Artistic Practice Research Articles

Characterization of ultramarine blue in Roman wall paintings: case study from Volsinii (Bolsena, Italy).

The identification of blue pigments in Roman wall paintings provides crucial insights into the materials, artistic techniques, and trade routes in the antiquity. The present study focuses on the analysis of a blue pigment lump discovered at Ponticello (Bolsena, Italy) initially thought to be Egyptian blue. The lump pigment is compared with two synthetic ultramarine pigments (Poggi and Divolo), "Herculaneum blue," Egyptian blue, and natural lapis lazuli from Monte Somma, Italy. Through a multi-analytical approach that comprehends energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), the pigment was univocally identified as natural lazurite, the primary component of lapis lazuli. Chemometrics, including principal component analysis (PCA), was applied to the ED-XRF data to reveal patterns in the elemental composition of the samples. This finding is significant as ultramarine blue was a rare and expensive material in Roman times, which was traditionally sourced from distant regions like Afghanistan. While this study does not aim to determine the geographical provenance of the pigment, it offers important insights into Roman artistic practices, economic resources, and trade networks. Future research will explore the chemical composition of the pigments present in the frescoes from the archaeological area of Volsinii to provide important further insights into ancient material exchanges.

Studio pedagogies: Cultivating research through artistic practice

Studio pedagogies: Cultivating research through artistic practice

Investigation of Natural Dyes and Taxonomic Identification of Fibers Used in Chancay Textiles by Vibrational Spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry.

Textiles provide a valuable source of information regarding past cultures and their artistic practices. Understanding ancient textiles requires identifying the raw materials used, since the origin of dyes and fibers may be from plants or animals, with the specific species used varying based on geography, trade routes and cultural significance. A selection of nine Chancay textile fragments attributed to 800-1200 CE were studied with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) to identify the chemical compounds in extracts of natural dyes used to create green, blue, red, yellow and black colors. From the identified molecular markers, the green colors involved the overdyeing of indigo and flavonoid dyes, the blue colors were achieved using an indigo dye, the yellows came from a flavonoid dye, the reds from anthraquinone dyes of both plant and animal origin, and the black from a mixture of flavonoid, anthraquinone and indigo dyes. A subset of the textiles was identified as containing proteinaceous fibers based on ATR-FTIR. These textiles were further studied using a mass spectrometry-based proteomics approach to identify the species used, with the peptide sequences measured confirming the presence of South American camelids, most likely llama or alpaca.

Exploring the Aesthetics of Virtual Reality in Art

This paper investigates the evolving role of virtual reality (VR) in contemporary art, focusing on its aesthetic principles and transformative potential. By examining VR’s immersive qualities, interactive elements, and historical development, the study examines how it reshapes artistic practices and audience engagement. Drawing parallels to expanded cinema and traditional art forms, the discussion emphasizes VR’s capacity to reconfigure space, time, and emotional connection within an artwork. Despite its challenges technological limitations, accessibility, and ethical considerations. VR art presents an interdisciplinary framework that bridges fine art, popular culture, and philosophical inquiry. This exploration offers valuable insights for artists, researchers, and students to critically engage with the burgeoning field of VR aesthetics and its implications for the future of art. Keywords: Virtual Reality (VR) Art, Immersive Art, Interactive Narratives, Aesthetic Philosophy, Expanded Cinema.

