Leeds Arts University Repository
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463 research outputs found
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Photos celebrating the north of England’s trans and non-binary communities
No full textThis output is a creative project using fashion photography to explore the visibility of young queer, trans, and gender-non-conforming individuals in the north. Hutchinson originated and project-managed, scouting and photographing the subjects in their own homes. Hutchinson collaborated with writer/editor Tori West, and Ashleigh Kane, Arts & Culture Editor, whom prepared the interviews. Research Process: Hutchinson undertook this project in order to discover and document the significant issues this cohort experience today, primarily discrimination, moderation and transphobic attitudes. Hutchinson also explored the finer substrate of BAME trans people in the north in order to gain insight into this often unrepresented niche of the LGBTQ community. Following a call on Instagram, a diverse range of subjects were selected. The subjects were briefed in detail on the purpose of the project. Research Insights: This process educated and informed readers who were previously unaware of such issues. Feedback from peers reinforced the sense of gratitude for giving greater visibility to the subjects. She was able to partake in discursive and engaging conversations which addressed and unpicked many preconceived ideas relating to sexuality, surgery and general comportment in the presence of trans and non-binary persons. The project moved towards a fuller understanding of the lived experience; daily challenges faced, prejudice and direct transphobia – under-reported in mainstream media. The manner in which transition affects people both physically, societally and psychologically has helped expand Hutchinson’s understanding of the subject matter and therefore the manner in which she is able to frame the subjects, specifically allowing subjects to dictate how they were represented, within their own space. Dissemination: Hutchinson’s project was published via Dazed & Confused magazine’s online platform and their social media accounts in June 2019. The Instagram account has 1.4 million followers
What is the role of critical thinking in vocational Further Education? A practitioner’s point of view.
Get PDFCritical thinking (CT) is a phrase we hear a lot about in Further Education (FE). What is it, is it critical and how can vocational students benefit from it? As a practitioners I am often asked to work with governmental and educational must haves, such as stretch and challenge, problem solving and transferrable skills as well as working to stipulations from awarding bodies and Ofsted specifications. This project focuses on critical thinking (CT) skills and whether it can be taught as Brown (1998) and Elder and Paul (2007) advise or can we only create situations to support its development as Lipman (2003) suggests. CT introduced in the form of The Diary Project and Book Club, was open to lecturers, workshop technicians and students in an effort to develop flattened hierarchy and a community of inquiry. Story and connection through CT driven narratives and texts have been a transformative element in this research project. Voices not often heard in research from the FE sector tell their own tale
A case study of collaborative practice: working to promote cross-curricular thinking and making within schools.
Get PDFWithin the changing landscape of secondary education, the role of making and creative thinking is increasingly marginalised within the curriculum. As a result, we are seeing an emerging skills shortage for those contemplating studying not just fashion and textiles or other creative disciplines but also courses that value the ability to work creatively and blend a mix of attributes at a higher level.
