Lusciousness - flora and the crafted image in a digital environment

The development of digital imaging within science has been as swift as it is impressive, as the images of outer space developed from data sent back from the Hubble Telescope bear witness. However, in a climate where programmes are constantly being developed to facilitate the production of visual spectacle, the ability to retain the trace of the artist's hand within the field of science imaging is a challenging task. Through my collaborations with botanical scientists at Kew over the past eight years I have been keen to move the artistic nature of depicting microscopic plant imagery to a more sophisticated level. Just as the original plant employs colour coded messages to attract an audience of insect collaborators. Through artistic intervention and interpretation I have sought to create mesmeric images and symbolic objects that carry many messages, markers with which we retain contact with the natural world

An autonomist view on the ethical criticism of architecture

It is a fact that there is ethical criticism about art. Art critics, the general public and even artists point out moral flaws in artworks while evaluating them. Philosophers, however, have maintained a hot debate on the meaning of such criticism. This debate can be understood as a disagreement about the kind of relation between the artistic value of artworks and their alleged moral value. While some claim that moral value can contribute to artistic value (moralism), others claim that there cannot be such a contribution (autonomism). Since at least some works of architecture are artworks, that debate also concerns architecture. A moderate moralist view claims that some works of architecture have moral flaws/merits that bear on their artistic evaluation. In an apparently promising version, the contention is that some moral flaws/merits are aesthetically relevant. In this paper I argue against such contention and defend an autonomist view. Following some taxonomy remarks I distinguish the views in the debate and present two points in favour of autonomism: its simplicity and not having the burden of proof. Then I discuss Carroll’s merited response argument for moralism and I argue that in its best interpretation either it begs the question against autonomism or it is compatible with it. I conclude with some possible objections that may help further investigations on the subject

Gestures as an interface of performers’ intentionality : a case study of Western Embodiment of Karnatic Music in piano performance

Background Music performance has a strong corporeal dimension, involving different types of gestures (technical gestures, expressive gestures, etc.) that performers employ to transform a written score into live music (Leman 2007). This transformation is based on the musical intentions that arise from the performers’ personal interpretation of the composition as an outcome of their artistic praxis, which leads to decisions on how to play the music in terms of its structure, articulation of the phrases, dynamics, timber and the necessary motor strategies to realize these decisions in the sounding music. Aims This research wants to investigate musical gestures as an interface of performers’ intentionality, i.e. an outcome of the artistic praxis and the process of embodiment, in the light of the recent theories on enactment and embodied music cognition (Leman 2016). For this reason, we considered a case study based on the interpretation of a piece that includes the acquisition and embodiment of musical knowledge quite knew to the performer in order to map the modifications in the corporeal engagement from an intuitive approach to a conscious approach. The composition chosen was a contemporary piano piece based on a non-western music tradition: the Karnatic modes from South India. Method To assist the performer in (re)framing the phases of her artistic process, a methodology, called performer based analysis method (Caruso et al 2016), was developed to establish also the procedures of a performative experiment where the performance of the 8th cycle from the 72 Etudes Karnatiques pour piano by Jacques Charpentier (b.1933) was taken as a case study. The performative experiment required a period of preparation, which concerns the performer/researcher’s artistic praxis (to embody the piece) and the self-observation of a video recording archive of her performances in order to map and describe the artistic praxis. The pianist conducted a musicological research on the influence of Indian music in the French contemporary piano repertoire to enrich specifically her current competences in Karnatic Music and had a collaborative three years practice with the composer and with two experts in Karnatic music, a singer and a dancer (see the Re-Orient project: http://re-orient.wixsite.com/indiandream). A retrospective thinking-aloud procedure (Van den Haak & De Jong, 2003) was used during the experiment to allow the performer in rendering explicit and systematic the artistic reflections. The experiment was recorded by a video camera, a microphone and the Motion Capture System. Results To catch the development between the initial intuitive performance and the final embodied performance, two recordings of one fragment from the piece played with these two different approaches (intuitive and conscious) were compared. The analysis of these fragments was based on an alignment between qualitative data acquired through subjective descriptions - based on a performance model and a score annotation - and quantitative data (objective measurements) produced by the audio-video and motion capture recordings. The qualitative and quantitative data (audio and video) were processed through the ELAN software. Gestural similarities and differences between the intuitive and conscious versions were detected by comparing the kinematic and audio measurements (quantitative data) with the performer’s subjective annotations (qualitative data) concerning the motor strategies and the interpretative cues. The results show a different corporeal engagement of the pianist related to the different intentions through a parallel configuration of these two different subjective and objective layers. Conclusions The actual investigation wants to present musical gestures as vehicles of idiosyncratic intentions and expressions by linking performers’ corporeal engagement to the embodiment of their interpretation in order to better understand the connection between musical intentions, goal actions and sound. The role of the technology-mediated approach (thirdperson’s perspective) gives the opportunity to study, as in a mirror-like tool, some aspects, which imply the performer’s subjective involvement (first-person’s perspective). This method provides specifically to musicians/researchers an easier access to music performance analysis. Furthermore, with the implementation of a transdisciplinary and collaborative practice (with the composer, the Indians singer and dancer) plus the aid of technology with the motion and audio analysis, the actual study adds an alternative perspective concerning the exploration and the design of new paths within the field of artistic research

The artistic use of parallax and lenses revealing the invisible in holography

There are many artistic resources offered by holography: third-dimension registration and reconstruction, immateriality, color interpretation, holographic space, realism, etc. But there are a few of them which are very characteristic and singular of that media such as the inversion of parallax, and the possibility of making invisible to turn into visible. Current paper aims to discuss key issues concerning with the aesthetic use of those special features. It is based on theoretical as well as critical analysis of the production by some of the most outstanding holographic artists who have made use of such interesting resources

Telephonic alterations

This project explored the unique qualities of an artist’s hand (personal gesture) and was a study of mark making. Three compositions were created through automatic drawing. Completed drawings were presented to three groups: those who considered themselves non-artistic, advanced level art students and beginning level art students. The first individual from each group was asked to recreate an initial drawing. The first recreated drawing was then passed to the next participant for personal interpretation. The process was repeated for each subsequent member of a particular group. Results were similar to the outcome of the classic children’s game “Telephone” with noticeable variations associated with the artistic skill level of each group. Despite the differences it was observed that, in general, participants strove to preserve the essential form of the source sketch. Using the original drawing and the final interpretation of the same drawing, I then created paintings incorporating formal properties of line, composition and color.Department of ArtThesis (M.A.

A Cultural Tourism Strategy: Enriching Culture and Building Tourism in Buffalo Niagara

Their continued dedication to the region\u27s cultural, arts and heritage organizations and the development of cultural tourism has been, and will continue to be, essential to attaining the vision of “A Cultural Tourism Strategy”. The cultural tourism mission is to strengthen cultural, artistic and heritage organizations; expand individual opportunities for creativity and interpretation; help our regional economy grow; enhance the quality of life in our communities; advance the image and identity of the region; and build the region\u27s reputation as a world-class tourism destination. These benefits reinforce one another and can be achieved together