3D Printed Vulva: An Educational Tool for Adolescents

Mass media outlets are perpetuating an ever-narrowing norm of vulval appearance, one that is unrepresentative for many individuals. Consequentially, women who unavoidably consume this media are increasingly self-conscious of their genital appearance, which in turn can affect their self-esteem. Protruding labia minora (inner lips) are usually the vulval anatomical structure which varies most widely compared to media portrayals and is the most common area of insecurity. In an attempt to quell their vulval anxieties, women, and increasingly adolescents, are using surgical interventions to alter their vulvas in accordance with what they believe to be ‘normal’. Labiaplasty rates increased 73% between 2015 and 2019 (Kalampalikis and Michala, 2021). Whilst there is wide commentary about the need to tackle these rapidly increasing rates, little scientific research has been initiated to address the underlying problem. Conversely, artists have produced visual representations of vulval diversity, believing that an increase in awareness of vulval diversity may ease anxiety. Unfortunately, due to their artistic nature they tend to lack scientific rigour. 3D resources show promise in anatomy education through their interactive, tangible element which gives them an enhancement over the current artistic offerings and school curriculum. This research has produced a 3D printed resource of a ‘normal’ vulva for use as an educative tool about vulval diversity, via digitally creating a 3D model from creatively reconstructing CT data. Interviews with four clinical professionals were conducted prior to the digital creation of the model to gauge aspects of inclusion that would render the resource correct and useful for educating adolescents. Data selection on 1389 vulval images, from numerous sources, was conducted to understand the most common vulval characteristics and how those characteristics interact with each other. The most common characteristics were protruding, asymmetric labia minora, and a visible clitoral hood. Reference images with such characteristics were selected to help create the digital model, so that it would be as anatomically accurate and representative as possible. A mould of the digital model was 3D printed and casted using silicone. Face and content validity tests were performed on anatomical experts to assess the anatomical accuracy and potential usefulness of the resource for the education of adolescents, respectively. Test results found the resource to be both anatomically accurate and potentially useful for its intended purpose. Future development of the development should explore the production of additional resources showing differing appearances of each structure, in a variety of ethnicities

Designing and Evaluating XR Cultural Heritage Applications Through Human–Computer Interaction Methods: Insights from Ten International Case Studies

Advanced three-dimensional extended reality (XR) technologies are highly suitable for cultural heritage research and education. XR tools enable the creation of realistic virtual or augmented reality applications for curating and disseminating information about cultural artifacts and sites. Developing XR applications for cultural heritage requires interdisci-plinary collaboration involving strong teamwork and soft skills to manage user require-ments, system specifications, and design cycles. Given the diverse end-users, achieving high precision, accuracy, and efficiency in information management and user experience is crucial. Human–computer interaction (HCI) design and evaluation methods are essen-tial for ensuring usability and return on investment. This article presents ten case studies of cultural heritage software projects, illustrating the interdisciplinary work between computer science and HCI design. Students from institutions such as the State University of New York (USA), Glasgow School of Art (UK), University of Granada (Spain), University of Málaga (Spain), Duy Tan University (Vietnam), Imperial College London (UK), Re-search University Institute of Communication & Computer Systems (Greece), Technical University of Košice (Slovakia), and Indiana University (USA) contributed to creating, assessing, and improving the usability of these diverse cultural heritage applications. The results include a structured typology of CH XR application scenarios, detailed insights into design and evaluation practices across ten international use cases, and a development framework that supports interdisciplinary collaboration and stakeholder integration in phygital cultural heritage projects

