The world as a palette : painting with attributes of the environment

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-163).To create everyday art monuments through which we express ourselves--whether in the form of a self-portrait or a life-story--is human nature. Our drive to do so is evident in the natural artistry of young children--representing themselves, people and things around them-through a variety of expressions such as drawing, storytelling, and construction with objects. Yet these creations with diverse media decrease dramatically as traditional forms of literacy take over in school, emphasizing decontextualized and depersonalized forms of expressions. This thesis is about how people, particularly children, create and interact with everyday art monuments, with an emphasis on techniques to support the narrative connection between the creator, creation, and material the creation is made of. This thesis introduces the concept of building visual art projects with elements extracted directly from the artist's personal objects and his/her immediate environment, thus allowing child and adult artist alike to turn their world into a palette of color. For example, by picking up a texture from his pet dog's fur, movements of his own blinking eye, color from his favorite yellow shirt, and by combining these elements into a unique drawing, an artist can not only create a thoroughly personalized piece, but also breathe a new kind of life into the canvas. A number of key design features of the system were developed through observing both adult and child artists using the novel tools over the course of two years.(cont.) During the final five-week study in a kindergarten classroom, the tools supported children's individual creative styles (e.g. 'visualizers' versus 'dramatizers'), and children's work reflected upon the aspects of objects and interactions with these objects that were dear to them. In addition, evidence suggests the children acquired an expanded view of art, associating features in paintings with attributes in their environment. The potential of this new medium that allows artistic expression using attributes taken from the real world is discussed.Kimiko Ryokai.Ph.D

WSAmacd handbook 2012-13 PDF edition

The story, syllabus and course information handbook for the MA in Communication Design at Winchester School of Art. www.facebook.com/WSAmac

Teaching Artists Research Project

There have been remarkable advances in arts education, both in and out of schools, over the last fifteen years, despite a difficult policy environment. Teaching artists, the hybrid professionals that link the arts to education and community life, are the creative resource behind much of this innovation. Their best efforts are redefining the roles the arts play in public education. Their work is central to arts organizations' strategies for civic engagement and diverse audiences. Excellent research has shown that arts education is instrumental to the social, emotional, and cognitive development of thousands of young people. But little is known about teaching artists. The Teaching Artists Research Project (TARP) deepens our understanding of world of teaching artists through studies in twelve communities, and it will inform policy designed to make their work sustainable, more effective, and more meaningful. A dozen study sites were selected where funding was available to support exploration of the local conditions and dynamics in arts education: Boston, Seattle, Providence, and eight California communities (San Francisco/Alameda County, Los Angeles, San Diego, Bakersfield, San Bernardino, Santa Cruz, Salinas, and Humboldt County). A thorough literature review was conducted, and NORC conducted stakeholder meetings and focus groups, identified key issues and began designing a multi-methods study that would include surveys for both artists and program managers as well as in-depth interviews of stakeholders -- teaching artists, program managers, school officials, classroom teachers and arts specialists, principals, funders, and arts educators in a wide variety of venues.There are no professional associations and no accreditation for teaching artists, so a great deal of time was spent building a sample of teaching artists and program managers in every study site. The survey instrument was developed and tested, and then fielded on-line in the study sites sequentially, beginning in Chicago, and ending with the southern California sites. To assure a reliable response rate, online surveys were supplemented by a telephone survey. Lists of potential key informants were accumulated for each site, and interviewers were recruited, hired, and trained in each site. Most of the interviewers were teaching artists themselves, and many had significant field knowledge and familiarity with the landscape of arts education in their community. The surveys collected data on some fundamental questions:Who are teaching artists?Where do they work? Under what terms and conditions?What sort of education have they had?How are they hired and what qualifications do employers look for?How much do they make?How much experience do they have?What drew them to the field? What pushes them out?What are their goals?Qualitative interviews with a subsample of survey respondents and key informants delved deeply into the dynamics and policies that drive arts education, the curricula and pedagogy teaching artists bring to the work, and personal histories of some artists. The interviews gathered more detailed information on the local character of teaching artist communities, in-depth descriptions and narratives of teaching artists' experiences, and followed up on items or issues that arose in preliminary analysis of the quantitative survey data. These conversations illuminated the work teaching artists believe is their best and identified the kinds of structural and organizational supports that enable work at the highest level. The interview process explored key areas with the artists, such as how to best develop their capacities, understand the dynamics between their artistic and educational practice, and how to keep them engaged in the field. Another critical topic explored during these conversations was how higher education can make a more meaningful and strategic contribution toward preparing young artists to work in the field. The TARP report includes serious reflection on the conditions and policies that have affected arts education in schools, particularly over the last thirty years, a period of intense school reform efforts and consistent erosion of arts education for students. The report includes new and important qualitative data about teaching artists, documenting their educational background, economic status, the conditions in which they work, and their goals as artists and educators. It also includes new insights about how learning in the arts is associated with learning in general, illuminating findings from other studies that have suggested a powerful connection between arts education and positive outcomes for students in a wide range of domains

