The Thermal and Mechanical Performance of Leather Waste-Filled Bio-Based Thermoplastic Polyurethane Composites

The leather tanning industry generates a substantial quantity of solid waste, which, in part, is discarded in the environment in landfills or incinerated. One alternative end-of-life solution is to manufacture engineered materials by forming composites with a thermoplastic polymer/binder. In this work, leather fibres (LFs) were melt-compounded into partially bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), at leather fibre contents between 10 and 30% (TPU/LF), followed by compression moulding or 3D printing. The results showed that the incorporation of LF into the polymer matrix produced materials with a Young’s modulus comparable to that of leather. The melt extrusion processing influenced the polymer chain orientation and the resulting mechanical performance. The cyclic stress softening and abrasion resistance of the TPU/LF materials were evaluated to understand the potential of this material to be used in the footwear industry. The level of LF incorporation could be tailored to produce the specific targeted mechanical properties. This work demonstrates that LF could be used to produce materials with a high potential to be used in the fashion industry

Design and Other Ways of Knowing the Future

Many disciplines are turning toward design today, in what some scholars are calling a ‘design turn’ within society and academia. A field is emerging, for example, in between the Futures Studies and design disciplines. An emergent field such as ‘design futures’ may seem contradictory, however, given that design has historically been preoccupied with objects, materials and space, rather than with time and the future. While many will be familiar with spatial design fields such as interior, furniture and industrial design, however, temporality is central to a number of more recently emerging fields such as communication, experience and interaction design. Through outlining some of the concerns and practices in such fields and by pointing at several practical design examples, I explore in this paper some of the ways in which temporality and futurity have entered more substantially and explicitly into design. Futurity, I argue, is one of many ways through which to expose and explore the heterogeneous nature of design, to inquire about which knowledges as well as whose are at stake both within design and within the wider ‘design turn’. With reference to Futures Studies and, more explicitly, a typology that makes explicit the different knowledge paradigms underpinning different futures approaches, I argue that design scholarship should become similarly explicit and reflexive. Ultimately, by recognizing the multiple and different knowledge foundations in design, new possibilities are revealed for broadening and deepening the emergent field in between Futures Studies and design

All YIN No YANG: Geometric Abstraction of Oil Paintings with Trained Models, Noise and Self-reference

The rapid development of Diffusion models and the declarative nature of interfaces developed for the public require automation methods, where media production can harness natural language as a mode of representation but not necessarily of interaction with humans. This article describes an image-to-video Diffusion system which removes practitioners from the process of defining prompts when producing images with conditional reference, documenting a set of results with a custom dataset of oil paintings. Our research focuses on the appropriation of trained model ensembles that are coordinated to produce indefinite sets of frames with occasional human intervention utilising timeline-based architectures. The proposed system automates a CLIP-guided DDPM with a supplementary depth estimation model and through a set of compositing techniques we found that results with coincidental and diverging descriptions can be useful for moving-image element composition. Our experiments focus on the representation of human figure and its morphological transformation

Rethinking collaboration: Towards a new interdisciplinary practice

From telling stories that seed future breakthroughs to diversifying AI datasets, artists reimagine what technologies can be, and who they can be for. This publication creates an international evidence base for this argument. 56 leaders in art and technology have offered 40 statements, spanning 20 countries and 5 continents. As a collection, they articulate artists, the cultural sector and creative industries as catalysing progressive innovation with cultural diversity, human values, and community at its core

King's X Marks the Spot

Article focusing on the underground creative communities and subcultures in King's Cross during the 1980s and 1990s and how these have featured in recent exhibitions at Fashion and Textile Museum, Queer Britain, and Tate Modern. This article featured in the fourth edition of the Subcultures Special Interest Group publication SIG News

The Space of Thirdness: Intermediating performative treatments in artists’ moving image

