Investigating the Hotspot and Evolution Path in the Field of Art Design: A Social Network Analysis Approach

With the purpose of finding out the development trend of Chinese art design discipline, a key network in the field of art design was constructed using social network analysis method to perform an in-depth investigation of the evolution path of China’s research hotspots in art design. This paper employs the Netdraw and the Bicomb software to extract high-frequency key themes and to draw the key themes co-occurrence social network in the field of art design, respectively. The key themes in the field of art design were classified and summarized into three stages from 2003 to 2007, 2008 to 2010 and from 2011 to 2016. The results showed a diversified research direction of China’s art design, and many fields such as traditional art, environmental art, and information art design were beginning to receive great attention. However, teaching and innovation have been the focus of attention in the field of art design. In addition, the correlation between research directions in the field of Chinese art design is gradually increasing and the key network shows a special small-world effect. But, there was yet to be any significant alliance among the research topics. Keywords: Art design; Social network analysis; Research hotspot; Evolution pat

The Transmission of Guqin Musical Instrument Knowledge Literacy and its Reflection Study in Guizhou Province, China

The Guqin is a string instrument that has been played in China for over 3,000 years. It is famous for its meditative, soothing sound and is frequently associated with Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese literati culture. The instrument has seven strings that can be plucked with a plectrum or with the fingers. The Guqin’s sound is said to resemble a gentle breeze blowing through the trees, and it is frequently used in Chinese music to evoke feelings of tranquillity and introspection. This study was conducted by statistically analyzing field research data and making recommendations for their educational status. In this study, samples of local Guqin musical instruments were selected, and a field study was carried out for the three local Guqin musical instrument groups, the Guangling sect, the Jiuyi sect, and the Yushan sect. The questionnaire was administered to 180 participants and included a literature analysis. The results of this study show that the province of Guizhou is home to a diverse collection of peoples, and the art of the Guqin is being modernized and incorporated to produce a form of art that the general populace appreciates. It is possible to make innovations and explore ways to form an ensemble using Guqin, Guzheng, Dizi, and other ethnic instruments, hold various Guqin concerts and art festivals, and engage in cultural and artistic exchanges. Guqin music will be celebrated at an increasing number of festivals in the future

Digital arts in the context of traditional and contemporary creative arts training and practices

