3983 research outputs found
Sort by
Drawing the Island II
No full textA second privately sponsored residency on Bowen Island BC Canada as part of a continuing project where solitary waling is part of a research project that examines the notion of 'place portraits' . At the mid point of the walk , drawings are made to capture the essence of that place. Some sites are revisited, new ones captured . It provides an opportunity to engage with the inhabitants of the island in some circumstances, in others , the drawings are made in a state of aloneness. The island is home to a great number of artists, makers and writers - one of the highest concentrations in Canada, which has facilitated ongoing conversations and encounters with the community, where discussions about how place is captured visually . Drawings and embroideries where made during the residency that map the idea of place. Folded drawings are a feature of this process, to facilitate transport. Drawings are selected from both residencies to be shown together. the project will continue with further residencies in the future
Rocks remember and other stories
No full textThe exhibition was based on a project carried out during a residency at the British School at Rome British School at Rome in 2019 summer residency in 2019 researching the goddess Cibele (who came to earth in the form of a meteorite and had a dual role both as goddess of nature’s chaos and civilisation’s order). She is also associated with origin mythologies that chime with scientific research that proposes that life originated on earth from microbe carrying meteorites. The theme of meteorites was prominent in the exhibition, acting as symbols of prophesy, of omens and wonder. In Greek mythology, meteorites are associated with a sense of weightlessness, or the idea of being suspended between heaven and earth, in a state of in-betweeness - neither fully grounded in reality nor entirely abstract as a kind of 'real unreal'. The intention was to create a series of works that embodied a form of suspension between primal, instinctual forces and the more structured aspects of human identity and culture; a seeking of a wildness that that exists in the everyday, in the city, the forest , or the mind
Toward a configuration design method for mechanical materials
Get PDFMetamaterials are materials that exhibit behavior that is not observed commonly in nature, but that can be achieved by designing often complex geometric structures. Behaviors such as negative index of refraction, negative Poisson’s ratio, or negative stiffness can be achieved with suitable lattice or other cellular structures at appropriate size scales. Such materials can be used in many applications to achieve functionalities that would otherwise be difficult to realize. Assuming they exist, designers need a design method capable of identifying when metamaterials are suitable to use as a component in a developing system design. In this paper, we present a configuration design method to meet this need. From a selected function, designers should identify a suitable physical principle and model of desired behavior, then these can be matched to metamaterials and their behavior capabilities. Examples are presented using mechanical metamaterials including bistable mechanisms that exhibit negative stiffness and lattice structures that exhibit negative Poisson’s ratio
Mobilizing dissent: The possible architecture of the governed
No full textChantal Mouffe has transformed the contemporary understanding of politics through her re-reading of political theory inspired by anti-foundationalist philosophy-based on Saussure's linguistics, Freud's psychoanalysis and Derrida's deconstruction. Her writings have challenged the centrist, post-political ideology of the 1990s and presciently diagnosed the emergence of right-wing populism seen today with Trump and Brexit. For Mouffe, such populism is the result of the failed centrist conception of politics reduced to technical management. She has called for a “return to politics” on the view that social antagonisms cannot be reconciled but must be channeled into an agonistic form of institutionally stabilized struggle. This book brings Chantal Mouffe's agonistic model of politics into direct dialogue with architecture and inquiries into the role that architecture plays constructing the political order of society, either by concealing or revealing its antagonisms and ideological conflicts. In doing so, it asks in what ways architecture operates politically; whether institutionally, in terms of its spaces and its part in forming cities, or as an aesthetic object with mediatic agency. Through this detailed exchange between Mouffe and four of the world's leading architectural thinkers; Reinhold Martin, Ines Weizman, Pier Vittorio Aureli and Sarah Whiting, a debate unfolds within the book that tests the implications of Mouffe's agonistic model of politics for architectural practice today. Through this, Bedford explores how architectural history, architectural drawing, the making of spectacular monuments, the design and policies behind housing, and the making of public and private space, all potentially contribute to the formulation of the channeling of social conflict into an agonistic form
Ocean decade vision 2030 white papers. Challenge 10: Restoring society’s relationship with the ocean