Vibrant Things

The root of the English word ‘object’ is a compound of the Latin prefix, ob, meaning in front of, and jacere, meaning to throw. This applies to the word both as a verb: to oppose, I object to [x], and as a noun: a “tangible thing, something perceived with or presented to the senses.”[1] In both cases, the definition of ‘object’ invokes a relationship between ourselves and the thing itself, in our sensing or perception of it. Perhaps because of this, it is easy to infer a human-centred definition in which the object is defined by our perception and exists for us; physical objects stop us, present obstacles for us to manoeuvre around, much like an objection: an argument presented in opposition. But what if objects are not obstacles, are not in opposition to us, are not primarily defined by our sensing or perception? My preference is for the latter half, the thrown-ness, jacere, of this etymology; objects present themselves to our senses, they throw (jacere) themselves in front of (ob) us. This definition accentuates an animacy in materiality, and an energetic lived relationality to all matter — if objects throw themselves in front of us, they arrive at us just as much as we arrive at them. Our senses are constantly being presented with objects, whether we register them or not. John, Virginia Woolf’s character in “Solid Objects,” is presented with objects (beach glass, broken porcelain, meteorite) that influence the course of his life. My visual art practice engages deeply with objects, and, like John, objects have influenced the course of my life. For this reason, object-theory resonates with me, as do stories like that of Woolf’s character for whom life is, in a sense, a series of object-relations. In this paper, I formulate a conceptual framework for an ontology of vibrant things to explore what I intrinsically already know: all matter is active, fluid, non-hierarchical, and in relation. I describe a shift where I theoretically and physically orientate myself to objects as vibrant things, speculate on how this orientation might be queer, and recount how these relations are registered in my art practice and research methodology through the process of casting. [1] “Object” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed March 17, 2021, https://www.etymonline.com/word/object.

Exploratory study to examine the neuroendocrinological changes in typically developing adults during a music-related participatory practice using computer software

There has been a growing recognition of the benefits of participating in art practices for promoting well-being and social connection. Despite this, only a limited number of studies have assessed the neuroendocrinological changes that might contribute to these benefits. In this exploratory study, we focused on a creative activity related to music composition using digital tools. The emergence of computer software to create music (CSCM) has lowered the barriers to musical technical skills and theory, making music composition more accessible. We examined whether incorporating CSCM into a music-making workshop would affect the levels of two hormones, oxytocin and cortisol, among healthy adults. These two hormones were chosen, because oxytocin is involved in prosocial behavior and bonding, while cortisol plays a role in the stress response. Considering the time it takes to learn and adapt to a typical customized CSCM, we simplified its use to allow participants to experience music-making within a short timeframe and set up two distinct workshops. One was individual music creation with the support of a facilitator (Dyad) and the other was music creation in a group (Group). Participants in the Dyad workshops showed increased oxytocin levels, whereas those in the Group workshops did not. Cortisol levels remained unchanged during the Dyad workshops, but decreased in the Group ones. These results suggest that neuroendocrinological changes may occur during music-making activities using computer software. This work highlights the potential value of CSCM-incorporated music-making activities, although further controlled studies are required to confirm these findings.

Epicurean phantasía in the Art of the Early Modern Period: An Explorative Approach

This paper offers an explorative analysis of traces of Epicurean phantasía in Renaissance art, with a particular focus on the reception of ancient ékphrasis and Epicurean perception theory. It raises the question of whether an Epicurean phantasía did exist, what it was like, and how to recognize traces of it in the art theoretical literature and the artistic practices of the Renaissance.

AI-based generative image production systems in the artistic problematisation of the past: the thematisation of memory and temporality in "AI art"

Abstract This text analyses how generative AI systems are being employed in current artistic practice to question certain historical visual narratives, creating representations that challenge some conventional perceptions of the past and thus opening up new perspectives on the experience of temporality. In this regard, special emphasis will be placed on some artistic projects based on generative historical photography practices. These are works that develop new ways around ‘archival aesthetics’ (Sekula in October 39:3–64 1986; Buchloh in Deep storage. collecting, storing and archiving in art [Exhibition catalog]. P.S.1, Nueva York, 1999; Guasch in Arte y archivo, 1920-2010. Genealogías, tipologías y discontinuidades. Akal, Madrid, 2015, etc.) by producing visual archives that do not exist or are alternatives to others. We will therefore analyse works that critically examine how these generative systems can contribute to a revision and re-evaluation of the past, as well as to the problematisation of the ways in which photography has been used for the historical record. These poetics invite subtle reflections on the role of the visual archive in the processes of shaping subjectivity and personal and communal identity. In the final part of the text, we will deal with the study of some artists who, through appropriationist strategies and remakes assisted by generative AI models, revise artistic works from the past, specifically from the photoconceptualism of the 1970s. In these strategies, the thematisation of the relations between photographic register and temporality also plays a leading role.

