The Vitrine Project by Ash Billinghay

Lincoln School of Art and Design

Highlights from a diverse community of staff and students who actively pursue excellence in their academic research and their own creative practice

Prof. Norman Cherry

Dr Ang Bartram

Suzi Tite

Miranda Jingyan Zhang

Amir Ghazi-Noory

Dr Alec Shepley

Prof. Anne Chick

Phil ‘Pip’ Turton

Om Chutatib Promgul

David Robinson

Clive McCarthy

Prof. Steve Dutton

Sarah Pickering-Paterson

Lewis Gaukrodger

Diane E Hall

Ashleigh McDougall

Dave Evans

Kyle Underwood

Carlos Ruiz Brussain

James Hall

Andrew Bracey

Stewart Collinson

Louise Tofton

Nadwa Esfandnia

Linda Hollaway

Dr Jim Cheshire

Dr Neil Maycroft

Michelle Brown

Roy Xuguang Qin

Lindsay Mann

Dr Mary O’Neill

Ash Dowie

Laura Green

Gemma Rabionet Boadella

Victoria Hall

Justin Tagg

Gyles Lingwood

Jessica Rawlings

Anouk Kooll

Mike Belton

Jun Gao

Turki Qallai

Shahira Allen

The LSA&D Alumni

the vitrine project

all envelopes licked

all nerves shredded

no more contempt

any futures impossible

everything discarded

all friends reunited

all sounds heard

all endings ended

all waters run

no more quarrels

all numbers counted

all past passed

all attitudes become form

all glass shattered

everything remembered

all parties over

all ideas reduced to a sound-bite

no more cuddles

all captives released

all history forgotten

all meanings made

every emptiness filled

all bodies resplendent

all lives lived well

no more handwritten words

no more excess

all puzzles solved

everything assumed

every heaven opened

all planes grounded

every day turned into night

all races run

all birdsong synthesised

all comfort breaks taken

every sign unreadable

nothing to be resumed

every bubble burst

all breath expelled

every star faded

all connections made

every image photo-shopped

all investments cashed in

all signs read

all outcasts cast out

all connections lost

all things considered

all seas dry

no more hurt  hearts

all flaws ironed out

all paradoxes welcomed

all noses wiped

all silences heard

all institutions dissolved

every deed done

every door closed

all paint dried

every muscle toned

all souls untethered

every tickets clipped

the tears ran out

all laws broken

all money spent

every light gone out

every chance encounter come

no more eyes on the road

every new problem embraced

all trees felled

we expired

all viewing remote

all paths blocked

all dead arisen

across

all frogs flattened

work all finished

all arguments resolved

permanent blindness for everyone

all plots hatched

every dam breached

every difference resolved

every key lost

every line drawn

every sin forgiven

every hair grown out

they actually did win

every sphere expanded

all avenues closed

all revolutions complete

all coats gloves and scarves

all dreams dreamt

our love unconsummated

all images consumed

all wealth belonged to one person

all gates are closed

all lies debunked

every planet orbited

put away

the end of all sounds

every word uttered

all realities experienced

every passion spent

every breath my last

all clues given

all accounts finalized

all blood sucked

the sun always risen

my father’s laugh no longer heard

all sleep slept

every deal sealed

all our prayers answered

all hints dropped

every sun set

all hotmail hacked

aesthetics conquered spirituality

every precious moment

every courtesy extended

all tables set

our lights extinguished

all food eaten

every sin forgiven

all stalematea reached

education overcame myths

remembered

every clock watched

all soil tilled

everything accepted

all growth stopped

all children born

all risks taken

all were happy

all balls in the back of the net

all my goodbyes said

every problem solved

all power brokered

all blood run dry

every dispute settled

all bubbles burst

all songs sung

every word spoken

every pipe smoked

rivers all run

our enemies slain

all eyes gouged

all hope lost

every tear shed

no time to left to think

all reality checked

no more sense of place

all birds flown

all towers fallen

all tears fallen

every promise broken

every last crumb eaten

all lips licked

our pains all relieved

all hens plucked

all information gleaned

all sentiments felt

all families united

all living departed

every plate licked clean

all dances danced

all activities ceased

everything seen

all cheques signed

every email deleted

every pain relieved

all want satiated

all nuts gnawed

all hands clasped

all eyes averted

all flesh off the bone

all irony duly noted

every task complete

all mountains flattened

every wisdom attained

every last drop drunk

all trails travelled

every moment savoured

all horizons lost

every star gazed

all steel softened

all water drunk

every fire burned out

all barns mucked

all stones turned

all awkwardness smoothed over

property all sold

all eyebrows plucked

no stone left unturned

every energy wasted

all thoughts thought

all endings ended

all answers questioned

all differences homogenised

all coins collected

all lessons learned

all software developed

all knowledge known

all tales told

every fibre stimulated

every diamond mined

no more time to walk

everything escaped

all history repeated

all pissing finished

all thoughts thought

all stones rolled

every molecule excited

every child disowned

all excess baggage dumped

nothing left to find

all films watched

all parts played

all dreams forgotten

every fish caught

all grain stored

every spirit crushed

all my love in storage

all time redeemed

all eyes crossed

all markets closed

all nails bitten

every war fought

all snow thawed

all engines oiled

every atom counted

every last gasp breathed

every firefly extinguished

every wave landed

every spot squeezed

all pages scrolled

every penny spent

all pistons primed

all ties severed

everything backed up

all heads banged

all books read

every nose picked

all blogs trolled

every bill has been paid

every finger on a trigger

every table reserved

all things reversed

all brows furrowed

all that came to pass, passed

all kids shouted at

all things made

every meeting convened

all noises off

all truths glossed over

all beginnings reached ends

all toenails cut

my mouth remained forever

all snowmen melted

all is dotted

all pheasants plucked

every message encoded

all dust swept under the carpet

all stellar implosions imploded

every last word uttered

closed

all flowers wilted

all beers bought

every scene written

all weapons concealed

all cash stashed under the bed

all retractions taken place

all lost dogs found

the dolphins left us

all friendship spurned

every line scored

every act performed

all death wishes granted

no more labelling

everything extracted

every last breath breathed

the answer to everything was

every candle blown out

all t’s crossed

all charges dropped

all trenches dug

all debts collected

all things trapped

all curtains drawn

not 42

no more grey hairs

all stones turned

all cocks sucked

all territories mapped

all communication misinterpreted

all heads shaven

all patients visited

infinite unread emails

every spell cast

all prizes given

every episode watched

every lunch naked

all art formulaic

everyone deserted

all trees planted

all stones skimmed

all sounds heard

all eyes closed

all shirts tucked

every word uttered

every artery clogged

all drowned in the desert

end of all rhythms

every letter read

every colour faded

all boats launched

all rules bent

every meal eaten

all moments passed

every exit passed

all calls barred

all wine became claret

all wounds healed

all lips kissed

every wheel stopped turning

our street pulled down

every death counted

I will know I have died

all lost cats found

all music became opera

all teachings taught

every deed done

all the money spent

every commercial property vacant

all ducks all in a row

all fires extinguished

every muscle relaxed

all our papers burned

all things said and done

all piña coladas sipped

every mistake rectified

all tyres slashed

all marrow sucked

no more suicide rock

no more not yets

all our chicken-legs eaten

all people equalled

every clock watched

every limb lopped

every action witnessed

every ounce of love given

nevermore drowned and wet

no more objects of desire

all death metered out

all slaves freed

all armbands off

all meanings meant

no more privacy

patience all run out

all dead ends reached

no more fingers crossed

all love given

all building stopped

every disappointment shown

every sin repented

the end of solitude

my home demolished

all voids voided

every cancer cured

all time spent

everything forgotten

all smiles unreturned

every chickens plucked

all alternatives considered

your love unrequited

all wires cut

all lights out

all wildness tamed

all farts farted

every last breath breathed

all feelings repressed

every decision made

our meetings all convened

everything consumed

all offers invited

every voice silenced

all goodbyes said

every bed made

all good deeds rewarded

all ears flopped

all beds made

all horizons lost

all enemies slain

all death metered out

all colour faded

all milk spilled

every record beaten

all bad deeds punished

all gods praised

all property sold

every sentiment deeply felt

every love offered

all clothes worn

all phones hacked

all hinges rusted

every smile wiped off every face

every belt tightened

every coin collected

all my e-mails deleted

all time spent

every train run

all clocks stopped

all heels worn down

all gifts sent

all scabs picked

every passion spent

every task complete

all fires gone out

every sun gone black

all gin fizzed

all bees dead

there is no more chocolate ever

every battle fought

all deals sealed

all stones skimmed

all wild tamed

all juice drunk

all socks darned

all soufflĂŠs risen

every man taken

all obstacles overcome

every table set

every letter read

all voices silent

all birdsong silenced

all stockings laddered

every life lived

all toilet used

every bitter pill swallowed

all soil tilled

every flag flown

every sound heard

every language spoken

all novels completed

every lover loved

every orifice penetrated

every dream come true

every river run dry

all equality worked

every book read

every ruin complete

all land filled

all sleeping

all hearts stopped

all dykes raised

every black bird flown

no more prejudice

all glass shattered

all distance travelled

every elbow patched

all dreams shattered

everything to see seen

no more morning sex

all information gleaned

a possibility of dragons

every book written

all wounds healed

all feathers plucked

all news become old

all words uttered

all swimming pools emptied

all cheques signed

a possibility of something other

all emptiness filled

all skin relaxed

all boils burst

all hopes dashed

every bean counted

all mistakes corrected

every irony duly noted

a possibility of an afterlife

all planes grounded

everything said and done

all budgets axed

every past visited

every hair split

all meanings misconstrued

every eyebrow plucked

all hope abandoned

