257 research outputs found
Governing Cities without States? Rethinking Urban Political Theories in Asian Context
No full textEdited by Tim Edensor and Mark Jayn
Venturing into the Dark : Gloomy Multiplicities
No full textIn this substantive opening chapter, the underpinning argument of the book is presented, focusing upon how throughout history, especially post-enlightenment, perspectives on light and dark have been held in binary opposition across different cultural understandings, particularly in Western ideology. This longstanding view continues to influence contemporary views on darkness, despite the global onslaught of over-illumination and the malign social, health, environmental and aesthetic affects this continues to perpetrate. However, as we will argue, darkness is invariably situated and relational, and existing limited perspectives negate and ignore the far more subtle and important relationships that span histories, cultural practices, sensory experiences and creative engagements. In providing an overview of the history behind these existing attitudes toward darkness, this chapter will subsequently consider how and why we need to reconsider these reductive accounts by investigating how new perspectives or previously overlooked insights from different cultures and contexts have been recently explored and might be further advanced by scholars. In thereby reframing the concepts and meanings associated with darkness, we will establish a more holistic yet variegated account of our relationships with the dark. The chapter will then account for the interrelationships between the different sections of the book to consolidate an understanding of this emerging multi- and inter-disciplinary field across the arts, humanities and social sciences. In doing so, the introductory chapter will connect and contextualise the original and insightful work that can speak across disciplinary silos whilst retaining a focus on the creative, cultural, and social dimensions to darkness
Dark skies : meanings, challenges, and relationships
No full textThis chapter presents the underpinning argument of the book, focusing upon how meanings about dark skies have emerged and relationships them have evolved. In particular, the chapter responds to the significant gap in knowledge across the humanities and social sciences in relation to dark sky places. It explains the importance of new insights and understandings concerning dark skies and their relationships with place, communities, and practices. Contemporary views about darkness are complex and contradictory, despite the global onslaught of over-illumination and the malign social, health, environmental, and aesthetic effects this continues to perpetrate. Dark sky places, as we argue, are invariably situated and relational, and existing limited perspectives negate and ignore the far more subtle and important relationships that span histories, communities, cultural practices, sensory experiences, and creative engagements. By reframing the concepts and meanings associated with dark skies, we establish a more holistic yet variegated account of our relationships with the dark
Revisiting the Dark : Diverse Encounters and Experiences
No full textIn this concluding chapter, we will bring together the theoretical frameworks, methodological approaches and empirical work in order to explain their implications for this emerging multi- and inter-disciplinary subject. The chapter will discuss the variations of darkness and light that co-exist and the different histories, geographies, creative engagements and cultural practices that are informing a multitude of different experiences and representations of darkness. This chapter will also contribute to a better understanding of how artistic and other creative practices can enrich academic theories through fresh perspectives and provide valuable critical accounts for inter-disciplinary research. Further, it will respond to some of the innovative professional approaches included within the book to identify new ways in which we might design with and for darkness, a significantly overlooked field at present. In doing so, this chapter will provide an authoritative account of how and why embracing its potential and developing a much more nuanced and critical understanding of the situated and plural nature of darkness is key to addressing key creative and social issues. Finally, this chapter will conclude by reaffirming the collection’s contribution to knowledge and outlining future research that might be undertaken in the wider context of environmental challenges
\u3cem\u3eIndustrial Ruins: Space, Aesthetics and Materiality.\u3c/em\u3e Tim Edensor.
No full textBook note for Tim Edensor, Industrial Ruins: Space, Aesthetics, and Materiality. New York: Berg, 2005. $28.95 papercover
Under the night : the futures of dark skies
No full textIn this concluding chapter, we bring together the theoretical frameworks, methodological approaches, and empirical work in order to explain their implications for this emerging multi- and interdisciplinary field. We discuss the manifold perspectives and encounters of dark skies that coexist and the different histories, geographies, and practices that are informing a multitude of different experiences and representations of dark skies. We examine how artistic and other creative practices contribute toward a better understanding of dark skies and enrich academic theories through fresh perspectives and provide valuable critical accounts for interdisciplinary research. The chapter then explains how we might reconfigure the relationship between light and dark before proposing how and why reconnecting with dark skies is vital to addressing key environmental and social issues now and for the future. We argue that reattunement, re-enchantment, and sensory redistribution will be integral to this goal. We conclude by emphasising the importance of building more dark sky communities at a range of scales to extend the protection of dark sky places
Contemporary British Place Writing: towards a definition
No full textPlace writing is a collocation that has increasingly entered creative and literary critical discourse over the past decade but has yet to receive substantial scholarly scrutiny. Focussing on the forms and themes that emerge from two landmark collections – Towards Re-Enchantment: Place and its Meanings (2010) edited by Gareth Evans and Di Robson and Ground Work: Writings on Places and People (2018) edited by Tim Dee – this chapter moves towards a critical definition of contemporary British place writing. The chapter also moves beyond the contents of these twin volumes to argue for an expansive understanding of place writing that incorporates the imagined geographies of fiction as well as the first-person accounts of geographical experience offered in creative non-fiction and lyric poetry. Ultimately, this chapter proposes that place writing is a literary genre, rather than literary form, that is analogous to the similarly heterogeneous genre of life writing
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Topographies of the Obsolete: Ashmolean Papers
No full textTopographies of the Obsolete is an international artistic research project initiated by Brownsword and Bergen Academy of Art and Design, that examines Stoke-on-Trent’s post-industrial landscape and its associated socio-economic histories, industrial architecture, production remnants through a range of interdisciplinary artistic practice. The project primarily explores how ceramic and clay can be understood as both material and subject in contemporary art practice. Website: http://topographies.khib.no. This publication edited by Brownsword and Mydland draws together and extends proceedings from a symposium held at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford. It offers a broad range of interdisciplinary insights into issues surrounding the impact of deindustrialisation upon heritage, communities and landscapes, and urban renewal through art and culture led strategies.
Contents:
'Obsolescence and Industrial Culture', Tim Strangleman; 'Topographies of the Obsolete: Exploring the Site Specific and Associated Histories of Post Industry', Neil Brownsword and Anne Helen Mydland; 'Deindustrialisation and Heritage in Three Crockery Capitals', Maris Gillette; 'Industrial Ruination and Shared Experiences: A Brief Encounter with Stoke-on-Trent', Alice Mah; 'Maintenance, Ruination and the Urban Landscape of Stoke-on-Trent', Tim Edensor; 'Image Management Systems: A Model for Archiving Stoke-on-Trent’s Post-Industrial Heritage', Jake Kaner; 'Margins, Wastes and the Urban Imaginary', Malcolm Miles
Of place and law
No full textThis chapter attempts an alternative spatial reading of the law from both a doctrinal and an interdisciplinary perspective. More specifically, it aims to establish common ground between traditional legal thinking and geography, when issues pertaining to the treatment of place and space arise. In this vein, the chapter explores the relationship between the territorial construction and application of the law in doctrinal legal thinking, and urges us to consider what role the notions of place and space are called to play in what makes the law (qua law), absent the traditional jurisdiction or the sovereign state. Ultimately, alternative legal vehicles such as Nicholas Blomley’s ‘bracketing’ are being examined as ways to approach spatial considerations in legal practice, without jeopardising legal certainty in the post-Westphalian globalised world
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