional textiles with high kinetic and visual agency. A perspective that enables the designer to create new performative expressions together with the dancer. This exploration is conducted through technical and material explorations where the kinetic and visual potential of different knitted structures are developed. The intra-active potential is evaluated and developed through collaboration with a dancer. The three knitted structures with high kinetic and visual potential, are intra-acted with by a dancer in a filmed performance. This synergy of human and material is valuable as it is the result of a collaborative design process, where the material is the directing force both in the textile process as well as the dancer’s process. A result of a more homogeneous design process where human and material listens to each other, but also where different disciplines exchanges knowledge and perspectives in an intra-active relationship.

The theoretical movement known under the heading of posthumanism has entered the academic field. Posthumanisms most prominent feature is to retrieve the concept of matter into the analytical framework. Matter is understood to be under-theorized within the social sciences as a result of the permeative focus upon language and discourse. A prevailing understanding of posthumanism that has been used within educational science and philosophy thus consists of moving the searchlight from language/discourse onto matter. Notably, these scholars are turning to the philosopher Karen Barad in order to spell out their posthumanistic implications. The aim of the thesis is to give an account of the philosophy of Karen Barad in contrast to other prevailing renderings of her. The analysis is carried out using a contrastive methodological approach. In this study I demonstrate how my reading of Barad differs from the scholarly readings that I choose to engage with. The results show that with an alternative conceptual understanding of Barad’s posthumanistic theory the analysis is being steered towards the entanglement of matter and discourse rather than towards the materialistic components of a posed problem. In addition, the results also show how a focus on the ontological underpinnings of Barad’s theoretical framework can give crucial contributions when it comes to understanding the generative conditions of science and knowledge-making.

Detta kandidatarbetet tar begreppet intra-aktion och applicerar det som en spelmekanik för den mobila plattformen. Den går in på tillvägagångssätt för hur man skulle kunna tänka kring intra-aktion och tar även upp befintliga teorier kring utvecklingen av spelmekaniker. I första hand går arbetet in på den mobila plattformen men det skulle även kunna användas för andra plattformar. Kandidatarbetet börjar med att gå in på vad interaktion är och går sedan vidare in på hur det skiljer sig utifrån Karen Barads begrepp intra-aktion. Därefter tar den upp befintliga teorier kring utvecklingen av spelmekaniker. Efter detta kombineras allt praktiskt med hjälp av test, där det skapats spelmekaniker för den mobila plattformen med ett intraaktivt synsätt. Intra-aktion passar bra som ett sätt att tänka kring lärande, så i praktiken går arbetet ut på hur man skulle kunna skapa spelmekaniker med ett lärande syfte. Tester i arbetet görs i spelmotorn GameMaker(Yoyo Games, 2017) och testas för Android telefoner. I metoddelen är exempel skapade från gestaltningar som är gjorda för mobila enheter i GameMaker. / This bachelor thesis takes the concept of intra-action and applies it as game mechanics for the mobile platform. It takes the approach of how to think about intra-action and the development of mobile game mechanic. It goes into the approach of how to think about intra-action and brings up existing theories about game mechanics. In first-hand the work goes into the mobile platform but it could be used for other platforms. The thesis begins by explaining what interaction is and then goes into how it differs from Karen Barads concepts of intra-action. Then it takes up existing theories on the development of the game mechanic and then combining this into practice, trying to create game-mechanics to the mobile platform with an intra-active approach. Intra-action fits well as a way of thinking about learning, so in practice the work will go into how you may create game mechanics with a learning purpose. All testing is done in the game engine GameMaker (Yoyo Games, 2017) and tested for Android phones. In the methods section the examples will be created for Android in GameMaker.

The object of this thesis is to explore the connections between race, gender and equestrianism. This aim stems from personal experiences of becoming a “horse girl” in a Swedish horsebackriding context, which indeed is lined with racialized and gendered norms. I am inclined to understand how equestrianism, i.e. horseback riding practices and communities, often comes to be considered as white and (un)obtainable for some and not others. Through interviews with nine equestrians located in the United States and observations in their stable environments, the thesis seek to investigate how gender and racial norms appear and materialize, and thus shape the interviewed participants lived experiences in horse human environments. Through a theoretical framework of Sara Ahmed’s elaboration on phenomenology, Karen Barad’s term intra-action and Donna Haraway’s figuration companion species, the thesis discusses the multi-layered and complex ways in which race and gender is produced in and produces equestrian spaces and practices. The analysis shows that equestrianism is habitually oriented around whiteness, shaping the proximity between some (and not other) human and horse bodies in the regional landscape where the participants reside. Horses are both organized in and organize the contours of the city, entangled in the politics of racial segregation and the materialization of classed environments and neighborhoods. Equestrian communities, especially those that practice the disciplines of dressage and show jumping, repeatedly welcome and extend certain human (and non-human) bodies while stopping and questioning others. Further, different equestrian spaces materializes in differentiating and multi-sensoric ways, making certain color schemes, tactile sensations of textures and scents appear as racialized and gendered, and in turn forms the premises of belonging. The thesis then displays the political and affective connections between human and non-human bodies, objects and rooms in the specific context of equestrianism, and argues that such aspects must be understood as co-produced rather than separate entities. The discussion thus complicates binary dichotomies such as nature and culture, human and non-human and matter and discourse, showing how such aspects instead are entangled in the production of equestrianism and racialized and gendered “difference”.