all solids melted

people totally equal

all eggs peeled

every coffee drunk

every gadget invented

no more politicians

all lessons learned

all fears allayed

all breath expelled

all slaves freed

all bells tolled

all games played

every hair plucked

all pictures taken

all history repeated

all disputes settled

all things considered

all buildings collapsed

all bodies entwined

all instruments manipulated

all pricks teased

all frowning over

every film made

the chancre to rest

all deeds done

everything forgotten

every history repeated

all heads decapitated

all villains beaten

no more eating

all trees planted

no more subconscious

all money spent

all goodbyes said

every promise kept

all bodies exhumed

all divorces done

no more bankers

no more estate agents

no more misunderstandings

all backs waxed

every ending ended

all beasts tamed

all beauty inspired

no more forms to fill

all suns set

no more toenails in the bath

all tulips admired

every war waged

every animals content

all phones hacked

every train halted

every slipper worn

every fantasy fulfilled

no more mythology

no more growing up

every bag packed

all bodies resplendent

all trees hugged

every artifact gathered

every tv programme watched

every desire satisfied

all princesses saved

no more violence

no more songs

every day turned into night

all heads boiled

all thread spun

no more saying good night

all puzzles solved

no more dolphins

everything with new potential

all sadness relieved

all stars faded

all cracks waxed

entire capacities met

the end of feeling guilty

all bets bet

all music silent

the chance to start again

every moment lost

all seas dry

all the icecaps melted

all itches scratched

no more anger

every house let

all rain fallen

the end of the idea of endings

no more regrets

every door closed

all cards dealt

all sheep sheared

all peace assured

everything discovered and

all sunrises witnessed

no more new words

apologies all accepted

all lights gone out

every table turned

all pulp sieved

all coal fires burned

understood

no more random encounters

all gifts wrapped

every end in sight

all potential lost

every cliff eroded

all mistakes accepted

all flowers grown

all friends met

no more money worries

all clothes worn

all profound things said

all dead arisen

all stories told

every watch stopped

no more animal cruelty

all the rules broken

the end of histories

all letters answered

every corner turned

everyone made happy

all fingers burned

all music heard

all cocks crowed

every potential end listed

all languages lost

all of boston swamped

the sum of things calculated

every difference resolved

all hatchets buried

all voices silenced

no more snow leopards

all trails blazed

no more artists

all questions answered

all conversations taped

all revolutions complete

all tears wept

all poetry read

all itches scratched

every secret out

all speech spoken

all pictures painted

every secret out

all planets in orbit

all jiz jizzed

all fabric frayed

every star exploded

every cat out of the bag

no more wildness

all souls searched

no more blocked paths

every sin forgiven

all vouchers expired

all wood burned

every battery lost charge

every hand wrung

no more anything

all windows smashed

all dams breached

every child saved

all lessons learned

all demons exorcised

every bank machine emptied

all balls in the back of the net

all funny looking mushrooms

all teeth broken

every avenue closed

every dispute settled

all tickets touted

all holes filled

all seeds planted

all patience run out

eaten

all plans hatched

all lies debunked

all hope lost

all flies swatted

all skies saturated

no more humans

all meetings convened

no more broken hearts

all fires extinguished

all clues suggested

every promise broken

all my wounds wept

every glass emptied

every flower picked

every number counted

no more virgins

no more terrorism

all hints dropped

every trust shattered

books all cooked

all chances taken

every species become extinct

all captives released

all calls barred

all beauty admired

every blade of grass grown

all home helps murdered

words all tweeted

all conversations analysed

every possible idea conceived

all puzzles solved

no objects desired

all sentiments felt

all food consumed

all the myths debunked

every bladder emptied

all secrets shared

every possible action executed

every sign read

all fingers crossed

all floorboards laid

every growth stopped

every story leaked

all bras twanged

every opportunity wasted

all roads laid

every nose wiped

every light gone out

all forms melted

all blood run dry

all planets imploded

all doors left open

all love given

every game played

every argument resolved

all offers invited

all air escaped

no more eyes gouged

all passions inflamed

all paint turned brown

all friends met

every thought thought

all hair grown

all friends reunited

all trains run

every tear fallen

all economies fucked

all money squandered

all darkness enlightened

all resources used up

every image consumed

all skin diseased

all suns extinguished

all family united

all houses squatted

every palm read

all frailties strengthened

every book read

all realities experienced

every connection lost

every drop of juice drunk

all mountains flattened

every law upheld

all sirens sounded

every topic covered

every song sung

all sleep slept

all laws broken

all birds quiet

every glass of water drunk

every flavour tasted

every biscuit broken

all tears wept

every day done

every courtesy extended

all plots hatched

every ruin collapsed

all energy wasted

all prayers answered

all wonders wondered

all ink absorbed

all bills paid

all flesh off the bone

all power brokered

all distance travelled

all sounds heard

every mountain climbed

every scratch-card scratched

all blood shed

Lincoln School of Art and Design â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 150 years

Founded in 1863, the Lincoln School of Art and Design (LSA&D) is the oldest part of the University of Lincoln; it is one of six Schools within the newly formed College of Arts and plays a dynamic role in the cultural landscape of the region and beyond. The School and University share an ambition for excellence and world class reputation and ranking in Teaching and Research. Recently brought together for the first time, into an exciting new building on the Brayford Campus, the School of Art and Design is poised to undertake the next stage of its ambitious Artistic Research agenda and it is fitting that we find ourselves in the new building during our 150th year celebrationsâ&#x20AC;Ś

…

The School offers a range of specialist undergraduate and

The work in the show exemplified this complexity and demonstrated

postgraduate programmes and research degrees. Key recent

how each individual student must develop technical ability, creativity,

appointments at professor and reader level, a new gallery and

risk taking, aesthetic sensibility, intellectual enquiry, skills in

dedicated postgraduate bases, strengthen the research culture and

team working, appreciation of diversity, and the capacity to work

the international standing of the creative practice and academic

autonomously and conduct research — all in order to ensure only the

research taking place here. Research and creative practice are at the

best competing ideas survive.

core of what we and who we are; a re-structuring of research groups and centres, ‘In Session’ events, open lectures, artists’ talks, events,

A critical part of ‘the mix’ within the studios and workshops is the

performances and design research seminars, around the physical

relationship between the students, and of course, their tutors and

manifestation of the new Gallery space provide a dynamic nucleus

technical staff, each of whom has their own specialist discipline.

of activity.

Creative practice and research in the School is recognised as internationally significant and the students’ immersion in this

One such event was Menu the first exhibition in our new gallery in

network has obvious benefits to their work and their future careers.

September 2013, by graduating Masters students from Art, Design and

Some examples of staff research successes from the year past

Conservation. This exhibition was a diverse and ambitious culmination

include a range of external and internal grant funding in Art, Design

of a lot of complex and creative speculation and critical enquiry on the

and Conservation, national and international projects, exhibitions,

part of our international group of postgraduate students. The exhibition

conservation schemes, publications and conference papers such as

was an excellent way to mark a new beginning for them but also a way

Jim Cheshire’s work on the Tennyson Archive, Ian Waites’ work on the

for us to reflect on the ever-changing nature of creative practice and the

post war council estate, Neil Maycroft’s research into Material Culture

variety of lateral thought, contexts and applications.

and Consumption Studies, Steve Dutton’s installation End of Ends, Andrew Bracey’s Misdirect Movies project, Anne Chick’s research into Design for Sustainability and the encounter Entropic Union at Galeria Legnica, Poland.

There are too many examples to mention here but all of the detail can

In Session aims to bring together the high quality research

be found documented on our own web pages and on staff profile pages.

undertaken both by staff and students of LSA&D and visiting UK and

The gathering pace of creative activity and the growing critical mass

international speakers. Another key aim is for it to remain free to

and quality of staff research, together with the 150th year celebrations

current students at UK universities and to provide crossover in the

and an appreciation of the pace of change in Higher Education and

areas of the art, design and conservation. We also aim to add to the

more generally has triggered us to reflect on the key questions and

intellectual and research culture of the School by enabling visiting

challenges facing art schools in the 21st century. In response to this

speakers to engage in dialogue with our own staff and students and

on 19th November 2013 the School began LSA&D In Session which

this will support our Postgraduate Research Students and nurture the

is an annual series of symposia for staff, students, artists, designers

research networks in the School.

and conservators and other invited guests to speculate on the current developments in the School and its role and function in the 21st

The evening sessions in collaboration with the Royal Society of

century. In Session is the congress of thought; the parliament of ideas,

the Arts and The Lincoln Academy promise lively and interesting

the chamber of debate of the School and its ever changing agenda both

presentations and discussions about the potential of creativity as

reflecting and leading current debates within Art, Design and Cultural

a currency in its own right. Themes to be explored include our own

Heritage in the UK and internationally.

