Metallography (Grain Structures, ‘I think in Shapes: Henry Moore’ with soundtrack after Delia Derbyshire)

Referencing the study of the microstructure of metallic alloys in its title, Metallography (…) splices together two types of found image: close-up and microscopic images of metals, from a collection of 1972 BBC instructional films on mechanical engineering, with images of bronze sculptures taken from ‘I think in Shapes: Henry Moore’, a documentary also produced by the BBC, which featured the Moore’s outdoor exhibition at Tate Gallery London in 1968. The BBC documentary ‘I Think in Shapes’ originally featured sound effects based on recordings of a hand striking Moore’s hollow bronze sculptures, produced by electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire in 1968. For this work, McCrea has collaborated with artist, writer and daughter Eva Richardson McCrea to produce a new soundtrack based on field recordings of striking Henry Moore’s bronze Standing Figure: Knife Edge 1961, located in St. Stephens Green Dublin

School Play

School Play was the outcome of a public art commission associated with the construction of a new school building for a state primary school, catering for children from ages 4 – 12. School Play consists of two main elements: a series of thirty colour photographs and a permanent design for a school play yard consisting of a series of graphic set of circles and arcs applied in various colours onto the tarmac and also adjacent footpaths and car park. This element of the work has a dual function: primarily as utilitarian design– acting as boundaries and markings for un-prescribed play and secondly the design functions as a ‘set’ or ‘stage’ for the creation of a series of photographs. The second element of the School Play is a series of photographs, which were all shot from an elevated position at play-time. No directions are given from photographer to subject. The circular markings become a set – in the sense of a stage set, or a film set – for everyday action, where random actions become relational. The play becomes choreography. Miniature dramas and moments, both individual and collective become related through spatial arrangement. School Play also explores the possibilities of creating a photographic portrait of a collective body or community, while also addressing that community as a primary audience, and also engaging with a wider audience. The composition of the photographs recall Rodchencko’s street photography of angles and perspectives and his utopian notion of a new subjectivity revealed by new perspectives. The form of the work also acknowledge the historical methodologies of sequencing, series and typology from Muybridge, Neue Sachlichkeit, the Düsseldorf School to Conceptual art practices of 60s. Twelve of the photographs are printed to 112 × 90 cm and permanently installed in the corridors and common spaces of the school building

Projection (Baton Charge 1913)

Projection (Baton Charge 1913) is based an single photograph made by Joseph Cashman (1881 – 1969) during the labour dispute known as the Dublin Lockout in 1913. Taken from a elevated point of view, Cashman’s image depicts members of the Dublin Metropolitan Police baton charge a large crowd attending a protest meeting to be addressed by trade union leader Jim Larkin on O’Connell Street on 31 August 1913. Larkin was arrested and two people were killed during the riots that followed. This photograph (along with second photograph by Cashman of Larkin addressing a crown with outstretched arms) dominates the iconography of this historical event, and the occasion of its centenary in 2013. Projection (Baton Charge 1913) was exhibited in group exhibition ‘Exiles’ curated by Alison Pilkington, at the Lab Gallery Dublin, organised in response to the centenary of the 1913 Lockout. Projection (Baton Charge 1913) consists of a sequence of projected 35mm slides showing detailed enlargements of the photograph to various degrees, and at times to the point of abstraction or obliteration. The sequence of images push and pull between figure and ground, between individual and the collective mass, between analogue grain and digital pixel, between closeness and distance. Over and between these images two voices ‘off screen’ conduct an ambiguous dialogue. The fragmentary utterances of an alternate male and female voice address both the images and each other – an exchange that is a conflation of visual metaphors, references to the photographic apparatus, subjective and historical processes, and attempts to ‘read’ the image. The projected images are appropriated, manipulated, cropped, sequenced and re-contextualized with the soundtrack in an attempt to open up new embodied encounters with the viewer

Facilitating Group Work: a Guide to Good Practice

Oakley et al. (2004) and Gibbs (2009) observe that owing to the extensive literature on group work, lecturers searching for a succinct guide on how to facilitate this activity effectively would find it challenging to digest such a large corpus. We extensively reviewed the literature in order to produce a quick and accessible guide for lecturers to use. It is our aspiration that this could be referred to when planning and facilitating group work projects with insights and recommendations informed by our research. Moreover, as this work draws on publications from educators in a wide range of disciplines, we expect this guide to be universally applicable. Recommendations: We recommend that lecturers new to group work should consider implementing the following key steps when carrying out group work: Produce and distribute a Group Work Policy document, Ask students to produce Team Expectations Agreements, Establish a transparent group formation mechanism (e.g. ‘Pair and Share’), Choose assessment methods to align with learning outcomes as related to Person, Process, or Product, Manage emergent conflict and discipline issues using a series of measures of increasing consequence for the student Future work Our group report and artefact could be condensed and edited into a short pamphlet or flyer, which could be distributed to lecturers in different departments as a practical aid for facilitating group projects. In addition, our ‘guide to good practice’ could be further developed in the form of a mobile, or web application for rapid accessibility and convenience