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See Here Now: Art in a Time of Urgency
No full text'It may be rare for wood to escape fungal attention: it is common for fungi to escape ours' (Merlin Sheldrake)
This work explores the Interbeing (interconnection) between trees and stack fungi – Turkeytail fungus (Trametes versicolor). The latter live symbiotically on trees – hence the title. Fungi are both connected and disconnected from trees as they are epiphytes, sitting on the tree’s bark without harming it, yet Turkeytail fungus decomposes the tree’s dead wood. So, this work explores how long-lived trees such as oaks can be simultaneously alive and dead.
It also questions how historical European optical framings such as fore-ground, middle-ground and back-ground operate in arboreal arenas. Forests often elude these “grounds” given that the human eye cannot traverse them easily.
Instead, this work creates a non-perspective based fabula (story) literally and metaphorically foregrounding the fungi’s role in a woodland or forest ecology. It also aims to blur time by implying how dynamic even an ancient oak woodland is through the arrangement of the “dancing” cut-out trees in the “middle-ground”.
This work combines a tree branches with digital paper prints of lichen and fungi. It forms a large scale screen connected by magnets that can traverse a space
The specific families of fungi associated with lichens are the Ascomycota (cup and flask shaped fungi) and the Basidiomycota families of fungi.
The magnets conjoining the lichen and fungi means that this is a highly mutable work that can respond to the specific space. It aims to visualise the dynamic and unstoppable qualities that these organisms embody.
Tidings (Tide 1: June 2025: Tilbury)
Full text linkTidings Tide 1: Tilbury, June 2025 marks the first physical manifestation of the wider Tidings project. Images, and ideas captured in writing, are produced as artefacts which become part of the landscape that initiated them. Participants are invited to discover the works as they explore a small part of the route walked in their production. To search and re-search, simultaneously piecing together, and becoming part of, an ongoing journey that examines contemporary landscapes to provide glimpses of the, often obscured, histories that shape the land we inhabit. As you step into and discover Tidings, you become part of the artwork. Your experience, thoughts, feelings, and reflections, situate you at the centre of a moment which is produced by your participation in a place where the only constant is change. A place where the river and time flows both ways
How can we improve the diversity of archival collections with AI? Opportunities, risks, and solutions
Full text linkThis article is the first study to examine the impact (positive and negative) of Artificial Intelligence on the diversity of archival collections. Representing the diverse audiences they serve is a key objective for libraries and archives. For example, institutions with colonial-era archival documents are experimenting with AI to improve the discoverability of their collections and to enhance access for source communities and other users. Indeed, AI can be used to automatically create metadata, search vast amounts of historical records, and answer questions with natural language. However, these technologies also come with risks—for instance when AI systems are trained on potentially biased data. Very little is known about the impact of these computational tools on diversity in archival collections. Do AI technologies compound or alleviate the lack of diversity in archives? Drawing from interviews with academics, archivists, curators, and other experts across the UK/Europe and the USA, this article sheds light on the lack of collaboration between producers of AI technologies on the one side, and archivists, librarians and other cultural heritage professionals on the other side. We argue that bringing these stakeholders together is essential to improve the diversity of archival collections, using ethical and responsible AI. Finally, we offer recommendations to help professionals in libraries and archives assess the opportunities and risks associated with AI and find solutions to make their collections more representative of diverse audiences
Rethinking Filmmaking: Unpacking the Collaborative Process and Challenging the 'Cult of the Director'
Full text linkFilmmaking is inherently complex, characterized by numerous potential disruptions, with the act of creation and understanding deeply intertwined in its processes. As a filmmaker, you continually shape the story from script to sound and visuals, finding cohesion through collaboration. This process actively generates knowledge, as every creative department—from lighting to costume—plays a crucial role in bringing the story to life. However, filmmaking is often perceived as a form of alchemy—a blend of innate talent, craft skills, and serendipity. This research calls for a rethinking of our approach to both the practice and pedagogy of filmmaking. While this mystique can create excitement and intrigue, it ultimately proves unhelpful, as it perpetuates the 'cult of the director,' overshadowing the collaborative efforts of those who work diligently to bring a film to completion. Recognizing that filmmaking encompasses complex creative and technical decisions, underscores the need for deeper exploration to better understand the dynamics of creative decision-making between above the line and below the line workers. By critically examining the complexities of collaboration, we gain a deeper appreciation of the stressful, resource-intensive nature of production.