In this chapter, I focus on how the screen in contemporary artists’ moving image might function as an intermediate space that performatively treats divisive social issues such as sexism, racism and ecological damage. Focusing on Rehana Zaman’s Sharla Shabana Sojourner Selena, 2016, and Jeamin Cha’s Sound Garden, 2019, I explore how both films differently engender such an intermediate space in which the oppositional conflicts that arise from said social issues can be played with rather than reactively defended against. I argue that such performativity has the potential to unhinge psychic life from what feminist relational psychoanalyst Jessica Benjamin calls ‘the dangers of complementarity’ which involve the either/or positionalities of asserting power over another or succumbing to the power of the other. To bypass this double bind, Benjamin developed the concept of ‘thirdness’, which I use as a metaphor to think through the performative treatments proffered in my two case studies

Theorising Synchronization of Organizational Resources in Dynamic Environments

Resource orchestration (RO) in dynamic environments poses challenges during strategic initiatives. Although prior research highlights RO's benefits, little is known about how managerial decisions influence RO over time, potentially leading to inefficiencies. This study examines two multi-year strategic initiatives: an innovative city project and a telecommunications network upgrade for exploring how RO actions adapt to shifting priorities using historical methods and longitudinal data. This study contributes to our understanding by examining RO processes in dynamic nvironments, offering a framework for synchronizing RO, and proposing a roadmap to guide senior management in aligning initiatives with organizational assets. It highlights the importance of adaptation and ambidexterity. Our findings identify four key synchronization processes—refocusing, descoping, substituting, and deferring—essential for managing strategic initiatives. A framework that aligns organizational capabilities with the benefits of innovation through four synchronization states: 'Drowning', 'Swimming', 'Treading Water', and 'Doggy Paddle' is presented. Implications, future research and limitations are discussed

Interface design and interaction optimization for spatial computing 3D content creation and immersive environment generation using Apple Vision Pro

Traditional 3D content creation paradigms present significant barriers to meaningful creative expression in XR environments, limiting designers’ ability to iterate fluidly between conceptual thinking and spatial implementation. Current tools often disconnect the designer’s creative thought process from the immersive context where their work will be experienced, creating a gap between design intention and spatial realization. This disconnect particularly impacts the iterative cycles fundamental to effective design thinking, where creators need to rapidly externalize, test, and refine concepts within their intended spatial context. This research addresses the need for more intuitive, context-aware creation systems that support the iterative nature of creative cognition in immersive environments. We developed Dream Space, a spatial computing system that bridges this gap by enabling designers to think, create, and iterate directly within XR contexts. The system leverages generative AI for rapid prototyping of 3D content and environments, allowing designers to externalize and test creative concepts without breaking their cognitive flow. Through multimodal interaction design utilizing Vision Pro’s spatial computing capabilities, creators can manipulate virtual artifacts through natural gestures and gaze, supporting the fluid iteration cycles characteristic of established design thinking frameworks. A mixed-methods evaluation with 20 participants from diverse creative backgrounds demonstrated that spatial computing-based creation paradigms significantly reduce cognitive load in the design process. The system enabled even novice users to complete complex creative tasks within 20-30 minutes, with real-time feedback mechanisms supporting rapid iteration between ideation and implementation. Participants reported enhanced creative flow and reduced technical barriers compared to traditional 3D creation tools. This research contributes to understanding how XR interfaces can better support creative cognition and iterative design processes, offering insights for developing tools that enhance rather than hinder the natural flow of creative thinking in immersive environments

Ten Texts on Painting 1: Expanded Painting

Welcome to episode 1 of Ten Texts on Painting! This is the first of a series of reading group podcasts on painting. In this episode Matt and Andrea read three texts that think through an idea of expanded painting. We look at the painter Katharina Grosse’s reflections on key paintings in her career in, ‘The Poise of the Head and die anderen folgen’ and Anne Ring Peterson’s ‘Painting Spaces’, both from 2010. We also refer to Rosalind Krauss’s lecture/book,‘A Voyage on the North Sea'': Art in the Age of the Post-Medium Condition’ from 2000

Key Tips for Fashion Business Success: Korean Culture 101

An intensive one-day masterclass that equips German fashion designers with essential knowledge to enter the Korean market. This focused lecture covers market insights, consumer behaviour, digital platforms, and practical entry strategies for successful brand positioning in Korea