3983 research outputs found
Sort by
Conference: Archäologische Grundbegriffe - Maske Paper: Traurige Raserei, ängstliche Wut: Maskenfunktion, emotionale Gegensätze und Fotografierbarkeit im japanischen Nohtheater
No full textPaper: Sad frenzy, fearful anger: Mask function, emotional contrasts and un/photographability of Japanese Noh theatre using the example of the visual layers of the Hannya mask; Potentially transferable concepts and questions for an expanded mask philosophy. Conference: The fourth workshop in the series ›Archäologische Grundbegriffe‹ is dedicated to the concept of mask. In analogy to the successful workshop on mosaic, the focus is on an idea that will serve as a key to the question of the aesthetic and ethical dimension of ancient images and objects. The archaeological concept ›mask‹ refers to specific object genres: theatre masks, ancestral masks, mask images, mask models. The mask opens up our view of concepts, rituals and processes associated with these objects. Secondly, the concept of the mask refers to a fundamental anthropological and technological phenomenon. It refers to that curious group of odd entities that interpose themselves between subject and object, between human and human, and between human and machine: images and screens, masks and surfaces, faces and interfaces, curtains and windows. We are particularly interested in the dual nature of such instances. Masks conceal, disguise, obscure — and at the same time they mediate, translate, explain. The workshop is part of the project ›Pre-Modern Elements of a Digital Image Theory‹, funded by the DFG Priority Programme 2172 ›The Digital Image‹. Organisation: Andreas Grüner, Julian Schreyer
Potluck: Advancing ecological citizenship through "Potluck" teaching: Integrating transdisciplinary learning in mainstream education
No full text“Potluck” teaching is an innovative educational method that integrates transdisciplinary learning through collaborative, project-based approaches, particularly suited for secondary education like GCSEs. Inspired by the idea of a potluck dinner, where each participant contributes a unique "dish" to a shared table, this approach encourages students to engage with multiple subject outcomes within a single project. Grounded in constructivist and experiential learning theories from Piaget and Dewey, it emphasizes active, meaningful engagement with real-world issues, fostering critical thinking, problem-solving, and knowledge synthesis. A major challenge in the UK education system is its rigid compartmentalization of subjects such as science, mathematics, history, and geography. The English Baccalaureate (EBACC), which prioritizes a narrow set of core subjects, exacerbates these silos, limiting interdisciplinary opportunities. Potluck teaching counters this by promoting collaboration across disciplines and demonstrating how subject boundaries blur in real-world contexts. For example, a renewable energy project might combine scientific principles of energy generation, mathematical efficiency modeling, and geographical policy analysis within a cohesive framework. The approach emphasizes tracing the origins and processes behind goods and technologies shaping modern life. By helping students understand the journey from creation to consumption, potluck teaching fosters appreciation for global systems and the labour underpinning everyday products. Hans Rosling (2018) emphasized the importance of understanding global systems to foster empathy and ecological responsibility. By examining the lifecycle of goods such as renewable energy systems, textiles, or food production, students can critically analyze the labour, resources, and socio-economic factors sustaining modern lifestyles. Unlike traditional curricula that deliver knowledge piecemeal, potluck teaching offers a holistic and integrated learning experience. Central to this model is project-based learning (PBL), which has been shown to boost engagement and academic outcomes by emphasizing practical applications of interdisciplinary knowledge. Research highlights how collaborative education aligns with the demands of a modern society where complex challenges require holistic solutions. Potluck teaching also incorporates ecological citizenship by embedding sustainability themes. Even in densely populated areas, like London, students can observe nature thriving in unexpected places, such as plants breaking through concrete or urban wildlife, developing awareness of sustainability in everyday life. Traditional standardized assessment methods often fail to recognize the strengths of students who excel in hands-on, experiential environments. Potluck teaching offers an alternative through authentic assessments like building prototypes or developing policy ideas, showcasing practical skills and understanding. These methods are particularly beneficial for neurodiverse learners, as noted by Temple Grandin (2006), who emphasized the importance of practical, sensory-based learning environments. By fostering inclusivity, potluck teaching creates opportunities for all students to thrive, regardless of their learning styles, and ensures success on their own terms. Educational scholars such as Julie Thompson Klein (1990) and Howard Gardner (2006) have championed interdisciplinary education for fostering deeper conceptual understanding. Potluck teaching applies this principle, particularly in ecological education, allowing students to explore topics like climate change, renewable