The transgressive mouth in live art and its relationship to the audience.

The relationship between audience, site and artwork has been explored through this thesis, which analyses the effect of my performances on the audience. These performances, which provide the empirical research, identify ways in which the behaviour of the human mouth appears transgressive and abject when viewed at close proximity. Specifically, this is enacted through a series of considerations concerned with the performer and their presence, and orality. Orality is used here to define the significant role the mouth plays in the categorisation of acceptable and unacceptable human behaviour in this research. The condensed oral experiments that constituted the ritual of this practice, included acts such as spitting, licking and sucking. These situated my performing body as ‘woman’, as ‘transgressor’, and as one positioned as ‘other’ to the audience by her actions. Through an examination of the effect of these performances, this thesis explains and analyses the connections between performer and activity, between performer and audience, between animal and human, and the context of site and social relations. It articulates and accounts for the performance methodology by critically addressing the concerns they are engaged with. The artworks discussed are acts that set up spaces of transgression, interrogation and reflection, aiming, thereby, to subvert the observer’s benign neutrality. The thesis concludes by claiming that evaluative observation of the performing self and her effect on her observers is made explicit and understandable as a dynamic part of these performances. It acknowledges the role of the audience, when placed close to it, as integral and implicit to the work. The conclusions drawn develop the debate and understanding of the relationship between audience, site and artwork in live art practice that includes female and animal bodies, and this gives it significance

Recto Verso: Redefining the Sketchbook

Bringing together a broad range of contributors including art, architecture, and design academic theorists and historians, in addition to practicing artists, architects, and designers, this volume explores the place of the sketchbook in contemporary art and architecture. Drawing upon a diverse range of theories, practices, and reflections common to the contemporary conceptualisation of the sketchbook and its associated environments, it offers a dialogue in which the sketchbook can be understood as a pivotal working tool that contributes to the creative process and the formulation and production of visual ideas. Along with exploring the theoretical, philosophical, psychological, and curatorial implications of the sketchbook, the book addresses emergent digital practices by way of examining contemporary developments in sketchbook productions and pedagogical applications. Consequently, these more recent developments question the validity of the sketchbook as both an instrument of practice and creativity, and as an educational device. International in scope, it not only explores European intellectual and artistic traditions, but also intercultural and cross-cultural perspectives, including reviews of practices in Chinese artworks or Islamic calligraphy, and situational contexts that deal with historical examples, such as Roman art, or modern practices in geographical-cultural regions like Pakistan

Unsatisfactory Devices: Legacy and the Undocumentable in Art

Regarding perception of ephemeral artwork when lost to the fractures of time Peggy Phelan states “you have to be there.” For Phelan ephemera, specifically performance “become[s] itself through disappearance,” which draws empathy with Walter Benjamin’s notion of the “aura of the original.” In practice this a less than pragmatic account of the reality of experiencing such artworks, for how can they exist beyond the moment of making if not recorded, in order to map their histories? This essay interrogates the critical, sensitive and individualized distance necessary to archive transient artworks. Moving beyond the disciplinary ghettos of event and documentation, it interrogates how divergent and sympathetic modes of practice allow for a greater level of sustainable critique. This complex and problematic terrain is analysed in response to The Alternative Document, an exhibition I curated on the subject in 2016, and suggests archival possibilities beyond formal academic, artistic and museological conventions.Regarding perception of ephemeral artwork when lost to the fractures of time Peggy Phelan states “you have to be there.” For Phelan ephemera, specifically performance “become[s] itself through disappearance,” which draws empathy with Walter Benjamin’s notion of the “aura of the original.” In practice this a less than pragmatic account of the reality of experiencing such artworks, for how can they exist beyond the moment of making if not recorded, in order to map their histories? This essay interrogates the critical, sensitive and individualized distance necessary to archive transient artworks. Moving beyond the disciplinary ghettos of event and documentation, it interrogates how divergent and sympathetic modes of practice allow for a greater level of sustainable critique. This complex and problematic terrain is analysed in response to The Alternative Document, an exhibition I curated on the subject in 2016, and suggests archival possibilities beyond formal academic, artistic and museological conventions

