40 research outputs found
Black Industrial Noise, Ultima 2024
No full textPress Release from Ultima website:
"A radical ‘essay-concert’ reclaiming a post-colonial lineage of techno and noise. Black Industrial/Noise is an extended event taking over Henie Onstad Kunstsenter. Compelling experimental electronic music and noise artists and thinkers present a continuous flow of live music and talk, within a loosely defined concept of ‘Black Industrialism’.
Trevor Mathison and Gary Stewart have been in search of a black avantgarde since the 1980s. As the duo Dubmorphology they make experimental audio-visual installations and performances that examine the relationship between culture, history and creativity, reworking historical, political and scientific archives. Theorist and artist Kodwo Eshun is the author of the acclaimed book on music and Afrofuturism, More Brilliant Than the Sun (1998). He will give a performance-lecture outlining the aesthetic of Black Industrialism.
Nkisi is a producer, live musician, DJ and curator born in Congo, raised in Belgium. Her intense sonics are influenced by ancient Kongo rhythms, noise, the planetary electromagnetic grid, and experimental improvisation. South London’s Klein is an electronic composer with a Nigerian background. She specialises in grainy pop collages with R&B-inspired vocals, manipulated samples and metallic drones. As well as collaborating with Laurel Halo she has released music on the Hyperdub label and composed music for film.
Tilling the garden of joy/sorrow: A poetic inquiry into the rhizomatic complexities of growing into and through collective spaces
Get PDFA pilot research project turned ongoing program sought to explore the experience of participating in an inclusive Campus Community Garden. In the confines of institutional research the project undertook a specific focus on uncovering the perceived benefits and barriers to participating preschoolers, older adults, individuals with mixed abilities and their caregivers from residential and intermediate care facilities. This paper describes a parallel exploration as an occurrent act of art making; an evolving rhizomatic process of poetic reflection on images and privileged notes from the field. In this work, the authors uncover the shape, movement, and colour of the joy/sorrow of tilling the garden through creative expression
Theoretical and experimental investigations of frustrated pyrochlore magnets
Get PDFThis thesis describes the investigation of frustrated magnetic systems based on the pyrochlore lattice of corner-sharing tetrahedra. Monte Carlo simulations and analytical calculations have been performed on a pyrochlore ferromagnet with local (111) easy-axis anisotropy related to the problem of 'spin ice'. The anisotropy-temperature-magnetic field phase diagram was determined. It contained a tricritical point as well as features related to some real ferroelectrics. A pyrochlore antiferromagnet with local (111) easy-plane anisotropy was studied by Monte Carlo simulation. A general expression for its degenerate ground states was discovered and normal- modes out of the ground states were calculated. Both systems are frustrated yet have a long-range ordered state at low temperature. The degeneracy lifting observed is discussed as well as the reasons for its presence. The rare-earth titanate series Ln_2Ti_2O_7 (Ln = rare earth), crystallizes in the Fd3-barm space group, with the magnetic ions situated on the 16c sites which constitute the pyrochlore lattice. Crystal-field effects are known to play a significant role in the frustration observed in these compounds. Powder neutron diffraction was performed on gadolinium and erbium titanate. Both systems are frustrated antiferromagnets yet show long-range magnetic order at #approx# 1 K and #approx# 1.2 K respectively. The magnetic structures of both these compounds have been determined by powder neutron diffraction techniques and related to other theoretical results as well as the theoretical results of the author. Further neutron scattering experiments on the 'spin ice' materials Ho_2Ti_2O_7 and Dy_2Ti_2O_7 are also described. (author)SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DXN057441 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo
A Study Of The Introduction off a U.S. Consumer Product Into The People's Republic Of China Using Soft Drinks As A Prototype
No full textxi, 92 p.This dissertation discusses the considerations that must be evaluated by
a U.S. enterprise wishing to conduct business in The People's Republic of China.
Examination of regulatory issues, consideration of marketing techniques to adopt,
and evaluation of the economic factors are three major areas that the U.S. soft
drink companies, The Coca-Cola Company and Pepsi-Cola International,
extensively reviewed in order to successfully enter the Chinese market. A
general overview of the Chinese consumer market and an in depth study of these
three main headings clearly show that the Chinese consumer market currently
has the greatest potential of all the world's consumer markets due to two primary
factors; one being the enormous Chinese population, and the second being
intense desire of the Chinese people to obtain Western consumer products. This
dissertation is a compilation of many different sources. Published literature
obtained from the U.S., Hong Kong, and China, and personal interviews with key
corporate personnel that are not available to the average U.S. undergraduate
student as the author was frequently advised during many interviews with
personnel from both Coca-Cola China Limited and Pepsi-Cola China Limited.
