Call for Abstracts: Somaesthetic Practices – Interviews with Artists and Somatic Practitioners

JoS 2025/2

Call for Abstracts: Somaesthetic Practices – Interviews with Artists and Somatic Practitioners

Somaesthetics is a philosophical discipline that expands the concept of philosophy to include aesthetic practice. Practice here is understood as any activity that develops through the repetition of interconnected actions, requiring and refining distinct skills. A practice is a culturally significant activity that engages many people either collaboratively or in solitude. Examples include yoga, Tai Chi, various meditation and mindfulness rituals, social dance, all forms of art and their practices of creating and perceiving artworks, body-based design, experimental music, dance, and other body-centered disciplines.

This issue places special emphasis on interviews with artists and practitioners engaged in somatic work, including those in visual arts, experimental arts, music, dance, performance, and other embodied creative practices. These fields offer unique insights into how the human body-mind functions as a site of creation, expression, and transformation. Whether through the fluid movements of dance, the precision of choreographed performance, the improvisational nature of sound and movement, or the ways in which physical disciplines such as martial arts, somatic therapies, or ritual practices engage the body, this issue seeks to highlight the profound connections between somaesthetic practices and aesthetic experience. Similarly, artists working in visual and experimental arts explore embodiment through materiality, process, and interactive engagement, expanding the scope of somaesthetics in contemporary culture.

We invite abstract submissions for contributions in the form of interviews with artists and practitioners whose work explores and relies on the human body’s potential for aesthetic experience, realization, and transformation. Accepted authors will be invited to submit full-length articles based on these interviews.

 Articles will include:

• An introduction discussing the relevance of the interview, its format, and the backgrounds of both the interviewer and the interviewee.
• The transcript of the interview, capturing the conversation in detail.
• An analysis positioning the practice within the theoretical frameworks of pragmatist aesthetics and somaesthetics.

Submission Guidelines:

Interested authors must submit an abstract (max. 300 words) that includes:

• The name and background of the artist or practitioner to be interviewed.
• A brief description of their practice and its relevance to somaesthetics.
• The proposed format of the interview (e.g., in-person, virtual, structured, open-ended).
• A preliminary interview guide outlining key topics or questions.

Abstracts will be reviewed for their methodological and philosophical contributions, as well as their alignment with the theme of somaesthetic practices.

 

Important Dates:

Abstract submission deadline: Maj 15, 2025

Notification of acceptance: Maj 31, 2025

Full article submission deadline: Sept 30, 2025

 

We look forward to contributions that highlight innovative, interdisciplinary, and culturally significant practices, expanding the dialogue between philosophy, aesthetics, and embodied creativity.

 

For inquiries and abstract submissions, please contact Falk Heinrich (falk_h@ikp.aau.dk) or Mark Tschaepe (mdtschaepe@pvamu.edu)