Leeds Arts University Repository
Not a member yet
463 research outputs found
Sort by
After the Jugness of the Jug: a drawing to make sculpture from. Method: plan & elevation with a touch of embodied dreaming thrown in
No full textThe output is a drawing by Gaffney made using graphite and charcoal on paper.
Research Process: 'After The Jugness of the Jug' was made using plan and elevation drawing methods. Measurement was used to explore the relationships between surfaces, gaps and edges and was the process by which the material world was observed whilst stripping away the subject matter of the things looked at. Use of drawing systems enabled the artist to process their observations whilst making graphic marks on a paper surface, and turn touch into a register of thought through the conflation of mental and somatic activity.
Research Insights: The resulting drawing is an example of what a drawing system can offer an artist, that is, such methods enable holding information, both technical and psychological, for sourcing at another time.
Dissemination: The drawing was shortlisted for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2021 and subsequently exhibited at Trinity Buoy Wharf (London, 18 November – 5 December 2021), Drawing Projects UK (Trowbridge, 8 January – 5 March 2022), and Cooper Gallery (Dundee, 19 March – 16 April 2022). There was also a book of artworks selected for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing prize 2021 published through Drawing Projects UK which features Gaffney’s drawing
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Full text linkThe output is a comicbook by Penman and Reppion, created as an accessible introduction to the Middle English medieval poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight". The comic includes an essay to encourage further reading. Penman was the illustrator and designer for this project, Reppion was the writer and translated the poem into a comic script.
Research Process: Told and retold, re-translated, and re-imagined through the centuries, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was originally written in Middle English, circa 1350 CE, by an unnamed author.
In order to create this comicbook adaptation, Penman and Reppion undertook research into contemporary graphic novel storytelling and British medieval-period artwork, with emphasis on looking at ways in which the visual tropes of medieval artwork could be translated into a graphic storytelling format. The resulting artefact sits on the boundary of the two distinctly separate styles, creating a hybrid of the two aesthetics.
Research Insights: Through this research Penman and Reppion have contributed to the field of graphic storytelling by demonstrating a new way of presenting British mythology that reflects the spirit and themes of the original text whilst being engaging to a modern audience.
Dissemination: The work was disseminated on 13th November 2021 at the Thoughtbubble Comic Convention 2021 as well as through online stores
A Piece of Turf
Full text linkA Piece of Turf is a collaborative exhibition of drawings and text by illustrator Mills and writer Karol.
Research Process: the research used an ecological and interdependent view of the world, and drawing from Haraway's (2016) notion of Staying with the Trouble to explore potential modes of accessing natural phenomena. Through intensive, empathetic study of a small patch of ground, the research aimed to notice the interactions and illuminate their significance through drawing, printmaking and prose.
Research Insights: the research highlighted potential strategies and methods for illustrators to communicate complex, messy, interconnected and seemingly chaotic ecologies in a non-reductive manner. The methods utilised, both practical and theoretical, help to embed traits of curiosity, wonder and specificity into the environment of illustration-education. The research was exhibited as a collection of chinagraph drawings, monoprints and fragmented prose, the exhibition highlights and celebrates the interdependence and knotted existence present within a, seemingly, insignificant patch of ground. By looking closer and zooming into the details it is possible to recognise the abundance of life, death and exchange of a piece of turf that holds the world.
Dissemination: The work was exhibited at Yorkshire Artspace at Exchange Space Studios in Sheffield from 20 May – 19 June 2021
Twists & Loops: Illustrating Ecologically
No full textThe output is an artefact by Mills, which aims to seek a more ecological, tentacular view of illustration practice, situating relationships and interactions between things at the centre.
Research Process: using an ecological and interdependent view of the world around us, the research process drew from Haraway's (2016) notion of Staying with the Trouble to explore potential modes of accessing natural phenomena. Through intensive, empathetic study of a small patch of ground, the research aimed to notice the interactions and illuminate their significance through drawing and printmaking. Illustration, as a communicative practice, emphasises the importance of getting a point across, to make things clear, to illuminate. Illustrators can be defined as communicators who see the world through a lens of intense detail (Moloney, 2015).
Research Insights: This research highlighted potential strategies and methods for illustrators to communicate complex, messy, interconnected and seemingly chaotic ecologies in a non-reductive manner. The methods utilised, both practical and theoretical, help to embed traits of curiosity, wonder and specificity into the environment of illustration-education.
Dissemination: the research was disseminated on the 11 February 2021 in the form of a research poster at the 11th Illustration Research Symposium at Kingston University
Three Graves
No full textThe output is a creative work, a novel called Three Graves. Research for the novel was that of a traditional literary biography or academic monograph. I researched the life and work of Anthony Burgess, particularly his fiction on the lives of other writers (Nothing Like the Sun, about William Shakespeare, for instance), spent time researching in the Burgess archive at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, and travelled to important places in his personal and creative life (most relevantly, Kuala Kangsar in Malaysia).The project aimed to explore how a work of fiction could offer more of a sense of the literary figure than a traditional literary biography.