Eros, women and technology

Eros, Women, and Technology seeks to address the potential of a vibrant position for the body and a vital role for women in technoculture. The important job of imagining and re-imagining the potential of technologies to bring benefits, costs, and concomitant effects requires a plurality of approaches. Using a highly interdisciplinary methodology, I focus on an original project of research-creation undertaken between 1998 and 2011, featuring video interviews with thirteen contemporary artists and designers. Participants' personal stories were gathered using my radical method of nude narrative enquiry, and analysed using affinity mapping to identify important questions regarding erotic experience, expression and imagination, body image, pregnancy and mothering, and relationships between mothers and daughters. Themes of the erotic body and technology in education, family life, creative practices, and intellectual and professional pursuits, uncover a range of technological contents and discontents. Through an examination of the history of women's education, a positive chronology of their historical achievements is reported. Theoretical grounding is established through the Chora as conceptual locus for the female body in creative and technological practices. Related thinking of second- and third-wave feminists Balsamo, Battersby, Braidotti, Butler, Grosz, Irigaray, and Young addresses issues of female bodies, maternity, relationships, and the place of women in technoculture. The role of the camera as a favoured technological tool is examined through the work of photographic pioneers Julia Margaret Cameron, Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, and Francesca Woodman, and parallels are drawn through my videographic artworks. Arendt, Blixen, Cavarero, and Kristeva provide theoretical framing for narrative in contemporary art and design projects using mobile technologies to locate and disseminate compelling personal and community stories. Insights are offered into the lives of creative women research participants who reinvigorate ways of thinking, making, and Being in technoculture. Concluding concepts, ideas, recommendations, and strategies are offered to inspire wider consideration. Original research expands from the narratives and professional practices of intellectuals, artists, and designers to build a better understanding of women's individual efforts, and collective work, on the frontlines of eroticism, creative making, and technological change

Extended Skin: Designing Interactive Content for Ubiquitous Computing Materials

Current research is inspired by the impact of digital media on disciplinary division. Sim- ultaneously, recognizes the difficulty of engineering (applied science) to consider the humani- ties as fundamental contributors in the process of making. Steaming from a design perspective, the intersection between art (design) and science, questions if these relations can open per- spectives on the matter of designing within a U.C. context, and fundamentally, introduces the question on how this can be done Furthermore, the motivation for this research arises from considering that innovation in technology is happening in the fields typically identified as engineering. And, despite this, the in-corporation of these inventions in life, considering some discussed exceptions, has not typ- ically been present in the concerns of design action and methods. Therefore, the challenge of current research is to contribute to the realm of ubiquitous computing, routed by design, to some degree aiming to contribute to the field. A deeper analysis into the subject of U.C., there is the realization that there is minority presence of the humanities in the discussion of U.C. (Dourish and Bell, 2011). Technological disruption offers continuous inspiration for design innovation within U.C. Furthermore, the inquiry labeled as “material turn” contextualizes a dialogue between nano- technology and traditional materials. Nanotechnology is applied to project development, while considering a human centred design approach. This focus is present throughout this disserta- tion. The research proposal describes SuberSkin, as a responsive surface that works as a screen. The exploration of aesthetical effects is focused on visual properties – using high con- trast between natural cork colors, dark and light brown. The proposal is highly experimental, and ultimately, aims to explore potential routes on cork research, linked to that of U.C. Thus, recreating and transforming this material into an intelligent surface. In sum, this thesis discusses displacement of disciplines suggested as having a positive impact in interdisciplinary thought and for future design. Therefore a methodology, "research through techne" is presented that illustrates this intention.A presente pesquisa é inspirada pelo impacto exercido pelos media digitais na divisão disciplinar. Simultaneamente, reconhece a dificuldade da engenharia (ciência aplicada) em considerar as humanidades como contribuintes fundamentais no processo de fazer. Partindo de uma perspectiva de design e da interseção entre arte (design) e ciência, questiona-se se essas relações poderão abrir perspectivas na criação no âmbito da Computação Ubíqua. Fun- damentalmente, introduz a questão de como poderá ser feito. A motivação para esta pesquisa decorre de considerar que a inovação tecnológica acontece nas áreas normalmente identificadas como engenharia. E, apesar disso, a incor- poração dessas invenções na vida, considerando as exceções discutidas, normalmente não está presente nas preocupações, ação e métodos de design. Portanto, o desafio da pesquisa é con- tribuir para o domínio da Computação Ubíqua, orientada pelo design. Uma análise mais pro- funda sobre o tema da Computação Ubiqua, constata que há na sua discussão uma presença minoritária das humanidades (Dourish e Bell, 2011). A disrupção tecnológica oferece inspiração contínua para inovação de design, e o mesmo se aplica no âmbito da Computação Ubíqua. Além disso, a pesquisa intitulada como “material turn” contextualiza um diálogo entre a nanotecnologia e os materiais tradicionais. A nanotecnologia é aplicada ao desenvolvimento de projetos, considerando uma abordagem de design centrada no ser humano. Este foco está presente ao longo desta dissertação. O projecto de pesquisa descreve SuberSkin, uma superfície responsiva. A exploração centra-se nos efeitos estéticos da cortiça, recorrendo a um contraste entre as suas cores natu- rais: castanho escuro e claro. A proposta é experimental e, em última análise, visa explorar potenciais linhas de investigação ligando a cortiça à Computação Ubíqua. E assim, recriar e transformar este material numa superfície inteligente. Em suma, esta tese discute o deslocamento disciplinar como tendo um impacto posi- tivo no pensamento interdisciplinar e no futuro da prática do design. Consequentemente, apresenta uma metodologia, "investigação através da techne" que a exemplifica