Drawing from my experience as an independent filmmaker, this research critically examines the micro-level creative processes in film production to inform broader production practices. Using a practice-led approach, I explore the collaborative process of creating a fictional short film with cast and crew, while also challenging the conventional view that fiction film lacks academic research value. This research also aims to address who is afforded the opportunity to take on leading creative roles, particularly Heads of Department, and how these creative leads work with their teams to realize the goals of a production
Unfold: A paper-folding classroom learning method to support graduate qualities sought in the era of AI
Full text linkGenerative AI currently dominates the debates about learning at the higher education level, and is being embedded in teaching and learning at a very fast pace. But knowledge, learning and relationships cannot be wholly encompassed by a digital world based around brain metaphors. We anticipate a renewed interest in analogue methods of classroom engagement which forefront embodiment in learning.
The specific Unfold zine method was developed by a colleague in art and design (University of the Arts London), then evolved over five years through collaboration with the Bayes Business School. The aim was to develop a flexible form of engagement that could be used not only in small workshops but also large, raked lecture rooms. When COVID arrived, the method had to be applied online, where its flexibility enabled the development of the method to continue. Unfold is a learning design process geared to adult learning and the hands-on workshop will be based around two worked examples – the first being the most basic form of paper-folded zine, usable economically in almost any physical classroom situation. The second demonstrates a more refined partly pre-printed zine.
Workshop participants will work on, and discuss, each of these. The emphasis is on experiencing and dialogue, based on using the two examples, not on presenting theory.
Paper folding has featured in European educational innovation for some 200 years, though mostly for small children (Blasche, 1825; Iurescu, 2021; Froebel, Montessori, 1912, Dewey, 1934). Many of our experiences since 2019 have been in professional development, in parallel with degree courses.
Some paper-folding innovations in higher education have emphasised the playful learning perspective (Parvin, 2024), and this is indeed one of the eight dimensions of our Unfold framework. Our overall emphasis though is on what some generically call “manipulatives” (Byrne et al, 2023) – designing physical objects which stimulate forms of thinking and active learning. Other relevant terminology includes “active experience”; Lozada and Carro (2016) explore “how cognition arises emerges from experiential (enactive) processes, which contributes to the understanding of how embodied agency facilitates conceptual processing”
Rethinking collaboration: Towards a new interdisciplinary practice
Full text linkFrom telling stories that seed future breakthroughs to diversifying AI datasets, artists reimagine what technologies can be, and who they can be for. This publication creates an international evidence base for this argument. 56 leaders in art and technology have offered 40 statements, spanning 20 countries and 5 continents. As a collection, they articulate artists, the cultural sector and creative industries as catalysing progressive innovation with cultural diversity, human values, and community at its core
Kinder Than Cuts
No full textKinder Than Cuts is a collective AniJam protest animation responding to the UK government’s proposed cuts to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and other disability benefits. The project invited animators across the UK to create short 5–15 second sequences exploring what kindness looks like or visualising the impact of austerity measures. These segments were combined into an exquisite corpse animation and disseminated online, contributing to public debate and activism around the proposed policy changes. Since its release, the film has been viewed 9,981 times and was cited in discussions with MPs. Sustained collective pressure ultimately compelled the government to drop parts of the policy.
Screening
Launched as an open call during Brighton International Animation Festival 2025 and shared widely online. Viewed 9,981 times, including by MPs, the project contributed to the collective pressure that compelled the government to abandon parts of the proposed cuts to PIP and disability benefits.
Watch the Film
View the full film https://vimeo.com/1091420829
View my contribution https://vimeo.com/1091779813
Collective Statement
This AniJam protest animation on disability rights is a collaborative protest film brought together UK-based animators to visualise the impact of benefit cuts and promote solidarity through animation. The project was widely shared online, featured at Brighton International Animation Festival 2025, and contributed to public pressure against the proposed policies.
Launched during the Brighton International Animation Festival 2025, Kinder Than Cuts is a collective film created in response to the proposed cuts to PIP and disability benefits in the UK. The project was co-directed by Sarah Gomes Harris and Kate Jessop and brought together animators from across the country to contribute short sequences visualising what kindness looks like, or contrasting care with the reality of austerity policies.
The cuts were projected to force 400,000 disabled people into poverty by 2030 to save £5 billion. This film became part of a wider movement resisting these measures. It has been viewed 9,981 times so far and helped sustain public pressure that ultimately compelled Starmer to drop parts of the policy.
One viewer shared:
"I'm so grateful there are people willing to take the time to help us fight this. It means so much. Thank you."
Kim Noce Statement
Each contributor created a short animation (5–15 seconds) responding to the prompt what is kinder than cuts? Some chose to visualise an ideal future grounded in care, while others exposed the violence of systemic neglect. Together, these pieces form an exquisite corpse animation: a collective protest stitched together in motion, image by image.
My contribution reflects the quiet violence of invisibility. Figures are enclosed, layered, and fading—trapped within shifting boundaries that echo the lived experience of those navigating systems that withhold support. It is about what happens when care is withdrawn and bureaucracy becomes impersonal, abstract, and ultimately brutal.
