The erotic and contemporary art

Lou Andreas Salomé wrote The Erotic (1911) before she met Freud. The recent English translation of her ground-breaking book encourages us to consider how a century of social change has affected erotic behaviour, and what this may mean for psychoanalysis. In a world of online porn, internet dating and ‘digital emotions’, what are the contours of ‘the erotic’ in the world today? This interdisciplinary conference explores the significance of contemporary erotic life for human relationships and the questions it poses for psychoanalytic theory and practice. Speakers were asked to consider a variety of themes: The erotic at different stages of life Differences and similarities between male and female eroticism The difference between ‘erotic’ and ‘sexual’ The new female erotica – what is its appeal? Sexualisation of childhood and 'childhood sexuality' 'Cultural hypocrisy’ and double standards - do they still exist? Pornography – how is it used and what are its effects on individuals and relationships? Internet dating and online affairs – a modern form of infidelity? New technology and the erotic Eroticism and violence Erotic fantasies Erotic transference and counter-transference in psychoanalysis Heterosexual and homosexual erotic – is there a difference? Cross-cultural and inter-cultural perspectives on the erotic Is there such a thing as a ‘post-modern’ erotic? Emma Talbot's presentation focused on representations of the erotic in contemporary art, and was followed by a roundtable discussion

The unscripted image

This article examines realism in the films of Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, comparing and relating the two director's distinct processes to the procedure of making a painting that represents everyday life. In particular, the article positions painting from found photographs as akin to making a film based on a very tight script and predetermined narrative (Loach). Leigh's mode of arriving at narrative, subject and meaning through devising is compared to painting from memory and experience without a constraint on outcome. The article references Ricoeur's proposals that narrative structures impose linear histories and Carel Weight's narrative paintings

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: New Zealand’s Latest Attempt at Prostitution Reform

The Prostitution Reform Act 2003 decriminalised all aspects of commercial sex work. It was believed this would reduce the presence of prostitutes on the streets and the associated harms, in particular neighbourhood nuisance, increased violence and greater presence of underage persons engaging in prostitution. However, street-based prostitution and harm reduction has not occurred. This has prompted attempts to confine the parameters of the decriminalised prostitution regime: The Manukau City Council (Control of Street Prostitution) Bill, which was ultimately unsuccessful and led to The Manukau City Council (Regulation of Prostitution in Specified Places) Bill, and the recent Prostitution Reform (Control of Street-based Prostitutes and Their Clients) Amendment Bill. This paper considers how these attempts have proposed to achieve amelioration of the harms around street-based prostitution. This paper argues legislation will only further frustrate the issues because criminalisation, both in the manner proposed by these attempts, and more generally, is inappropriate for addressing issues of street-based prostitution. This paper recommends targeted social initiatives should be implemented as the best model for addressing the harms of street-based prostitution

Drying Inkjet Droplets - Internal Flows and Deposit Structure

Inkjet printing delivers droplets with picolitre volumes onto a substrate. This thesis focuses on improving the quality of inkjet prints by controlling the particle distribution in the deposit. To this end, the internal flows in evaporating droplets were compared on purpose-built imaging rigs. Formulations were developed for deposit control based on the results of this analysis. Initial studies of pure solvents determined the influence of the substrate wettability and thermal conductivity on evaporation. It was demonstrated that an isothermal model accurately predicted the drying times of picolitre droplets, provided that evaporative cooling was insignificant. Evaporation of simplified model inks (two solvents + latex particles) was then considered. Marangoni flows transported particles along streamlines, with a circulating region that switched from the droplet centre to the edge on reversing the flow direction. Particles also migrated across streamlines towards the centre of the droplet, independent of the Marangoni flow direction. Large particles migrated faster than smaller particles, forming a tighter central group. Migration mechanisms were considered: Thermophoresis was ruled out due to particle migration in droplets with negligible thermal effects. Chemophoresis was not consistent with all observations of particle migration, though chemophoretic velocities are large enough to contribute. Shear-induced migration to regions of low shear rate is a promising potential migration mechanism. The deposit macro/microstructures were investigated for pure and binary mixtures. In pure solvents, evaporation-driven radial flow built up a ring stain at the contact line. This stain was inhibited for some binary solvent mixtures. However, in most cases, a ring stain developed after the Marangoni flow period ended. Hence, alternative routes of deposit control were investigated. Two strategies were developed to control the deposit structure: i) a sol-gel transition in a suspension of a nano-particulate clay (laponite), or ii) depletion flocculation induced by a free polymer (PSS). The latter strategy was the most successful for ethanol/water mixtures, producing a printed dot smaller than the droplet contact area. In water droplets, the sol-gel transition proved a successful method for obtaining a uniform particle distribution in the deposit