SHARED1: Building a network of arts and humanities-based initiatives in mental health and well-being across the globe

This article reports on the learning from a series of workshops organized by the Seeing Arts Health Research EnacteD (SHARED) project that aimed to establish an international network of researchers, arts and health providers and practitioners. Online workshops were designed to provide a platform for exchange of best practices in arts in health research and to encourage a dialogue between various international arts in health researchers and practitioners from six countries across the globe. This exchange was built on participant contributions (three practice-based presentations for each workshop highlighting alignment with community assets, inclusion and partnerships), followed by reflective group discussions. Results show that arts in health initiatives in different contexts globally often share similar strengths and face common challenges. Participants noted the need for networks such as SHARED, where researchers and practitioners can come together to exchange best practice, collaborate on future initiatives and work out solutions for shared challenges.

The Intersection of Art and Technology: Digital Creativity

The intersection of art and technology represents a compelling field of exploration in contemporary society. Digital creativity, as a product of technological advancements, has redefined artistic practices, transforming traditional mediums such as painting, sculpture, and photography into innovative digital forms. This paper investigates the historical relationship between art and technology, focusing on key technological developments that have reshaped creative processes. By analyzing digital tools, techniques, and the integration of artificial intelligence, the study examines how digital media fosters collaboration, inclusivity, and accessibility. Additionally, ethical and relationship social implications, including copyright challenges, authenticity concerns, and the democratization of art, are discussed. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the transformative potential of digital creativity and its role in shaping the future of artistic expression. Keywords: Digital creativity, art and technology, artificial intelligence, digital tools, creative expression.

Digital souvenirs: artist-mother and autistic-child pluri-disciplinary collaborations

ABSTRACT Through the eyes and perspectives of both mother and son, this article examines how the digital souvenir might encapsulate the lived experiences of mother artist and autistic child, and explores how maternal practices and parental coping strategies have been repurposed and applied as creative research methodologies. The condensing of live performance works as digital souvenirs creates both memorabilia of maternal performance practice and holds the potential to encompass, within a short filmed ‘souvenir’, a number of ideas around the nature of the maternal condition as it relates to the mothering of autistic children and being an autistic child. It argues that the digital souvenirs mother Sophie and son Fred create together as artists make public or private experiences of the daily. This article analyses examples of the idiosyncratic collaborative practice and draws on ideas from maternal arts practice, Susan Stewart's discourse around the souvenir, and Bracha L. Ettinger's examinations of the matrixial. It examines how the mothering strategies employed within daily life might be utilised as art-making strategies and how the condensing of durational performance as digital souvenir both memorialises and complicates our relationship, as well as our memories of Fred's childhood.

Developing Climate Literacy through Artistic Practice

Developing Climate Literacy through Artistic Practice

Nanoscale Probing of the Organic Binder in Artists' Paint Layers: Organic Phases and Chemical Heterogeneity.

Understanding paint structures at the nanoscopic level can address key questions related to artistic techniques, paint formulation, and long-term preservation of artworks. This involves examining spatial chemical complexity, the formation of molecular networks, and interactions between organic and inorganic constituents. Depending on the paint preparation methods, proteins and drying oils, the most common binders in traditional artistic practices, can be integrated to produce paints with diverse structures and nanoscale chemical intricacies. In this study, we utilize atomic force microscopy-based infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) to investigate the spatial chemical complexity and reaction pathways of organic species in artists' paints, including oil, tempera, and mixed-media tempera grassa. By analyzing these paints at the nanoscale, we established connections between their structural organization, chemistry, and formulation.