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The first idea of "Art Education" came to my mind when I wrote M.A. thesis entitled:“ The Role of Art in Training and Teaching Children 6-11”, Ten years ago. I was eager to enhance my study to new planning methods of Art universities. The objective of this idea was to open up our cultural institutions to the wider community, to promote learning and to extend the reach of new technologies. So, as a PhD student I liked to work on the idea of values and the hope for development. I left all my past behind to enliven my ambition in the way of innovative art. In the world of communication and digital, I was looking for a way to connect human‟s intellectual values and global digital. I tried to perceive the reality of human‟s nature despite the extraordinary progress in computer and its components. Therefore, it is now appropriate to move our attention to what we might do as teachers in higher education to evaluate the quality of our own work, with the key aim of improving the quality of students learning. Because, a teacher has a unique role, requiring the integration of teaching skills and capability to take an active role in curriculum support, design and implementation. I had so many interviews with many digital artists around the world which made me to question myself: Where am I standing now? What do I intend my artwork to impart? As the global communication has brought artist to communicate globally they intend to suggest the new thinking and new form of art. It is no longer art for art but art for communication and conveys a meaning to observers. Regarding to Oliver Wedell who interprets the best of a book he found, can also be a good expression for me in art: "The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts." Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894), American physician and writer. (Wendell Holmes). This thesis has set out to provide a review of progress in the British universities post 60s. There was historical evidence of this tendency going back into the 19th century, when colleges founded to serve the educational needs of the growing industrial cities turned into the technological universities. The intensity of the certain of new system in England was occurred after World War II. Following post war concern about the need for technical education, and deciding to establish some colleges linked to industry. Indeed, the evaluation of new industry and demanding for reformation, become one of the most important goals in England in those days. Academic atmosphere became institutionalised on policy for technical education in 1950s and 1960s. Appendix 1 contains the main intention to explore the progressive movement of higher education in England. However, It was not the aim to provide a comprehensive theory of the history of education but, in short, I have narrowed my attention to the history of art universities in England since 18th century up to now. So, appendix II, concentrates on the creation of the new system after the 60s and have explored how and why the process of improvement expanded during that period. Chapter 1 with the subject "Digital Art and Iranian Education" has addressed approaches to teaching for creativity in art and illustrates how they can provide rich opportunities for students to discover experience and develop their skills in creative area. The questions here: How can creativity be communicated through teaching? Do we have a specific language for creativity in art? How can we explain the importance of creativity in art? How can teachers make the teaching process itself more creative? would be an overview of teaching and learning process. As it can be an important factor for teachers to know and demonstrate “when”, “where” and “which” language can be matched by creative subject material to avoid creative problem. Actually, creative problem solving depends on using the right tools such as, text, graphics, picture, video, links, searching, random scanning, backtracking, multiple windows, with programmable access and control of other resources such as, spreadsheets, databases, CAD, CD-ROMs, video discs, audio discs, tricks, procedures or methods of analysis. In some cases new tools and methods of analysis must be developed from scratch by the inventor before a problem can be solved and in other cases special tools and procedures must be developed to take the final critical step of enabling successful commercial applications after a university education. Recent technological advances in the arts have created the possibility of new ways of teaching and learning. Identifying successful strategies and techniques for enabling universities to advance is a critical step towards making these goals a reality. This chapter analyse the following conceptual approaches as key issues: Restructuring curriculum and policy in Iranian arts faculties, promoting faculty development and students‟ learning in the context of global standards. More specific issues included: Is there a need for a standard model to deliver university goals? How can we adapt the curriculum? What do we want from creativity and how can we be more creative? Chapter 2 discusses the quality of teaching and learning, resulting in improvements throughout undergraduate education. Therefore, Iranian educational context needs to be considered. I have argued that to increase faculty members‟ effectiveness, the existing competitive, individualistic college structure needs to be transformed to provide a collaborative and innovative environment where the use of computers could emerge as a new practice area. Chapter 3 represents that creative use of computers in digital art is important in learning and teaching. This chapter gives an account of the author‟s experiences in digital printmaking, not just as pieces of art work, but also to develop teaching and learning strategies for Iranian art universities. Chapter 4 states that the development of a professional digital art practice has been an essential task faced by many creative professionals today. The application of digital technologies discussed in this chapter is: What is needed in order to identify a dynamic practice and critical debate relative to educational contexts? How can we visualize the practice and theory of digitalisation? In particular, what is the nature of the collaboration that explores new models of working and practice relevant to the discovery of new methods in future? Indeed, the intersection between digital paintings, the physical body, and multimedia in collaboration with music and video art is one that this chapter discusses as a challenging teaching exemplar in forming learning values. The result promotes a new fine art context that breaks the crossing between the arts. Chapter 5 reveals the world of modern physics and the reality of our mind and our conscious self. The study of quantum physics is the further aim to develop artists‟ consciousness and inner expression for the concept of body energy and interactivity in chapter 6. Chapter 6 considers the hidden values to learn how to focus well on mind throughout the physical body. The collaborative digital art practice has analysed the intellectual activity and produced an interactive visual arts. The study of human being fused my imagination to see and express body in a new form of art as my final project. Chapter 7 examines and explores the idea of using digital art as a form of multimedia project and the opportunity of developing new techniques in performance. These explorations need to develop new tools to facilitate the emerging concept of the higher spatial dimensions, human body and their relationship between art and technology. The intention of this chapter, as a closing chapter, was to suggest a developing a programme, as a short experiential artwork to model a virtual form of the body and to explore the nature of consciousness in the world of the imagination

Place-based and Non-place-based Performing Arts Experiences and First-generation, Appalachian College Student Engagement

The purpose of this study was to examine the pre-college arts experiences of Appalachian college students who participated in place-based and non-place-based performance arts ensembles and, using a qualitative research approach informed by Kuh et al.’s (2005) study on positive student engagement, understand the influence that participation in these ensembles might have on Appalachian students who are the first in their generation to pursue higher education. In this study, the researcher examined student data from 28 first-generation, Appalachian college students who responded to an online survey, and 11 who volunteered to participate in-depth, personal interviews. All the student participants were enrolled at one of three private institutions in Central Appalachia. Based on data generalized from this study the researcher concluded that ensemble participation positively influenced students’ ability to engage with their college environment by facilitating valued relationships to peers, faculty, and campus facilities

