Leeds Arts University Repository (CREST)
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446 research outputs found
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Seeding art currency
No full textThe output is a curatorial project, collaborating with East Street Arts (Patrick Studios). It was informed by a literature review which found that rethinking curation methods and practices is necessary to suit the current social mediascape and political economic climate. ‘Seeding Art Currency’ (SAC) took place in Art Hostel (16 October–30 November 2018), a member of the Worldpackers network and a social enterprise run by ESA. Research process: The project employed a mixed-method, mostly qualitative approach, including action research, case-study and discourse analysis. The curation is further scrutinised through analysing participation and blended models provided by curators and educationalists Simon (2010) Graham (2010) and Salmon (2004). Action research is employed through a reflective log throughout. Discourse analysis took the form of coding statements posted by citizens (from 13 countries) onto the SAC (Google map). Language was coded into two types: ‘creative’ and ‘relationships.’ Research insights: The key contribution of the ‘SAC’ project is a new model of blended curation practice – emerging from the intersection of techniques from Education, Art and Curation and the Communications sectors. Through discourse analysis (of the creative code) a pattern of ‘shifts in perception’ emerges, which infers that knowledge-construction was taking place. According to Pringle (2013), cognitive shifts are precisely what ‘quality’ curation does. Googlemaps was limiting, therefore a second project will employ further e-learning techniques for collective-knowledge construction. Dissemination occurred through a paper ‘Seeding Art Currency,’ International Journal of Art and Design Conference, Creating Spaces: Inclusivity, ethics and participation in art and design education, 22 - 23 February 2019. Each element of the events programme was shared through Art Hostel Blog https://arthostel.org.uk/2018/11/26/seeding-a-sensuous-society-with-gry-worre-hallberg/ ESA e-metrics: -Engagement with posts-1,470; -Reach of posts-56,578; -1,018 web visits; -205 expressed interest in the Facebook events. The project appears on the Sisters Hope Academy: https://sistershope.dk/articles-references/
Not really understanding stuff: A reptile reliquary
No full textThe output is an artefact, a sculptural crocodile called ‘Not Really Understanding Stuff: A Reptile Reliquary’. Research process: The composition is made from heavily embellished textures and written text. Part of the form is made from found objects such as a deflated blow up doll occupying the crocodile’s mouth, axle stands acting as a plinth. Gruesome found imagery from the internet is collaged onto the surface, contrasting with the patterned skin. Research insights: The piece responds to the exhibition’s theme, focusing on the conditions of modern man from a political, sexual and violent perspective. At first, the crocodile appears to be a decorative, visual feast. But at the same time, it reveals dark imagery that seeks to remind the viewed of the ways in which society has become desensitised to the representations of violence. Dissemination: The artefact was disseminated as part of The Vagaries and Misconceptions of the Modern Man at Vane Gallery, 19th January – 24th February 2018
‘Threshold: for Solo Timpani, Two Percussion and Orchestra’
No full text‘Threshold’ was a commissioning project between Joseph Pereira (Composer and Principal Timpanist: Los Angeles Philharmonic), Maraca2 Percussion Duo (Timothy Palmer, Jason Huxtable), the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and Gustavo Dudamel (Music & Artistic Director, Los Angeles Philharmonic) with generous support from Marcia and Gary Hollander. Research process: The piece received its World Premiere on January 25th 2018 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (Cond. Gustavo Dudamel) with subsequent performances on January 26th, January 27th (The Granada Theatre, Santa Barbara) and January 28th. ‘Threshold’ received its Asian Premiere on 3rd May 2019 at the Esplanade Concert Hall with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (Cond. Pascal Rophé). Research insights: ‘Threshold’ contributes to the Percussive/Orchestral repertoire in a number of ways. Percussive Forces: Threshold is unique as a concerto for Timpani and Percussion Duo, providing new programming opportunities for percussionists and orchestras. Spatialization: The composition explores techniques of spatialization through evolving/transitioning staging. ‘Where’ the sound is produced takes new primacy as a compositional device. Extended Techniques and Instrumentation: The composition extends instrumental possibilities through reimagination of found sounds (e.g. pitched ceramic tiles) and instrumental fusions (e.g. gongs on timpani, sleigh bells inside temple bowl). A consistent and thorough use of extended techniques applied to all the instruments of the Orchestra contribute to a ‘new’ sound world and textural/timbral combinations. Dissemination: The work was disseminated via a number of performances
Mature students, transformation and transition
No full textThe purpose of this article is to argue for a transformative education that acknowledges and values the capacities of mature students; where higher education institutions reflect on their own assumptions and practices in order to become more inclusive and open to difference.