The project was also developed in response to Hans Renders’ contention that ‘the misunderstanding behind almost every biography is that a theoretical basic assumption would not be necessary for a biographer’ (Ed. Renders & De Haan, 2014, p.136). The theoretical basis I employed was Bakhtin’s theory of Dialogism. The book seeks to add to a literary dialogue Burgee evokes in his own writing, as well as an internal dialogue, between four narrator focussed characters. The novel, Three Graves, was published by Bluemoose Books in September 2021
Echo Chambers
No full text‘Echo Chambers’ is a short digital animation by Dale, with audio by John Unwin. Dale's head, seemingly impaled on a spike, is gradually tapped into the ground by an invisible force.
Research process: The work reflects the artist’s longstanding interest in the physical effects of ideology – in this case, visualising the notion of the ‘echo chamber’ (social or political polarisation) as a violence upon the body – as well as a continuing interest in where performance might be hosted. It is part of an on-going collaboration with Prof. Adam Smyth exploring the visualisation of a grangerised edition of Ovid’s Art of Love (1813).
Research insights: The work extended the artist’s practical knowledge through this first time use of animation, as well as exploring an alternative mode of performance through which movement was established via the editing process, rather than physical movement.
Dissemination: The work was commissioned and exhibited as part of the group exhibition ‘Remote Work’ at The Grundy, Blackpool, 27 March – 19 June 2021. It has been acquired for The Grundy’s collection
Re-touched
No full textRe-touched is a collaborative project by collage artist Eyre and fashion photographer Ellis. Both artists share an interest in the female body, particularly the notion of pleasure in display and gaze between women and the body. The body of work that forms ‘Re-touched’ combines photographic and collage methods in order to embody a sense of sensuality through the opening up and enfolding of the female form, on set and through the process of collage. The artists position their work within a framework of feminist theory that questions the binary
thinking around the gaze. They draw on the writing of Laura U. Marks to bring a haptic quality to their photographic and collage interventions to the image, and
in inviting the viewer to be touched by their images. Through this series of photographic collages, they have established a visual and tactile approach that utilizes
the body, is collaborative and re-figures the power structures between model, photographer and viewer. Their images offer a way of rethinking and reshaping representations of the female nude
Women’s photography and the American Civil War: The case of Elizabeth Beachbard, ambrotypist
Full text linkDespite recent feminist scholarship on women’s roles in the American Civil War (1861–65), their photographic participation remains poorly understood. As a result, women’s wartime entrepreneurialism has not been recognised, and neither has their agency in shaping the image economy and visual history of a nation-defining conflict. This article presents the first dedicated research on Elizabeth Beachbard, an elusive figure who ran an ambrotype portrait business in Louisiana during the conflict. This article charts her trajectory from downtown New Orleans to a military camp in rural Louisiana where she photographed soldiers during the summer of 1861 until her death only months later. I consider the gendered constraints on women’s photography of the epoch and the methodological challenges for researching female photographers, examining the historical context for women’s entrepreneurialism and the circumstances that led to Beachbard’s business model. As well as analysing her practice as a female operator in a military camp, this article presents new evidence for an ambrotype hitherto unattributed to Beachbard, which constitutes only the third extant example of her work. I contend that Beachbard should be seen as a pioneering figure in the history of women’s photography, and might be considered America’s first identifiable female photographer of war
Urinary Leash
Full text linkThe output is a collaborative participatory public performance of Paula Chambers’ Urinary Leash. The piece was performed by six women including Chambers herself. Other performers include: Tanja Ostojić, Mad Kate, Hieu Hanh Hoanh Tran, Jelena Dinić, Lidija Antonović.
Research Process: Urinary Leash is a performance work about access to women’s public toilets. The research process included extensive primary research into the accessibility of public toilets across the UK and in Belgrade during the performance project including documentation of all women’s public toilet facilities accessed during the project.
Research Insights: As an older woman, Paula Chambers is currently researching how the material culture of femininity is accessed through a range of embodied performance and sculptural strategies, and how these change in relation to the aging female body.
Dissemination: this public performance of Chambers’ Urinary Leash took place in Pioneer’s Park, Belgrade as part of a two-day workshop project led by Tanja Ostojić as part of the Mis(s)placed Women? exhibition.
The whole Belgrade iteration of the Mis(s)placed Women? project including documentation of Urinary Leash is available in the form of a catalogue which is available in a paper-based format as a book, and as an open access free downloadable document on Academia.edu
From Wooden Boards to Flip Flops: Depictions of Dining on Instagram
Full text linkThe output is creative project comprising of a short web article and images curated from the Instagram accounts of M&S food, Jamie Oliver, and We Want Plates.
Research process: This article explores how the concept of authenticity is mediated through popular food images on Instagram, offering a semiotic reading of photographs curated from various Instagram accounts, utilising images from professional and amateur image makers. The article explores the influence and scope of these images, drawing conclusions about the cyclical and participatory nature of image production on social media, and the relationship between visual myth-making and the perception of authenticity.
Research insights: In a social media age, we are no longer passive consumers of the aspirational image; we are content creators who participate in myth-making. This project continues my research into how food and dining are visually represented in popular culture, and the idealisation of domestic and social life. Where previous projects have focussed on cookbooks as the vehicle for communicating these images, this project focusses on social media as the platform.
Dissemination: The article was published by InMedia Res on 24th Sept 2021, as part of their ‘Authenticity’ series