Artistic Research mentioned above together with issues in the Design industry such as sustainability and internationalism. Other areas include the digital realm and human interactivity; engagement & curatorial practices; the role of ‘institutions’; writing and performance; material culture; the role of conservation and heritage; and of course areas that are ‘yet to be determined’. We hope to see you there!

Dr Alec Shepley Head of School Lincoln School of Art & Design

the vitrine project As part of the Lincoln School of Art and Design (LSA&D) 150th Anniversary celebrations, this small book presents an opportunity to look at some of the recent research and creative output from our community of staff and postgraduate students. A central tenet for the creation of this publication was to visibly place postgraduate student work alongside the research and creative outputs produced by LSA&D staff. As the School looks to the future and builds on its long history, the theory and praxis of what we do as individuals will continue to inform our collegiate and studio focused creative education. This book is a taster, giving just a flavour of what we do here at LSA&D. The research and creative enguiry that underpins what happens in the School can be challenging, very often thought provoking and certainly leading edge. As Lincoln School of Art and Design positions itself on a world stage these activities will continue to inform our teaching and learning; ensuring that our students are seen, and respected as producers - producers of engaging, high quality and relevant art, design and conservation.

A Postgraduate Year

Enquire

Discuss

Create

Connect

Collaborate

Participate

Disseminate

Graduate

Underpinning postgraduate

Testing ideas and concepts.

Central to almost all forms

Particpation is in

Postgraduate study is

PGT students are

An idea doesen’t exist

Not the beginning of the

of creative practice is the

conferences, symposia and

an opportunity to build

encouraged to attend many

unless you tell someone...

end — rather, the end of

(PGT) study is a willingness to enquire: whether over

Pictured here is a workshop

requirement to make and

exhibitions is supported

networks and work with

of the opportunities that

a coffee, in the library

designed and delivered

test, re-make and test

and encouraged.

both your peers and experts

belonging to a University

At the heart of PGT

or testing ideas through

by PGT students that was

some more.

from outside the world of

can offer.

study is the annual

creative practice, the

open to the public and the

Here PGT students attend

wish to discover drives

University staff.

a recent DESIS Symposium

art and design.

the beginning (as someone

Postgraduate Show, held Here LSA&D PGT students

every September and seen

successful students

organised by Anne Chick,

A break during a recent

attended the recent

as the opener for the new

in LSA&D.

Professor of Design.

conference spent on

‘Student as Producer’

academic year.

the new LSA&D Building

Education Conference in

Sculpture Terrace.

the EMMTEC Building.

rather famous once said).

Vitrine 1: LSA&D Staff

Image: Andrew Bracey

the vitrine project Professor Norman Cherry Pro Vice Chancellor and Head of the College of Arts

During the past century advances in science and technology,

My background as a practitioner and

Faculty of Medicine where they were involved

particularly in medical science, have resulted in outcomes previously

educator in the Visual Arts provides me with

in treating accident victims who required

almost unimaginable.

a broad historical and contemporary practical

substantial repair of bone and other tissue.

context which, besides mainstream art and

He was responsible for making the models

Post-World-War-Two medicine especially has had immense effect on

design activity, includes tattooing, piercing,

which reproduced the form of the destroyed

people’s daily lives. Life expectancy has almost doubled in just a

mutilation, scarification, and branding as

tissue and into which were implanted the cell

century (Hench, 2001). People take for granted interventions which a

aesthetic and sociological practise. It is

structures intended to grow and replicate it.

generation previously would have been unheard of or else inordinately

from this background that I approached the

expensive. Consequently the greater mass of the population have

research for this paper.

more control over their health, their appearance, and their general

fascinating introduction to the field of Tissue

wellbeing — eg the development of cosmetic surgery since the 1950s

The conception and development of ideas

Engineering and out of that grew the original

has given men and women the power to change and improve their

is an essential activity of all practising

idea for this predictive research — my own

appearance at prices generally within the reach of those on more or

artists and designers. Trying to understand

Creative Leap. I approached the biomedicine

less average incomes. Advances in, for example, stem cell research,

the process is certainly a preoccupation of

as a non-specialist wishing to understand it,

cloning, and the Human Genome Project are what we might term

many of us involved in education. The many

and that is also my approach in this paper.

‘soft’ technologies, enabling technologies with largely benign and

catalysts and circumstances which result in

liberating qualities.

new ideas may be too complex to analyse

The first part is what I shall describe as a

fully during the period of creativity. Design

‘Layman’s Guide’ to Tissue Engineering. In

theorists talk about the Creative Leap,

the second part I shall discuss some of the

(Archer, 1965): the moment when reservoirs

methods by which people have modified their

Living Art

Angiogenetic Body Adornment

of previously held ‘useless knowledge’,

bodies for aesthetic purposes or otherwise,

One aspect of biomedicine, Tissue Engineering, is of particular

(Barratt, 1980) as Barratt would describe

and in the third part I shall outline the role

interest to me. Originating out of the quest to defeat cancer, it has

them, are suddenly utilised by the designer

which I believe Tissue Engineering is likely to

been developed to enable the growth of new body parts - neo-organs

or artist, sometimes unconsciously, to create

play in body modification in the future.

- in order to assist victims of accidents, disease, and congenital

and then develop a new idea.

defects. Having appropriated the principle of Angiogenesis in order

Tissue Engineering

to do this, it is itself liable to appropriation and subversion. Just as

Some years ago, while I was on a routine visit

A standard definition of Tissue Engineering

plastic surgery was reinvented as commercial cosmetic surgery, so

to the Engineering Department of Liverpool

might be that it ‘applies the principles of

Tissue Engineering is capable of subversion for purposes of body

University, I fell into conversation with one of

biology and engineering to the development

modification which mainstream society might consider unacceptable

their rapid prototyping specialists. He told

of viable substitutes which restore, maintain,

but which members of the Body Modification subculture - BodMod -

me of some of his current work involving

or improve the function of human tissues’

would think of as a powerful aesthetic tool to enable the development

interdisciplinary co-operation with staff in the

(www.pitsburgh-tissue.net, 2000).

of their particular interests. 10

That conversation turned out to be a

This is a process of integrating engineered

New blood vessels need to be created in

as the average life expectancy within the last

system tissues (www.nytimes.com, 2004).

tissue within the body of the patient to offer

order to encourage the growth or regrowth of

century has risen from little more than 45

The University of California, Irvine, bulletin

a permanent improvement to, or cure for, the

almost all new body tissue. Natural examples

to well over 75 there is an increasing need

has described an agreement entered into

particular condition. For some years it has

of this are:

for spare part surgery, the most common of

with the Geron Corporation to develop a

been common practice to grow cells outside

— skin healing after a cut or abrasion

which procedures are lens renewal, heart

therapy for paraplegics as a consequence

the body, but it has only relatively recently

— bone mending itself after a break,

bypasses, hip and knee replacements.

of research funded by the Christopher and

been considered possible to grow complex

(Figure 1)

So the imperative to develop appropriate

Dana Reeves Foundation. In Australia a new

three-dimensional tissue and then insert it

— and the growth of adult teeth after

biomedical procedures increases almost daily

treatment called Mesoblast is being injected

as we all grow ever older.

directly as a therapy for osteoarthritis in

into the body where it induces further growth.

natural loss of the milk teeth

the knee. Tissue Engineering relies for most of its

There are three main areas of Tissue

In standard organ transplant practice the

applications on the principle of Angiogenesis:

Engineering activity:

patient experiences high levels of pain and

One of the major drivers behind much of the

the growth of new blood vessels, (Concise

requires lifelong immunosuppression via

current research activity is the great shortage

Oxford Dictionary, 1995), a natural function

1.The production of human tissues

expensive drug therapy. There is also the

of donor organs for those who need them.

of the human body which was discovered in

outside the body for later use: eg skin graft

likelihood of:

In the USA for example in 1998 more than

the 19th century. Examples of this might be

replacements. These have now been in

— tissue mismatch resulting in the possibility

21000 people received kidney, liver, heart,

the monthly menstrual cycle, or the condition

commercial use for some years

of graft rejection

lung, or other organ transplants. However,

known as Psoriasis in which the apparently

2.The development of devices which contain

— the potential development of cancers at a

at any time there are 62,000 people waiting

unsightly red patches on the skin are actually

human tissues and which can replace the

later stage

for an organ and every day 100 names are

positive indicators of the renewal of blood

function of diseased internal organs: eg the

— short term efficacy of the transplant –

added to the list (Hench, p120). Each year

vessels.

production of artificial liver

many patients survive for less than a year

73,000 people in the USA die of heart failure.

