Miguel Peres dos Santos
Musical Training Is Conditioned In A Monkey

"Musical Training Is Conditioned In A Monkey" is a video installation that alludes to the text "Dehumanization". The working process began therefore by a study on The New Fordist Organization theoretical framework. Departing from that analysis an attempt is made to propose another perspective upon the basic principles of Ford's methodology and the consequence of implementing those same principles. The dissertation then worked as a conceptual departure point upon which the creative processes developed further. There were four main fields of work in the practice developed by Peres dos Santos in this specific project: theoretical, educational, curatorial and artistic.

The theoretical aspect is in the aforementioned text and needs therefore no further explanation. A contribution was then made to the educational program that The New Fordist Organization planned on giving for students of the Royal Academy and Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, as well as to Leiden University College in the form of a workshop. Assistance was then provided to the actual setup of the exhibition and the opening events; and last but not least a small video work was developed departing from a found footage of an experiment on conditioning made by Pavlov on a monkey and a small child. The entire process tried to project a counter-discourse as it was intended in the theoretical framework.