Art of Research Conference 2023 (exhibition and presentation)

Unexpected, hidden, unspoken and sometimes uncomfortable aspects of our rational and well-meaning value structure often arise through the mediation of contemporary art through its associated dissemination. Ethics, morality and what is right and wrong are often the subject of extended debate through the opportunity that artistic research provides, in which the use and engagement of non-human animals in art arouses specific contested and unexpected ground. Art and artistic research have the capacity to raise questions and highlight phenomena that often stays hidden and unnoticed, including the debate of ethical consideration of, and to animals in art. In more recent historical contributions, artists like Damian Hirst, Oran Catts, David Shrigley and Hermann Nitsch have provocated the unethical for the animal through its (ab)use, slaughter and genetic modification for artistic spectacle and purpose. Could (and indeed, should) the use of animals for artistic statement through ritualized slaughter, taxidermy, and scientific manipulation, be made now without questions of the social ethics in art being brought to prominence? How do we regard animal suffering in comparison to that of the human, especially in art, and what is 'othering' between species? Could we apply the same measures to ourselves as we do to other living creatures? Should empathy be a prerequisite for working with any bodily subject, living or dead, and human or animal? This explorative illustrated presentation analyses how some humans are revisioning their role within interspecies artistic research towards a more ethical purpose. It deals with the questions and practices concerning the treatment of other living beings as offered through contemporary artistic research as set against the precedent of artists such as Hirst, Catts, Shrigley, and Nitsch, and how conditions and circumstances are changing for animals in art, in both subject and context, through an ethical agenda. The presenters will analyze this through the perspective of their own individual artistic research, discussing the ethics of working with non-human animals in art through the effects of life and death, of empathy and sacrifice that provoke the unexpected. Both artists’ aim to agitate a re-questioning of the non-human within a creative context though an empathetic application of ethics: Jaana Erkkilä-Hill asks the animals about death in her work, of their own and its limited lifespan, which is often imposed through human will; Angela Bartram presents the opportunity for non-human animals to contribute as equals with humans in her artwork, in reading animal theory to her non-human companions, and how perceptions of the animal other are modified when asked to be- like-your dog through empathetic interaction in a gallery. Through the discussion they propose what a revisioning of ethics might, and could be in a critical contemporary artistic research context, through an antithetical positioning against a historical paradigm of slaughter, taxidermy, and observation in artworks, which situates the animal as secondary to the human. This will include the impact of bringing animals into the research as collaborators in the gallery and a questioning of the rights of humans to observe the animal as image (including of their death). Their individual artistic research is a significant development for the animal in terms of thinking, regard, and importance, moving towards being active and meaningful as both subject and contributor, as a revisioning of positive ethics, which we will discuss within a critical context through the discussion. The presentation was selected as one of seventy in the programme, from a submission of one hundred and seventy, through a process of peer review. The authors made a new collaborative artwork, On Living and Dying, specifically for the exhibition, to act as a continuing and supporting dialogue to this talk. This artwork was also selected by peer review. The exhibition was on site at Dipoli Gallery, Aalto University. The conference and exhibition were at Aalto University, 30 November-1 December 2023

Does Mental Illness Affect Societal Perception of Sex Offenders?

Although mental illness is common in the sex offender population, it has never been examined how evidence of such may influence societal perception. In comparison to the non-sex offender population, it was hypothesized that participants would consider mental illness less mitigating for sex offenders, would be less likely to support the mental health treatment of sex offenders while incarcerated, and would consider certain mental illnesses (schizophrenia and substance abuse disorders) as particularly aggravating for this group of offenders. Respondents were asked to read a short vignette and then respond to a series of questions about culpability, sentencing decisions, and mental health treatment. Results from this study suggest that the public is less likely to consider mental illness as a mitigating factor in the sex offender population, in turn believing they should receive harsher prison sentences and are less deserving of alternatives to incarceration in comparison to non-sex offenders with identical symptomatology. However, mental illnesses considered especially dangerous were not particularly aggravating in the sex offender population. Future directions may examine how these findings differ based on various sex offenses