3.The implantation of devices (which may or

(Hench, p127)

In 1972 Dr Judah Folkman of Harvard

may not contain stem cells) which encourage

University Medical School, while researching

regeneration of tissue

Angiogenesis, discovered that cells already in

In the simplest form of in corpo Tissue Tissue engineers are attempting to solve

Engineering a specific molecule eg a growth

some of these problems or at least alleviate

factor is injected into a wound or a damaged

the body can be persuaded or manipulated

Hitherto, it has been standard practice to

them by custom designing and growing tissue

organ. This molecule influences the patients

into producing new blood vessels (Mooney

undertake either transplant or implantation

for individual patients.

own cells to migrate to the wound site and

and Mikos, 1999a). Initially this was

surgery to alleviate at least some of the

conceived to be a major breakthrough in

problems caused by organ failure. In

Researchers are trying to create several

regenerate the appropriate tissue (Figure 2).

cancer research. In effect, healthy cells can

addition, as Professor Larry Hench points out

kinds of human tissue, such as cartilage and

In 2001 at the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston

be cultivated in vitro and reintroduced in

in his book ‘Science, Faith and Ethics’ (2001)

bone, muscle, insulin-producing pancreatic

a 73 year old man with a history of severe

cells, arteries, and even central nervous

heart problems, and given only a few months

corpo where they then promote further new

begin to develop into the kind of cells which

to live, received treatment which involved the

hand; some are knitted into a manipulable

in a factory accident. Only soft tissue was

successfully transplanted back into patients’

introduction of healthy cells to the damaged

mesh, while the more complex structures

left, the majority of the bone having been

eyes (The Independent, July 2000).

part of his heart. These cells began to

are manufactured using Rapid Prototyping

lost. The remaining soft tissue was sewn to

A member of the team at the University of

replicate and grow new tissue to such an

technology. In such cases a scan is made of

his chest in order to give it a blood supply

California, Davis, was reported as saying

extent that after 4 months of treatment his

the patient’s affected area. This is converted

and keep it alive. Bone cells were removed

that this work could pave the way for the

surgeons described him as having ‘the heart

into a CAD file from which a rapid model is

from the patient’s forearm and cultured in a

production of ‘repair’ tissue for other parts

of a 20 year old man’ (Frontiers, BBC Radio

built using one of several RP methodologies.

biodegradable matrix made in this instance

of the body such as ‘the oesophagus,

4, 2001). In November 2006 Bartholomew’s

The model is normally built with a type of

from coral. In eight weeks new bone cells

pharynx, intestines, and vagina’. This month

Hospital in London announced trials for a

“honeycomb” structure into which the cell

had grown from this culture and were

clinical trials began at the University of

similar procedure, in which 700 people took

structure can be introduced.

moulded to the form of the lost bone. This

Edinburgh to grow and replace dead corneal

scaffold was then attached to the hand and

cells in individual patients. The University

part (www.bbc.co.uk, 2006). Mooney and Mikos were quoted as long ago

covered with the flesh and skin grown from

of Pennsylvania is working on growing

In a more complex procedure the Tissue

as 1999 as saying ‘it is at least theoretically

the original thumb with the expectation that

oesophagus cells, while very recently we

Engineer incorporates the patient’s own

possible to engineer large complex organs

ultimately a new thumb would develop with

read in the press of successful oesophagus

cells which have previously been multiplied

such as livers, kidneys, breasts, bladders,

fairly normal functions. It eventually had

replacements undertaken by teams of Tissue

in culture into what are termed ‘three

and intestines’ (Mooney and Mikos, 1999b).

new blood vessels, a narrow range of

Engineers and surgeons.

dimensional scaffolds’ — in effect a three

A bulletin of the Pittsburg Tissue Engineering

motion, and a basic sense of touch

dimensional model of the damaged tissue

Initiative Inc, talked of ‘artificial liver currently

(www.senrs.com, 2004).

- usually made from a biodegradable

under development’ (www.pittsburgh-tissue.

polymer. This structure is transplanted or

net, 2004). On 30th October 2006 the

Work is underway to grow new breast

eventually become a routine procedure (The

introduced to the wound site where the

University of Newcastle, England, announced

tissue, using existing tissue from the legs or

Guardian, June 2001).

cells replicate, reorganise and form new

that a team had successfully grown tiny livers

buttocks. While this obviously cannot have

tissue. Simultaneously the polymer breaks

to be used for drug testing purposes

the incredibly complex structure of ‘real’

Only 46 years after the first heart transplant

down (Figure 3). In effect it dissolves in

(Metro, Oct 2006).

breast tissue it is considered a more than

conducted by Dr Christian Barnard it seems

viable alternative to existing prostheses or

almost incredible that medical scientists are

much the same way as suture material,

Researchers in restorative dentistry are equally confident that growing new teeth will

leaving a natural product in the body — the

Genzyme Inc has FDA approval to produce

implants. A team from the Carolinas Medical

now talking seriously about the likelihood

neo-organ. This procedure is used for facial

tissues from patients’ own cells for the repair

Centre in Charlotte NC holds a US patent for

rather than the possibility of actually growing

reconstruction and repair of the jaw after

of knee cartilage damage. Charles Vacanti

the procedure. In 2004 researchers at the

new hearts in the foreseeable future, (The

periodontal disease.

of the University of Mass Medical School,

Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery in

Independent, July 2000). Professor David

Worcester, Mass, and his brother Joseph

Melbourne developed a method of growing

Williams of Liverpool University, interviewed

Sometimes polymers are used in

have demonstrated that new cartilage can

breast tissue which preserves its own blood

in 2000, said: ‘in 10 – 15 years we will

combination with ceramics such as Alumina.

be grown in the form of ears, noses, etc. An

supply (www.ausbioinfo.com, 2004). A

undoubtedly be able to grow new organs —

Other scaffold materials include collagen

ear grown on the back of a laboratory mouse,

spokesman would not discuss this in detail

and hearts will be the first’ (The Scotsman,

and alginates similar to those used for dental

(www.bbc.co.uk, 2004) generated immense

until a patent was granted.

September 2000). Although the timescale

impressions. Methods of building these

amounts of media publicity some years ago.

models are varied and various. Some of the

This approach was utilised in 1998 when

Another major success was the growing of

statement was made, this is still much more

simpler forms are modelled by

Charles and his team were able to grow bone

human corneas in vitro which were then

than a dream.

for a patient whose thumb was badly crushed 12

has certainly been revised since that

Changing Ourselves

Harold Gillies and his team made the first

operations among young people are breast

Nevertheless, the immense public interest

Although Plastic Surgery as a quotidian form

major improvements in a century with their

augmentation and penile extension.

in cosmetic surgery is underlined by

of medicine is very much a twentieth and

work for disabled airmen during and after

twenty-first century phenomenon, it has a

the First World War while Archibald McIndoe

The feminist writer Susan Bordo refers to

American import Nip/Tuck, and Cosmetic

long and interesting history. Rhinoplasty has

and his team continued these developments

our modern bodies as ‘cultural plastic’,

Surgery Live on Channel Five, one episode

been practised on the Indian subcontinent for

during and after the Second War, treating

a consequence of living in a ‘culture of

of which showed live celebrity surgery

well over two thousand years. The surgeon

servicemen who had been badly burned or

improvement and replacement’ (p245).

from a Hollywood practice. It also featured

Sushruta was active around 600 BCE, wrote

otherwise mutilated.

According to her, an issue of Details,

newlywed couples who had had plastic

what she describes as ‘a trendy lifestyle

surgery honeymoons, and one on a Brazilian

a treatise on the subject, and taught at what

programmes on British TV, such as the

is described as Banares University (Rana

However, by the 1920s in the USA plastic

magazine’, describes some cosmetic surgery

fitness fanatic who had undergone a

RE, 2002, p 76-78). While he practised

surgery had become established as an

procedures as ‘another fabulous (fashion)

phalloplasty to his already substantial

as a respectable surgeon, other forms of

acceptable method of female enhancement.

accessory’ (p246). Typical advertisements

member. The presenter then invited viewers

nose reconstruction were also carried out

The Australian feminist writer Sheila Jeffreys

in British magazines refer to ‘the shape and

to text in stills or video clips of parts of their

by members of the potter’s caste. This

(2005, p155) relates this to the growth in

size you have always dreamt of’ or ‘a new

bodies which they thought needed improving

expertise in such a specific area was a direct

popularity of beauty pageants during that

body‘ (Vogue, Jul 2000), almost as if it’s as

(Plastic Surgery Live, Channel Five,

result of Indian codes of punishment whereby

period. Cosmetic Surgery has certainly

easy as shopping. Of course, if you have the

12 April 2005).

amputation of the nose was a common

been a major part of medical practice since

money, in a sense it is.

sentence for criminal behaviour. Thus,

the 1950s in most Western countries. In

presumably depending on social status,

recent years the growth in its use has

To see the prevailing physical stereotypes

Nobody’s Perfect’ on Italia 1 which each

professionals from two quite different castes

been immense. Between 1981 and 1989

which, according to Bordo, the media

week featured young women seeking to

developed very high levels of specialist

the number of plastic surgery procedures

currently seem to favour, the ‘tight, slender,

‘improve parts of their bodies which they are

skill in order to bring relief to amputees.

annually in the USA rose by 80% to 681000,

muscular body’ of Madonna (Bordo, p269) or

convinced are ruining their lives’.