Contemporary Art in Japan and Cuteness in Japanese Popular Culture

This thesis is an art historical study focussing on contemporary Japan, and in particular the artists Murakami TakashL Mori Mariko, Aida Makoto, and Nara Yoshitomo. These artists represent a generation of artists born in the 1960s who use popular culture to their own ends. From the seminal exhibition 'Tokyo Pop' at Hiratsuka Museum of Art in 1996 which included all four artists, to Murakami's group exhibition 'Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture' which opened in April 2005, central to my research is an exploration of contemporary art's engagement with the pervasiveness of cuteness in Japanese culture. Including key secondary material, which recognises cuteness as not merely something trivial but involving power play and gender role issues, this thesis undertakes an interdisciplinary analysis of cuteness in contemporary Japanese popular culture, and examines howcontemporary Japanese artists have responded, providing original research through interviews with Aida Makoto, Mori Mariko and Murakami Takashi. Themes examined include the deconstruction of the high and low in contemporary art; sh6jo (girl) culture and cuteness; the relation of cuteness and the erotic; the transformation of cuteness into the grotesque; cuteness and nostalgia; and virtual cuteness in Japanese science fiction animation, and computer games. Director of Studies: Toshio Watanabe Supervisors: David Ryan and Omuka Toshihar

Electronic Imaging & the Visual Arts. EVA 2017 Florence

The Publication is following the yearly Editions of EVA FLORENCE. The State of Art is presented regarding the Application of Technologies (in particular of digital type) to Cultural Heritage. The more recent results of the Researches in the considered Area are presented. Information Technologies of interest for Culture Heritage are presented: multimedia systems, data-bases, data protection, access to digital content, Virtual Galleries. Particular reference is reserved to digital images (Electronic Imaging & the Visual Arts), regarding Cultural Institutions (Museums, Libraries, Palace - Monuments, Archaeological Sites). The International Conference includes the following Sessions: Strategic Issues; New Sciences and Culture Developments and Applications; New Technical Developments & Applications; Museums - Virtual Galleries and Related Initiatives; Art and Humanities Ecosystem & Applications; Access to the Culture Information. Two Workshops regard: Innovation and Enterprise; the Cloud Systems connected to the Culture (eCulture Cloud) in the Smart Cities context. The more recent results of the Researches at national and international are reported in the Area of Technologies and Culture Heritage, also with experimental demonstrations of developed Activities

Balance : Art and Nature

Directly relating aesthetic depravation to its environmental counterpart, Grande describes society as only capable of consuming, rather the appreciating, both art and nature. The author argues for the need for artists, using nature as a model, to create socially progressive and responsible work and extrapolates on the problems of postmodern art and the increasing pervasiveness of technology. Contemporary art (predominantely Canadian) reinforcing the "status quo" is critically examined along with the work of such artists as Goldsworthy, Kapoor, and Gormley. 205 bibl. ref

Enhancing children’s early years mathematical creativity through the visual arts

Abstract: Please refer to full text to view abstract.D.Phil. (Education

Narrative as creative quest: the hero's journey and its alternatives

The ancient creative practice of narrative is recognized as an important meaning making activity in business, in the contexts of both academic study and commercial practice. Drawing on these developments, this chapter will focus on the creative potential, within business, for narrative models developed in the field of screenwriting. The latter is an area of creative writing that focuses particularly on story structure. It has produced a range of normative narrative models that recur as the underpinning templates of film and television narratives. The most well known of these is perhaps Christopher Vogler’s reworking of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. Taking this text as my starting point, this chapter discusses the particular implications of the use of the Hero’s journey narrative model in a business context, examining the power of narrative retelling and the meaning making possibilities and limitations of different narrative models