ABSTRAKT Detta kandidatarbete består av en enda frågeställning som undersöks med stöd av relevant forskning och författarens egen prövande gestaltning. De begrepp som fokuseras på i detta arbete är situerad kunskap och intra-aktion, men även ett antal andra relevanta medietekniska begrepp tas upp. Arbetet ämnar undersöka provokationer när det gäller ljud och bild som står i kontrast till varandra samt hur begreppen intra-aktion och situerad kunskap kan hjälpa medietekniker att medvetet påverka människors upplevelse av konstinstallationer. I detta kandidatarbete så har fyra installationer designats och producerats samt att experiment utförts på ett antal testpersoner. Installationerna i detta kandidatarbete är skapade med Logic Pro X (Apple Inc 2017) och visades för testpersonerna med hjälp av en skärm och tillhörande ljud genom ett par hörlurar. Nyckelord: Intra-aktion, Situerad Kunskap, Provokation / ABSTRACT This bachelor thesis consists of a single research question that is examined with the support of relevant research and the author's own tentative interpretation. The concepts that are focused on in this bachelor thesis are situated knowledge and intra-action, but also a number of other relevant media technical concepts are addressed. The goal is to investigate provocations in terms of sound and image that stand in contrast to each other and how the concepts of intra-action and situated knowledge can help media technicians to consciously influence people's experience of art installations. In this bachelor thesis, four installations have been designed and produced, and experiments have been performed on a number of test subjects. The installations in this bachelor thesis were created with Logic Pro X (Apple Inc 2017) and were shown to the test subjects using a screen and associated audio through a pair of headphones Keywords: Intra-action, Situated Knowledge, Provocation

The primary purpose of this study is to use, based on a reading/interpretation of a couple of texts by two philosophers, their theoretical framework to discuss what a new understanding of the importance of the environment and the subject matter/material can offer to the educational work of an after-school center and in school. The central question for my study is the following. What is the meaning of the material/matter and the environment for learning in the theoretical concepts of Karen Barad and Maurice Merleau-Ponty as they appear in a reading and interpretation of selected texts? What relevance does the material/matter and environment have, in an interpretation of these thinkers, for the relationships that are created? What meaning does the body and our minds have, in an interpretation of Merleau-Ponty, for our experience of environment and location? How can you highlight and discuss aspects of learning based on the two theorists? The foundation for the study is short texts written by Karen Barad and Maurice Merleau-Ponty as well as secondary literature and two texts that deal with learning and environmental design. The study is a text study and includes an interpreted selection of the conceptual worlds of the two theorists and a comparison between the two as well as an application of Barads and Merleau-Ponty's concepts and theories to two texts in Swedish pedagogical research. My interpretation of the conceptual worlds of the two philosophers shows that, in their perspective, the environment and matter/materials have a major impact on pupils, teachers and pedagogues. Merleau-Ponty emphasizes the body as that that human is in the world and experiences with. What the body experiences in relation to material and environment is important, therefore, for what and how the world takes shape. Karen Barad emphasizes that human and matter/material are a dependent entity. Human, and matter are intertwined, and this relationship is primary for how then the world takes shape.

The purpose of this study has been to make how children play and interact with the preschool environment and the toys that are available visible, and through that contribute with increased knowledge of how the phenomenon can be understood. From the socio-cultural perspective, with the help of recorded observations and participatory observation, I have been in the middle of the play and seen how children and toys have an intra-action so that the play can be imaginative and free. The results show that the children not only have a verbal dialogue with each other and adults but also have a silent dialogue simultaneously with toys, artifacts and the environment in the preschool. The toys contribute and influence the play, but it is based on the children's own thoughts before the beginning play.

Through the concept of longing, this study aims to explore non-binary embodiment and becoming, with a focus on examining how non-binary embodiment makes and is made possible. The study takes it departure in Karen Barads theories and concepts such as intra-action, and it is also from Barad the concept of longing is inspired. Longing is understood as the drive that is and makes possible life and the livable life. Longing is not reserved for humans but is rather tangent a posthuman understanding of matters agency, where matter is understood as an active agent in its own creation. The study is based on a combination of go-along interviews and semistructured interviews with six non-binary people.The study can be understood as an effort to make possible new or other ways to understand sex/gender, embodiment and becoming. Ways that is not based on a framework of understanding that in its foundational structure reduces the non-binary as something unintelligible. In the study longing is used as a means to create order and direction in the analysis of the participants stories. Longing has the benefit of being in constant movement and change, as such it contributes as a way of understanding that do not limit the participants stories of sex/gender, embodiment and becoming.