Artistic and Creative Development Through the Integration of Contemporary Artistic Practices into the Primary School Curriculum

In the educational standards, creativity is named as one of the key competences in education. However, not enough is being done to promote creativity in the education system. In this paper, we present the results of a study that used a pedagogical experiment to investigate how the inclusion of contemporary artistic practices can successfully influence the development of artistic-creative skills in eighth graders. The results show the success of the pedagogical experiment, which confirmed that by including the PISUPOŠ programme (Programme for the Implementation of Contemporary Art Practices in Primary School), which covers the content of contemporary visual arts, all of the identified factors of artistic creativity were successfully developed.

Hardcore music ontologies

Abstract Hardcore increases the speed, intensity, and contradictions of punk rock. Considering prevailing theories of rock music ontologies in the light of hardcore art practices provides reasons to rethink what we thought. Hardcore shows how recording-centered ontologies, underemphasizing what goes into playback, miss the materiality of some recording artworks. Hardcore art practices also show how performance-centered ontologies force us to divorce the played music from its full, embodied performanced artwork. In both cases, I highlight hardcore art practices and how they conceive of artworks in a more multi-faceted fashion than either predominant view can fully capture.

Action and affect: Ritual dynamics in Jackson Pollock's creative process

This article proposes to use ritual anthropology to model the creative process in modern Western art, illustrated by the longitudinal case study of North American artist Jackson Pollock. First, the article applies Alfred Gell's model, where artists are either “passive” spectators or “active” creators, and signals the need for a more detailed description of the transition between these states. Drawing from the dynamics of affects as drivers for action in Jeanne Favret-Saada's ethnography of rural sorcery, the article proposes a resolution for this shift. This new model emphasizes that, for Pollock, artworks are used to experience a specific affect, the pursuit of which guides his creative process, both for individual artworks and the development of his entire body of work. The conclusion briefly explores how the model applies to another visual art practice and alternative models from psychology to further emphasize the centrality of affects in the creative process.

Fenomena Pergelaran Seni Pertunjukan Era Media Baru Sebagai Roll Model Pembelajaran Seni Budaya Di Sman 5 Kota Bukittinggi

This study aims to discuss the development of digitalization planning (design) learning models in the subject of Cultural Arts in the New Media Era in class XII at SMA Negeri 5 Bukittinggi. This learning model was developed due to the conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic which required all learning processes at SMA Negri 5 Bukittinggi to be carried out online. This policy raises problems in learning materials in the field of performing arts practices which require students to learn art practices in class. The method used is the Zoom and YouTube applications as connecting media in connecting material from teachers (writers) to students and between students' performing arts creations and the wider community who will watch the performing arts. The results of this study can be of benefit to the public by analyzing every phenomenon that occurs in the world of education in the New Media Era, and as input or a roll model for arts and culture teachers at SMAN 5 Bukittinggi to be able to improve learning outcomes so that students are more active and enthusiastic in learning arts and culture .

A performative approach to wool felting : Rhizomatic relations in visual arts making and art education

This exposition documents the doctoral dissertation “A performative approach to wool felting : Rhizomatic relations in visual arts making and art education” from the University of Agder, Faculty of Fine Arts, 2023. The exposition consists of a PDF of the printed dissertation and a list of the media (film or sound) that is part of the dissertation. As the first combined dissertation in Fine Arts with the specialisation Arts in context submitted to the University of Agder, comprising artistic and scientific works, this research evolves between artistic and written acts. It is a performative exploration of a performative approach to the ancestral technique of wool felting. The dissertation includes six explorations: three public exhibitions, three articles, and a 7th element consisting of a series of ongoing ‘minor’ moments related to the topic of the thesis that I carry out in my everyday practices as an artist, teacher and researcher. Alongside with that, I provide a mantle that is a metatext of the dissertation. In dialogue with the works of Deleuze and Guattari (1980) and Barad (2007), I use concepts that denote a theoretical and philosophical position inspired by an ontology of immanence and agential realism. The pedagogical stance of this research acknowledges Atkinson’s (2015) ideas on the adventure of pedagogy that brings forward the notion of the ‘not-known’. The rhizomatic network connecting the seven explorations is transmitted through four interconnected parts that I call ‘strata’, which is in accordance with my research design. A diffractive reading of the explorations suggests a performative pedagogy that actualises questions related to artistic, pedagogical, and research practices. It underlines the emerging knowledge creation in situ as not-isolated and not pre-existing entities and/or thoughts. Moving between the de-stabilisation–re-stabilisation, de-forming–reforming, and de-territorialisation–re-territorialisation of my practices brings a fruitful in-coherence. My doubts, interrogations, and experimentations might affect the reader, and provoke new thoughts. The mapping of my explorations can create resonance in readers, also in their own contexts – being similar or different. Maybe this could inspire more persons to explore further how one could teach, not only how one should teach. This dissertation is dedicated to those that doubt and ask questions, but also to those that work with certainty, in artistic, pedagogical, and/or research contexts.