Re-inSpired

Re-inSpired is a group touring exhibition curated by Professor Stephen Bottomley and University of Glasgow visiting Professor Jane Milosch. Presented are designs by eleven artists made from donated sheets of the 1960s anodised Aluminium metal cladding removed from the sculptural spire of St Michael’s Church, Linlithgow in Scotland, during its renovation in 2024. The spire, known as the ‘Crown of Thorns’, was designed in 1964 by the British artist Geoffrey Clarke. The original gold coloured aluminium cladding recovered from the ‘Cross of Thorns’ spent over sixty years exposed to the Scottish elements and was steadily weathered, resulting in a change of patina, surface and colour. The provenance of the site’s material, history, and heritage has offered rich and fertile territory to explore diverse ideas, including value, sustainability and sense of place. The Exhibition previewed in Munich as partly 'a work in progress' during International Jewellery Week in March 2025 at the Museum Mineralogia Münche, 13-16 March 2025. The Exhibition returned to Scotland to be showcased with a catalogue in Linlithgow at St Michael’s church from March 29th to April 13th 2025. These dates included ‘Earth Day’ on April 22nd 2025, when worldwide consideration of environmental and sustainability issues was encouraged, including recycling as a global concern. In celebrating this day, we partnered with the Goethe-Institut Glasgow, the Institut Français Écosse, and ClimateCulture on events that accompanied their Cultures of Action that showcased the essential role of culture in addressing sustainability challenges through film, music, performance, and events through a programme of events over an Earth Month schedule. The Exhibition will be shown in full at the Pangolin Gallery in London from September 9th to the end of October 2025, alongside an exhibition of Geoffrey Clarke’s works from the golden age of British sculpture that demonstrate the experimentation of new materials and technologies in his creative practice. The exhibition will be on display during the London Design Festival 202

Funerary Photographs as Enduring Kinship and Community Ties in Twentieth-Century Appalachia and Transappalachia: Material and Relational Methods

This research note proposes a relational methodology for examining the production and exchange of funerary photographs in which family and community members posed with the deceased in early twentieth-century Appalachia, and for exploring how this practice expanded through the mid-twentieth century between Appalachian diasporic communities in the industrial Midwest and their family members who remained “at home.” Initially associated with the Victorian period across European and Anglo-American contexts, these photographs evolved to serve crucial social functions in maintaining community ties across geographic distances. This research examines how the materiality and relational properties of these ritual objects were central to their exchange between families separated by economic migration. I draw on the suggestion of Elizabeth Edwards and Janice Hart to understand photographs as active objects rather than valuing them solely for image content, as well as Marilyn Strathern's work on relationality, which demonstrates that material objects actively constitute rather than merely reflect social relationships

This is Not What I Think

This is Not What I Think claims that the role of conversation with learning and teaching practice in art school is both to distill what happened when an artwork is made, and to witness the unpredictability of the making process. Conversation about art making in the fine art studio is presented as a listening technique, a method of observation and a means of provocation. This essay is also a defence of the freedom given to us when speaking without thinking too deeply before our utterance. The essay reflects the polyvocal experience of learning within cohorts, where multiple perspectives and positions are equally disruptive and productive. The natural shattering of entrenched approached to making and presenting artworks come about through practicing in communal studios. This essays captures the momentum created by shifting the foundations of practice through confrontational dialogue. This essay was written in response to an invitation to participate in the project 'A Social Process of Unknowing Yourself in Real Time': Work on Conversation is a collecting responses, dialogue, exchange and new writing produced as part of writer and translator Dr Kate Briggs' residency in the School of Fine Art at The Glasgow School of Art, A Social Process of Unknowing Yourself in Real Time restates Gilles Deleuze and Claire Parnet's questions 'What is a conversation? What is it “for”? In a life? In a practice? In a pedagogical setting—like an art school?'. Kate Briggs was in practitioner-in-residence for one year, hosted by the MLitt Art Writing, 2022-2023, and worked with staff and students to consider the site of 'conversation' and practices of conversing, an artfulness requisite to both life and teaching. 'A Social Process of Unknowing Yourself in Real Time': Work on Conversation is edited by Dr Kate Briggs and Dr Laura Haynes, Programme Leader MLitt Art Writing

