Panel: Individual and/versus social creativity

The creative act is often thought of as an individual, even lonely, one: the inspiration in the bath, the artist isolated in the garret. The research student has to demonstrate that they found new knowledge and that it was “all their own work”. But how often are these individual acts a realistic model of the creative process? Even if inspiration does come in the bath, how many conversations had taken place before that moment? How much time has the “lonely” artist spent in cafes arguing with other artists about their work? If individual research is so important why do we advise a good student to join a successful research department

Rhythm to the Art Educator

Rhythm is a basic principle of art, taught to beginners and explored by master artists. However, rhythm is a difficult concept to understand and apply visually. The basic definition of rhythm is defined, and the use of rhythm is explored through artwork and the writings of historians and aestheticians. The use of rhythm in other disciplines is also examined. Lessons and recommendations are suggested for the art educator.  M.A.Ed

USING INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE AS A CONCEPTUAL TOOL: AN EXAMINATION OF COGNITION IN IMPROVISED MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

Viewing musical improvisation in the light of psychology and cognitive science, this thesis will explicate the rationale behind the development of a software based audiovisual interface for use in improvised solo instrumental performance. The evolution of the performance environment is presented along with the theories and concepts that have shaped its progress. The opening chapter will review the terms of reference used throughout the work and will set a boundary around the area of examination. Chapter two will place musical improvisation within the context of human behaviour and in so doing will draw upon theoretical discourse from the fields of evolutionary psychology and cognitive science. This chapter will explore the nature of volition and its relationship with subconscious processing, drawing upon anecdotal evidence from improvising musicians as linkage between theory and practice. Chapter 3 augments the study of the inner world of the improvising musician by encompassing the communicative functions of this activity. The boundary of this study does not embrace musical interactions between musicians in a dialogic sense, my remit here is to explore behavioural response to sensory information and the mechanism by which this may or may not manifest itself in conscious thought. Chapter 4 sees the development of a theoretical model with which to contextualise the practice of musical improvisation and to provide the foundation from which to evolve the architecture for an experimental performance environment. This leads in Chapter 5 to a discussion around the function and nature of tools as problem solving devices looking at conceptual and physical tools and the mapping of functionality. The discourse in this chapter is aimed at providing a rationale for the development of a software based tool to address some of the issues raised previously in the study. The concluding chapter will document the evolution of a software based audio-visual performance environment, mapping its various incarnations and its relationship to the theoretical model developed over the course of the pervious chapters. This chapter will refer to documentation and audio visual material on CD Rom and DVD found in Appendix l

Image and Evidence: The Study of Attention through the Combined Lenses of Neuroscience and Art

: Levy, EK 2012, ‘An artistic exploration of inattention blindness’, in Frontiers Hum Neurosci, vol. 5, ISSN=1662-5161.Full version unavailable due to 3rd party copyright restrictions.This study proposed that new insights about attention, including its phenomenon and pathology, would be provided by combining perspectives of the neurobiological discourse about attention with analyses of artworks that exploit the constraints of the attentional system. To advance the central argument that art offers a training ground for the attentional system, a wide range of contemporary art was analysed in light of specific tasks invoked. The kinds of cognitive tasks these works initiate with respect to the attentional system have been particularly critical to this research. Attention was explored within the context of transdisciplinary art practices, varied circumstances of viewing, new neuroscientific findings, and new approaches towards learning. Research for this dissertation required practical investigations in a gallery setting, and this original work was contextualised and correlated with pertinent neuroscientific approaches. It was also concluded that art can enhance public awareness of attention disorders and assist the public in discriminating between medical and social factors through questioning how norms of behaviour are defined and measured. This territory was examined through the comparative analysis of several diagnostic tests for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), through the adaptation of a methodology from economics involving patent citation in order to show market incentives, and through examples of data visualisation. The construction of an installation and collaborative animation allowed participants to experience first-hand the constraints on the attentional system, provoking awareness of our own “normal” physiological limitations. The embodied knowledge of images, emotion, and social context that are deeply embedded in art practices appeared to be capable of supplementing neuroscience’s understanding of attention and its disorders