Credits
Co-directed and produced by Sarah Gomes Harris and Kate Jessop
Created by: Yuxin Sun, Yu Sun, Scott Coello, Kate Jessop, Kim Noce, Anna Pereira, Maria Audrey Finn, Occulta Dama, Ciara Kerr, Sam Bonser, Chris Sav, Tom Sears, Noah Greenhalgh, José Grané, Quirkyjoe, Luka Lee, Natasha Staunton, Sarah Gomes Harris
Music by Wolfgang Dubieniec
Sound Design by Ben Hudson
Edited by Kate Jesso
Standing in the Way of Control: Relinquishing Extractivist Fashion Design
No full textFrom Balenciaga’s seminal sari dress from the 1960s celebrated for its innovation, despite decontextualising many of the sari’s more meaningful elements to recent efforts by fashion houses such as Ralph Lauren to ‘collaborate’ with Indigenous designers, coloniality continues to control fashion design. Decolonial scholars stress the significant role that coloniality thinking plays in shaping dominant epistemologies, pointing to extractivist thinking, an approach that separates resources from their original contexts. Extractivist approaches ignore modernity’s roots in decontextualising knowledge systems from their sources; in a fashion context, this extractivist process then commodifies decontextualised fashion knowledges and embeds them with exchange value. Colonial thinking in fashion epistemologies have been used to control and manage subaltern cultures by re-working them into capitalist, heteronormative and elite fashion cultures of the Global North: how might a non-extractive and less controlling approach in fashion contribute towards more justice-oriented fashion narratives? To resist this dominant design process in fashion, this talk discusses alternative liberatory fashion approaches rooted in anti- racist, non-elitist, and non-heteronormative concepts by discussing a community workshop London Unstitched in which the participants shaped new fashion epistemologies and a social justice oriented sewing group that focuses on using design to highlight injustice
Interface design and interaction optimization for spatial computing 3D content creation and immersive environment generation using Apple Vision Pro
Full text linkTraditional 3D content creation paradigms present significant barriers to meaningful creative expression in XR environments, limiting designers’ ability to iterate fluidly between conceptual thinking and spatial implementation. Current tools often disconnect the designer’s creative thought process from the immersive context where their work will be experienced, creating a gap between design intention and spatial realization. This disconnect particularly impacts the iterative cycles fundamental to effective design thinking, where creators need to rapidly externalize, test, and refine concepts within their intended spatial context. This research addresses the need for more intuitive, context-aware creation systems that support the iterative nature of creative cognition in immersive environments. We developed Dream Space, a spatial computing system that bridges this gap by enabling designers to think, create, and iterate directly within XR contexts. The system leverages generative AI for rapid prototyping of 3D content and environments, allowing designers to externalize and test creative concepts without breaking their cognitive flow. Through multimodal interaction design utilizing Vision Pro’s spatial computing capabilities, creators can manipulate virtual artifacts through natural gestures and gaze, supporting the fluid iteration cycles characteristic of established design thinking frameworks. A mixed-methods evaluation with 20 participants from diverse creative backgrounds demonstrated that spatial computing-based creation paradigms significantly reduce cognitive load in the design process. The system enabled even novice users to complete complex creative tasks within 20-30 minutes, with real-time feedback mechanisms supporting rapid iteration between ideation and implementation. Participants reported enhanced creative flow and reduced technical barriers compared to traditional 3D creation tools. This research contributes to understanding how XR interfaces can better support creative cognition and iterative design processes, offering insights for developing tools that enhance rather than hinder the natural flow of creative thinking in immersive environments
What makes local retailers commit to multinational brands: Evidence from multinational brand-retailer dyads in emerging markets
No full textThis study advances our understanding of how multinational enterprises (MNEs) can foster local retailer commitment in emerging markets. Using a dyadic dataset of 153 brand-retailer pairs in China's B2B consumer electronics sector, we tested a conceptual framework examining how relationship strength, mutual knowledge acquisition, and knowledge asymmetries affect retailers' commitment to MNE brands. The findings confirm that strong brand-retailer relationships, brand knowledge acquired by retailers, and retailer knowledge acquired by brands all significantly enhance retailer commitment. Furthermore, the results support the moderating role of mutual knowledge exchange and confirm that knowledge asymmetries significantly shape commitment levels: a brand's knowledge advantage increases retailer commitment, while a retailer's knowledge advantage reduces it. This study thus enriches the B2B and international marketing literatures by showing that managing retailer commitment in emerging markets is not just about building strong relationships, but about strategically leveraging and aligning knowledge resources, both symmetrically and asymmetrically, within interdependent channel structures