Reclamation and Decolonization: Stepping Towards a Uncertain Future

This thesis investigates the difficulties of reclamation and decolonization within the context of Hong Kong, recognizing the fluidity of how decolonization is defined, and the transitional nature of both people and place. Through printmaking and the metaphor of the Chinese squatting body, the artist examines how the squatting body can embody the transitional and transformational qualities of Hong Kong that express the hybridity and complexity of Hong Kong’s identity and colonial history. By combining Frantz Fanon’s definition of decolonization and Chantal Mouffe’s agonistic model, the artist argues that there is potential for political discourse within the space of Hong Kong to be resolved without enforcing a friend/enemy relationship, which often escalates towards violence, which is seen through the 2019-2020 protests. This research also shows the potential issues that may prevent the decolonization of Hong Kong due to the inherent conflict between Hong Kong’s identity as a part of the British colony, and its identity as a part of China.Chinese Squatting BodyReclamationPoliticalScreen Printin

Techniques in contemporary book illustration

Introduction: Although the hackneyed adage "one picture is worth a thousand words" defies proof and begs argument, the basic value of illustration in graphic communications is beyond dispute. Without attempting to put a relative value on illustration as compared with words, we can still be aware of the special effectiveness of images, in accomplishing communication goals. The roots of illustration go hack to prehistoric pictorial art of engraved or painted figures done on stone. The hand print can be interpreted as one of the first attempts at drawing. Prehistoric pictorial art depicted visually what could not be expressed by word or gestures some had religious significance, some the presence of myth, others plainly diadactic, showing daily life, social communication, the magic of the hunt, death, birth, group life and sexual symbolism. Little is known of the vast lapse of time between prehistoric art and the imagery that man devised in the service of developing civilisations at the dawn of history. With steadily increasing demands upon his skills, the artisan's mastery of the tools and materials progressed, so that by the beginning of recorded time he was in possession of the potential elements for printmaking. Yet the importance of communication, as we know it today, only developed centuries later with the motivating force of religion. The print could tell its story to those who could not read or write but could quickly grasp the meaning of a picture

The historical collection, King George VI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth

From Conclusion: For the sake of posterity and historical research, our need for secure origins and our appreciation of and pleasure in fine craftsmanship and art, it is important that any Art Collection, particularly an Historical one, be fully documented. All data pertaining to the pictures should be recorded from an artistic, historical and even scientific point of view and photographs should be taken of the pictures. An organized classification system, the correct registering and labeling of each picture and its accessioning and cataloguing as part of the contents of the Gallery and for visitors information, should be constantly 53 maintained and where necessary and in as many ways as possible, cross-references made so that the stored information be usable. To this end and with the growth and increasing importance being placed on Art Museums and Galleries in the community it would probably be of value to cross-reference with other similar institutions and in the respect and day and age, it is not unrealistic to propose that the King George VI Art Gallery consider a computer cataloguing system to facilitate research and complement a more simplified version for the use and guide of the general viewing public . The significance of a picture is not only its value as such, but also the information relating to it. The importance of the Historical Collection as Africana and works of art, expressive of the places, events, people and even attitudes, and as cultural and historic items, goes without saying. Without the Historical Collection of the King George VI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth, the Eastern Cape community and South Africa too, would be the poorer. The pictures have their role to play

Drawing and etching place: What are the experiential and material characteristics of British contemporary practice and how do they evidence reciprocity between drawing and etching?

The thesis is framed through an interpretation of creativity realised through the fine art practices of drawing and etching. The research was initiated on the unexamined presupposition that drawing is a natural starting point for the medium of etching. In examining the role that drawing plays in investigating and challenging the representation of place, the research identifies reciprocal characteristics in etching practice. The case studies, Norman Ackroyd, Ros Ford, Bronwen Sleigh, Ian Chamberlain and Jason Hicklin provide accounts of their own experiences and enlightening descriptions of the tacitly understood and explicitly known details of their practice. Research was qualified through studio practice, examining my own work and the practice of David Sully. The cyclical generation of case study research and developing theories, explored through an appropriation of the terminology of etching practice, is instrumental in recognising reciprocal actions of creative research as working proof methodology. Creative practice provides evidence in this thesis of tacit understanding, material consciousness and domain shifts; proving that learning by doing and embracing the transference of values from one area of an artist’s practice to another, reciprocally enriches both aspects. The elements of tension and conflict, resistance and challenge, are also shown to have a vital role in reciprocating creative productivity in drawing and etching. The research identifies the multiplicity of reciprocated characteristics employed in practice and places those qualities firmly in an experiential context; thereby advancing the current understanding of the aesthetic and practical experience of drawing and etching. The research concludes by presenting a provisional taxonomy of the characteristics of reciprocity identified as a tacitly synthesised experiential and material exchange

Transforming shape: hybrid practice as group activity

Printed textile and garment design are generally taught and practised as separate disciplines. Integrated CAD software enables textile and clothing designers to envisage printed garments by assimilating graphic imagery with 2D garment shapes and 3D visualizations. Digital fabric printing can be employed to transpose print-filled garment shapes directly onto cloth. During a recently completed practice-led PhD (1998-2003), I researched the aesthetic design potential of combining new CAD technology with garment modelling methods to create new innovative printed textiles/garments. The merging of physical and screen-based making resulted in a hybrid 3D approach to the body, cloth and print referred to as the 'simultaneous design method'. In 2001 this hybrid practice provided the catalyst for a collaborative textile research project at the Nottingham Trent University, UK. The group included surface, shape and multimedia designers. The key group aim was to explore the transforming effects of computer-aided textile design through dialogues between two and three dimensions. In parallel with my own practice, print and embroidery were considered from a 3D starting-point through the relating of geometric cloth shapes to the form. Each designer took an idiosyncratic approach to the selection and integration of imagery with the shapes. The novel consideration of the final modelled textile at the start of the designing process influenced each designer in different ways, leading to a collection of contrasting, original outcomes that were displayed in the exhibition Transforming Shape (UK 2001, Denmark 2003). The exhibition demonstrated the design opportunities (and limitations) of new and existing technologies, specifically the relationship between innovative textile imagery and three-dimensional form. The designs illustrated the premise that surface designs can be engineered through different pattern shapes and that engineer-printed shapes transform the body