The results indicate that indeed the consumer market in China has huge
potential, however U.S. enterprises and other foreign investors must also be
sensitive to and familiar with the culture of the country in order to conduct a
successful and profitable business. One can not presume to make huge profits
in a short period of time from this rapidly developing third world country.
Generally success will be achieved only with long term investments and
commitments in China, depending on the market that one is engaged in. China is
clearly the market that the capitalist world is looking toward, but foreign
economists have difficulty applying their capitalist economic approaches to this
non-capitalist country. Capitalist economic theories do not apply to this
communist country that is defined as having a "socialist market economy."
Although Western economic theories may apply in the future, it is the author's
observation that those theories are not operative at this present time. Using the
U.S. soft drink market in China as a prototype, this dissertation outlines for the
reader the specific process that these companies have used to enter this market
and of the great potential China has to offer to the rest of the world in terms of a
huge population of soft drink consumers. Although China remains
underdeveloped and continues to operate under communist philosophy, the
Chinese government is developing opportunities for foreign investment
enterprises which are anticipated to eventually bring China up to a first world
status
How Real Managers In The Real World Build Real Teams: A Call For Relevance
Get PDFFew places in the management literature is there a greater divide between theory and practice than in Team Building. Yes, academics have thoroughly researched what this “ideal team” should look like, its various developmental stages, even the proper mix of roles – yet this author would argue we as educators and consultants know little of how to really develop teams and offer even less of this in equipping our students-managers for this central task. The purpose of this paper is a call for relevance – a challenge to move from speculative theory on team development to actual practice – identifying what works and what doesn’t. Following a literature review which underlines how theoretical our field has become concerning team development, an actual research study will be reported. Forty-two MBA students participated in a study where near ideal work teams were developed. Then these same students were asked, “What went right? Identify four lessons you learned on how to build an energized team.” The following is a partial list of student observations on what contributed most to an ideal team: listening, clearly defined goals and tasks, respect for each other, urgency of time, strong norms that rejected loafers, lack of formal structure, and allowing natural leaders to lead. The paper ends with a discussion on implications for managers hoping to develop energized work teams: · Ad Hoc Teams are Best. Standing groups which lack “Sunset Causes” tend to become political over time.· Find the Right Mix between Formal and Informal. Informal gives energy, formal gives needed structure.· Leadership Must Emerge Early in the Process and be Accepted by Most. There is a critical moment where leaderless teams dissolve into political games.· Strong Norms of Mutual Respect Must be Present from the Beginning. The tendency toward competition in early team formation must quickly be moderated and directed toward task completion. In conclusion, our theoretical traditions have led us to a profound understanding of group dynamics, but to remain relevant we owe our students a practical guide as well. A guide that discussed how Real Managers in the Real World develop Real Teams
Photo-performance: A study of the performativity of butoh dance photography
No full textThis thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis analyses the detailed performativity and the intuitive act of
photographing the Japanese dance form Butoh. It argues that the photographer’s embodied experience constitutes an ‘inner’ performance and introduces new terms: the
photo-performance and the photo-actor. The author argues that the photo-performance,
similarly to Butoh dance, manifests itself not only in physically apparent (visually
perceived) movements but also within the multi-modal pre-reflective consciousness of
the reciprocal interaction between the photo-actor and a Butoh dancer.Butoh has been widely photographed since it began in 1959 in Japan. However studies formalising the relationship between dancers and photographers have been largely absent in academic research so far. Butoh photographers such as Nourit Masson-Sekine (1988, 2006, 2008) or Maja Sandberg (2003) suggest that their photographic act places them closer to the performers than the rest of the audience and, as a result, they become part of the dance itself. However, Butoh dancers including Yoshito Ohno (1938
- ) and Tatsumi Hijikata (1928 – 1986) amongst others, express their concerns as to
whether photographs can capture the essence of their art. This thesis confronts the
tensions between the fields of dance and photography by elucidating the performative
dimension of dance photography.This thesis brings the qualities of the Butoh photographer’s performative act to the forefront by using interdisciplinary methods to attain an intersubjective knowledge of the nature of the photographer’s experience. The methods include: a practical research presented in a form of case studies of the photographic projects carried out by the author in London with various Butoh dancers; an analysis of the structure of the photographer’s subjective experience through the use of first-person methodologies (an
explicitation interview); an analysis of theories of theatre represented by Tadeusz
Kantor (1915 – 199) and Jerzy Grotowski (1933 – 1999) whose work helps to develop