The case study outlined in this short paper, documents a project undertaken as part of the Crafts Council’s (2017) Make Your Future initiative which looks to partner schools, art teachers, makers and higher education institutes, with the aim of promoting craft and making to the next generation. The project saw Wadkin and Pratt collaborate with a selection of key stage 3 students across two schools, with the aim of encouraging greater take up of Textiles and Fashion as a GCSE subject, helping to develop essential skills for creative thinking and improving motor skills in relation to making. Drawing upon the textile heritage of the North of England, United Kingdom (UK), students developed contemporary fashion print outcomes that reinterpreted traditional woven textile techniques for the sportswear market. The focus was on improving hand skills through analogue design methods, while linking with technology, science and mathematical concepts to further cross-disciplinary thinking. In addition, key stage 3 students involved with the project were introduced to roles within textiles and fashion not currently explored within the curriculum. The project culminated in a collaborative exhibition at Leeds Arts University, celebrating the work produced across a number of institutes involved in similar projects across the region. As a result of this project, participants were given the opportunity to develop and explore competences required within the fashion and textile industries thus promoting the need for universities to work with schools in order to protect creative education, foster essential skills and inspire the next generation of designers and creative thinkers
Modern nature building wrap
Get PDFIn 2019 Woolley was commissioned by The Hepworth Wakefield and Wakefield Council to produce a building wrap design in response to the Modern Nature exhibition at The Hepworth. Woolley worked with members of the local community, including The Hepworth’s Art Social group (for young people not in education, employment or training) and students from Wakefield Adult Education centre, to produce a design that references the history and function of the historic Upper Mill building and the neighbouring community garden. Raymond Williams notes that, since the agricultural and industrial revolutions in the 18th and 19th centuries, nature has been consumed as a source of raw materials and a form of leisure. He writes: ‘[t]here is more similarity than we usually recognise between the industrial entrepreneur and the landscape gardener, each altering nature to a consumable form’ and he goes on to observe that the landowner who benefitted from the landscaper’s work was also often a mill or factory owner (Culture and Materialism, 1980, p. 81). The blurred distinction between nature and industry is explored in the Modern Nature exhibition, using photographs that show how urban and rural landscapes merge. Bringing together both aspects of ‘consumable nature’ described by Williams and the merged landscapes of the Modern Nature exhibition, Woolley worked with local communities to produce a 2-D design that references the history and industrial function of the location. Through the construction of flower, corn and barley sculptures made out of recycled material such as plastic bags and cardboard boxes, participants considered the blurred boundaries between nature and man-made materials, from the early industrial processes of corn grinding and cultivated landscapes to the impact of consumer culture on the environment today. Simultaneously, the sculptures are objects of nature, culture and industry. The sculptures were photographed and arranged in a composite design that was printed onto the Upper Mill building wrap
A Conversation About Ethics
No full textThe output is a video in which Broadhead and Tobias-Green discuss what ethics is and why it matters. The content of the video was written/improvised and performed by Broadhead and Tobias-Green. The video was directed by Hooper.
Research Process: the aim of the project was to create a video which contemplates ethical practice-based research in an informal presentation format. A loose script was written by Broadhead and Tobias-Green for the content discussed within, which was followed as a framework for improvisation to create a clear structure for their naturally flowing conversation.
Research Insights: the video has provided a platform for Broadhead and Tobias-Green to share their thoughts on ethical research practice with one-and-other, generating an output which provides a clear outline of ethical practice from their combined wealth of experience.
This film provides the viewer an understanding of what questions they need to be asking themselves when they embark on a research project, and the best practice to follow before collecting data to produce an output.
Dissemination: the film was shared at the Media Practice Education/Media Communications and Cultural Studies Association at Solent University, South Hampton 21st-25th June 2021
Flourish and fade: utilising colour in textiles to promote closer connections to the natural world.
Get PDFThe ability of the decorative surface to reflect and promote a heightened awareness of the natural world underpins Caroline’s practice. Colour’s role in this relationship is fundamental and the narratives of tone, hue and our perception of chroma provide a rich area of inspiration for her work. This presentation will discuss the importance of colour within biophilic textiles and how understanding a human’s ability to process, work with and live
Beyond the feminine: The politics of skin colour and gender in visual representations
No full text‘Beyond The Feminine: The Politics of Skin Colour and Gender in Visual Representations’ is a textbook tool kit, which looks at the normative constructions of race and gender in visual representations and the politics of the gaze and how contemporary image-makers can challenge these readings, through the production
and theorization of alternate images.
As a strategy, Lori uses one overarching case study: the black and white female dichotomy and their uneven distribution of power, afforded to how they are both seen to appear in visual representations on screen.
From the controversy that surrounded the blacking up of a mixed-heritage Latin-American actress Zoe Saldana in playing legendary dark- skinned Soul singer Nina Simone in Nina 2013, to the privileging of using light and white women over dark and black women in Black British music videos and the advertising of black women’s’ hair products, to a return to classic paintings such as Manet’s Olympia; this book encounters the historical trope head on and re-visions another narrative.
