Leeds Arts University Repository
Not a member yet
463 research outputs found
Sort by
You’re Doing Amazing Sweetie
No full textThe output is an exhibition of paintings by Lydia Blakeley which address the banality of pop and celebrity culture. Blakeley’s artistic practice explores contemporary vernacular culture through traditional painting. Following her first solo show, Leisure, at Leeds Arts University Vernon Street Gallery (2017), Blakeley returns with a new body of work featuring paintings based on the banal and/or uncanny nature of celebrity homes and reality television. By drawing upon icons of celebrity pop-culture, Blakeley’s exquisite painting’s offer a satirical commentary
Seeding art currency
Get PDFThe 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/
And hold
Get PDFThe output is a creative project comprising an artist’s book and film called And Hold. It is the result of a collaboration between Dominique Fletcher, who designed and made the book and the choreographer, Bridget Fiske who designed the movement which was performed in the corresponding film. Research process: Adopting a phenomenological approach to research, Fletcher engaged with series of observational focus groups where we able to identify the connection between movement and the reading process to design and choreograph a book and film to bring attention the physical experience of reading. Research insights: Through the collaborative process Fletcher and Fiske able to identify the many connections between both the design and choreography process. They identified the physical books ability to communicate beyond content itself which opens up further conversations around the physical books potential to communicate, potentially as platforms for communication continue to develop. Dissemination: The output was exhibited at Holden Gallery, Manchester School of Arts, 21 September – 1 October 2018 and Book – Space, The Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds, 16 December 2019 – 29 February 2020
The art of following instructions
Get PDFThe output is an artefact comprising a series of twelve photographs.
Research Process: Learning is an active process rather than a passive one and constructivism proposes that people construct meaning successfully through active engagement with the world through experience. Having the capacity to understand and remember spatial relationships amongst visual objects through instructions is one important means of successfully achieving a desired outcome. This project starts from the presumption that people with poor spatial ability find it difficult to follow static instructions, whereas when using animated instructions this limitation is not found or less pronounced. Origami is the art of folding paper to create three-dimensional objects. Initially one must follow a set of instructions to achieve success. These instructions come in written form or static visualisations, and more recently, dynamic (or animated) visualisations. Allen documents her own process of learning this way through photography. Research Insights: This auto-ethnographic study uses the process of making Origami as a vehicle for reflecting on the artists own navigation of daily tasks and puts into action her own shortcomings for understanding instructions identified through her attempts to follow static visualisations. Successful outcomes were only realised through the following of dynamic visualisations evidencing the successes and failures through photographic documentation. The multiple modes of representation and instruction have been explored here through Constructivism theory drawing on the shifts in instructional strategies promoting a sense of personal agency. Dissemination: This output has been part of the Make Good 1 exhibition at Leeds Arts University. September 2018
Speculating with care: learning from an experimental educational program in the West Bank
Get PDFIn 2012, I was involved in the experimental study program, Campus in Camps, which is located in the West Bank and which brought together 15 third-generation refugees to study the contemporary condition of Palestinian refugee camps and to speculate about their potential futures. In this article, I draw on my experience at Campus in Camps in order to reflect on how design and speculation can be activated by designers and non-designers to speculate with care about the matters of their own lives. To explore the potential held by the design speculations
produced at Campus in Camps, I draw on the work of feminist philosopher Marìa Puig de la Bellacasa around “matters of care”. To think about the aspects of care and speculation activated throughout the different phases of the educational program, I mobilise Alfred North Whitehead’s metaphor that compares speculation to the flight of an airplane
Drawing and the street texts of Chapeltown
Get PDFThis article is a meditation on a field text that explores the concept of the sentient street. The graffiti walls of Chapeltown, a multi-cultural area of Leeds, a Northern English city, talk to an artist embedded within its community and these street texts give rise to drawings that embody that experience. Nancy’s concept that a drawing does not become information, but a sense, is used as a guide to the way textual information becomes embedded into the feeling tone of a drawing
Love Paper
No full textThe output is an artefact, an illustrated book commissioned by a leading children’s’ book publisher in the UK. Research process: The premise of the book was to create a modern collection of illustrations and co-ordinating surface pattern designs aimed at a contemporary market. There are several illustration themes running through the book based on popular childrens’ narratives. The artefact was developed through technical investigation and documentation of AVA CAD/CAM software and exploring new digital methods using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. Design exploration of Hughes’ practices occurred in collaboration with industry partners as a direct response to this software. Research insights: The research identified how illustration and co-ordinating surface pattern designs could work together to create a modern collection that would appeal to a contemporary audience. There has been a resurgence towards utilising traditional drawing methodologies which and then explored further through digital solutions. Graduate designers need to utilise all these skills to meet industry standards. Further insights into Hughes’ practice considers how these methods can be employed in design education. Dissemination: The artefact was showcased at the world’s leading professional children’s book fair, La Fiera del Libro per Ragazzi in Italy April 2018. It was also presented at The Textile Society Conference, Manchester in April 2019
‘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
Make your future
Get PDFThe output is a creative project, ‘Make Your Future’, that involved schools across West Yorkshire partnering with higher education institutions to reignite making in the classroom and tackle the challenges faced by craft education. The project resulted in a curated exhibition. The project was a collaboration between Leeds Arts University, the Crafts Council, University of Leeds, University of Huddersfield and secondary schools in the region. Pratt and Wadkin ran screen-printing and printmaking activities in schools and curated the exhibition. Research Process:
Make Your Future 2018 spanned the entire academic year starting with introducing teachers to the different projects, followed by professional development sessions with teachers, a series of workshops in schools and finally ending in an exhibition event and private view. The project explored and investigated the rich historical heritage of Yorkshire’s textile industry reimagined through Knit, Print and woven textiles design, through both hand and digital practices bringing together both traditional crafts and contemporary technologies. The exhibition included school children’s work from 8 secondary schools from across West Yorkshire. Research Insights: The exhibition enriched the on-going collaboration of Leeds Arts University, University of Leeds with the Crafts Council, together with local schools and sixth forms. The project demonstrated how the workshops and exhibition promoted design and making in schools and encouraged young learners from Key Stage 3 to select art or design technology as a GCSE option. Dissemination: The peer-reviewed exhibition of textile artworks was showcased at the Vernon Street Building, Leeds Arts University, 29 June – 16 August 2018
Rethinking commercial textile design frameworks to align with biophilic theory.
Get PDFWith urban habitation becoming ever more prominent, nature can often seem a far away and unobtainable sanctuary. It is now widely accepted that connecting with the outside world is a valuable antidote to societal pressures and can assist in combating our compromised health and mental wellbeing; yet bringing awareness of this connection to a space seemingly devoid of nature can prove problematic.
Within interior textiles and wall coverings it is often the most literal interpretations that explore our connections with nature but what if the surfaces and objects within our interior spaces could also help to harness and awaken our connection to the outside world beyond the figurative? – What if textile and interior designers could introduce an experiential and heightened awareness into the objects we consume? This paper suggests ways in which this connection could be achieved. Exploring new ways of working with botanical prints and abstracted characteristics, this research looks to align existing
repeat pattern structures with nature based systems and develop a collection of design outcomes which promote the consumer to engage in a heightened awareness of the natural world