energy, and sustainability from multiple perspectives. A project on renewable energy, for instance, could include mapping resources, modeling efficiencies, and discussing policies, providing a comprehensive perspective on sustainability. The River Clay Project exemplifies potluck teaching by integrating ecological themes with practical and artistic skills. Students harvest clay from riverbeds and transform it into ceramics, learning about natural materials, craftsmanship, and environmental sustainability. Concepts like mass, density, and shrinkage are integrated into the process, combining scientific and mathematical principles with creative endeavors. Reflecting on the origins of everyday objects, such as ceramic mugs, helps students appreciate the labor and resources behind their creation. This lens connects craft, industrial processes, and sustainability, demonstrating the interconnectedness of disciplines. This approach also addresses the limitations of traditional curricula for diverse learners. Research highlights how standardized education often fails to accommodate neurodiverse students or those with special educational needs (Grandin, 2006; Armstrong, 2012). By offering collaborative, practical projects, potluck teaching enables students to excel in nontraditional ways. Studies link active, project-based learning to improved outcomes for students who thrive in hands-on environments (Dewey, 1938; Thomas, 2000). For those who feel excluded or disengaged in conventional classrooms, this method provides meaningful opportunities to succeed. Potluck teaching aligns with the evolving demands of 21st-century education by fostering critical thinking, collaboration, and adaptability. It responds to global calls for educational approaches that prepare learners for complex challenges like globalization, technological advancement, and environmental sustainability. Far from being a nostalgic exercise, it offers students unique opportunities to engage with real-world processes, such as tracing the "source to shelf" journey of products. For example, ceramics education bridges craft and industrial applications, demonstrating relevance in fields like electronics, automotive engineering, and mining
Evaluation of conductive threads and stitch configurations for heated e-textile applications
Full text linkElectrically heated textiles (EHTs) utilise Joule heating to provide warmth and comfort across a range of applications, including medical, military, and industrial settings. EHTs can be manufactured using conductive threads, inks, and coatings—either individually or in combination. In this study, a method of manufacturing EHTs based on printing and stitching techniques to achieve large-area heating elements was devised. This study explores the selection of appropriate conductive threads and assesses the performance of lockstitch and chainstitch configurations for creating robust electrodes in EHTs. A variety of commercially available conductive threads were evaluated for durability, electrical performance, and functional integrity when used in various stitching configurations. Although surface-coated conductive threads offered effective electrical conductivity, their durability was notably reduced following exposure to washing and abrasion. The findings further indicate that lockstitch configurations deliver superior performance compared to chainstitch, due to the resulting lower linear resistance of the stitched electrode. Employing conductive threads in the bobbin position proved more effective in maintaining thread integrity. The study also examined the effect of increased stitch density on the structural integrity of functional ink layers, revealing potential negative impacts on heating functionality. Overall, this research offers valuable insights into material selection and manufacturing techniques, supporting the development of more reliable and scalable EHT products
Fashioning Chinese history: Chinese fashion archives in the twenty-first century
Full text linkWhat is an archive? Canadian archivist Terry Cook portrayed the archive as a ‘ “house of memory” ’, and through it, ‘society may be nursed to healthy and creative maturity’. British archivist Louise Craven suggested that archives represent identity, heritage and culture. However, the functions and purposes of an archive are not fixed - they are malleable and transmutable. A fashion archive is one type of archive possessing the major features that Cook and Craven described, yet in the fashion industry it plays several differing roles. China can be considered a relative latecomer within the competitive global fashion market, as it first developed into a major manufacturing centre in the 1980s. It’s only since the mid-1990s that Chinese brands have started to encompass more elements of the global fashion industry, and within this new environment fashion archives are steadily developing. This project addresses the archive, and asks the following main research questions: What is a fashion archive in China? And how do Chinese fashion professionals understand history through their archives? These questions lead to an investigation of how Chinese fashion professionals are writing their own history through the creation and use of archives. This research will unveil how Chinese fashion professionals understand history through fashion industry practice, based on the analysis of their methodology of creating history and historical records through their activities. This project will use interviews with a broad selection of Shanghai fashion professionals to unravel the definitions and roles of fashion archives within the contemporary Chinese fashion system, leading to an understanding of the conditions within which fashion archives are emerging in China. This reevaluation of the nature of the archives may help to reveal the logic of history and memory-making in the Chinese fashion system