Knowledge of the traditional Indian method

more than half the patients being between

the hunky men used to advertise Calvin Klein

of rhinoplasty travelled from India to Arabia,

the ages of 18 and 35. By 2001 there

underwear (Bordo, pxxiii) as manipulative

Given this kind of lightweight (one might even

on to Egypt, and thence to Italy at some point

were 8.5 million procedures (Bordo, 2003,

advertisements for the bodies most of

say flippant) and extensive media exposure, it

during the 15th Century, when Tagliacozzi

p246). No figures are available to distinguish

us do not have is certainly a persuasive

is perhaps no wonder that ordinary people no

was responsible for further sophistication of

between procedures to alleviate physical or

argument, although I am not sure that

longer see cosmetic surgery as something for

techniques.

psychological distress and those for elective

commentators necessarily take account of a

the rich, or film and media stars. Everyone

aesthetic enhancement.

quite natural desire of many, though certainly

can now be, or try to be, what Bordo calls

During the 19th century German Jews sought

In Italy one of the hits of 2004 was ‘Scalpel:

not all, people to be fit and healthy through

one the ‘master sculptors’ of this age of

to have their noses reduced in size in order

Apparently the number of American

reasonable exercise. Exercise is not the

cultural plastic (Bordo, p245). It should not

to seem ‘less cold and mercantile’ (Gilman,

teenagers undergoing cosmetic surgery has

prerogative of those of us who spend hours in

be surprising then to discover that doctors

2007) and, around the same time, some

nearly doubled in ten years. Corrective nose

the gym; for example, informal and local club

now recognise a new category of sufferers:

Japanese were having eyelid surgery in order

and ear operations top the list. I understand

football is played by hundreds of thousands

‘polysurgical addicts’ or, more colloquially,

to look more like Westerners.

that a common graduation gift from parents

of British people each week. I doubt that the

‘scalpel slaves’ (Bordo, p248).

is now a nose or a boob job (Vogue, Jan

majority do so for anything other than the

2002). In the UK the two commonest

pleasure it gives, and the knowledge that it

ORLAN has practised as a performance artist

keeps them relatively fit.

since the 1970s doing so with varying 13

degrees of adulation or ignominy, depending

anaesthesia preferring to be ‘awake’ in order

As well as the videos, offcuts and fluids from

In the event, instead of being the wealthy

on one’s viewpoint. For many, she is very

to direct proceedings. These are, after all,

the operations are framed and bottled, and

individual he had claimed to be, he turned

much a cult figure, a heroine; for others a

performances as well as medical procedures.

offered for sale, a practice of which many

out to be a conman and absconded (The

pariah. Jeffreys describes her as having a

Each operation has been performed via a

commentators are very critical.

Times, October 2000). Needless to say the

pornographic purpose and compares her to

video link to an audience watching in real

porno film star Houston (Jeffreys, p161), even

time from another location, usually in a

While Jeffreys is straightforward in her denial

was suitably visited upon the French medics

describing her as a prostitute. As long ago as

different city. In the more recent she had

of ORLAN as an artist, Kubilay Akman, a

for their ‘unethical behaviour’ in having

1977 at the International Contemporary Art

silicone implants inserted in her temples

Turkish academic and critic, is somewhat

undertaken such a ‘costly and unproven

Fair in Paris she scandalised the public with

and cheeks in order to accentuate these

more positive, (Jan 2006). He describes

technique’. As it happened, for various

her show ‘baiser de l’artist’ when she offered

physical features. She has employed fashion

her art as ‘deadly serious’. For him, she is

reasons (mainly financial), he stopped taking

a kiss (only a kiss) to anyone who paid her

designers and stylists such as Paco Rabanne,

demonstrating resistance to stereotypes of

the necessary immunosuppressant drugs,

five francs. Other performances involved

Issey Miyake, and Charlotte Caldeberg

aesthetic authority (p2). He considers her art

as a result of which the ‘new’ arm ceased

sperm-stained bedsheets and the opportunity

to create clothes for her and the other

to be a genuine contribution to postmodern

to function and in 2002 he succeeded

to view her vulva through a giant magnifying

participants in these events (Wilson et al, p

theories of identity and her project(s) an

in persuading another medical team to

glass, perhaps pre-empting Tracy Emin’s

89). Finding surgeons willing to undertake

example of ‘utopia built upon the body’.

amputate it.

installations by more than a decade. Since

this work was difficult at first (Wilson et al,

Carnal art rejects authority, domination, and

1990 she has regularly undergone not just

p90) but four have been involved in the

the normal codes of power.

facial but partial body reconstruction (Wilson,

nine operations to date, the New York-based

et al, 1996). As a performance artist, she

‘feminist plastic surgeon’ Dr Marjorie Cramer

However, ORLAN’s wish to control the form

idealisation of athleticism of the ancient

says that her subject is her own body. She

having carried out the seventh, eighth, and

and effect of her own body as art has to be

Greeks is well documented. Physical fitness

describes what she does as ‘Carnal Art’.

ninth. The words ‘feminist plastic surgeon’

carried out as part of a cooperative effort.

has been part of the fabric of Western

She says: ‘Lying between disfiguration and

are ORLAN’s own, and I have to presume that

Does that then negate the premise from

education systems for at least two centuries.

figuration Carnal Art is an inscription in flesh,

Dr Cramer would describe herself as such.

which she proceeds? She is not, in fact, in

The English public school system, on which

sole control.

the British Empire might be said to have been

as our age now makes possible. Carnal Art

wrath of the mainstream medical community

The cult of the Body Beautiful has a long tradition in Western society. The homoerotic

does not inherit anything from the Christian

It is certainly extreme. Is it ethical? Is she

tradition against which it fights’. Referring to

ethical? Are the surgeons who perform

In 1998 a New Zealander, Clint Hallam,

be as important as academic achievement.

the Martyrs, she says: ‘Carnal Art is not self

on her behaving ethically? They are well

(Figure 4) had the world’s first arm transplant

Regardless of the cultural reasons for it,

mutilation. Reversing the Christian principle

aware that they are part of a performance.

(The Guardian, May 2000). Some time

(Bordo, p246) gym membership is now one

of the word made flesh, the flesh is made

Does that make them actors, or artists, as

previously he had lost part of his right arm in

of the trappings of a Western middle class

word’ (Wilson et al, p88).

well as doctors and nurses? What about

a sawmill accident and had tried hard to find

lifestyle, often one of the perks provided by

the traditional ethics of medicine — the

a sympathetic surgeon who would consider

companies for their employees. . Any day

She has undergone a series of plastic

Hippocratic Oath which they have all taken?

transplantation. Ultimately he had to travel

or evening of the week, gymnasia, once the

surgery operations to progressively transform

Are these procedures simply a flippant use

to France to find a surgical team prepared to

sweaty, smelly, preserve of only the serious

herself, utilising features found in Old Master

of talent and technical expertise intended

do the operation, such were the doubts about

bodybuilding fraternity — the “meatheads” —

paintings of Venus, Diana, Europa, Psyche,

for the relief of suffering masquerading as

the ethics of his proposal in Australia, where

are full of ordinary men and women

and the Madonna. In each of these, she

performance art? Is it perhaps little more

he then lived. Yet there was a team in Lyon

undergoes the surgery without general

than a form of entertainment or commerce?

prepared to argue the value of the procedure.

founded, considered physical prowess to

stretching, bending, pumping iron, spinning,

the official artist on Cook’s first voyage in

tattoos were mainly worn by the lower

Although in 1960s America and Europe

running on the treadmill, and doing aerobics

1769, made detailed drawings of the tattows

and criminal classes this was not their

tattooing was still the preserve of the lower

in an effort to shed fat, build up bulk, or

covering the bodies of the South Seas

exclusive preserve. Senior Admiralty figures

or marginalised classes, a number of factors

achieve better muscle definition, all in order

islanders encountered (Thomas et al, p9) and

adopted the practice in colonial Burma and

such as Vietnam, the sexual revolution, and

to look better. Whether they do so to conform

there are many references to members of

encouraged their immediate juniors to follow

an interest among art students, some of

to a culturally-imposed ideal or simply to

this and subsequent expeditions befriending

suit, while the British Army urged its officers

whom became tattoo artists themselves,

achieve more individual and personal goals

the natives and submitting to the tattooing

to have their regimental arms tattooed on

led to the ‘Tattoo Rennaissance’. (Caplan,

I shall leave others to argue.

