#Rebel Selves: Queer Selfies as Practices of Care

This visual essay presents an exploration of the gendered nature of visibleness and possibilities for queer entanglements through self-portraiture, performance, and installation. It culminates with #Rebel Selves, a practice-based research project comprising installations, self-portraits, contemporary dance performances, participatory workshops, and a smart phone app. #Rebel Selves draws on queer and posthumanist theories to develop experimental approaches to producing queer selfies. Research on selfies finds that negative feedback in comments and the currency of likes reinforce and police dominant gender ideals. However, research on queer selfies has highlighted their role in enhancing queer visibility, challenging stereotypes, creating supportive communities, and improving self-esteem. In this respect, selfie taking and sharing can be practices of care. In this essay I argue that #Rebel selfies do not escape the risks attached to being visible in the public sphere. However, they offer opportunities to be present without being subjected to disciplining gazes, and to participate in caring communities

Home is a Belief

In this case study two sets of images are compared that emerged from drawings made by the artist Garry Barker whilst talking to people who live in his local community. One set of drawings were produced in response to conversations made about a selected ‘special’ object from a domestic setting, that meant something important to a post stroke victim; another group of drawings were made after talking with refugees living in temporary accommodation in a repurposed high-rise block of flats. In both cases drawing is used to reveal narratives that can emerge from human/object relationships and two different world views are articulated, both revealed as being as much to do with fiction as reality, as they travel in opposite directions, sometimes as imaginary travellers and at other times as observers of a harsh reality. A third ‘life story’ is then interjected as an example of how when images are woven from the threads of stories about ‘home’ they can also be disturbing, especially when events are generated by political realities. These drawn images allow us to reflect upon the fact that sometimes the home hosts doorways to other worlds and sometimes home is not a home at all

Towards multispecies justice: non-anthropocentric ecocritical methods and practices

This article examines contemporary artistic practices that challenge entrenched Western binaries such as nature/culture and humanity/animality, aiming to create new frameworks for perceiving the more-than-human world. Through four case studies—The Embassy of the North Sea, Gustafsson&Haapoja’s The Museum of Nonhumanity, Ursula Biemann's Forest Mind, and Kyriaki Goni's Data Garden—the article explores how these works foreground nonhuman agency and present alternative ways of engaging with ecological crises. Drawing on frameworks from eco-criticism, posthumanism, and ecocritical aesthetics, the article situates these artistic practices within a broader discourse that critiques the limitations of anthropocentric thinking. By engaging with concepts such as ‘natureculture’ (Haraway, 2003), the essay explores how these works challenge dualistic Western epistemologies and propose a more entangled understanding of human and nonhuman relations. Goni’s Data Garden, for instance, imagines hybrid plant entities that communicate through human language, while Biemann’s Forest Mind integrates Indigenous epistemologies to foreground alternative ways of knowing and understanding the environment. Central to this discussion is the role of aesthetics in shaping political consciousness and action. Building on T.J. Demos’ (2014) argument that artistic practices participate in a wider realm of aesthetic experience, establishing ecocritical discourse, and Jacques Rancière's (2013) concept of the ‘distribution of the sensible,’ the essay argues that these works do not merely represent ecological issues but actively intervene in political structures by challenging what is seen, heard, and deemed valuable. Through their aesthetic strategies, the artists create spaces for critical reflection and action, particularly concerning ecological justice and the environmental impacts of human activities. The Embassy of the North Sea and the Museum of Nonhumanity, for example, operate as critical interventions into legal and ethical frameworks, questioning the rights and roles of nonhuman entities. These works encourage audiences to engage with questions of ecological justice, interspecies ethics, and the rights of nonhuman beings, opening up new avenues for political and ethical reflection. In conclusion, this article highlights how the case studies presented contribute meaningfully to contemporary discussions surrounding the Anthropocene and ecological crises. By weaving together aesthetic and political concerns, these works offer crucial critiques of anthropocentrism and deepen our understanding of human/nonhuman interdependence. They invite audiences to envision a more equitable and symbiotic future for all entities within the ecological system

Three Countries, one Method: A Comparativistic Study of how SDG Awareness is Developed in Adult Education in the UK, Germany, and Spain