Engaging design; Tools for design practices urging new forms of citizenships
Full text linkInspired by examples of work creating the conditions for community-led transition(s), this book offers easy-to-follow strategies. These strategic narratives of citizens’ empowerment constitute practical guidelines as a manual of methods that can be learnt or implemented: a catalyst for creative campaigners, design disruptors, social advocates, and citizens of anywhere. Whilst supporting decolonialised perspectives, these methods open and illustrate new realms for design –as a discipline and practice – that stimulate ownership and agency over our (collective) social and natural environment and urge behaviour to foster sustainable, planet–centred means. Engaging Design probes an engaged ‘metaphorical bridge’ between issues (natural and human challenges), public(s), and communities, an engaging design that can be cultivated, designed, interpreted as a (applied) process in its own right
The Ring: Conversation through projection
Full text linkThe Ring emerged as an online art collective during the 2020 pandemic, formed by four artists—Katerina Athanasopoulou (UK), Robert Seidel (Germany), Brett Phares (USA), and Ian Gouldstone (UK)—forging connections in an isolating time. All working with the animated moving image, their practices span fine art, practice-research, festival directing, computer simulation, and curation. This diversity of perspectives shaped the collective’s experimental approach into expanded animation. Meeting fortnightly on Skype, members shared and discussed their work, fostering a supportive yet critically engaged environment. A core aspect of The Ring’s practice involved disrupting traditional screen-based engagement. Between meetings, members submitted moving image work to each other, which was then projected onto unconventional surfaces. These interventional exchanges were not merely acts of display but became integral to the artistic process, reframing animation as a site-specific and materially embedded experience. By removing moving images from their default flat-screen digital context and placing them within new spatial and physical environments—The Ring sought to challenge habitual viewing practices and reveal latent qualities in the moving image work that might otherwise go unnoticed. The projections were documented and formed the ground for further in-group discussion; several works were further developed and exhibited in public events, including Digital Graffiti at Alys Beach, Florida (2021), LUMA projection arts festival in Binghamton, New York (2021), and Phantom Horizons at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (2023). This approach speaks to larger conversations about audience engagement with screen-based media. While the default mode of screen consumption often positions the viewer as a passive observer, the collective’s projections activated space in ways that demanded new forms of attention. The re-staging of the animation in unexpected settings recontextualised the work and created hybrid encounters between the moving image and real-world materiality. In doing so, The Ring experimented with new forms of collective and individual engagement—bringing together installation, performance, and animation. Equally, it posed fresh questions on ephemerality, documentation, and virtuality as ‘the unexpected version of reality, the horizon of possible projection’ (Silberman-Keller 2009: 184). This paper takes the form of a conversation between the four founding artists that took place in February 2025. Through persisting with its dialogic process, The Ring is situated within broader debates on the transformation of screen-based experiences, hybridity in contemporary moving image practices, and the ongoing redefinition of audience engagement in an era of evolving screen technologies. With artistic collaboration as a catalyst for transforming limitations into opportunities for innovation, the collective reimagines the screen and the ways we interact with it
The spell or the dream
No full textUniquely bringing together sculpture, radio, live gatherings and a host of guest contributors, The Spell or The Dream is a multi-faceted work inviting audiences to collectively dream of new horizons. At its heart is The Spell, a magnificent new sculpture in the Edmond J Safra Fountain Court, featuring a newly commissioned soundscape by composer, producer and double bassist Maxwell Sterling. Resting atop a stepped plinth, where visitors can sit, gather or peer inside, the luminous blue figure gently breathes, caught in a suspended state, the spell. The dreamer sleeps through the warnings of present and imminent catastrophes, political and social disaster and environmental collapse – but it also dreams of resistance and renewal. Inviting you to wonder, imagine and dream is The Dream radio, running alongside the sculpture. It convenes artists, thinkers and academics including Yanis Varoufakis, Brian Eno, Hannah Black and The Palestinian Sound Archive, to collectively reimagine a hopeful future. Co-curated by Shani and broadcast globally via Channel, the 24/7 radio also features three new commissions from Cécile B Evans, Moor Mother and Cecilia Vicuña, alongside archival work, and invites you to submit your dreams for interpretation. The Dream radio is a continuous broadcast; works will not be available on demand – tune in live or let it slip into the ether.. Each day at 12pm and 4pm, audiences can experience the installation composition in full with the fountains switched off