Unbound images: archeology of (Czech) virtual space

The thesis does not include an abstract in English. The thesis does not include an abstract in English. The thesis does not include an abstract in English. The thesis does not include an abstract in English. The thesis does not include an abstract in English. The thesis does not include an abstract in English.Postverbální směřování společnosti, nové technologie, digitalizace a prorůstání obrazů veřejnou i soukromou sférou vede teoretiky umění k zvýšenému zájmu o vizualitu jako takovou (W. J. T. Mitchell hovoří o "bouři obrazů", která se přehnala přes planetu).1 S vizuálním vyjádřením je pak nezbytně spojená kategorie prostoru2 a divácká prostorová zkušenost.3 Právě těmto tématům se věnovala má předchozí práce. V ní jsem obhájila tezi, že pro film je prostor primární kategorie. Prostor umožňuje nejen vyprávět příběh, zkonstruovat jasnou fikci, ale zároveň je nejdůležitější pro dešifrování předkládaných obrazů. Prostor omezený hranicemi a plochou plátna se totiž otvírá do prostoru ve filmu, do fikčního světa, který divák může pochopit za pomoci sestavování kognitivních map (mentálních prostorových konfigurací zobrazovaných informací).5 Prostor je tedy na jedné straně spoután limity média, na druhé straně umožňuje bezbřehou hru imaginace, a proto poskytuje pole otevřené mnohostranné komunikaci mezi divákem a autorem, skutečností a fikcí, a také mezi více médii. V práci jsem tak obhájila druhou tezi, že film je ze své podstaty intermédium. Stává se totiž rámem, ve kterém dochází k vrstvení a násobení mediálních fragmentů, jež obohacují narativní strukturu, pevné limity zdánlivě rozevírají a oživují vzdálené kulturní...Film Studies DepartmentKatedra filmových studiíFaculty of ArtsFilozofická fakult

The Seaboard: discreteness and continuity in musical interface design

The production of acoustic music bridges two senses—touch and hearing—by connecting physical movements, gestures, and tactile interactions with the creation of sound. Mastery of acoustic music depends on the development and refinement of muscle memory and ear training in concert. This process leads to a capacity for great depth of expression even though the actual timbral palette of each given acoustic instrument is relatively limited. By contrast, modern modes of music creation involving recorded music and digital sound manipulation sacrifice this immediate bridge and substitute more abstract processes that enable sonic possibilities extending far beyond the acoustic palette. Mastery in abstract approaches to music making doesn’t necessarily rely on muscle memory or ear training, as many key processes do not need to happen in realtime. This freedom from the limits of time and practiced physical manipulation radically increases the range of achievable sounds, rhythms and effects, but sometimes results in a loss of subtlety of expressiveness. This practice-based PhD asks whether it is possible, and if so how, to achieve an integration of relevant sensor technologies, design concepts, and formation techniques to create a new kind of musical instrument and sound creation tool that bridges this gap with a satisfying result for musicians and composers. In other words, can one create new, multi-dimensional interfaces which provide more effective ways to control the expressive capabilities of digital music creation in real-time? In particular, can one build on the intuitive, logical, and well-known layout of the piano keyboard to create a new instrument that more fully enables both continuous and discrete approaches to music making? My research practice proposes a new musical instrument called the Seaboard, documents its invention, development, design, and refinement, and evaluates the extent to which it positively answers the above question. The Seaboard is a reinterpretation of the piano keyboard as a soft, continuous wavelike surface that places polyphonic pitch bend, vibrato and continuous touch right at the musician’s fingertips. The addition of new realtime parameters to a familiar layout means it combines the intuitiveness of the traditional instrument with some of the versatility of digital technology. Designing and prototyping the Seaboard to the point of successfully proving that a new synthesis between acoustic techniques and digital technologies is possible is shown to require significant coordination and integration of a range of technical disciplines. The research approach has been to build and refine a series of prototypes that successively grapple with the integration of these elements, whilst rigorously documenting the design issues, engineering challenges, and ultimate decisions that determine whether an intervention in the field of musical instrumentation is fruitful