Teaching Post-Pornography

This article introduces the term ‘post-pornography’, drawing on diverse texts from the last three decades. We propose that ‘post-pornography’ expands Porn Studies beyond its focus on explicit representations of sex. First, we outline the history of post-pornography as a concept that emerged in the sex-positive, anti-censorship and queer/feminist moment in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s and has subsequently been taken up by a diverse group of artists, activists and scholars to describe practices that both reference and attempt to move beyond pornography. We define post-pornography as characterised by three aspects—the denaturalising of sex, the de-centring of the spectator and the recognition of media and technology as inseparable from sex. We examine the history of Porn Studies in the university, including in our own faculty at UNSW Art & Design, and the singular influence of Linda Williams in defining its place and setting out its pedagogical methods. We propose post-pornography as a framework that can confront prevailing assumptions about sex and sexuality that underpin Porn Studies and its critique of pornography, and outline a set of concepts that have emerged from the development of the second- and third-year art theory course Post-Pornographic Bodies

Push and Pull Redfern

“Push and Pull: A Furniture Comedy for Hans Hofmann ” (1963) is a participatory installation in which visitors arrange and re-arrange domestic objects and junk. The work was originally conceived as a parody of Allan Kaprow’s painting teacher, Hans Hoffman, who often used the phrase “push and pull” to describe the dynamics involved in two dimensional composition. Kaprow expanded Hoffman’s concept of compositional strategy, moving it beyond the canvas and into social space. Participants in “Push and Pull” plan and implement alterations to the gallery space, co-operating or competing with each other in an ever-evolving furniture dance. “Push and Pull” is a microcosm of the tensions involved in all spatial negotiations in urban environments. We are excited to present this piece, for the first time ever in Australia, thanks to Allan Kaprow’s Estate. Who are we? We are a bunch of Allan Kaprow fans and enthusiasts in Sydney. This enactment of Push and Pull is coordinated by Nick Keys, Astrid Lorange, and Lucas Ihlein, with many guest artists participating

Assessing Tidal Current Power Resources

Tidal current energy is looked upon worldwide as a largely untapped, potentially significant and reliable source of energy. Countries, such as the United Kingdom and Canada, are working towards the implantation of tidal turbine farms in order to exploit this promising form of renewable energy. One of the barriers to further developing tidal energy extraction is the difficulty of accurately assessing the extractable energy or realisable tidal current output of a given site. Various numerical models for site assessments currently exist. Three of them, the Kinetic Energy Flux and two models, named GC05 and V10, which take into account the effect on the flow of the introduction of turbines are described, discussed and used throughout this work. Data regarding 239 channels worldwide have been collected. These data are used to investigate the possible existence of patterns between channel characteristics or parameters and channel potential estimates. New upper limits for the tidal current potentials of the UK and Ireland are calculated using the collected data and the most advanced model - V10, and compared to previous values. Finally, resource assessments, based on realisable power, are produced using the V10 model and the Seagen turbine characteristics. For these resource assessments, limits of up to 20% with regards to the blockage ratio and the reduction in flow speed for a given channel are put in place. These results show that a substantial fraction of the upper tidal current potential limit can be realised with only a 20% blockage ratio and a 20% reduction in flow speed for most channels

Assessing Tidal Current Power Resources

Tidal current energy is looked upon worldwide as a largely untapped, potentially significant and reliable source of energy. Countries, such as the United Kingdom and Canada, are working towards the implantation of tidal turbine farms in order to exploit this promising form of renewable energy. One of the barriers to further developing tidal energy extraction is the difficulty of accurately assessing the extractable energy or realisable tidal current output of a given site. Various numerical models for site assessments currently exist. Three of them, the Kinetic Energy Flux and two models, named GC05 and V10, which take into account the effect on the flow of the introduction of turbines are described, discussed and used throughout this work. Data regarding 239 channels worldwide have been collected. These data are used to investigate the possible existence of patterns between channel characteristics or parameters and channel potential estimates. New upper limits for the tidal current potentials of the UK and Ireland are calculated using the collected data and the most advanced model - V10, and compared to previous values. Finally, resource assessments, based on realisable power, are produced using the V10 model and the Seagen turbine characteristics. For these resource assessments, limits of up to 20% with regards to the blockage ratio and the reduction in flow speed for a given channel are put in place. These results show that a substantial fraction of the upper tidal current potential limit can be realised with only a 20% blockage ratio and a 20% reduction in flow speed for most channels

Push and Pull

The Live Art Almanac Vol. 2 is a new collection of found writing from 2008 and 2009 about and around Live Art. It brings together texts from a variety of UK and international sources, which are representative of some of the most engaging, provocative and thoughtful writing about Live Art and its cultural landscape