Through acts of appropriation, subversion and inversion and ultimately aiming to transcend these power dynamics related to the look, Lori as artist-researcher takes an interdisciplinary approach in offering up practical, visual strategies in encountering difference through the lens
Eye eye
Get PDFThe output is a creative project called ‘Eye Eye’ consisting of a series of largescale
printed textile and paper works. The project was a collaboration between
textile designer Slater and visual artist, Mawuena Kattah. Both artists responded to
shared connections in their practices, of pattern and textiles, image making, and
narrative found in family and personal iconography. Research process: Initial inquiry was undertaken at The Whitworth Wallpaper and Textile Collection.
Ideas were developed using textile and print as accessible and democratic
processes. Slater and Kattah questioned the nuances between artist and designer,
drawing upon their shared methods and tools. Their collaborative approach to
making, drawing and image development challenged the function of the studio and
the factory. Research insights: The notion of collaboration was questioned in relation to the roles of artist and designer. The dichotomy of studio and commercial practice was challenged within the context of textiles. Collaboration is important in keeping work relevant and innovative whilst sustaining the longevity of the creative economy. Through the project, Slater and Kattah argue that the design industry needs to acknowledge practitioners that come through alternative routes to practice. Dissemination: The project was disseminated at the following:
Exhibition: ‘Eye Eye’ - Colours May Vary, Leeds, 15-30 November 2019.
Seminar: ‘PROCESS I PATTERN I PRINT I PURPOSE’ The Whitworth Study Centre,
Design Manchester, 16 November 2019. Seminar: ‘Archives and Collections- Design in a Gallery Context’, The Hepworth Wakefield- 14th December 2019.
Editorial: ‘Together in Print’ by Jake Kennedy, Editorial Pressing Matters Magazine,
November 2019. Exhibition: Collect, Crafts Council, Somerset House, 25th February- 1st March 2020. Acquisition: V&A Textile Collection, ‘Eyes’ (Pink) and Screen-Printed Linen, November 2019, Laura Slater & Mawuena Kattah
Phase III le modulor /Phase IV intersections art/architecture
Get PDFThe output consists of two sets of paintings that were included in the following two related exhibitions: ‘Phase III Le Modular’, Galerie HLM, Marseilles, and ‘Phase IV Intersections: Art/Architecture’, Stephen Lawrence Gallery, University of Greenwhich, London. Research process: Virgoe was invited to exhibit in ‘Phase III Le Modulor’ in Marseilles, 2019. For this a new body of work was produced, which responded to the 1948 text by LeCorbusier, and to be exhibited in the town where the Unite D’Habitation was realised. ‘Phase IV’ brought together artists from the UK and France along with ‘Outside Architecture’ research group from the University of Greenwich. Research insights: For the first exhibition Virgoe produced a series of paintings using a loosely modulor system of repeated units within the paintings, which to some extent reflect the adaprations that LeCorbusier himself made to his system. These were conceived as a series in a grid format, and as such bear a relationship to the numerous layout iterations in the text. For ‘Phase IV’, Virgoe exhibited four paintings that consider the space between architecture and abstraction. Dissemination:Phase III was a group exhibition at Galerie HLM, Marseilles, and Phase IV was a group exhibition at the Stephen Lawrence Gallery, Greenwich
Emergence
Get PDFThe output is a creative project comprising a series of thirty paintings responding to the theme of 'Emergence'. The series was exhibited in ‘Emergence’ alongside three other artists. Research process: The work produced for this exhibition was the result of the development of ongoing artistic practice over the course of a year. This series of new paintings was exhibited alongside three other artists. The paintings were hung in groupings that alluded to tenuous relationships between the works, and foregrounded the spatial play between individual works and the space of the gallery. Research insights: Thematically the work produced for the exhibition explored the idea of emergence in terms of visibility and concealment. This new series of paintings allude to architectural spaces that are negated or concealed by grid like structures. Previous themes of uncertainty, illusion and negation were reconsidered through a shift in scale and support, resulting in an attentiveness to the object nature of the painting and the potential for experimental configurations. Dissemination: The research was disseminated through a group exhibition curated by Rebecca Wild at AIR Open exhibition in 2018. The exhibition brought together the work of four prize-winners from the AIR Open exhibition of 2017 at which Virgoe was awarded the Jacksons prize