the notion of a performative body; and a description of the photo-performance aesthetic and the performative potential of photographic documents informed by cognitive
phenomenology. This thesis argues that drawing attention to the performativity of
Butoh photography would contribute greatly to the pedagogical aspects of photography
and performing arts
The birth of monsters in the Maltese Islands in the 17th and 18th centuries
Get PDFIdeas about the congenital malformations are related to the mythological, moral and religious concepts. In this article the author draws attention to two manuscript descriptions of deformed neonates by a midwife and by a physician in 1630 and 1788 respectively. These manuscripts are the earliest accounts of the births of teratogenic babies known to have been recorded in the Maltese Islands. Furthermore, they provide insight into the ecclesiastical requirements of the time regulating church burial for the deformed neonates.peer-reviewe
Lexical retrieval in second language learners: how proficiency impacts first language verbal fluency performance
No full textBilingual lexical retrieval requires the ability to access, select, and produce words from the appropriate language according to the context or task requirements. One particular measure used to test the efficiency of word retrieval is the verbal fluency task. Research comparing monolingual with bilingual verbal fluency has primarily focused on heritage bilinguals and has resulted in mixed findings (Friesen et al. 2015; Gollan et al. 2002; Luo et al. 2010; Rosselli et al. 2000; Sandoval et al. 2010). Relatively little work has been done examining the verbal fluency of second language (L2) learners (Baus et al. 2013; Linck et al. 2009; Van Assche et al. 2013), especially relative to monolinguals (Ljungberg et al. 2013). This dissertation investigates the impact of L2 proficiency on learners’ ability to retrieve words in their first language (L1). To that end, 122 English monolingual and English-Spanish L2 learner/bilingual participants completed verbal fluency tasks. Analysis of their English performance reports word totals as well as word frequency, retrieval latencies, and the time-course of retrieval. Results suggest that highly proficient L2 bilinguals have an L1 retrieval advantage in task efficiency, specifically the ability to retrieve more words than monolinguals but with similar spread of production over time. This study is significant in its addition to our knowledge of how L2 study impacts the L1 lexical retrieval process.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Lake L. Mathiso
Hitchhiker planting: mixed-species container stock planting as a novel tool to increase plant diversity on industrially-disturbed sites
Get PDFRapid establishment of closed canopy cover is a key goal in land reclamation. While reestablishment of understory vegetation is likely to positively contribute to this goal, native herbaceous species are not typically planted on reclaimed sites though it is an alternative to reliance on natural regeneration. The objective of the present study was to test the principle of hitchhiker production of a tree species with native herbaceous species on recently reclaimed industrial sites with the aim of (1) understanding growth tradeoffs when mixing these species in the same container and (2) if hitchhiking had negative growth and survival outcomes for white spruce seedlings compared with singly grown white spruce seedling. White spruce seeds were sown in nursery containers of contrasting cavity sizes, followed by sowing a forb species (Eurybia conspicua or Chamerion angustifolium) at different time intervals or grown singly. Larger cavities and earlier sow dates were associated with higher persistence and growth of the forbs while later sow dates were associated with larger white spruce seedlings. We observed no evidence to suggest that hitchhiked seedlings, were at a competitive disadvantage in terms of growth or survival compared with initially similar sized singly grown seedlings.The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the pdf file of the accepted manuscript may differ slightly from what is displayed on the item page. The information in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript reflects the original submission by the author
Neural correlates of executed and imagined joystick directional movements: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study
Get PDF2019 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.Motor-based brain computer interfaces (BCIs) attempt to restore and/or enhance motor functioning by measuring brain signals and converting them to computerized output. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive brain imaging modality that is resistant to both noise and motion-related artifacts. For this reason, fNIRS offers potential as an imaging method for use in a BCI. Currently, there is a paucity of literature on fNIRS as a sole BCI imaging method. Of the extant literature, studies were limited by low-density optode layouts and/or task designs which did not represent the motor goal. The present study was designed to enhance our understanding of the capabilities of fNIRS by utilizing a high-density optode array and an experimental task that closely mirrored the motor goal. 28 participants completed a series of executed and imagined joystick movements in four directions (forward, back, right, and left). Results indicated significant differences in inferred cortical activation during executed movements compared to baseline, executed movements compared to imagined movements, and imagined movements compared to baseline. No significant differences were observed for comparisons between individual movement directions. Results support the possibility that fNIRS may not be capable of distinguishing between changes in brain activity associated with joystick movement directions. Future research could enhance classification accuracy by implementing a machine learning algorithm or by pairing fNIRS with electroencephalography
