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Ethylcellulose oleogels as innovative sunscreen formulas: an exploration using rheology and texture analysis
Get PDFEthylcellulose (EC) structures oils into oleogels whose properties depend on the ingredients used. This work aimed to evaluate emollients and the addition of Sorbitan Stearate (SMS) on the physical properties of EC oleogels and their sunscreen application. Oleogels were tested via shear rate sweep and oscillatory stress sweep. Their textural properties were also tested. Stable, shear-thinning oleogels were obtained, where increasing oil mixture complexity resulted in higher viscosity, complex modulus and yield stress. However, EC/SMS oleogels were identical in viscosity, had an increased yield stress and reduced complex modulus and phase angle. UV filters increased yield stress, but the complex modulus remained dependent on SMS. The firmness, spreadability and stickiness of tested oleogels was overall similar. Oil composition affects rheological properties, however, SMS networks appear to dominate over EC networks, as seen by the similar viscosity, yield stress and phase angle among EC/SMS oleogels. The physical properties of EC and EC/SMS oleogels have shown great potential in sunscreen applications. Hansen solubility parameters could predict EC-oil compatibility and the effect of the cooling procedure on physical EC oleogel properties should be explored in future research
SHAPE – body, fashion, identity
No full textThis exhibition presents examples of fashion and visual art practice that reflects on contemporary views of the body, beauty ideals and identity and inspired by global discussions around cosmetic surgery, cultural identity, gender roles and the impact of technology on our self-image.
Artworks on display push the boundaries of the body exploring how forms shape identity and how dressing is assembled in the real world but also virtually with the help of artificial intelligence and digital fashion.
Presented is 'Body Architecture - Collective Wear' a sculpture by Lucy Orta which interrogates the body as a communal entity expressed through wearable shelter-like forms with multiple arm and leg extensions
Exploring the Intellectual Dimensions of Fiction Filmmaking: Why Fiction Filmmaking Matters
Get PDFThis seminar will explore the intellectual, collaborative, and creative dimensions of fiction filmmaking, positioning it as both a practice and an academic pursuit. Filmmaker, researcher, and educator Lee-Jane will explore fiction filmmaking as practice-led research, using her film About the Night as a case study. Drawing on Barbara Bolt’s (2004) work on creative arts practice, she will discuss how a focus on the final artefact, rather than the practice, creates a gap in understanding film as a dynamic process. Filmmaking is often viewed as a kind of alchemy—a fusion of innate talent, craft skill, and serendipitous moments. However, this mystique is unhelpful it contributes to the 'cult of the director,' keeps creative ‘workers’ in their place, and overshadows the collaborative efforts of those diligently working to complete a film.
Also, in this seminar Lee-Jane will consider how film has the potential for infinite creative possibilities and yet seems ever more to favour formulaic storytelling. Constraints should never be a barrier to creative work, with limitations creativity can thrive, as Rod Stoneman (2012) argues, benefiting from uncertainty, chance, and risk. Stoneman argues that filmmakers need the freedom to engage in what he terms "dangerous creation," embracing uncertainty and risk-taking—a process that, while often at odds with the priorities of funders is crucial for fostering imaginative and radical filmmaking. There has always been a risk averse culture in filmmaking with so much financial outlay required, so does this mean diverse and innovative filmmaking has no place, which in turn raises important considerations for educators, particularly if we are interested in teaching the changemakers of tomorrow
Activist Research Methods
No full textA presentation on 'Activist Research' as part of seminar 'Activist Research: Methods Beyond Academia', which brought together sociologists and activist groups to discuss how researchers in academia may best support grassroots campaigns.
The seminar commenced with presentations and a discussion between activist/practitioners Leah Cowan and Brian Dikoff, followed by a practice-based workshop on research methods and ended with a group discussion facilitated by Practice Matters. Through dialogue among institutional researchers who work with activists and activists who research, we explored possibilities for the exchange of training, knowledge and expertise, as well as other means of centring activist research and opening up institutional resources to grassroots organisations.
