Chivalric Epic Codes in Music and Ballet Interpretations of ‘Tristan and Isolde’

As a species of hunter and gatherer, we as humans are driven to collect things that we can use to sustain our lives, but once the intrinsic need of this process is met, animals of all sorts will collect objects for other purposes. To the contemporary artist, this innate sense of object envy or the desire to collect has become a driving force behind much contemporary art practice and is firmly posited in art theory. Patterns are emerging within collecting processes that have become templates for unique styles of representation, be they conceptual or practical. This research probes beneath the surface of artistic practice in relation to collected object inclusive artistic practice in the search for a model to explain the phenomena which has become more prevalent over the past century. The historical discourse of object collecting, classification and display from the Medieval Reliquary, cabinets of curiosities, early museums and the modern and contemporary museological frameworks of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries forms the basis of this research. It is hypothesized that this historic continuum of collection processes has generated culturally and socially influenced object interaction behaviours that underpin the manner in which humans collect, classify and display objects. These historically informed behaviours have, over the span of history, resulted in a set of codified practices of collecting, classification and display. These practices, which have been repeated over the course of object collecting history, appear to have been adapted and incorporated into contemporary visual arts practice in those instances where artists engage with collected objects. To investigate the resonances of characteristic practices of historic collection processes that can be observed in contemporary collected object inclusive artistic practice, a series of researcher generated theoretic paradigms titled the Butterfly Pin Constructs, has been developed. The Butterfly Pin Constructs consist of five individual constructs that represent key elements of collecting, classification and display which have persisted and evolved since the Medieval period. These theoretic representations provide a platform upon which to discuss collected object inclusive artistic practice and the impact of the legacy of collection processes upon this contemporary phenomenon. This research utilises interview data from four Australian sample artists and the visual analysis of a number of their works of art to interrogate the framework of the Butterfly Pin Constructs and the role they may fulfil within the creative process. The Butterfly Pin Constructs, as embodiments of key characteristics of historic collection processes, are the central framework upon which an understanding of the phenomena of collected object inclusive practice can be positioned. As such, the interview responses and works of art of the late Tom Risley, Donna Marcus, Patrick Hall and Glen Skien, each of whom engage in collected object inclusive artistic practice, offer a sample set of this artistic phenomenon upon which to assess the validity of this theoretic model as offering an alternate paradigm to examine collected object inclusive artistic practice.

The Feminist Uncanny in Theory and Art Practice investigates the widely debated, deeply flawed yet influential concept of the uncanny through the lens of feminist theory and contemporary art practice. Not merely a subversive strategy but a cipher of the fraught but fertile dialogue between feminism and psychoanalysis, the uncanny makes an ideal vehicle for an arrangement marked by ambivalence and acts as a constant reminder that feminism and psychoanalysis are never quite at home with one another. The Feminist Uncanny begins by charting the uncanniness of femininity in foundational psychoanalytic texts by Ernst Jentsch, Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan and Mladen Dolar, and contextually introduces a range of feminist responses and appropriations by Hélène Cixous, Julia Kristeva and Sarah Kofman, among others. The book also offers thematically organised interpretations of famous artworks and practices informed by feminism, including Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party, Faith Ringgold’s story quilts and Susan Hiller’s ‘paraconceptualism’, as well as less well-known practice, such as the Women’s Postal Art Even (Feministo) and the photomontages of Maud Sulter. Dead (lexicalised) metaphors, unhomely domesticity, identity and (dis)identification, and the tension between family stories and art's histories are examined in and from the perspective of different artistic and critical practices, illustrating different aspects of the feminist uncanny. Through a ‘partisan’ yet comprehensive critical review of the fascinating concept of the uncanny, The Feminist Uncanny in Theory and Art Practice proposes a new concept, the feminist uncanny, which it upholds as one of the most enduring legacies of the Women's Liberation Movement in contemporary art theory and practice.

This research was carried out to examine the effects of active learning methods, which take the information away from memorization and make it applicable in daily life, on the achievement, attitude and self-efficacy of the ‘Contemporary Art Practices’ course taken by the undergraduate students. In the study, single group pretest-posttest experimental design, which is one of the quantitative research approaches, was used. The research was carried out on 15 students studying at the 1st and 2nd Grades of Izmir Katip Celebi University in the fall semester of 2019-2020 in Turkey on the pandemic process. Contemporary Art Practices course was conducted by using active learning methods 'brainstorming, demonstration, speech ring, story creation and Phillps 66'. In this study, 'Contemporary Art Practices Course Achievement Test', 'Attitude Scale' and 'Self-Efficacy Scale' developed by the researcher were used as data collection tools. In the study, it was examined whether the data obtained had a normal distribution. For this, Shapiro-Wilk test was used. Relationship sample t-test was used to compare the data obtained before and after active learning activities. Analyzes were made using statistical program. The results of the research are that active learning methods have a significant effect on the achievements, attitudes and self-efficacy of the ‘Contemporary Art Practices’ course that the undergraduate students take via distance education.