Native Artists: Livelihoods, Resources, Space, Gifts

Examines the experiences of Ojibwe artists in Minnesota, including access to training, funding, space, paying markets, and institutional support; discrimination and isolation; and relationships with communities. Profiles artists and makes recommendations

Graduates' employability in the creative industry in China: what competencies, qualities, and skills Chinese graduates with an undergraduate degree in Fine Art need for employment in China

With the evolving effect of globalisation, the employment challenges of Chinese graduates has become highly complex and increasingly uncertain. China has witnessed a rapid expansion in its higher education sector in recent decades, with a concomitant increase in the number of graduates. This has severely affected the availability of relevant jobs, to the extent that we are witnessing a saturation of the graduate job market. In addition, various industrial restructuring and repositioning of productivity has created further challenges in the job market. This emerging imbalance between job availability and graduates has become a matter of concern, not only for the those seeking professional employment, but for employers, government and universities. This research addresses the specific concerns regarding the employment of Fine Art graduates in China. Statistics indicate that, across all higher education disciplines, the employment rate for Fine Art graduates, six months after graduation, has severely declined for four consecutive years. This implies that existing pedagogical approaches and education policies in China have not successfully projected or responded to the changing job market and have not positively impacted the employment levels of Fine Art graduates. The Fine Art curriculum in China is based on a relatively traditional approach to the discipline and is mostly dedicated to the development of skills in painting, drawing sculpting and printmaking. In contrast, the cultural industries, in which Fine Art is supposedly situated, are undergoing a process of development towards an approach more in line with the globalised creative industries. It is this situation that presents, not only an urgent, ongoing problem regarding the sustainability of Fine Art education in China, but also the central research problem of this thesis. The research addresses this problem through an analysis that uses a coordination triangle model in combination with a heuristic model of employability, with the aim of identifying the competencies, qualities and skills Chinese graduates, with an undergraduate degree in Fine Art, need for employment in the emerging creative industries in China. The research argues that the current traditional skills based approach to Fine Art education in China does not meet the needs of students in terms of their professional job prospects in the context of the fast developing, globalised creative industries. Furthermore, the researcher makes recommendations, based on a thorough analysis of original, current, primary data, for Fine Art higher education programmes towards curriculum development and delivery, that meets the expectations of graduates and employers of the creative industries of China

Appalshop Genesis: Appalachians Speaking for Themselves in the 1970s and 80s

Appalshop, a multi-media and arts organization in Whitesburg, Kentucky emerged in 1969 at the crossroads of several different developments. It started as a War on Poverty program and its history exhibits the contradictory ideologies that fueled that effort and the political changes that forestalled it. The production company began in the midst of technological advances in media and is an early example of the democratization of technology and the potential of portable video equipment in affecting social change. Most importantly, its genesis is located within the context of a renewed interest in Appalachian history and culture and the related issues of negotiating regional cultural identity in the American national context. This one small organization in Eastern Kentucky provides a window to a wide slice of American history and culture in the midst of profound changes. Throughout the twentieth century the Appalachian region has been repeatedly characterized in mainstream American culture in an overtly negative light. Appalshop played an integral role in countering these characterizations and the stereotypes they generated and reinforced. Technology became more accessible the second half of the twentieth century. As a result, Appalshop was able to challenge these negative perceptions of the region in the national mind by placing cameras, printing capabilities, drama, and visual art in the hands of Appalachians. This allowed them to speak for themselves—first to each other and eventually to the nation. This dissertation focuses on the founding of the Community Film Workshop of Appalachia, the subsequent abandonment of the project by the federal government, the acquisition of control over its artistic output by artists and staff members, and its expansion between 1969 and 1984. It also addresses the significant role Appalshop played in the burgeoning Appalachian social movement context that emerged concurrently with its founding and its related role as a social change organization

University for the Creative Arts staff research 2011

This publication brings together a selection of the University’s current research. The contributions foreground areas of research strength including still and moving image research, applied arts and crafts, as well as emerging fields of investigations such as design and architecture. It also maps thematic concerns across disciplinary areas that focus on models and processes of creative practice, value formations and processes of identification through art and artefacts as well as cross-cultural connectivity. Dr. Seymour Roworth-Stoke