Get PDFThis draft White Paper has been prepared as part of the Vision 2030 process being undertaken in the framework of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The Vision 2030 process aims to achieve a common and tangible measure of success for each of the 10 Ocean Decade Challenges by 2030. From a starting point of existing initiatives underway in the Ocean Decade and beyond, and through a lens of priority user needs, the process determines priority datasets, critical gaps in science and knowledge, and needs in capacity development, infrastructure, and technology required for each Challenge to ensure that it can be fulfilled by the end of the Ocean Decade in 2030. The results of the process will contribute to the scoping of future Decade Actions, identification of resource mobilization priorities, and ensuring the ongoing relevance of the Challenges over time. The process identifies achievable recommendations that can be implemented in the context of the Decade, or more broadly before 2030 to achieve the identified strategic ambition and indicators that will be used to measure progress. This White Paper is one of a series of 10 White Papers all of which have been authored by an expert Working Group and accompanied by a synthesis report authored by the Decade Coordination Unit
Future inclusive toilets: Designing toilets that are FIT for purpose
No full textThe closure of the majority of public toilets during the COVID pandemic brought home just how essential these facilities are for health, wellbeing and accessibility, as a critical component of our public health infrastructure. Yet despite public support for the facilities, 34% of public toilets in England and Wales have closed since 2000. For many, but especially older people, disabled people and those with young families, access to toilet provision can help decide where to shop and visit, or even whether to leave the home. The lack of public toilet provision can also be considered detrimental to wider economic and social engagement. This paper reports on ‘Engaged’, a research project delivered for the Mayor of London’s Designing London’s Recovery, a post-COVID innovation programme. The research explored alternative models for councils to provide inclusive accessible public toilets that supported local demand. By reintroducing the toilet to the high street, Engaged sought to bring a key feature of public health back into our communities and cities. The work identified the current barriers faced by local authorities when planning regeneration schemes to include toilet provision. It also included work with the public to assess the importance of provision to communities, and how current design fails to meet the majority’s needs. This paper will report on the findings and possible solutions for ensuring future inclusive toilets are fit for purpose
Demonstrating a biobased concept for the production of sustainable bacterial cellulose from mixed textile, agricultural and municipal wastes
Get PDFThe fashion industry has faced increasing criticism for its unsustainable practices and needs to transition towards more circular models where renewable resources are used, and materials and chemicals are recycled. This study focuses on abundantly available mixed cellulosic wastes: mixed textile, agricultural residues and municipal solid waste, whereby half of the cellulose from the waste is converted through a hydrolytic process and fermentation into bacterial cellulose. Using ionic liquids, the feasibility of spinning the waste-derived cellulose produced into regenerated cellulose fibres with mechanical properties comparable to viscose is achieved. Furthermore, the sustainability of this approach is validated by comparing the environmental impact of the process with the impact of producing wood dissolving pulp, which is currently used to make viscose. The possibility of a biological recycling process for mixed cellulosic wastes that could complement textile mechanical or chemical strategies is discussed, but further work will be needed to validate its economic viability and sustainability at the scale required to replace feedstock used in regenerated cellulose production. The biobased and chemical approach to textile manufacturing described here is circular, supports textile-to-textile recycling offering a potential solution to textile waste management and a promising pathway for the industry to achieve its environmental goals
M by Madonna
No full textIn 2005, Madonna released Confessions on the Dance Floor. That same year London based independent fashion brand BOUDICCA gifted Madonna Look#3 The Pointed Shirt Dress. Two years later, this design was replicated by Madonna through H&M design collaboration M by Madonna. Through the pattern outline it is possible to see that the original Look#3, ThePointed Shirt Dress was drawn in 3 Dimensions. The pattern has been raised from and through the idea, characterised by bold expressions & decisions; the final sleeve sharp like a pencil stroke. A sculpted meticulously crafted dress made with curiosity. In opposition M by Madonna we see that depth is flattened, characterised by pointless constructions, ungracious straightness. Every part of the pattern is muted. The malign H&M version is a mass-produced 2D pattern item devoid of the nuanced vision and craftsmanship of its predecessor. M by Madonna is overcomplicated using out of date princess lines for shape from old fashioned block patterns; all the consequence of a designed dress having to fit into a predetermined industrial manufacturing system; one that would disturb the system as least as possible. A dress that was never fit to a body