process. Indeed Parkinson and Banks, the

their bodies to encourage an esprit de corps

p236) Some of them also designed jewellery

Lincolnshire botanist on the 1769 voyage,

… and also to assist in identifying the dead

for piercings. From my own experience,

For centuries people have had themselves

were tattooed on their arms on this occasion,

on the battlefield. (Caplan, p145). In 1862

art and design students have been writing

tattooed, pierced, scarified, and mutilated

the mark intended as a souvenir of the great

the then Prince of Wales was tattooed during

dissertations and creating visual works based

(Fig 3) (Caplan, 2000, p69). These were

adventure (Thomas et al, p44).

a visit to the Holy Land and from the 1890s

on tattoos, piercing, and other body practices

there were several published examples of

for at least 20 years. Currently in Britain,

originally marks of conformity, normally identification of belonging, a mark of pride,

However, Caplan in ‘Written on the Body’

tattooed upper classes and Royalty

Freshers Week is when large numbers of new

often part of a rite of passage, sometimes a

(p69) insists that tattooing was undertaken

(Caplan, p146).

students are initiated by having the first mark

mark of punishment or expulsion (Gröning,

by the ancient Picts in Britain and written

1997). Paul in his letters to the Galatians

evidence seems to point to this (Thomas et

Today, at least in Western or Northern society,

(6: 17) wrote ‘I bear the marks of Jesus

al, p13). Several writers and adventurers

they are more likely to be manifestations of

Erik Sprague, aka The Lizardman, is one of

branded on my body’, signifying his

have recorded tattooing or examples of

non-conformity, of rebellion, of individuality.

the most commonly recognised BodMod

conversion and adherence to a practice of

‘puncturing’ in places as varied as Siberia,

Nicholas Thomas in ‘Tattoo’ considers that

performers. At the time of illustration number

the early Christians which sought to invert

Tunisia, Palestine, and the Americas (Thomas

many of those who have undergone tattooing

5 (Figure 5) he had undergone tongue and

the then prevalent practice of the Romans

et al, p15). The Portuguese navigator Pedro

have been influenced by ‘naïve New Age

dental surgery, had had Teflon implants

of tattooing their slaves to denote possession

Fernandez de Quiros recorded tattooed men

romanticisation of indigenous culture and

and 400 hundred hours of tattooing, with a

(Thomas, 2005, p 116).

in 1595 in the islands south of Luzon in the

spirituality’ (Thomas et al, p29). Be that as it

further 200 hours to go. He expressed his

Phillipines. However, these were described

may, there has certainly been a gentrification

desire for a tail to complete his ‘translation’.

We are aware of such practices continuing

as Pintados (painted people), a word which

and mainstreaming of the practise (Demello,

‘If I could have a real tail, if I could have

in many parts of the modern world thanks

normally would have been used to describe

2000), a long journey from its more recent

real tissue, I would like one’ he said (The

not only to the more or less instant

the Picts, ie Europeans, especially British

working class or criminal uses. In Russia

Independent, 2000). Since then he has

communications we take for granted but also

or Scots, thus suggesting either a known

this may be explained by the effect on mass

more or less completed the tattooing but has

for the intrepid souls who in an earlier period

link with an earlier period or perhaps some

consciousness of the tattoos of those who

not grown a tail.

carried out field expeditions to record them.

knowledge of an ongoing tradition

suffered under the communist regime. Fifty

(Thomas et al, p33).

percent of the population served in the

You may also be familiar with illustrations of

armed forces and as many as one in five at

other people with implants and modifications

It has often been presumed that tattooing

made on their bodies.

was introduced or, to be more precise,

Public Record Office documents record how

some time found themselves in prison where

of various sorts. Every day we are likely to

reintroduced, to the West by the antipodean

tattoos had become a major signifier of

it would have been difficult to avoid being

meet people with multi piercing. At one time

expeditions of Captain Cook during the

seafarers by the 1830s (Thomas et al, p77).

marked as a newcomer to a place ‘beyond

I imagined that The Lizardman or Bob the

eighteenth century. Sydney Parkinson,

Although during the nineteenth century

life’ (Plutsner-Sarno and Baldaev, 2003, p51).

Enigma and his wife Katzen, who perform as 15

Puzzilion act, were extreme and outlandish

As part of its 20th anniversary celebration

gave her initial reactions to my lecture and

The Future

but in the course of my research I have found

Galerie Ra in Amsterdam ran a design

a group conversation then took place over

Now that Tissue Engineering technology is so

many other examples of unusual practices

competition entitled ‘Jewellery of the Future’.

several weeks in which they discussed not

advanced and proven to work I believe that it

which might render these much less so than

Elisabeth Scheuble won with her ‘self

only my thesis but their own reasons for

is now possible to have a three dimensional

I had originally supposed. Indeed, heavily

implantation kit’ intended for insertion into

being involved in BodMod, their rejection of

culture of your own cells inserted under

tattooed and pierced people encountered in

the scalp. As far as I am aware, this was

body stereotypes or at least their individual

your skin and watch and feel it grow into

daily life are often some of the most normal

simply an idea, but clearly there are people

attempts not to be enslaved by those which

bone, cartilage, or other soft tissue. You

people you might meet and talk to. Dr Martin

who might well wish to make it a reality

they perceive to be culturally predominant.

may not be attracted by the idea, you may

Skinner, a social psychologist at Warwick

(Galerie Ra, 1996).

But they also recognised that some women

be appalled by it, you may think that it is

University, talks about differing levels of intro

whom they knew well had genuinely

unnatural, undesirable, even unethical, and

and extra-spection, about ‘controlling the

In the Summer of 2006 I undertook a

enhanced their lives and become happier

a misuse of important medical research.

active inspection’. The BMEzine megasurvey

residency at Oregon College of Art and

by undergoing elective cosmetic surgery. It

However, as I hope I have demonstrated in

of 2001 indicated surprisingly high levels of

Craft in Portland, Oregon and while there

also became clear that some of them have a

my references to Plastic Surgery, what is

normality in the 3000-plus respondents.

I gave a public presentation of an earlier

genuine interest in the potential for a more

groundbreaking and intended to alleviate

version of this paper. As it happened, there

natural form of bodily intervention than

suffering and misery today is likely to become

Pearling of the penis began as a practice of

were some members of the local BodMod

that currently offered by Teflon or Silicone

almost routine practise tomorrow. Once it

the Japanese Yakuza Mafia while in prison

community present and they expressed

implants.

becomes routine it becomes commercialised

(www.bmezine.com, 2004). Originally small

interest in opening a dialogue. I found

pearls of about 3-4mm in diameter were

them to be very receptive people, mostly

You may not admire or approve of the

of Tissue Engineering are already held by

inserted under the skin. In Russian prisons

graduates undertaking professional jobs

examples I have described. You may even

commercial companies. The Melbourne team

a similar practice was performed whereby

such as photographers, book restorers,

be disgusted by them. However, moral

which has developed breast tissue believes

small beads were sewn into the prisoner’s

accountants, theatre costume designers, and

philosophers refer to the Three General

that financial backing to fully develop

foreskin and what are described as

jewellers. Some of them had undertaken

Principles, the first of which is Respect for

the process will come from organisations

‘whiskers’ or ‘bracelets’ set into it. (Plutsner-

suspension, based on the practice of Kavadi,

Autonomy — a right to act on one’s own

with an interest in commercial cosmetic

Sarno and Baldaev, p49) In Western society

and talked about the sense of achievement

judgement about matters affecting one’s

surgery applications, presumably one of the

today implanted Teflon beads of varying

and “otherness” that this experience had

life, without interference from others. This

‘transnational corporations’ which Jeffreys

diameters are used, with the intention of

given them. In some ways they felt that

is the concept of Personal Self Governance:

dislikes so much (p172) ; they do not expect

improving sexual performance. Normally the

their tattoos and other modifications such

individuals have an intrinsic value and have

that public funding will be made available.

beads are arranged in a deliberate pattern

as multiple piercings and Teflon implants,

the right to determine their own destiny

Yet, this is an outcome of research which

but unfortunately sometimes they slip out of

offered a peculiar sense of belonging, while

(Hench, 2001). These examples of body

at its outset had an altruistic purpose. As I

position, spoil the aesthetic effect, and cause

nevertheless marking them out as different

decoration, or reconfiguration, have been

have shown with ORLAN and Hallam, if you

discomfort, or worse. Examples of stapling,

to the rest of society. Issues of culturally

undertaken by people practising their own

are persuasive and articulate enough you

pocketing, heavy genital and other sexual

imposed body stereotypes were no less

free will and presumably their own moral and

can most likely find a medical team to do

piercings are fairly common illustrations on

important to them than some of the authors

aesthetic convictions.

almost anything you want if it’s legal and the

www.bmezine.com, the major internet site for

to whom I have referred earlier in this work.

resources are available. Some of the more

those interested in BodMod.

