A practice of practicing practice —
a sustained independent project
There is, I believe, a practice of practicing practice — a way of challenging how we know what we know and when we know that we know it. And there is a logic inherent in the doing of a practice — a form of knowledge that reveals itself in the act of practicing and guides the action of practice reflexively and intuitively. It is in this practicing of the practice of practicing a practice that an act of knowledging occurs and the practitioner begins to develop a discipline of practice. This discipline, I posit, is unique to the practitioner and emerges from the individual’s practicing of the practice. It is based, certainly, on the tenets of pre-existing practices and disciplines that inform the practitioner’s practicing. But it does not necessarily conform to the rules of a pre-existing discipline and therefore cannot be judged according to those rules. These same rules are often viewed as the indicators of a successful development of a mastery of a practice, one that conforms to institutionally derived ideals of expertise.
How, then, does the individual practitioner — who is practicing their own practice of practicing practice which inherently allows for the emergence of a new form of logic that reveals a unique discipline of practice — develop an individualised expertise in their discipline of practice within institutional structures that view expertise as the successful adherence to pre-existing rules of disciplinarity?
In the practice of practicing, my intention is not to master a pre-existing practice that is built around the rules of a particular discipline — for example, the practice of playing a piano in order to actualise or realise the discipline of music. In the practice of practicing practice, my intention is to practice ‘playing the piano’ in order to allow for a new practice — and thus a new discipline — to emerge. In doing so, I must engage with what I know about the piano rather than how one is supposed to play it. I do not know how to play the piano, but I certainly have an idea of what ‘playing the piano’ is or is supposed to be within a cultural context. I can visualise pianists I have seen in concert or on film and can hear the music they produce through their practices of playing the piano. I can also engage the instrument in front of me — touch its keys and take in its shape. This knowledge may inform the way I choose to practice my own practice of playing the piano, but it is not until I begin to actually play the piano that I start to understand what my practice of practicing playing the piano is on an intuitive level. It is in the actual practicing that a new form of knowledge emerges — one that is found only in practice itself. This new knowledge begins to shape the way in which I practice practicing my own practice of playing the piano.
As I continue to develop this practice, new ‘rules’ for executing my practice of the practice develop and take hold. What may have begun as a practice of playing the piano similar to that which I have encountered previously can turn into a practice that lies entirely outside of the discipline of music. For example, I may be practicing a practice of ‘playing the piano’ that does not involve the keys of the piano at all. But in the practicing of this unique practice of playing the piano, I build up a discipline of practice — a way in which I play the piano that I can execute with some level of individualised expertise or mastery. I describe the moment one realises that they have mastered a new way of practicing their practice as an ‘ah-ha’ moment: I am no longer using the keys of the piano but have found myself underneath it expertly pressing on the pedals in a repeatable rhythm — AH-HA! I am sitting on top of the piano and gyrating at just the right speed in order to roll the piano slowly across the room — AH-HA! I am sitting on the opposite side of the room yelling random words or phrases at the piano to provoke a ‘response’ and have developed a structured game in the process — AH-HA! It is out of these ‘ah-ha’ moments that something new emerges; a new form of logic that can only be found in the practice of practicing the practice. And it is through the development of these ‘ah-ha’ moments that one begins to build up a level of expertise in their own practice of practicing. And while an ‘ah-ha’ moment may lead one to alter or adapt their practice according to this newfound logic, it also digs its heels into the practice itself and establishes a ‘rule’ for the individual practitioner; a rule that enables the development of expertise in the execution of practicing the practice of practicing.
If you are interested in reading the expanded text of this sustained independent project or would like to support the further development of this research, please contact me.
How, then, does the individual practitioner — who is practicing their own practice of practicing practice which inherently allows for the emergence of a new form of logic that reveals a unique discipline of practice — develop an individualised expertise in their discipline of practice within institutional structures that view expertise as the successful adherence to pre-existing rules of disciplinarity?
In the practice of practicing, my intention is not to master a pre-existing practice that is built around the rules of a particular discipline — for example, the practice of playing a piano in order to actualise or realise the discipline of music. In the practice of practicing practice, my intention is to practice ‘playing the piano’ in order to allow for a new practice — and thus a new discipline — to emerge. In doing so, I must engage with what I know about the piano rather than how one is supposed to play it. I do not know how to play the piano, but I certainly have an idea of what ‘playing the piano’ is or is supposed to be within a cultural context. I can visualise pianists I have seen in concert or on film and can hear the music they produce through their practices of playing the piano. I can also engage the instrument in front of me — touch its keys and take in its shape. This knowledge may inform the way I choose to practice my own practice of playing the piano, but it is not until I begin to actually play the piano that I start to understand what my practice of practicing playing the piano is on an intuitive level. It is in the actual practicing that a new form of knowledge emerges — one that is found only in practice itself. This new knowledge begins to shape the way in which I practice practicing my own practice of playing the piano.
As I continue to develop this practice, new ‘rules’ for executing my practice of the practice develop and take hold. What may have begun as a practice of playing the piano similar to that which I have encountered previously can turn into a practice that lies entirely outside of the discipline of music. For example, I may be practicing a practice of ‘playing the piano’ that does not involve the keys of the piano at all. But in the practicing of this unique practice of playing the piano, I build up a discipline of practice — a way in which I play the piano that I can execute with some level of individualised expertise or mastery. I describe the moment one realises that they have mastered a new way of practicing their practice as an ‘ah-ha’ moment: I am no longer using the keys of the piano but have found myself underneath it expertly pressing on the pedals in a repeatable rhythm — AH-HA! I am sitting on top of the piano and gyrating at just the right speed in order to roll the piano slowly across the room — AH-HA! I am sitting on the opposite side of the room yelling random words or phrases at the piano to provoke a ‘response’ and have developed a structured game in the process — AH-HA! It is out of these ‘ah-ha’ moments that something new emerges; a new form of logic that can only be found in the practice of practicing the practice. And it is through the development of these ‘ah-ha’ moments that one begins to build up a level of expertise in their own practice of practicing. And while an ‘ah-ha’ moment may lead one to alter or adapt their practice according to this newfound logic, it also digs its heels into the practice itself and establishes a ‘rule’ for the individual practitioner; a rule that enables the development of expertise in the execution of practicing the practice of practicing.
If you are interested in reading the expanded text of this sustained independent project or would like to support the further development of this research, please contact me.