This article draws from an AHRC-funded research project on the topic of Chinese borders in contemporary art practices, entitled Culture, Capital and Communication: Visualizing Borders in the 21st Century (CCC:VCB). The research is contextualized in the article in relation to the concept of ‘Chinese-ness’ in Contemporary Art Discourse and Practice, as addressed in the corresponding conference at the University of Lisbon – http://chineseness.fba.ul.pt. The physical and political borders that demarcate the straits of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are signifiers of the identity struggles that they contain. Art practices that address issues of Hong Kong-ese-ness and Taiwanese-ness in relation to the limitations of Chinese borders for defining their sovereign political and socio-historical identities, can, therefore, be considered as border art. Often, such explorations of identity are counter-posed with the presence of China and Chinese-ness as a cultural, economic and political hegemonic force, and ideological barrier. Artists who examine Chinese borders within their work tend to interrogate, represent and, often, contest or counter, the perceived political and cultural restrictions imposed by the Mainland. This article considers socially engaged artistic practices – including art spaces and events – encountered during the research laboratories, summative conference and site visits, which work on micro levels to both interrogate and counter the influence of Mainland China through instigating social undercurrents. I suggest that the combination of politicized theorizing and physically demonstrative or precarious art activities create a form of artistic praxis that works to expose and, in turn, traverse the limitations of border presence or absence across the Chinese straits.

This research project is concerned with jewellery as portrait. The portraits created are not mimetic nor do they necessarily refer to a specific model but are created to produce an effect upon the wearer and viewer. This effect is intended to rupture conventional ideas of portraiture. The portraits created are not what they seem and are linked to contemporary arts theory and practice in that they address pressing concerns: questions of subjectivity, portraiture, appearance and jewellery. Portraits in the twenty first century are diverse and can range from the most abstract representation to detailed life like, mirror images. They can be self-portraits, representations of once living or living person's, refer back to historical art practice and master paintings, or they can he constructed in the imagination of the artist, real or fictional. The portrait is at the forefront of exploring ideas of self in contemporary arts practice and has a multitude of possibilities, but always they emphasize the human presence and narrative. The aim has been to create jewellery that draws from the Surrealist technique of automatism, James Ensor and masks. Firstly, automatic drawing (specifically automatic drawing as a way to re-interpret portraiture) is examined in this studio based practice by creating wire faces which are produced in a manner that references Surrealist practices. Secondly, the work of James Ensor and others is examined in order to define how artists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century's had considerable impact on conventional portraiture and the place of the mask to this end. Thirdly, masks are investigated because of the way artists used them to help dismantle portraiture in the twentieth century and the use of the mask freed them from the constraints of realism and broadened artistic language. Finally, Freud's notion of the unconscious is introduced as part of portraiture and jewellery. The Surrealist technique of automatic drawing, the mask, the theory of the unconscious and the art of James Ensor all disrupt the traditional ideal of the portrait as a realistic representation of the sitter/model, presents the self as multiple and a performance that is disrupted by the unconscious. In this project, this shift is examined through theories of the self and the response of art theory and practice to these ideas. Prior to the advent of the twentieth century, the self was basically considered as a something that could be worked upon. In other words, individuals could consciously work towards developing themselves to a particular end; better person, more moral, kinder and so on. This was, and often remains, the basic tenet of education and self-help programs. In terms of portraiture, the image could be a mirror image of the sitter/model or a representation of what the sitter/model thought of themselves: heroic, beautiful, young. Either way, the aim was to capture the sitter in a moment for perpetuity. However, this view of the self as the result of a conscious program was challenged: firstly by the work of Freud in the early twentieth century, and later by continental philosophy. In particular, Freud's notion of the unconscious contributed to a different understanding of the self. This idea had profound effects upon art theory and practice, including that of portraiture. The aim of this current project is to consider this notion in relation to more contemporary beliefs of the self and to develop a practice of making portraits as jewellery objects that seek to reference the unconscious in order to contribute to the displacement of the ideal that the self is the end product of a conscious effort. This aim is intrinsically ethical as it allows for the disruption that the repressed causes. It also promises to develop jewellery objects that while ostensibly portraits, make reference to the repressed content of the sitter/model. The mask has been chosen as a marker of this type of event not only because masks are traditionally changeable and offer a disguise but, because of their relationship to the unconscious. The mask shows us that we are bound by psychological and social constraints: by the masks of convention. This research is linked to contemporary arts practice by continuing to explore complex and evolving issues of self. It investigates the human face and its artistic rendering which remains central to contemporary arts practice. Finally the work that is created is discussed and the journey that has been charted and the influences that initiated the work to the current position. The conclusion, in defining the work, finds the links between the series and points to possible future directions.

