The contemporary significance of design in art

The essay draws attention to the growing numbers of contemporary artists who are exploring and exploiting the creative protocols of design in their work. It is argued that this trend has become an important theme and pressing issue in contemporary visual art. Though it is an uneven, fragmented, widely dispersed and apparently incoherent phenomenon without any clearly defined, unitary objectives, the essay proceeds from the assumption that the adoption of design as creative idiom by a wide variety of artists is informed by social dynamics and material resources that are coherent enough to be meaningfully identified and described. It therefore sets out to develop and account of this phenomenon by situating it within our contemporary historical context. To this end, the essay first addresses the conceptual resources that are currently available to artists. The author proposes, in this regard, that a gradual mutation in the general epistemological sensibility of Modernity over the last number of decades has come to transform our understanding of the nature of, and relationship between, art, aesthetics, cognition and ethico-political life, and therefore of how art could potentially function in our individual and collective consciousnesses. More particularly, these broad epistemological developments have registered in contemporary art practice through the coagulation of two distinct sets of conceptualist priorities. It is argued that these two sets of priorities both accommodate, if not facilitate, in their own ways, the adoption of design as creative idiom in contemporary art. The essay also addresses the social conditions within which contemporary artists’ creative practices are situated. In order to identify and describe the social conditions and dynamics that may contribute towards the poignancy and currency of design as creative idiom within in art, the author utilizes the insights of a number of prominent scholars from the field of Sociology. These authors’ observations suggests that a significant transformation has taken place in the material basis of social life, over the last number of decades, under the combined influence of a number of important technological and economic developments. Together, these developments have conspired to produce a dynamic and disorientating world full of uncertainty and insecurity. The author suggests that this fluid situation may have contributed, in various ways, not only to the current prominence of design in social life, but also to the apparent willingness of artists to explore design as creative idiom in their work. Arguing that significant relations can be drawn between the work of individual artists based on the shared intellectual climate and social dynamics within which it is developed, the author tries, in the final section, to ground his observations in the concrete singularity of individual artistic practice. To this end, the work and interests of American artist Andrea Zittel is examined and interpreted. Zittel’s work is explored as an example of the complex ways in which personal motives, social forces and intellectual currents meet at the intersection of art and design

Associations Between County and Municipality Zoning Ordinances and Access to Fruit And Vegetable Outlets in Rural North Carolina, 2012

INTRODUCTION: Zoning ordinances and land-use plans may influence the community food environment by determining placement and access to food outlets, which subsequently support or hinder residents’ attempts to eat healthfully. The objective of this study was to examine associations between healthful food zoning scores as derived from information on local zoning ordinances, county demographics, and residents’ access to fruit and vegetable outlets in rural northeastern North Carolina. METHODS: From November 2012 through March 2013, county and municipality zoning ordinances were identified and double-coded by using the Bridging the Gap food code/policy audit form. A healthful food zoning score was derived by assigning points for the allowed use of fruit and vegetable outlets. Pearson coefficients were calculated to examine correlations between the healthful food zoning score, county demographics, and the number of fruit and vegetable outlets. In March and April 2013, qualitative interviews were conducted among county and municipal staff members knowledgeable about local zoning and planning to ascertain implementation and enforcement of zoning to support fruit and vegetable outlets. RESULTS: We found a strong positive correlation between healthful food zoning scores and the number of fruit and vegetable outlets in 13 northeastern North Carolina counties (r = 0.66, P = .01). Major themes in implementation and enforcement of zoning to support fruit and vegetable outlets included strict enforcement versus lack of enforcement of zoning regulations. CONCLUSION: Increasing the range of permitted uses in zoning districts to include fruit and vegetable outlets may increase access to healthful fruit and vegetable outlets in rural communities

NONVIOLENT ORGANIZATIONS IN THE MIDST OF MODERN CONFLICT: AN UNEXPECTED SOURCE OF POWER IN COLOMBIA'S CIVIL WAR

The focus of this thesis is the examination of Gene Sharp's theory of power as viewed through the practice of nonviolent direct action, which together present a clear and effective alternative to violent methods of defense. This paper exemplifies and applies these theories from Gene Sharp's "The Politics of Nonviolent Action" to one specific case study of violent conflict, Colombia's civil war, to demonstrate the practical application of nonviolent action and the validity of Sharp's Theory of Power. It also examines the effect that nonviolent action, carried out by organizations and communities from both within and outside the country, is having on traditional power positions established within Colombia's civil war between the oppressive guerrilla and paramilitary groups and the population that they threaten. It will be shown that through the use of several methods of nonviolent action, these traditional social power roles are being shifted and/ or dissolved, and that these nonviolent activists are playing an important role in moving the country toward peace. This thesis presents, through analysis of this case study, a form for contemporary understanding and application of Sharp's theory in order to help promote the use of nonviolent action as an organized alternative to violent defense and warfare

The predictive factors of subjective recovery in first-episode psychosis.

Conceptualisations of recovery from psychosis have evolved over time, from medically defined models of symptom reduction, to more recent definitions of subjective recovery. First-episode psychosis (FEP) individuals present as a group who are in the early stages of adjustment to the experience of a psychotic illness. Due to the typically early age of onset, they are also in the process of adjusting to major life and role changes. This paper addresses how recovery from FEP has been conceptualised and measured in the literature, and focuses on the validity of applying such measures and concepts specifically to an FEP group.;Key terms: First episode psychosis, subjective recovery, recovery and early intervention in psychosis

Real-Time Particle Simulation and Motion Capture Interaction

This thesis presents the design and development of a program that allows artists to explore and create visual effects from the interaction between a particle system and motion captured data. A spatial subdivision scheme was developed to ensure fast and efficient particle-mesh collisions, allowing the user to interact with the system as it runs. Motion captured data was applied to create different animation routines which include a tango electronica dance and a tribal magician choreography. The particle system was created to work in conjunction with these animations and developed to be as versatile as possible, allowing for a multitude of effects from the interaction of the particles with the mesh

Regional similarities in the distributions of well yield from crystalline rocks in Fennoscandia

Well yields from Precambrian and Palaeozoic bedrock in Norway, Sweden and Finland exhibit very similar and approximately log-normal distributions: all three data sets exhibit a median yield of 600–700 L hr-1, despite the differences in climate and lithology. This similarity is tentatively reflected on a larger geographical scale by a meta-analysis of the international data sets on crystalline rock aquifers from other recently glaciated areas (i.e., without a thick regolith of weathered rock). An heuristic treatment of the Fennoscandian data sets suggests that this median yield is consistent with the following bulk properties of shallow (to c. 70–80 m depth) crystalline bedrock: transmissivity of 0.56 ± 0.30 m2 d-1 (6.4 ± 3.4 x 10-6 m2 s-1) and hydraulic conductivity of around 1.1 (± 0.6) x 10-7 m s-1

Tragedy of public schools [Part 2 of 3: Report, 1964] : Prince Edward County, Virginia; a report for the Virginia Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights

A report written in 1964 for the Virginia Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights addressing the closing of the public schools in Prince Edward County, Va.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/pec_docs/1013/thumbnail.jp