Abstract
This paper sums up experiences and reflections obtained by undertaking a two-years ethnography within spaces of consumption of electronic music, specifically clubs of house and techno music. Its focus are the unexpected ethical and logistic dilemmas I faced during my own doctoral research. The information is presented as strategies for embodiment, memory, and consent. The aim of this paper is to help other researchers from the disciplines of art and design to orientate their work in similar settings and topics—clubs, spaces of consumption of music, the aesthetics of youth and subcultures, event design, and experience design—and with similar methodological tools—participatory observations and interviews.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bhardwa, B.: Alone, Asian and female: the unspoken challenges of conducting fieldwork in dance settings. Dancecult 5(1), 39–60 (2013). https://doi.org/10.12801/1947-5403.2013.05.01.03
Biehl-Missal, B.: Filling the ‘Empty Space’: site-specific dance in a techno club. Cult. Org. 25(1), 16–31 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1080/14759551.2016.1206547
Calvey, D.: The art and politics of covert research: Doing ‘Situated Ethics’ in the field. Sociology 42(5), 905–918 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038508094569lastaccessed2019/03/15
Flick, U.: An Introduction to Qualitative Research, 4th edn. SAGE, Thousand Oaks, CA (2009)
Gadir, T.: Musical Meaning and Social Significance: Techno Triggers for Dancing. Doctoral Thesis, University of Edinburgh, UK. https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/9478/Gadir2014.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y (2014). Accessed 28 July 2018
Garcia, L.-M.: Editor’s introduction: doing nightlife and EDMC fieldwork. Dancecult 5(1), 3–17 (2013). https://doi.org/10.12801/1947-5403.2013.05.01.01
Handwerker, W.: Quick Ethnography. Altamira Press, Lanham, MD (2001)
Li, J.: Ethical challenges in participant observation: A reflection on ethnographic fieldwork. Qual. Rep. 13(1), 100–115 (2008)
Lugo-Elías, C.: Reassembling the dance floor: Exploring interactions at after-parties in spaces of consumption of electronic music in the city of Oporto in the years 2016–2018. Doctoral Thesis, University of Porto, Portugal (2021)
Lugo-Elías, C., Cardoso, P.: Design is in the house: basic concepts to understand the role of design in the creation of the club experience. In: Martins, N., Brandão, D. (eds.) Advances in Design and Digital Communication II: Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Design and Digital Communication, Digicom 2021, November 4–6, 2021, Barcelos, Portugal, pp. 517–527. Springer International Publishing, Cham (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89735-2_42
Lugo-Elías, C., Cardoso, P.: Design radicalized as experience: disentangling and reassembling the dance floor experience to understand the relationship between design and clubbing. In: Martins, N., Brandão, D., Paiva, F. (eds.) Perspectives on Design and Digital Communication III. Research Innovations and Best Practices. Springer Series in Design and Innovation, vol. 24. Springer, Cham (2023)
Malbon, B.: Clubbing: Dancing, Ecstasy, and Vitality. Routledge, New York (1999)
Rietveld, H.C.: This is Our House: House Music, Cultural Spaces and Technologies. Routledge, London (1998)
Rietveld, H.C.: Entranced: embodied spirituality on the post-industrial dance floor. Int. J. Crit. Psychol. 8, 147–167 (2003)
Rivera, L.A.: Status distinctions in interaction: social selection and exclusion at an elite nightclub. Qual. Sociol. 33(3), 229–255 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-010-9152-2lastaccessed2018/07/15
Rosendahl, T.J.: Negotiating salient identities in queer EDM spaces. Dancecult 5(1) (2013). https://doi.org/10.12801/1947-5403.2013.05.01.15
Thornton, S.: Club Cultures: Music, Media, and Subcultural Capital. University Press of New England, Hanover (1995)
Acknowledgments
This work was financed by national funds through the Portuguese FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Lugo-Elías, C., Cardoso, P. (2023). Embodiment, Memory, and Consent: Strategies to Conduct a Research in Design Using Participatory Observation in Clubs. In: Martins, N., Brandão, D. (eds) Advances in Design and Digital Communication III. DIGICOM 2022. Springer Series in Design and Innovation , vol 27. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20364-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20364-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-20363-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-20364-0
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)