When engaging in contemporary community art practices, art educators question and reflect upon daily life aesthetics, creating micro-narratives and provoking actions through poesis and metaphors. Performative practices converge in political events using hybrid languages in-between the borders of various fields where educational practices may be generated through participatory research and collaborative art processes. In this chapter we describe several practices and strategies of activism related to art education research by the authors with intention of promoting socially engaged justice through artistic process in the community. The strategies employed by the authors are based on collaborative pedagogical approaches adopted from contemporary art practices and artistic tools, such as collaborative sketchbooks, kilts, drifts, drawing festivals and online exhibitions. These approaches promote shared learning experience and democratic participation through the arts, and ultimately help to develop community cohesion, solidarity and social justice.

Através dessa contribuição, pretende-se enfrentar um âmbito bastante articulado e vasto como o dos arquivos, objetos de amplo debate, através de dois estudos de caso diferentes por história e natureza, o Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione da Universidade de Parma – CSAC – e o MoRE, Museum of Refused and Unrealised Art Projects – http://www.moremuseum.org/omeka/. Dois arquivos dedicados à pesquisa artística e projetual contemporânea, no primeiro caso italiana, a partir das primeiras décadas de 1900, o segundo internacional e italiana, da segunda metade de 1900 e contemporânea. Os dois arquivos estão relacionados por um objetivo comum: a necessidade de conjugar a pesquisa sobre a contemporaneidade através da coleta e arquivamento de documentos do fazer artístico.Palavras-chave: Arquivos Digitais. Arquivos de Arte Visual. Práticas de Arte Contemporânea. Arte Italiana. Arte não realizada. Projetos.Link: http://www.revistas.usp.br/incid/article/view/121368/118568

This is the first book of its kind to examine the development of the confessional subject in video art and demonstrate how it can provide a vital platform for navigating the politics of self, subjectivity, and resistance in society.In doing so, it reframes video art – the most ubiquitous and yet most understudied art form of recent decades – as an urgent socio-political tool that is increasingly popular among contemporary artists as a means of exploring a broad range of social issues, from politics and identity, to the body and technologies of self-representation. Analysing a diverse selection of case studies from the 1960s up to the present day, covering the work of Yoko Ono, Gillian Wearing, Ryan Trecartin, Tracey Emin, Anatasia Klose, and Heath Franco, among others, the book brings together theory and practice to look afresh at contemporary video art through a Foucauldian lens. It also brings the analysis of video art up to date by showing how social media and digital self representation has informed and further politicized time-based art practices. Confessional Video Art and Subjectivityshows how forms of confessional discourse not only play an important function in the construction of subjectivity but also open spaces for personal resistance and agency within contemporary video art. As a result, it offers researchers of contemporary art practice, and media and cultural studies, an updated framework through which to view this constantly-evolving genre and a deeper understanding of wider contemporary video practices. Confessional Video Art and Subjectivity: Private experiences in public spaces examines the notion and prevalence of our contemporary confessing society and its impact on, and relationship to, the visual arts. More specifically, it examines a contemporary confessional video art practice that utilises video-based performance. The book examines how Michel Foucault’s philosophical notions of the self can be appropriated and mobilised in a contemporary confessional video art practice. Additionally, the book will also discuss how Foucault extended his philosophical approach to subjectivity and truth through the examination of how the human subject fits into certain ‘truth games’ in scientific practices of control. These preoccupied Foucault’s later work regarding technologies of the self. By turning to antiquity, Foucault demonstrates how the discourse surrounding Greco-Roman rituals of technologies of the self – and their relation to ‘truth games’ – could be conceived as a potential practice of self-formation for the subject, rather than a purely coercive practice. Through an extension of Foucault’s reworking of power, Confessional Video Art and Subjectivity: Private experiences in public spaces frames contemporary confessional discourse as a less coercive practice by establishing a dialogue between technologies of the self and a contemporary confessional video art practice. As the boundaries between private and public space become increasingly problematised in our confessional society (Instagram, the blogosphere and Facebook), Confessional Video Art and Subjectivity: Private experiences in public spaces posits that contemporary confessional video art gives a voice to displaced subjectivities while presenting a more complex politics of self.