Transforming shape: a simultaneous approach to the body, cloth and print for garment and textile design (synthesising CAD with manual methods)

Printed textile and garment design are generally taught and practised as separate disciplines. Integrated CAD software enables textile and clothing designers to envisage printed garments by assimilating graphic imagery with 2D garment shapes, and 3D visualisations. Digital printing can be enlisted to transpose print-filled garment shapes directly onto cloth. This research challenges existing 2D practice by synthesising manual and CAD technologies, to explore the integration of print design and garment shape from a simultaneous, 3D perspective. This research has identified three fundamental archetypes of printed garment styles from Twentieth Century fashion: 'sculptural', 'architectural' and 'crossover'. The contrasting spatial characteristics and surface patterning inherent in these models provided tlýe theoretical and practical framework for the research. Design approaches such as'textile-led', 'garment-led'and 'the garment as canvas' highlighted the originality of the simultaneous design method, which embraces all of these concepts. This research recognises the body form as a positive influence within the printed textile and printed garment designing process, whereby modelled fabric shapes can be enlisted to determine mark making. The aim of the practice, to create printed garment designs from a 3D perspective, was facilitated by an original method of image capture, resulting in blueprinted toiles, or cyanoforms, that formed the basis of engineer-printed garments and textiles. Integrated CAD software provided the interface between manual modelling, design development and realisation, where draping software was employed to digitally craft 3D textiles. The practical and aesthetic characteristics of digital printing were tested through the printing of photographic-style, integrated garment prototypes. The design outcomes demonstrate that a simultaneous approach to the body, cloth and print can result in innovative textile vocabulary, that'plays a proactive role within the design equation, through its aesthetic integration with garment and form. The integration of print directly with the garment contour can result in a 3D orientated approach to printed garment design that is empathetic with the natural body shape

An exploration of drawing as it relates to the realisation of concept in art-making.

Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.Drawing in the Visual Arts has been subject of scrutiny, fragmentation, and interpretation. Whether viewed as an objective academic pursuit or subjective experimental and explorative act, drawing can be perceived as largely changeable and mutable. In reflection on art history and art practice, it would seem drawing has been relegated to an unseen space in Visual Art, its role defined by purposes other than those that lead to drawing for drawing’s sake. The aim of this dissertation is to reaffirm the notion that drawing, with all its breadth and influence, is pivotal to the understanding of art-making. This dissertation examines drawing employed by artists following a historically Western discourse of art-making. From an initial look at Renaissance art practice around drawing, this examination tracks the characterisation of drawing to where its newfound status emerges in the 21st century. As a background to this research is established, reference is made to contemporary artists who have enlisted drawing as a contributing factor in their art practice. I then analyse my own art practice in relation to these artists and themes which I have discussed. Drawing has rarely been subjected to theoretical discourse. This dissertation, through an inherent narrative, aims to acknowledge and identify hidden discourses around drawing with reference to authors such as Phillip Rawson, John Elderfield, and Johanna Burton

Designing 21st Century Standard Ware: The Cultural Heritage of Leach and the Potential Applications of Digital Technologies

This practice-based research investigates the potential applications of digital manufacturing technologies in the design and production of hand-made tableware at the Leach Pottery. The methodology for the research establishes an approach grounded in my previous experience as a maker that is informed by an open, experimental, emergent, and responsive framework based on Naturalistic Inquiry. A critical contextual review describes the cultural heritage of Leach which, for the purposes of the research, is developed through the Leach Pottery as a significant site, the historical production of the iconic Leach Standard Ware and the contemporary production of Leach Tableware. This is followed by an examination of Potter’s Tools in the Leach production environment, and a review of makers’ digital ceramic practice. The contextual review is followed by an explication of ‘standards’ presented through visual lineages of Standard Ware and Leach Tableware to define ‘standard’ at a design (macro) level, followed by an examination of how ‘standard’ operates at a making (micro level) level. This chapter presents new knowledge in relation to defining the visual field of Leach Pottery tableware production and its standards of design. A chapter focussed on practice presents the outcomes and analysis of my engagement with digital manufacturing technologies which resulted in the development of new tools to support Leach Tableware production and the interrogation of Leach forms, in different mediums, which led to the creation of Digital-Analogue Leach forms. The practice culminated in the design and development of new 21st century Standard Ware: a range of 9 forms, called Echo of Leach, that were developed by myself using digital and analogue methods: the designs were realised by myself, the Leach Studio, and a further four makers. The outcomes of the research were presented in a three month exhibition at the Leach Pottery in 2013. The conclusions of the research draw on the key points raised in the analysis of the practice and relate these to the approaches to making pottery that are highlighted in the cultural heritage of Leach in the contextual review. These are also discussed in relation to ways in which these findings could be taken forward into development of knowledge about Standard Ware, especially in a broader studio pottery context