E-Sahitya, or the contested emergence of the electronic within the literary in India

ABSTRACT This article examines the existence(s) of Electronic Literature (e-lit) within the larger ambit of English Literary Studies in India. Despite it being a nascent field, there has been considerable engagement that shows two patterns. One shows a distinct collaboration/acknowledgement with the scholarship and artistic practices of the Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) community. On the other side, Sahitya Akademi’s engagement with e-lit remains dominated by the paradigms of print. The article takes stock of the engagement around e-lit in India and then conducts a study of the scholars affiliated with Sahitya Akademi and the panels they have organised. The study consists of conversations and interviews with stakeholders and a visit to the main office in New Delhi to understand the collections in the Library. These understandings, taken together, form a basis of what Sahitya Akademi might understand as e-lit and why it does the way it does. It has been put into historical context within the rise of English Literary Studies in India and the establishment of the Sahitya Akademi after Indian independence to ground the argument contextually. The article concludes with a call for investment in the study of electronic literature.

Your brain on art, nature, and meditation: a pilot neuroimaging study.

Exposure to art, nature, or meditation, all transcending human experiences, has beneficial effects on health and wellbeing. Focusing inward or watching art and nature videos elicits positive emotions that can help heal stress-related conditions. In a pilot functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) study, we explored the effect of watching digital art or nature videos compared to contemplating the universal connectedness (also known as transcendental meditation). The instructions were to meditate on the connection to a Universal Soul linked to a sense of expansion and universal connectedness ("one with everything"), which was prompted by a video of the galactic nebula that also controlled for the visual stimuli of the two other conditions. Nine healthy adults (mean age = 29; range = 19-42; 5 women) underwent a block design fMRI scan using a Siemens 3T Prisma scanner. The blocks included (1) nature videos, (2) AI-generated digital art ("machine hallucinations" by Refik Anadol), and (3) videos of NASA Webb-produced images of galactic nebulas. Brain oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) images were processed using FSL Version 6.0 and a general linear model (GLM) tested the contrasts between art, nature, and meditation blocks, using a cluster-corrected p-value of 0.05. Compared to rest, meditation led to BOLD increases in bilateral lateral occipital and fusiform gyri, as well as right postcentral gyrus and hippocampus. Compared to viewing AI-generated digital art, increased BOLD responses during meditation were observed in left parietal and central operculum, and right pre- and postcentral gyri, and compared to nature, in the left parietal operculum, bilateral postcentral and supramarginal gyri, and bilateral lateral occipital cortices. Meditation compared to rest showed brain activation in regions associated with object, sensory, and memory processing. Meditation compared to nature videos led to activity in bilateral sensory and object processing areas, as well as a left sensory integration region (error monitoring), while meditation compared to art showed activity in left sensory integration and right sensorimotor regions. Further studies are needed to delineate the distinct neural signature and therapeutic effects of inner contemplation using human connection to art, nature, or meditative transcendent practices, in the brain and its potential in clinical applications.