Beyond co-production: Design as a means of evoking agency through ecological citizenship
Full text linkDesign (as a practice) encompasses; appropriate, contextual and strategic interventions empowering new ways of living together. In current times of; climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, design has a role to play (Passarelli, et al., 2021). This triple planetary crisis threatens ecosystems at a global scale, necessitating contextual approaches. Designer Buckminster Fuller framed design as supporting whole systems “mak[ing] the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest time possible”, pioneering sustainable opportunities (Buckminster Fuller Institute, 2022). We (the public) are used to being designed ‘to or for’, with common terminology referring to people as users and consumers, not ‘citizens’ (Alexander, et al., 2022). Citizens are already becoming involved in ‘Public Interest Technologies', a contextual design field akin to democracy and politics (McGuinness, et al., 2021). Cross-disciplinary practices nurture new approaches to collectively design ‘with’ people, enabling public agency for sustainable action. Design propositions are not always initiated by designers, or even simply organisations, but created by people in-the-field. For example, co-design (collaborative design) “changes the roles of the designer, the researcher and the person formerly known as the user” (Sanders & Stappers, 2008). Juxtaposed with this (in academic fields) is participatory design as “its object of study is the tacit knowledge developed and used by those who work with technologies” (Spinuzzi, C. 2005). Co-design and participatory design often focus on the designed process or design output, but rarely both. Ecological Citizen(s) (EC), is an approach (and project) to create agency and sustainable actions within contemporary times (Phillips, et al., 2022). Ecological Citizenship is a design approach intent on catalysing/inspiring/invoking a ‘citizen relationship’ with our natural world. We focus on citizenship as a practice rather than a ‘status distinction’. It concerns the agency to mutually benefit others and the planet through sustainable means. This positioning article includes; historic and contemporary insights, literature, up-to-date practice based examples/projects, experiments and proposals. The contextual examples offer differing opportunities enabling citizens to respond to issues, impacting their lives and the lives within spaces and places in which they live. This position advocates for designing proposals to catalyse citizens' agency, supported by appropriate technological outputs. The position also champions publically accessible means, giving citizens both options and agency. We define a clear distinction between ‘design for citizenship’ and citizen positioning, a post-participatory perspective for design. Our research question unpicks: What are the attributes and positive benchmarks of design, as a means of evoking agency through Ecological Citizenship? The audiences for this work (we believe) are not only designers, but leaders in; social innovation, social decision making, design for equity, civic engagement, communities, DIY movements and more. Our Ecological Citizen(s) framework; supports individuals, organisations, businesses to make more positive choices, impacting the planet we inhabit and are reliant upon for all life. The convergence of; the triple planetary crisis, Ecological Citizenship, public interest technologies and designing for citizen agency, offers new modalities of ways we ‘live together’... Unified in a framework of ‘steps toward Ecological Citizenship’
The materialised temporality of dust: Developing a biodesign methodology to spatialise time and temporalise space
Full text linkThe paper uses the material and conceptual figure of dust and matter out of place to amplify more-than-human perspectives of time, to trace the changing orientations and ethos of a site. Dust contains a complex mixture of inorganic and organic material, made up of an exuberance of microbial life such as Penicillium, Aspergillus and Cladosporium and around 20 other fungal sources. We are interested in dust as a material and metaphorical device to situate and critique temporality and the way we narrate and investigate the past and future, from a non-human, microbial point of view. Dust implies residual matter, a contradiction to order often associated with dirt. It indicates something that needs to be removed, or rearranged, something that is “out of place,” an element that does not fit. Dust also indicates time and space and signals movement and life: dust hosts a medley of non-human particles and microbial communities that engage in their own worldmaking practices. The paper brings together methods of “un-cleaning” with archival research and spatial methods of 3D scanning, modelling and mapping, as an opportunity to decentre human hubris and explore the ways in which non-humans have and continue to inhabit “our” spaces