En djupdykning i att forska inom filosofin som är posthumanismen har utförts för att se hur den kan appliceras på den fotografiska processen. Flera aspekter av posthumanismen har identifierats som sedan har gjort ett försök till att skapa en alternativ metod för att få ett fotografi att uppstå. Några av de största svagheterna för bildskapandet är att fotografen har givits diktatoriska egenskaper om vad och hur något gestaltas, att motivet är endast en liten del av omvärlden som får plats inom bildens restriktiva ram, och kamerans oförmåga att representera en ständigt skiftande natur. Genom olika metoder så som en posthumanistisk vandring, texturering, bildanalys, och en performativ gestaltning skulle den konventionella fotografiska processen utmanas. Senare i designprocessen kom reflekterande objekt fram som en aktör som mycket väl utmanande problemen som ett fotografi annars lider av i sin skapelse. Spegelfragment placerades slumpmässigt framför kameran för att försöka fånga en oavsiktlig del av omgivningen som annars inte hade gestaltats inom bildens restriktiva ram. Designprocessen använde sig även av andra metoder som var mindre lyckade i sitt mål, men som ändå spelade en kritisk del i att leda fram till den slutgiltiga metoden för undersökningens gestaltning. Slutsatsen för arbetet blev att en alternativ process har uppnåtts, men att den gärna hade kunnat utvecklats mer för att bättre använda sig av posthumanismens verktyg. Det mänskliga skulle inte uteslutas ur fotografins skapande, men decentraliseras för att tillåta andra aktörer att ta plats inom fotografins arkiverande värld. / A plunge has been made into the world of posthumanism to investigate its merits to be applied to the process that creates a photography. Several aspects of the posthuman have been identified that would allow for the creation of an alternative photographic process. Some of the major weaknesses of image creation are that the photographer has been granted dictatorial powers over what can be captured by the camera, how the picture only captures a limited view of the world, and the cameras inability to represent an everchanging nature. Through different methods such as a posthuman hike, texturing, image analysis, and a performative design the conventional photographic process were to be challenged. Later in the design stage reflective objects would prove to be a useful actor in challenging the problems that a Kandidatarbete i Medieteknik Oscar Idberg (osid15) Sida 2 av 46 photography faces. Mirror fragments were randomly placed in front of a camera to capture an unintentional part of the surroundings that otherwise would have not fit within the images restrictive frame. The design stage used several other methods that were less successful in their goals, they did however still play a critical role in leading up to the final method for the investigations product. The conclusion acknowledged that an alternative process for the creation of an image had been achieved, it did however not take the investigation far enough and could have better used the posthuman tools available. The human should not be excluded from the photographic process; however, it needs to be decentralized to allow other actors to take their place within the archiving world of photography.

Bread and Puppet Theater's use of performing objects offers an aperture to contemplate complex assemblages that blur lines between the human and the nonhuman. Drawing upon cultural studies, feminist materialism, circus studies, and puppetry studies, I consider both the bread and the puppets as they intersect with various assemblages and fields of interpretation. These configurations demonstrate how the objects embody (non)human, material, and conceptual aspects. Because of this ability to exist within the meshes of binaries, performing objects are well suited to challenge and expose other binaries and hierarchies through three categories of analysis — movement, difference, and intra-action — based on Karan Barad's work on matter. In addition to the theoretical framework, I conducted ethnographic interviews and rely on my own experience as an apprentice at Bread and Puppet in 2004, considering myself as co-constitutive actant within the scope of analysis. I examine the way the theater uses sourdough bread and puppets as performing objects to create meaning, express ideology, apply tension within constructs of power, and demonstrate a model for co-dependent living between humans and objects / Doctor of Philosophy / Objects, despite their connections to daily life, which includes times of celebration and insurgency, remain overlooked as political actants. Bread and Puppet Theater, through performances, protests, and everyday living, places bread and puppetry as central to home and public live for puppeteers and performers. This dissertation asserts that bread and puppetry at Bread and Puppet Theater exemplify a co-creative relationship between people and things. This partnership creates tension in places of power, literal locations and within modes of thinking; simplifies and makes more accessible ideological messages; and evokes solidarity through performance. By considering bread in relation to Bread and Puppet Theater, we can see how bread becomes a fulcrum balancing between those with the most wealth and those with the least. Bread, as a symbol, is used to articulate demands. Its presence alone at protests suggests a list of demands regarding redistribution of wealth, fair wages, and food. As a symbol that touches the lives of all, it becomes an object that can evoke solidarity as a symbol but also as a product that is consumed and shared. Puppetry is exemplary of shared creation between people and objects. The rod puppets used at Bread and Puppet are especially suited to blurring demarcations between these two actants. Embodying this in-between space allows puppets to interrogate and blur other sets of binaries — the sacred and the profane, the religious and the secular, rich and the poor, state power and people, war and peace, and so on. This liminal, blurred space primes puppetry to challenge structures of power during political performances and protests. Ultimately this project considers how objects become central to political action and how, if thoughtfully mobilized, could operate as counter actants within times of turmoil.