Bridges and barriers to developing visual literacy in UK undergraduates

Today’s communication is multimedia and visually-rich. However, there is a possibility that many students leave university without the visual literacy they need to understand the multifaceted role that visuals can play in such messages or to create such messages themselves. This study had three main aims: first, to find out if that possibility was real; second, to try to understand why; and third, to identify what could be done about it.Within the UK education system generic and interdisciplinary skills are primarily developed within disciplinary frameworks. To obtain a general picture of where skills relating to working with visual materials may be developed within specific subject areas, an institutional case study was undertaken where the module specifications for all undergraduate academic programmes were analysed to audit the opportunities for students to develop aspects of visual literacy. This process also identified a suitable selection of academic staff who were interviewed to help identify potential barriers to widening those opportunities and bridges for overcoming many of these barriers.The audit of module specifications found that students studying the majority of degrees at the institution do not appear to get the opportunities they need to be fully visually literate. For many, only critical skills or creative skills are developed rather than both. For some, the visuals used or created are highly technical and not particularly transferable to other situations which may be an issue when careers paths are increasingly unpredictable and society beyond employment is more visually oriented. Comparing the audit results with the requirements of subject benchmark statements (QAA, 2020b) and the UK Quality Code for Higher Education (QAA, 2014b) indicates that the ability to use visuals when communicating with different audiences, especially non-specialists, may be implied within these statements and therefore not given the prominence it deserves in many degree programmes.Several barriers to developing visual literacy were identified. In line with the pragmatic research approach, these were classified by their level of surmountability. In addition, several bridges were identified, which can be used to overcome at least the more resolvable barriers. Two main recommendations were made: the provision of a range of assessment rubrics to facilitate the adoption of more visually-rich multimodal assignments and more specific wording in some subject benchmark statements to ensure programme designers also see the need to include these in order to develop the skills needed to communicate disciplinary knowledge and more in today’s visual society

Error by design: Methods for predicting device usability

This paper introduces the idea of predicting ‘designer error’ by evaluating devices using Human Error Identification (HEI) techniques. This is demonstrated using Systematic Human Error Reduction and Prediction Approach (SHERPA) and Task Analysis For Error Identification (TAFEI) to evaluate a vending machine. Appraisal criteria which rely upon user opinion, face validity and utilisation are questioned. Instead a quantitative approach, based upon signal detection theory, is recommended. The performance of people using SHERPA and TAFEI are compared with heuristic judgement and each other. The results of these studies show that both SHERPA and TAFEI are better at predicting errors than the heuristic technique. The performance of SHERPA and TAFEI are comparable, giving some confidence in the use of these approaches. It is suggested that using HEI techniques as part of the design and evaluation process could help to make devices easier to use

Teachers and Sanitation Promotion: An Assessment of Community-Led Total Sanitation in Ethiopia

Community-led total sanitation (CLTS) is a participatory approach to addressing open defecation that has demonstrated success in previous studies, yet there is no research on how implementation arrangements and context change effectiveness. We used a quasi-experimental study design to compare two interventions in Ethiopia: conventional CLTS in which health workers and local leaders provided facilitation and an alternative approach in which teachers provided facilitation. In 2012, Plan International Ethiopia trained teachers from 111 villages and health workers and leaders from 54 villages in CLTS facilitation. The trained facilitators then implemented CLTS in their respective villages for a year. Latrine ownership, use, and quality were measured with household surveys. Differences between interventions were explored using surveys and interviews. The decrease in open defecation associated with teacher-facilitated CLTS was 8.2 percentage points smaller than for conventional CLTS (p = 0.048). Teachers had competing responsibilities and initially lacked support from local leaders, which may have lessened their success. Teachers may be more appropriate for a supporting rather than leading role in sanitation promotion because they did demonstrate ability and engagement. Open defecation decreased by 15.3 percentage points overall but did not change where baseline open defecation was below 30%. Ownership of a latrine with stable flooring increased by 8.7 percentage points overall. Improved latrine ownership did not change during the intervention. CLTS is most appropriate where open defecation is high because there were no significant changes in sanitation practices or latrine upgrades where baseline open defecation was low