Intimacy Unguarded: how the personal becomes material

Introduction to the 'Intimacy Unguarded' themed issue of Journal of Visual Art Practice, 16/3, 2017

Domestic violence: Just a matter for the politicians?

Domestic violence is New Zealand’s most significant human rights failing according to the 2014 Universal Periodic Review on Human Rights. Yet, there is no indication in legislation or policy that domestic violence is considered a human rights issue in New Zealand. The Domestic Violence Act 1995 is merely ordinary law. In this paper I consider whether a human rights approach to domestic violence would provide greater redress for vulnerable women and children in New Zealand. Ultimately it is argued that domestic violence should be framed as a human rights approach. This could be by recognising a right to be free from domestic violence within the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 or by inserting a rights framework provision into the Domestic Violence Act. However, this is no simple solution to domestic violence. This is because it seems that human rights are considered mere political claims in New Zealand and because there is a clear reluctance to require the state to take positive action to prevent human rights abuses. Such culture may undermine the effectiveness of a recognised right to be free from domestic violence. However, I conclude by arguing that such problems do not outweigh the benefits of a human rights approach but merely require careful and sensitive enforcement of the right to be free from domestic violence

Memories Turn To Dusk

One Person Exhibition at Petra Rinck Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany, the first solo show of the English artist Emma Talbot in Germany. The exhibition presented large scale paintings with smaller works on paper and three 3-dimensional pieces, all exploring the relationships between memory and personal psychology

Reviewing the epigenetics of schizophrenia

Background: Epigenetic research in mental health has grown exponentially during the last decade and holds what some claim are “revolutionary” potentials for the development of new interdisciplinary models of mental ill health. Schizophrenia is the most appropriate diagnosis against which to assess progress in this regard. Method: Papers on epigenetics and schizophrenia identified in a systematic literature search are subject to a conceptually-driven narrative review that assesses the relations between schizophrenia and epigenetics; considers some issues associated with empirical studies; and thereby identifies key assumptions guiding this research. Findings: The revolutionary potentials of epigenetics are thus far not being realised due to various influences, including a preponderance of hypotheses that begin from a primarily biological question; the “condensation” of environmental influences and their effective reduction to their molecular consequences; and a frequent reliance upon animal studies that effectively preclude some important influences already established as relevant to this diagnosis. Conclusion: Epigenetic research in schizophrenia (and mental health generally) could benefit from being more thoroughly interdisciplinary, from testing hypotheses that foreground social as well as biological influences, and from reconsidering its reliance upon psychiatric diagnoses

Trying to save the world with company law? Some problems

This paper aims to unravel two connected errors in the current critical position on companies. Since the financial crisis there have been a growing number of voices in the academic community raised against the shareholder value driven corporate sector. The often conservative and highly doctrinal voices of English company lawyers have become in parts more radicalised and have found common research ground with varied academic disciplines and with company lawyers in other jurisdictions more accustomed to critical approaches. New ideas have been forged, old ideas have been rediscovered and re-examined. In the emerging networks, the neoliberal domination of the study of companies is being substantially challenged. As exciting as this is, I am concerned that critical scholars have cohered around a core claim about company law which is erroneous. Furthermore, they have largely assumed that the current economy can sustain a social agenda as well as creating profit. This, I argue, hugely underestimates entrenched problems in the economy. In unravelling these issues my aim is to re-orientate challenges to shareholder primacy and to the claims of capital more generally