'Activist Research: Methods Beyond Academia' was a one-day in-person event at The Feminist Library, London in October 2024. Seminar participants included researchers who wished to work with activists, and activists seeking to improve their research methods skills
Listening for Traces: Conflict, Sound and Memory
No full textCurated by Cathy Lane for Rizq Art Initiative, Abu Dhabi, this experimental sound art exhibition tuning into the echoes of history to explore the enduring impact of conflict . The works from the 15 artists in this exhibition explore not only the sounds of war or protests themselves, but also help us listen to the sonic reverberations of conflicts transmitted through time and space and inscribed in bodies and landscapes. Harnessing the unique power of sound they navigate the temporal reverberations of our collective posts, revealing how they shape our presents
Another Intercultural Context: Australian universities and indigenising the curriculum
No full textIn Australia, what is meant by “indigenising the curriculum”? Broadly, it’s about bringing the perspectives, traditional knowledges and processes of Aboriginal cultures into mainstream education: not just as an adjunct, but embedded. This session offers a snapshot of the why, what and how of indigenisation – and invites you to compare and contrast with our (more familiar) notion of decolonising. What might we learn from the Australian approach, and how might this be adapted in our own practices?
Session content
This session offers a fresh perspective on intercultural/ decolonising practices in Higher Education. It presents new possibilities, getting us thinking about what may or may not work in our UAL context – and why. Participants will gain from this talk and from the discussion that follows:
• an awareness of the sociopolitical context and background of the indigenisation programmes in Australian universities
• an understanding of the most salient Aboriginal perspectives and ways of being and doing, which have been found to be at odds with mainstream education. This includes the vital role of storytelling, traditional knowledge, use of the non-verbal (symbols and images), a profound connection with the land, and ‘the pedagogy of love’
• an outline of some initiatives which have taken place, particularly at RMIT University in Melbourne
• the handling of culturally sensitive issues
• insights into the pedagogical, practical and psychological obstacles when attempting to implement an indigenisation programme (or indeed, other kinds of decolonisation programme)
• how such obstacles can be addressed in a respectful manner
• an enhanced awareness of how ‘decolonisation’ can mean different things and be approached in different ways, depending on geographical, historical or other contextual factors
• a reflective discussion of where the similarities and differences lie, when compared with a UK (or specifically UAL, and/or subject-specific) context
• possible inspiration for applying/ adapting some of the approaches or philosophies outlined, in one’s own pedagogical practice.
The information, insights, quotes and source links I share in this session come largely from my conversations with the Office of Indigenous Education, Research and Engagement at RMIT – as well as my interactions with the ‘Indigenising University Mathematics’ community in Australia
A Non-Violent Explosion In The Taxonomic Schloss (Towards A Neo-Baroque)
Get PDF4,500 words essay/book chapter for Sascha Mikloweit. Mikloweit, S., ed., 2024. in 'Transpositional Geologies'. Berlin: Kerber Verlag: September 2024
(edited book chapter
A case study into critical practice for fashion publishing: Taking an editorial position with Address
No full textThis research proposes a set of editorial approaches towards critical perspectives on fashion by addressing the research question: how does criticality manifest in a publication that operates in the commercial field of fashion publishing? This is addressed through a practice-led approach (Candy, 2006, 3) whereby Address - journal for fashion criticism, which existed as an independent print and digital platform between 2010 - 2019, was used as a site for developing editorial practice. During the course of running Address, 162 written and visual pieces were published. This body of content, along with the reflective writing undertaken during the course of this project and the documentation collected about the process, informed the results of the research project.
This research emerged from the momentum that existed in the independent publishing scene in the UK, the absence of English language publications taking a critical perspective on fashion, and the ‘crisis discourse’ (McWhirter, 2016, 21) that was taking place in fashion media about lack of criticality in the early 2010s. Due to the absence of field-specific frameworks to understand critical practice in the context of fashion publishing, the research is underpinned by a contextual review into how critical practice is understood in other creative fields such as industrial and fashion design. Drawing on this research, critical practice is defined as a relational position challenging field-specific orthodoxy such as dominant practices, value systems, prevailing aesthetics, and the role of commerce that governs a field. This is the position that was taken in developing Address.
Framed through Bourdieu’s notion of the field as a ‘structured space of positions’ (1995b, 72), whereby each position is reliant on the others who occupy the field, Address was located as an independent publication in the autonomous end of the field, as a counter-hegemonic critique towards the dominant end of fashion publishing epitomised by marquee titles such as Vogue. In a field where the market-logic is created by and in the service of the mainstream, distancing became the main editorial strategy for creating a negative relation and finding a space for autonomy through both the form and the content of Address. It was in this space where criticality as a relational position emerged against affirmative practices
Review: Glasgow International 2024
Get PDFA review of the 2024 edition of the Glasgow International art biennale focussing on moving image