Para-site

This work was presented as part of the 2025 Creative Reactions programme organised by Pint of Science. The Creative Reactions team pair artists and scientists through shared research interests. The project attempts to improve public understanding of scientific research through art practice

Empower New Code Citizens to Reflect and Communicate on Code Security

Democratized access to coding means software is often built by developers with neither formal training nor security knowledge, which could make systems vulnerable. We present an approach based on short games and knowledge cards designed to help these non-experts gain the knowledge and ability to communicate on code security

Unpath'd Waters: UNPATH Navigator Technical Development

This additional technical report is to be read in conjunction with the main Unpath’d Waters project report, specifically the sections relating to Work Package 4 on the development of the Unpath’d Waters Navigator VR system (hereafter referred to as the Navigator). This report gives further detail on the technical specifications for the development of the Unpath’d Waters Navigator and the development process itself arising from the co-design process discussed in detail in the Work Package 4 sections of the main report

Group value in the Adaptive Reuse of Historic Buildings: Case Studies from Merchant City, Glasgow

Several properties in the Merchant City are not qualified as listed buildings but are designated shortly after restoration. This controversial phenomenon reflects legislation issues of listed buildings on the one hand and restoration issues with built heritage on the other. An investigation incorporating the review of existing preservation policies, archival research, and detailed case studies, complemented by on-site inspections, has led to the identification of a key concept: 'Group Value.' Researchers notice the growing limitation of the listed system or preservation policies, yet few have analyzed this phenomenon in specific cases with historical context. This paper will elaborate on the formation of the concept of ‘group value’ and provide a theoretical lens for understanding the crisis and opportunities of ‘group value’ in the adaptation of historic buildings

Woodblock Printed Bio-sensors, SOIL, Somerset House, London

Display of experimental Woodblock Bio-sensors shown in the exhibition Soil at Somerset House, London Exhibition Caption Text: This joint, interdisciplinary research project conducted between the University of Strathclyde, The Glasgow School of Art and Kenyatta University, Nairobi, is working to create a low-cost, biodegradable soil sensor which can be made and used anywhere in the world. Conductive ink is made using ubiquitous materials such as egg, charcoal and seed oils, and printed with a hand-cut woodblock in the shape of a simple electrode, onto scrap or recycled paper. Soil samples are placed onto the paper, which has been treated with an enzyme which sensitises it to the concentration of a target nutritional element (such as phosphates or nitrates) in the soil. A potentiometer is then used to measure the level of resistance in the electrical circuit which gives the user a measure of the nutritional element in their soil. Artist Statement The ability to understand and measure key environmental parameters is important, but often relies on expensive, laboratory infrastructure, making it inaccessible to smallholder farmers with low incomes. In this project we have been exploring whether woodblock printing can be used to create electrochemical sensors that could be used in real time at the point of need. The project Towards Low Cost Soil Fertility Sensor Systems for Smallholder Food Security in Kenya is funded by an award from the EPSRC and was developed with the support of NERC seed funding. SOIL: The World at our Feet, 23 Jan – 13 Apr 2025 This groundbreaking exhibition unites visionary artists and thinkers from around the world to explore the remarkable power and potential of soil. Through a range of artworks, artefacts and innovative approaches, visitors are invited to reconsider the crucial role soil plays in our planet's health. The exhibition delivers a message of hope and urgency, encouraging a more sustainable, harmonious relationship with the Earth—if we choose to act now. Soil is more than dirt. Soil is a secret world at our feet, an ecosystem as diverse in life as our night sky is full of stars. The billions of bacteria contained in its rhizospheres do for plants what the microbes in our stomachs do for us: sustain life. Our relationship with soil is our connection to Earth itself. Without soil, there is no us. Our exhibition brings together a range of stories and responses to soil from a group of global artists, writers, musicians and scientists. Combining sensory artworks, historical objects, scientific artefacts and documentary evidence, the exhibition sets out to inspire and educate visitors about the power and the fragility of soil, its fundamental role in human civilisation and its remarkable potential to heal our planet