A Hannya Manifesto: Performative photographic portraiture as contemporary demon meta-noh play to construct feminist frameworks for interpretation
No full textThis paper will explore the recent performance and publication project 'Echoes and Callings’ (2018-23) that aims to transcribe elements from Japanese noh drama into the photographic medium. This project tests intermedial and non-representational possibilities of 'photographic noh' as a form of visual staging.Performative portraiture of re-enacted and collaged expressions serves here as a method to analyse the transformations of female characters into fierce demons by concentrating on the development of a single emotion typical for noh. The focus is upon a crescendo of sequences of facial masks that evolve from displaying pained fear into expressions of terrifying anger through a three-fold structure of emotional tempi and material intensities (which in Japanese noh is understood as a ‘jo-ha-kyū’).Linking performance theory with practice research, our paper will focus on the wider context of 'fourth category' Hannya plays about ‘crazed women’ – especially The Dōjō Temple (Dōjōji), Kurozuka and Viewing Autumn Foliage (Momijigari) – who seem to represent both patriarchal victimhood as well the possibility of its resistance. Informed by the textual and the visual elements from the historical canon of these plays, 'Echoes and Callings’ takes the abstracted analytical form of a 'meta-noh play' that translates these narratives into word and image.The collaged portraits work with the ambiguities of the physiologically impossible compound expression of the Hannya mask - sadness in the lower and fury in the upper part - through combining different angles and expressive stages to characterise, activate and interpret the mask's expression as a process of coming-into-being. The performance script develops the possibility of release and/or revenge for the female character, thus expanding the Edo-period theme of the 'mad woman' (horned and screaming) towards stating a right to be angry about societal injustices.Wiebke's book ‘Echoes & Callings: A Hannya Manifesto’ was published with Ma Bibliothèque in May 2023 and performed as a live collage projection with sound improvisation at Kings Place in June 2018. https://mabibliotheque.cargo.site/THE-CONSTELLATIONSAshley's essay about Wiebke's book and performance project was published in Source magazine in June 2023 (#111, summer 2023: 30-39). https://www.source.ie/archive/issue111/index.phpDr Wiebke Leister is a German artist and researcher who teaches at the Royal College of Art in London. Her work looks at the intersection of photography, writing and theatre by way of developing a performative understanding of how movement enters the structure of the still image, and how the liveness of viewing interacts with our interpretative processes in form of a transformative interplay between viewer and imaginary referent. As an expanded critique of portraiture, her research challenges the limitations of mimetic representation and individual likeness, often focusing on the human image as a catalyst to explore human boundaries and how one encounters oneself in others. Building on her long-term research into the ambiguous character of snake-women in Japanese theatre, she is currently working with the National Gallery in London on comparing the ambiguities of Serpent Symbolisms in pan-European and intercultural contexts. Dr Ashley Thorpe is a Reader in Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London. His research focuses on East Asian theatre as practiced in Asia and Europe. A member of Theatre Nohgaku, he organizes the annual Noh Training Project UK and has written his own English-language noh, Emily, which was performed at Tara Arts in London in 2019. He also performed in Between the Stones (London, Wexford, Kilkenny, Paris, 2020) and the first French-language noh Medea (Paris, 2023). He is the author, editor, or translator of ten books, which range from a performance history of Chinese opera in London to the analysis of the latest developments in contemporary ceramic art
Webbing Clothes Moths from pest to opportunity: a reflective case study in interdisciplinary design-biology collaborations
Get PDFAbstract: This manuscript presents the first set of insights from the reflection on a case study which involved early-stage design-biology interactions in a collaboration between two PhD candidates - a designer and a biochemist - investigating the potential of the Webbing Clothes Moth enzymes to support novel approaches for the deconstruction of wool in the context of bio-based processing for the circular economy. From the interview and reflective practice on the collaboration a novel concept emerged, common sedimented ways of knowing, which we define as shared approaches that have been acquired independently through previous experiences during the lifetime of an individual. This concept enabled proximity between the two collaborators, here taking the form of visualisations to support the dialogue on complex discipline-specific content and its delivery to a public audience.This paper demonstrates that a translational dimension can emerge in early stage design-biology collaborations despite the infancy of the PhD candidates research