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To Reveal the Hidden Kingdom of Eld
Full text linkEnglish occultist and magician Andrew Chumbley, founder of the Cultus Sabbati and author of grimoires such as The Azoëtia and One: The Grimoire of the Golden Toad, is well-known for his association with the Essex region. Very few people know of Chumbley’s time in Cornwall, which he visited during the early 2000’s as part of the activities of the Cultus Sabbati and shortly before his death in 2004. For example, Chumbley’s pivotal mystical poem Qutub was written on the train from Essex to Falmouth. Chumbley’s little-known Cornwall period coincided with some of the most elaborate magical operations of the first incarnation of the Cultus Sabbati, as well as Chumbley’s composition of the most imaginative works of his late period. Moreover, Chumbley’s time in Cornwall is associated with the most intensely mystical influences of his work, including his fascination with the direct mystical knowledge promised by the Gnostics. Cornwall’s unique history of magic, as well as the power of its haunted landscapes, converged to reveal new depths in Chumbley’s eclectic aspirations toward a pan-British vision of witchcraft, as expressed in a group of landscape-based rites called the Cucullati workings. In turn, these workings were part of a larger vision of the Trivagantus: three points in the British isles (Wales, Essex, and Cornwall as well as a central point in Glastonbury) with associated native witchcraft traditions. This article will explore the physical sites that Chumbley visited in Cornwall and their relationship to the concealed, superimposed Otherworld of imaginal space, which he referred to in the Dragon Book of Essex as “the hidden kingdom of Eld.” Drawing upon collaboration between a scholar and a practitioner, this article will reveal the currents of traditional witchcraft that converged in Cornwall at a crossroads of art, psychogeography and gnosis to energise some of Chumbley’s most powerful work
Abyssal Noise: Representations of Death and Dying in Extreme Metal Music
Full text linkThis contribution is an investigation into the palpable connection of extreme metal music and concepts of death, dying and mortality. Like other dark subcultures, metal has an intense infatuation with the macabre; many of its subcultures seek to uncover meaning through musical exploration into varying dark themes that emerge when thinking about death and what lies beyond the bounds of existence. From the abrasive and animalistic blood lust of death metal to the melancholic textures of black metal and the sonic void evoked in doom metal, extreme metal is a catalyst through which fans of the macabre can explore many perceptions and conceptions of corporeal fragility; the consuming pain of life, of death, and of knowing; and the existential notion of the ungraspable abyss. This chapter explores these varying conceptualisations of death in extreme metal culture, their sonic representations and their cathartic consolation: delving into the psychoanalytic reasoning and embodied sound of death
Exploring Surfonomics and Transformative Governance of the North Devon World Surfing Reserve.
No full textThis report presents high level findings from the first research focus group of the North Devon World Surfing Reserve
Red Lake / Black Mine - Electronics Symposium Performance. Fish Factory.
No full textRed Lake / Black Mine - Electronics Symposium Performance. Fish Factory
Kite Tales
No full text“For me, the joy of kiting lies in that fine sense of extension, in the fact that you have, almost literally, a hand reaching into the sky.” – Wyatt Brummit, author of Kites, 1971
The sight of multiple colourful kites can be breathtaking, and in some of our cultures they can symbolise the connection between the living and loved ones who have passed on.
Across ‘KITE TALES’ Giles King and Ciaran Clarke held space and created acts of remembrance, reflection and recreation with kites. Across a series of kite-building workshops — as well as conversations centred around life and death — this project looked to the skies, reimagining death rituals, connecting our kites with memories, the living, and the spirit world through engagement with these who have lost loved ones. This engagement took place via death cafes as well as facilitated, recorded conversations across the kite-building workshops.