One of them writes a daily Blog for a limited

extreme Teflon implantation procedures are

group of associates and friends. In it she

already performed in countries such as

— and many of the intellectual property rights

Mexico and Brazil where medical regulation is

This paper is not offered simply to shock or

The biotechnology will allow the final form and

Illustrations 6, 7, 8 (Figures 6, 7, 8) are

less stringent, or else underground in the USA

to titillate. Artists and designers have always

size to be accurately calculated and controlled

examples of what might be created for and by

and Britain.

been receptive to new technologies. This is

by the designer working in conjunction with

adults applying the principles I have described.

one new ‘soft’ technology with potentially far

the biomedical specialists. Thus the human

Are these just flights of fancy? The products

Thirteen years ago when I wrote my first

reaching consequences and which therefore

subject, whether a performance artist or

of the fevered imagination of a deluded

paper on this subject the British biomedical

needs serious consideration. I should like

member of the public, becomes the designer,

academic? Just science fiction? Or might I just

researchers were unwilling to discuss it with

to encourage psychologists, sociologists,

directing and collaborating with the other

be predicting a real future?

me because of their perception of it as an

philosophers, and social anthropologists to join

participants in a unique project which until

irresponsible thesis. At the time, especially

in debate and discussion to ensure that the

very recently might have been thought of as

As it happens, Stelarc has in fact over

given the nature of the Creative Leap to

development of Angiogenetic Body Adornment

pure science fiction. I envisage the first stages

the past two years undergone such a

which I referred earlier, it probably did seem

is treated responsibly and seriously as its

being a visual process where the subject

transformation. I quote from a statement

to them that I was some sort of ‘crazy man’,

potential develops into a reality.

might draw, model, or use computer software

which he gave me:

as one of them is said to have described me.

to design the bodily additions or decoration.

However, as I have developed my research

There seems no reason why the more

Sophisticated software will then calculate the

‘A bodily structure has been replicated,

they have been much more willing to share

adventurous amongst us might not wish

mass, volume, and surface area of the three

relocated, and rewired for additional

their information and to express interest in the

to explore the possibilities of experiencing

dimensional model to be made. Depending

capabilities. An ear that not only hears but

possibilities of the use of Tissue Engineering in

Angiogenetic Body Adornment. It might

on the form, this might be made by hand or via

also transmits. An alternate anatomical

this way. There has never been a denial of the

arguably be safer than implanting alien

rapid modelling. The biomedical specialists

architecture. It is a surgical construct with

possibility of what I have suggested, but now

materials such as silicone and teflon-coated

will accurately calculate the growth properties

an implanted scaffold that encourages

there is genuine interest in my predictions and

steel for which there is anecdotal evidence

of the culture made from cells previously taken

fibrovascular ingrowth, fusing it in place. In

a willingness to engage.

to indicate at least occasional breakdown

from a suitable body site. The model will be

addition, the tragus, helix, and ear lobe will

within the body, and might give opportunities

impregnated with this and surgically inserted

be primarily grown with adipo-derived adult

The University of Western Australia in Perth

to create new physical conformations made

into the body where the cells will begin to

stem cells. With an implanted microphone

has for some years hosted Symbiotica,

possible only by stimulating natural growth.

grow and replicate themselves as the scaffold

connected to a Bluetooth transmitter the ear

a multidisciplinary team which includes

Besides ORLAN and Stelarc there are other

naturally dissolves. Gradually, over a period

will be internet enabled. It becomes a publicly

designers, biologists, artists and computer

artists, such as Franko B, Alison Newstead,

of weeks, months, and years the selected part

accessible, mobile, and remote listening device

specialists with an interest in exploring such

and Ron Athey who use their bodies as the

of the body will take on a new form as the

for people in other places.

issues. Their website illustrates inter alia neon

material for their creative practice and I think

implant generates its own angiogenetic growth

glow-ion-the-dark goldfish, and a collaboration

it not unreasonable to imagine that in future

and becomes an integrated and integral part

In addition to our biological organs we can

with the performance artist Stelarc for whom

there will be multidisciplinary collaborations

of it. This is Carnal Art in possibly its purest

now construct an Internet organ for the body’

a third ear was grown in vitro (symbiotica.

to grow external parts of the body to make

form, where the individual has control over

(Figure 9).

uwa.edu.au 2004). Whatever one might

them more prominent, more decorative, more

manifesting his or her individual identity

think of this or any other particular project,

beautiful, or even deliberately more ugly, and

(Akman, p1) and one in which anyone might

So, whatever your views of Stelarc may be —

the Symbiotica lab is a serious academic

certainly more provocative. I can imagine

transform him or her self according to an

and he is a very serious artist — predictive

undertaking in which the creative dialogue

ORLAN and Eric Sprague being among the first

individual philosophy and personal critique of

research has become reality.

between artists and scientists is actively

to undertake practical experiments of this sort.

the beauty concepts currently predominant in

encouraged and from which the results so far

our society.

have been thought provoking and fascinating. 17

1 4 9

Illustrations

6 18

Fig 1

Diagram of bone mending naturally after a break

Fig 2

Diagram of ‘simple’ in corpo Tissue Engineering

Fig 3

Diagram of ‘complex’ in corpo Tissue Engineering

Fig 4

Clint Hallam

Photo credit: Paul Hutton

Fig 5

Erik Sprague, aka Lizardman.

Photo credit: Kevin Wisniewiki /Rex Features

Fig 6

Proposed exaggerated growth of already

Photo credit: Norman Cherry/ prominent bone structure

Les Curtis/David Miles

Fig 7

Proposed soft tissue growth around the wrist

Photo credit: Norman Cherry

Fig 8

Proposed soft tissue growth of navel

Photo credit: David Withicombe/Clive McCarthy

Fig 9

Stelarc

Photo credit: Nina Gordon

References Akman, K. ORLAN and the work of art in the age of hyper-mechanical organic reproduction;

www.ausbioinfo.com/organisations/healthcare/

International Journal of Baudrillard Studies, vol 3, no 1, Jan 2006)

bernard_o’brien_institute_of_microsurgery.html, [Accessed 26 Jan 2004]

Balsamo, A. Technologies of the gendered body: reading cyborg women, (Durham, NC: Duke

www.bbc.co.uk/tw/stories/medicine/9811tiss.shtml, [Accessed 2 Nov 2005]

University, 1996)

www.bbc.co.uk/i/health/4330906.stm, [Accessed 21 Nov 2006]

Barratt, K. Logic and Design (London: George Godwin Ltd, 1980)

www.bmezine.com, [Accessed 1 Feb 2004]

Bordo, S. Unbearable weight, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003)

www.fibrogen.com/tissue/treatments.html, [Accessed 1 Jun 2002]

Caplan, J. (ed) Written on the body; the tattoo in European and American history, (London:

www.genzyme.com/research/technology/tech_home.asp, [Accessed 21 Nov 2006]

Reaktion Books, 2000)

http//iam.bmezine.com/msmoreinfo.html [Accessed 18 Jul 2006]

Demello, M. Bodies of inscription, a cultural history of the modern tattoo community;

www.jolique.com/ORLAN/skin_deep.htm, [Accessed 13 May 2002]

(Durham, NC: Duke University, 2000)

www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/012500sci-ge-tissue.html Scientists find new

Derrez, P. Passion and profession, 20 years, jewellery in past, present and future:

method of producing nerve cells. August 15 2000, Gina Kolata [Accessed 28 Jan 2004]

(Amsterdam, Galerie Ra, 1996)

www.pitsburgh-tissue.net/brochure/Education/Academic.html, [Accessed 26 Jan 2004]

Gilman, S. Written on the body; a cultural history of aesthetic surgery; (Princeton, 2007)

www.pitsburgh-tissue.net/brochure/Overview/What.html, [Accessed 16 May 2000]

Gröning, K. Decorated skin; a world survey of body art, (London: Thames and Hudson, 1997)

www.senrs.com/skin_and_bones_made_to_order, [Accessed 28 Jan 2004]

Hench, L. Science, faith and ethics, (London: Imperial College Press, 2001)

www.symbiotica.uwa.edu.au/research/fishnchips.html [Accessed 24 Aug 2004]

Jeffreys, S. Beauty and misogyny; harmful cultural practices in the west, (London & New York: Routledge 2005)

Mooney, D. J. and Mikos, A. G. Growing new organs. Scientific American (April 1999)

The Guardian, June 7 2001; Grit your teeth, Sanjida O’Connell

Plutser-Sarno, A & Baldaev, D. Russian criminal tattoo encyclopaedia; (Göttingen, Germany:

The Guardian, May 30 2000; Sleight of hand, James Meek

Steidl / Fuel, 2003)

The Independent, July 10 2000; Doctors in pioneering transplant of eye parts grown in

Rana RE, Arora BS. History of plastic surgery in India. J Postgrad Med [serial online] 2002

laboratory, Roger Dobson

[cited 2006 Nov 20]; 48:76-78

Metro, October 31 2006; Stem cells make first mini-livers, John Higginson

Thomas, N; Cole A; Douglas B. (eds) Tattoo, bodies, art and exchange in the pacific and the