This qualitative paper utilises an international-comparativistic approach. It considers the similarities and differences between three case studies set in adult learning and education (ALE) centres in the UK, Germany and Spain. It illustrates how, using an arts-based workshop, Connected Art, could aid in developing ALE awareness of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs). It compares the social, cultural and political contexts of ALE in art across the case studies. There will be discussions on the weaknesses and strengths whether there are some good practices worth ‘borrowing’ around art pedagogy and what might the consequences of SDG led art practice for adult learners might be

Make it Happen: Developing Cultural Engagement through University and Charity Collaboration, Different Temporalities and Rhythms

This article reflects on a project, Make it Happen, that was a collaboration between a University and an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation (NPO). NPOs are organisations that are funded as part of a People and Places Consortium in the UK that increases access to the arts in areas of low participation. Additional resources came from Knowledge Exchange funding awarded by Research England via the University. The aim of the project was to create a curriculum that would be suitable for preparing local artists so they could have the skills to work in community arts or, as it is now known, socially-engaged practice. It was hoped that this would address a problem where there was a lack of artists from the local area who felt confident in applying for commissions for socially-engaged work. As a consequence, funding would go to arts practitioners from outside the area, and these people would not necessarily have the connections and insights to understand the needs and cultures of local communities. The Make it Happen team included a coordinator and a researcher from the University and the NPO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a Creative Producer. A draft curriculum was then designed based on the knowledge and experience of the team’s members. This was then trialed with a group of local artists (participants) who were recruited to undertake a three-week short course. The feedback and reflections from the participants and the project researcher were then examined through a theoretical lens developed from Bernstein’s work on classification and framing in conjunction with Alhadeff-Jones’ work on the rhythms of educational time. This enabled the researcher to explore the tensions that arose in the project around the competing temporalities of organisations and individuals

How can arts-based methods support narrative inquiry into adult learning in the arts?

This article considers an arts-based project, Learning Returns (2023), that seeks to capture the experiences of adults who have returned to arts study after some time away from formal education. The aims of the project are twofold: firstly, to evaluate the combination of narrative inquiry and digital film-making hosted on YouTube as a method of investigating adult learning and secondly, through an analysis of the Learning Returns content, to discover what themes the participants considered important to communicate to an imagined, virtual audience. The findings suggested that the aesthetics of the videos/films interconnect with the lived experiences of the participants. The participants were able to give an account of their experiences spontaneously, and at the same time communicate messages of hope to prospective adult returners. It was also discovered that the editing process offers a means of analysing the content of the films that is analogous to the approaches associated with qualitative research

Three Lecturers, Three Universities, Three Countries: Can Facilitating Connecting Art Practice Pedagogic Workshop in International Educational Contexts Create Connection and Criticality?

This chapter explores the impact of the Connected Art Practice pedagogic method across three international contexts—Germany, Spain, and the UK—by examining a collaborative Close to Practice research project involving 59 art students and lecturers. The study demonstrates how the method fosters critical thinking, creative collaboration, and a sense of community, enabling participants to connect across diverse disciplines and cultures. The findings highlight how this practice-driven, dialogic approach empowers students to engage with complex concepts and address social issues such as sustainability in the arts

Oops, I Did It Again! The Humour of Incongruity, Risk-Taking and Creativity in Art Practice and Everyday Life

This article explores the incongruous results of creativity and risk-taking within art practice and everyday life as encountered through the photographic image. The impetus for this study was a humorous experience that took place during health and safety training that raised questions about the role of humour within everyday life. Research was conducted into two forms of visual media, including pamphlets and guides from the British Safety Council (BSC) archives and viral images that demonstrate accidents (tagged with an ‘epic fail’ hashtag). This led to a practice-based approach to research involving the production of photographic works for an exhibition that tested the role of risk-taking and improvisation within the creative process. This article uses humour theory including superiority, incongruity and relief theory in relation to Louise Peacock’s model for the analysis of slapstick, to analyse these different types of photographs and draws comparisons between the risk-taking creative behaviours of both employees and artists. These creative approaches are considered in relation to Michel de Certeau’s notion of tactics within everyday life. Ordinary thinking and improvisational tactics are present within both art and work, and improvisation heightens the potential for risk-taking. This may lead to incongruities represented through a photograph which can impact the viewer’s engagement through humour, fascination or self-reflexivity. It is proposed that the viewer response to images containing risk is made up of a balance between an embodied understanding of the dangers and an awareness of the artifice, which can shift depending on the conditions of the photograph’s production and display. The peculiarities of the photograph are seen as conducive to a humour response because of the photograph’s ambiguous relationship with the reality that it represents