The essay intends to offer a contribution to the archival studies through two study cases that have different stories and diversified nature: the CSAC (Study Center and Research on Communication), and MoRE (Museum of Refused and Unrealised Art Projects – http://www.moremuseum.org/omeka/-.). These are two archives devoted to contemporary art and design practices. CSAC is mainly devoted to italian art and design of the XX century; MoRE is an archive of unrealised works of art from the second half of the XX century till today. CSAC is an archive of paper, while MoRE is a digital repository. Finally both the archives have a common objective: promoting the research on contemporary art practices through the collecting and cataloguing of works of art and items of the design process.

Contemporary art is a popular feature of the cultural landscape in the United Kingdom, and recent research has recommended introducing its practices into state education. Yet these practices are still rare in schools, and this paper argues that the many difficulties that arise from attempts to introduce them are indicative of their socially contingent character, which threatens to disrupt the ideological underpinnings of orthodox school practices. The school art projects ‘Room 13’ and ‘Teaching through contemporary art’ are used as prominent examples of contemporary art practices that support a relatively high degree of learner autonomy within state education, yet are situated outside of government initiatives. Through these projects the paper explores the dilemmas that the participants face, which include questions of learner agency, choice and creative risk, and the effects of regulatory assessment systems upon collaboration, experiment, play and ephemeral learning outcomes. The paper concludes by examining the possibilities of encouraging these more ‘risky’ contemporary practices in schools.

Cutting Edge of the Contemporary: KNUST, Accra, and the Ghanaian Contemporary Art Movement

Arts education is a distinct academic discipline in India, with governmental and private institutions offering specialised training in the arts.Religious paradigms such as the Hindu Ashram and Muslim madrasas, Buddhist monastery etc., were used to build ancient Indian educational systemsuntil the British instituted schools following their system of preparatory schools under the Cambridge system to promote service to the British Empire. As a result, Indian perceptions of literacy and education, as well as the culture of learning, have shiftedincluding, in the context of the arts, the concepts of differences between art and craft, the social relationship between master craftsperson and artisan, public art and individual art, religious art and secular art, and so on. Art in India, as in the rest of the world, has undergone numerous changes that have resulted in what we see today, a unique amalgamation of sensibilities from the west as well as from across Asia. In the twenty-first century, a new era in India begun.The country's cultural diversity adds to the multi-dimensional approach, which is a direct approach and a direct contribution of various religious beliefs, languages, and the still prevalent rural culture congregating with the rapidly growing urban culture.The country's diversity, like its art, is an experience in and of itself that is difficult to comprehend.This is the core and crux of the new modern India and its emerging art. The paper will discuss about the contemporary art practices in India with reference to its practising artists.

In this paper, I consider Bruno Latour in the context of contemporary art. The central claim is Latour works like an artist. But, it is not argued that terms from Latour’s theory can be used to better understand contemporary art. Instead, the claim is that there is an equivalence between the way that Latour works and contemporary art practices. I begin by giving an account of the conditions of art in terms of three categories, all of which are rendered ambiguous through contemporary practice: style/epoch, object, and medium. Next an account is given of Latour’s notable engagement with the art world and with artists. He finds in art a useful mode of inquiry that complements his own engagement with sociological and anthropological analysis. In conclusion, it is claimed that in contemporary artistic practices, historical and discursive distinctions between artistic and philosophical methods begin to blur. This establishes an equivalence between Latour’s practices and those of contemporary artists. In other words, Latour operates just like a contemporary artist, that is, by using strategies to rethink the world, its structures, and relations that are, at heart, aesthetic strategies.

The correspondences and disparities between how artists and anatomists view the body have historically been a source of creative collaboration, but how is this imaginative interdisciplinarity sustained and expressed in a contemporary context? In this review I suggest that contemporary artists engaging with the body, and the corresponding biomedical and architectural spaces where the body is investigated, are engendering innovative and challenging artworks that stimulate new relationships between art and anatomy. Citing a number of examples from key artists and referencing some of my own practice-based research, I posit that creative cross-fertilization provokes a discourse between mediated public perceptions of disease, death and the disposal of morbid remains, and the contemporary reality of biomedical practice. This is a dialogue that is complex, rich and diverse, and ultimately rewarding for both art and anatomy.

Music technologies have lead us to a transformation of perceptions and the reinvention and refinement of our creative music making. They have also transformed our language and are providing access to musical and sonic possibilities that transcend the facilities of traditional music notation and analysis. They can facilitate new ways of collaborating and sharing and have become intertwined with almost all commercial and contemporary arts practices in the twenty-first century. Within this contemporary digital cultural landscape, a fluent and adaptable working knowledge of music technology should be foundational to any taught music curriculum. This chapter looks at examples from contemporary practice to inform a strategy for developing effective curricula for higher music education where fluency in digital literacies is promoted through practice-led enquiry and adopting the mindset of the “curious musician.”