The stories told by Eliza, a mature student, are analysed through narrative inquiry; this approach uses narrative as a means of capturing and analysing experience. In this case, Eliza’s stories about transition and transformation were collected over three years. Eliza made the transition from her Access to HE course to a degree programme in textiles. She was crossing a boundary between further and higher education, a time which could impact positively or negatively on her future achievements. The conclusions drawn from this study are not easily turned into generalisations or ‘truths’ as they are contingent on the contexts in which the narratives were produced. Narrative is a representation of experience which is mediated by the social and cultural positions of the narrators and their audiences.
This study found that Eliza was confronted by many difficulties and misunderstandings around time management, pedagogy and assessment. Poor communication between Eliza and her tutors led to a growing frustration resulting in her considering leaving the course. Eliza’s institution sometimes seemed inflexible and was unable to respond effectively to her needs as a part-time student.
The implications for educators are that they should think about strategies for adapting to a diverse student body.
The previous experiences and backgrounds of ‘newcomers’ should be celebrated rather than being perceived as ‘issues’ that need to be fixed. In other words, when ‘non-traditional’ students move through the stages of their education, their learning contexts may also need to be transformed
Consumed: stilled lives - Ffotogallery
No full textConsumed: Stilled Lives plays with the traditional concept of still-life painting, which grew in popularity in the 16th and 17th centuries. Often featuring silver plates, ornate glassware and expensive foodstuffs such as shellfish and exotic fruit, still life paintings became a fashionable way for the Dutch and Flemish to illustrate their wealth. When interpreted using emblematic symbolism the paintings represent a conflicting relation with material wealth. In response to this reading Woolley produces still-life objects that suggest contradictory relationships to contemporary consumer culture. Drawing on both definitions of the term ‘consume’ (to ingest and to purchase) she uses food still-life photography to represent different characters and positions in relation to capitalist society. What we eat and how we eat are symbols of our wider consumer habits. We are what we consume
Boat at sea
No full textThe output is an artefact, a hand-drawn animation produced in response to conversations with migrants that had had to travel across the Mediterranean. Research process: The research extends from Barker making drawings in his local community, having conversations with the people he met on the streets as he did so. In this case, the drawings Barker had previously made of a tower block in Leeds that migrants now occupy, were a focal point around which stories were told to him. The drawings were based on the narratives of the terrible hardships suffered as people struggled to find their way to Leeds. These were turned into a short-animated film. Research insights: Barker’s research is a practical exploration as to how the elements of narrative are first of all refined into significant images through drawing and how these images can be used within various appropriate visual arts practices, including ceramics, animation, large scale allegorical drawing, textiles and printmaking. It allows Barker to explore the contemporary relevance of allegory within fine art practice. It also provides an avenue for contemporary political and social issues to become part of an ongoing dialogue, between both art practitioners and wider audiences, on the possible role of art as a means of facilitating political and social awareness within a poetic framework. Dissemination: The animation was selected for and exhibited at the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, Trinity Buoy Wharf, London and touring exhibition. 29 September 2018 – 6 July 2019
Kerrang! magazine and the representation of heavy metal masculinities (1981–95)