Sheila Gaffney: Embodied Dreaming

Embodied Dreaming accompanies the exhibition of the same name by British artist and academic Prof. Sheila Gaffney, held at the Blenheim Walk Gallery, Leeds Arts University from 4 October 2024 to 11 January 2025. Edited by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Marianna Tsionki it features a curatorial introduction by Tsionki, and a new essay by the acclaimed feminist postcolonial and social art historian Prof. Griselda Pollock, which situates Gaffney’s practice and Pollock’s own relationship to it in a history of women artists and their practices of making, from the 1860s to the 1970s until today. The texts are accompanied by full colour images of Gaffney’s work. Sheila Gaffney’s Embodied Dreaming is a comprehensive exhibition that highlights the artist’s diverse body of work, including sculptures, drawings, video installations, and unseen process-based models. Curated to reflect Gaffney’s interdisciplinary approach, the exhibition emphasizes the importance of materiality and process in her practice, drawing connections between the physical act of making and theoretical exploration. Inspired by Gaffney’s doctoral thesis, the show integrates psychoanalytic theory and feminist aesthetics, offering a nuanced examination of identity, memory, and embodiment. The curatorial focus is on the evolution of Gaffney’s sculptural language, balancing tradition with innovation and offering insight into her creative journey. Sheila Gaffney: Embodied Dreaming is an Open Access publication published by RSS Press, which can be downloaded from the LAU repository and RSS website

Learning Returns: Experiences of mature students in art and design captured through YouTube

Learning Returns is a practice-based project that aims to capture the experiences of mature students studying art and design. The research team is based in a small specialist arts institution in the North of England. Initially it was devised during 2020 as a response to the dramatic changes that occurred in people’s working, leisure and learning lives due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Online learning, fitness classes and crafting sessions were broadcast through free-to-access videos such as YouTube and these showed an increase in the six weeks after lockdown was introduced in March 2020 (Bakhshi, 2020). The research explores the possibility that a video-sharing website could be a fruitful space for developing the Learning Returns project. Broadhead’s (2021) interrogation of film-making as a method for researching mature graduates before the pandemic was a precursor to this work. Learning Returns has an overall, long-term aim to demonstrate the benefits adult learning in the arts have for the individual, their community and for civic societies. However, in this phase of the project there were two objectives, firstly, to investigate the ways in which four people who had previously been art and design students spoke/connected with an audience of imaginary prospective students beyond institutions who were considering returning to education. The second was to evaluate YouTube as a means of conducting research with older people about their learning experiences. At the time of writing the Learning Returns YouTube channel had been established containing four films made with four participants. There is an intention to make more and this project would continue over the next three years. It was found that the participants were very confident telling their own stories to the camera. To some extent they took control of the content of their films and contributed to some of the aesthetic aspects. For example, they chose to wear certain kinds of clothes and drew upon their story-telling skills to make the films engaging. Themes that were identified in their films were, a reflection on their learning journeys, linking previous experiences with their learning, an understanding of their own positionality, encouraging others, and future projects outside of education. When compared with accomplished ‘YouTubers’ (people who have grown large numbers of loyal subscribers) it was seen that the academics were unable to compete with the speed with which they could make and upload content. It was also challenging to grow an audience for the Learning Returns channel quickly. However, the YouTube format has the potential to give additional data through number of views, number of like and dislikes as well as constructive feedback in the chat. In order to exploit these aspects of YouTube fully, time to promote the channel is needed. Thus, the progress was and is much slower than anticipated. Using YouTube as a research vehicle enables the stories told by the participants to be experienced by audiences asynchronously - possibly disrupting some of the pre-pandemic rhythms and episodes of adult learning (Alhadeff-Jones, 2016) and so it also disrupts the linear flow of the research process