The project culminated in a celebratory event at Mount Pleasant Ecological Park near Porthtowan. The visual and sound event saw 100’s of kites soaring into the sky above Cornwall, creating a beautiful spectacle of people coming together in celebration of life
Further Research Need in Sustainable Business Models of Startup Incubators in Emerging Economies: A Pathway for Economic Growth
Full text linkAs the global economy evolves, the significance of startups as engines of innovation, job creation, and economic development becomes increasingly evident. Startup incubators have emerged as pivotal players in this ecosystem, providing essential support to fledgling businesses and as leaders of innovation in emerging economies. This paper examines the importance of researching sustainable business models within startup incubators, with a focus on emerging economies, arguing that these models are critical not only for the success of the incubators themselves but also for the broader economic landscape in these economies. This study highlights the role of sustainable practices in incubators and their potential positive impacts on economic growth. This study adopts a mixed methodology, combining a comprehensive literature review with an investigation into the practices of some organisations using online research methods. In conclusion, the hypothesis that further research into sustainable business models in startup incubators in emerging economies is important is well-supported by the current literature and existing gaps in knowledge. While startup incubators have proven to be valuable in fostering entrepreneurship, their role in promoting long-term sustainable business practices remains underexplored. This research is crucial for ensuring that entrepreneurship not only contributes to economic growth but also fosters social and environmental resilience. The findings will contribute to the academic discourse surrounding sustainable entrepreneurship and offer practical recommendations for policymakers and practitioners in emerging economies
I'm Ready for My Close-up: Photography, Play and the Feminist Fitting-room
Full text linkThis presentation explores the transformative potential of photography as a playful and empowering tool within feminist practice theory and visual self-exploration. Drawing from a collaborative workshop series, participants were invited to dress in bold, catwalk-inspired clothing and take control of their image-making process. Using photography not only as documentation but also as a site of agency, participants engaged in performative self-presentation, experiencing themselves visually in new and transformative ways.
At the heart of this project is the ‘Feminist Fitting-room’ (Orcutt 2022), a physical and metaphorical space where versions of the self are playfully “tried on” through dress and photographic exploration. Orcutt’s concept of visual selfhood, centred on the experience of looking rather than likeness, frames the photographic encounter as a site of intrasubjective reflection (Barad 2007). Ripley’s ‘ethnographic field photo-elicitation’ method (2018) enabled participants to reflect on their photograph in the moment, generating rich insights into agency, identity, and visibility.
Positioned at the intersection of photographic practice (Doy 2007, Frosch 2015, Walker 2013), feminist theory (Braidotti 2012, Cixous 200 [1976]), Irigaray 1985, Kristeva 1987) and playfulness (Winnicott 2005 [1971]), this work foregrounds photography as both a medium and a method: a vehicle for risk, reinvention, self-discovery and learning. The authors argue for the importance of creative visual exploration in photographic education, particularly in supporting diverse identities in the discovery of image and voice
Mat[t]er Refusae et Malagranati
No full textMat[t]er Refusae (2025) is a series of seven digital photographic composites that function as self-portrayals disavowing likeness (Orcutt 2022). Each work superimposes a symbolically significant flower upon discarded domestic detritus contained in a crumpled white pedal-bin liner. The Latin title conflates mater (mother) and materia (matter/material), invoking new materialist discourse, while refusae, the refused, the rejected, names the central provocation: what happens when women age beyond cultural usefulness?
The series emerges from practice-led research examining the Madonna as a recurring feminist motif. Earlier doctoral work identified the female imperative to be a mother as foundational to my experience of self and identity, with Marian iconography serving as a symbolic vehicle. The flora chosen for Mat[t]er Refusae, rose, lily, carnation, palm, orange, pomegranate, and dianthus, directly replicate those associated with the Virgin in the iconographic tradition, each carrying emblematic weight: grace, sorrow, devotion, bond.
A further, critical layer was introduced as each bin liner contains a discarded consumer product whose branding co-opts the same Marian symbol: Cadbury's Roses, Eli Lilly weight loss pens, Carnation condensed milk, Palmolive body lotion, Terry's Chocolate Orange, and a supermarket pomegranate offer. This coincidence extended the research beyond its original feminist-iconographic field into feminist ethical territory, raising questions about corporate appropriation of sacred feminine symbolism, the plastic waste of mass consumption, and the ecological cost of bodies, particularly ageing female bodies, managed and medicated by an extractive economy.
The visual conceit of the bin-liner emerged from astrological self-reflection (ARTstrology Empowered Artist Workshop, 2024) and a mapping of pejorative terms for older women, old bag, crone, hag, whose clustering around decay, animality, and lost sexuality is well documented (Lakoff, 1973; Schultz, 1990). Suspended against a neutral grey ground, each composite refuses gravity and narrative, here particularly a pomegranate, part of a supermarket offer, is digitally superimposed on the liner. Matter that has been refused refuses, in turn, to be merely rubbish