No full textMetal magazines have been shown to play a significant role in communicating and shaping heavy metal culture. And, since the masculinist nature of heavy metal is perhaps its most discussed and agreed upon feature, scholars have argued that heavy metal magazines also reproduce masculine hegemony. Focusing on cover images from Kerrang! magazine, this study utilizes a mixed methods approach to examine how heavy metal masculinities are represented over an extended number of issues (from 1981 to 1995). Utilizing existing scholarship on heavy metal magazines and drawing on celebrity identification theory, I argue that many of the prevailing studies that discuss heavy metal masculinities are essentially flawed in their reliance upon particular traits. Instead I show the ways that media images can come to both reproduce and resist masculine gender norms in the context of heavy metal culture. By considering how representations are formed over an extended period and in relation to particular heavy metal icons, I show that certain arguments and assumptions about masculinity and male privilege in heavy metal culture are oversimplified
Critical clickbait: artist interventions in commercial visual culture
No full textIn my research I explore the relation between people and objects, and the impact that images have as producers and disseminators of social values. I examine commodity packaging and adverts to determine the ideologies they support and to understand how they shape the identity of the consumer. To intervene in this process, I produce site-specific art works for commercial advertising spaces on billboards and social networking sites. This article will present a selection of artworks that aim to visualize the how consumer culture informs and influences identities and gendered behaviours
You and I are discontinuous beings
No full text'You and I are discontinuous beings’ was an exhibition designed to celebrate the launch of the book, ‘Collective and Collaborative drawing in contemporary practice’. The exhibition was an opportunity to exhibit two large allegorical drawings that were also used as illustrations to Chapter 8 of the book ‘Drawing as a tool for shaping community experience into collective allegory’. The book, ‘Collective and Collaborative drawing in contemporary practice’, also used a detail from one of Barker's other drawings as the illustration for the front cover. The two drawings exhibited demonstrate an important aspect of Barker's practice’s process and that is the development of complex allegorical images that are designed to explore the movement from everyday encounters towards the construction of fabled or mythic images that have the ability to communicate beyond the local community from within which they emerge. By exhibiting alongside a book launch, the audience was able to contextualise the images and answer questions as to how the process of their making emerged from various types of approaches to drawing within a specific community
From the lounge
No full textThe output is an artefact, a book of short horror fiction commissioned by Deptford X Contemporary Art Festival 2018. Steans was nominated for the commission by a
panel of experts. Research process: Steans writes fiction as part of an intermedia and interdisciplinary art practice, and his ambition for 'From the Lounge' was threefold: (i) collect some of his writing from the last few years in an accessible package that would outlive the festival; (ii) directly represent his interest in genre horror; and (iii) explore the blurring of fiction and reality as artistic method, by writing around the conditions and context of Deptford, the festival, and the commission itself. Research insights: From the Lounge embodies conceptual themes and artistic methods that underpin Steans' practice-led research. Firstly, the book is an expression of 'realist horror' (Freeland 1995); a definition originally derived from film studies that is a key reference in Steans' doctoral research. Secondly, a blurring of fiction and reality is enacted by the book's folding of real-world referents into its fiction, and its fictionalisation of real-world contexts and locations; a strategy consonant with Burrows and O'Sullivan's concept of 'fictioning' (2017; 2019). Thirdly, it is simultaneously a work of contemporary art and of literature, a dual designation Steans attributes to the author-function (Foucault 1977) of the contemporary artist. Finally, the book typifies Steans' approach to genre by playfully evoking generalized reader expectations of experimental literature and horror, thus engaging in Frow's 'relational economy' (2015) of genres. Dissemination: Several stories collected in From the Lounge were adapted from prior public presentations/works at exhibitions/events, including: Mantel, Copperfield Gallery, London, 2018; MAMO 3: The Middle Ages in the Modern World, University of Manchester, 2017; Library Interventions: Moving Knowledge, Leeds Arts University, 2018; Radiophrenia Festival, Glasgow, 2016; Gruesome FX, Triangle Arts Association, Brooklyn, 2018