The Scotsman, September 7 2000, author and title not known

west; (London: Reaktion Books, 2005)

The Times, October 20 2000; Remove my hand, Giles Whittell

Thompson, D. (ed) Concise Oxford Dictionary , (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995)

b magazine, Nov 2000; Teflon implants – going too far? (author not known)

Wilson, S. et al ORLAN, (London: Black Dog Publishing, 1996)

Vogue, (March 2002) (title and author not known) Frontiers, BBC Radio 4, 2001 Plastic Surgery Live, Channel 5, 12 April 2005

the vitrine project Dr Alec Shepley Head of the School of Art and Design Clive McCarthy Senior Lecturer Curated by Steve Dutton Principal Lecturer: Fine Art Text by Professor Nick Temple (Extract from ‘Unfinished Narrative’, catalogue essay in ‘Entropic Union’, Galeria Legnica, Poland) 2013

Introduction: ENTROPIC UNION by Alec

Unfinished Narrative: Notions of the

Shepley and Clive McCarthy comprised

unfinished have influenced the creative

some forty photographs of skips taken

imagination of artists and architects through

in various locations around Europe. The

the ages, prompting re-interpretations of the

exhibition was supported by the College of

processes of artistic production and their

Arts Research Group, and is part of a broader

related urban settings. The prevalence of the

Artistic Research project in which Shepley

unfinished, moreover, was not due to a lack

is investigating the incomplete project

of resolve, or commitment, on the part of

and ruination, collage and assemblage,

artists/architects and their patrons but rather

commodification and exchange.

the inevitable (and necessary) expression

Entropic Union

of a culture seeking to ‘rise above itself’. As Michael Jeanneret explains, the unfinished

Gallery of Art, Legnica, Poland 21st March – 14th April 2013

was not an indication of ossified ideals,

In this installation, curated by Steve

portrayal of perpetual motion. i

but an affirmation of a dynamic and fertile imaginative realm expressed through the

Dutton, the gallery was created to re-think expectations about ‘the artwork’ — all visitors

To consider, however, the incomplete project

were invited to scrawl, scribble, draw, doodle,

as an attribute (or by-product) of something

write graffiti and obliterate several of the

essential, or paradigmatic, acquires a rather

artists’ unframed photographs on the tables

different set of meanings in the immanent

in the gallery spaces, which were then re-

age of modernity. At one level we witness

hung within the exhibition.

the unfinished in a more prosaic light as the consequence of fatigue, and therefore failure, reflecting incapacity on the part of the creator to reach a resolution or topos. Part of the problem here is the tendency to treat creative work as a largely instrumental process, redolent of the advances in technology and science, which requires for its legitimacy a completed outcome.

The 20th century, however, is full of

The continuing (and persistent) relevance, in

examples of unfinished projects, both artistic

the digital age, of the collage and the creative

and intellectual, that have come to be seen as

re-interpretation of culture through urban

ground-breaking works in themselves, and

detritus, demonstrates the continuity of this

as benchmarks for later developments. To

mode of thinking. Indeed, underlying these

take two obvious examples; Picasso’s painting

artistic periods of earlier ages, and such

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907)ii and Martin Heidegger’s philosophical work Sein und Zeit (Being and Time, 1927) iii the latter described

modern examples as Schwitters’ celebrated Merzbau (and subsequent productions of found/appropriated objects in the work of

by one commentator as being like a ‘torso’,

Rauschenberg and others), is a series of

demonstrate the implicitly productive nature

artistic intuitions that serve as the backdrop

of original unfinished works as veritable

to Shepley and McCarthy’s skips. Advancing

catalysts for cultural revision or radical

his earlier exhibition installation sic (at The

change.

Collection, Lincoln), Shepley unconsciously reviews the metaphorical and spatial terms

More problematic today is the question of

of reference of the ‘latent tradition’ that

how the practice of suspending the work in

Dalibor Vesely describes as opening up the

an unresolved state relates uneasily to the

possibilities of artistic practice as a form of

contemporary pre-occupation with art-works

‘mytho-poetic’ re-interpretation. iv

as products, readily consumed objects whose material and sensual qualities are reduced to surface effect. Heidegger’s differentiation between ‘ready to hand’ (Zuhandenheit) and ‘present at hand’ (Vorhandenheit), in the use and servicing of equipment, underlines the creative potential of the fragment to restore our embodied relationship to the world.

i Michael Jeanneret, Perpetual Motion: Transforming Shapes in the Renaissance from da Vinci to Montaigne (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000) ii For a description see William Stanley Rubin, Hélène Seckel, Hélène Seckel-Klein & Judith Cousins, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1994) iii For a summary see ‘Being and Time: Introduction’, in David Farrel Krell (ed.), Martin Heidegger: Basic Writings ( New York: HarperCollins, 1993), pp.37-88. iv Dalibor Vesely, ‘Modernity and the Question of Representation’, in Mari Hvattum & Christian Hermansen (eds.), Tracing Modernity: Manifestations of the Modern in Architecture and the City (London: Routledge, 2004), pp.81-102; Dalibor Vesely, Architecture in the Age of Divided Representation: The Question of Creativity in the Shadow of Production (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2004).

the vitrine project Andrew Bracey Senior Lecturer

Artist as Projectionist

Cinema has a powerful effect on our

Artists such as Pipilotti Rist, Sam Taylor

Douglas Gordon and Phillipe Parreno’s

(including movies) created by others and

lives, even shaping behaviour: how many

Wood, Steve McQueen and Julian Schnabel

portrait of footballer, Zinedine Zidane,

re-interpreting, reproducing and appropriating

relationships unfold based on what we see

are creating some of the most imaginative

which is screened in cinemas and widely

them anew. ‘These artists who insert their

in the movies? Films can reflect on the

and vital films on the big screen, and are

available on DVD, also has a parallel life

own work into that of others contribute to

past and respond to our current time and

arguably becoming more known as feature

as a two-screen projection in galleries and

the eradication of the traditional distinction

situation, as well as attempting to foresee

film directors than artists. One could argue

museums. Meanwhile, artists such as Ming

between production, consumption, creation

possible futures. Art plays a similar role and

that this has arisen because of, or maybe

Wong, Christian Marclay and Pierre Huyghe,

and copy, ready-made and original work.

I am particularly interested in how artists

despite, the mainstream film industry’s

are mining cinema’s rich history to create

The material they manipulate is no longer

respond to and use cinema. For me, the two

increasing conservatism, which in my view

their art.

primary.’ With the move to digital, movies

are closely aligned, whilst remaining distinct.

has resulted in a reliance upon remakes and

Increasingly the edges and borders between

sequels, and very little room for innovative

Nicholas Bourriaud has talked of how

available to be manipulated and shaped into

art and cinema are becoming blurred.

and original ideas.

contemporary artists are using works

new forms. Bourriaud has also written of how

have become a ‘material’ that is readily

artists are increasingly working in a

As the end of the reel approaches the

manner akin to the DJ; sampling and

projectionist forensically examines the

remixing a plethora of cinematic fragments

film, keeping a watchful eye out for the

in order to create something new.

cue-dots. These tiny, round scratches or holes appear in the right hand corner and

Whilst working as a cinema usher at

tell the projectionist that they must start

Cornerhouse in Manchester, I saw countless

the motor of the machine and get ready

films from around the world, alongside

for the ‘changeover’. As they only appear

special seasons celebrating the masterpieces

for one-sixth of a second, there is an

of directors such as Yasujirō Ozu, Akira

enormous amount of attention focused on

Kurosawa and Werner Herzog. However, it

this point. Time slows down and the sense

is my time as a projectionist has had the

of heightened awareness overcomes the

biggest impact on the way cinema has

projectionist. When the next four frames of

been spliced into my approach to making

cue-dots appears, four seconds later, the

and curating art. It is a profession that can

projectionist switches over the projectors,

be easily romanticised, and too narrowly

creating a seamless continuation of the film.

conceived of through the nostalgic trope of Cinema Paradiso. The projectionist in fact

With celluloid film stock, the projectionist

has a unique and rather strange way of

would know (often forgettable) parts of a

viewing films; peering through a scratched,

film in intimate detail because of the intense

dirty window, the big screen appears

pressure of the reel change and when I

miniature from the booth. The clattering roar

learnt this skill, I became struck by how

of the projector drown out any semblance

insignificant moments can become potent

of a soundtrack and the narrative becomes

when they are removed from the narrative

deeply fractured as you dart from projector to

of a film. The more time that I spent in the

projector to change reels.

cinema, the more its influence crept into my studio practice. Frames (2007) is a series

of hundreds of different paintings on 35mm

little or nothing to the narrative development

filmstrip. Each painting features an image

of the film. The paintings of these isolated

appropriated from a different film. There are

moments are shown directly on the wall and

different groups of paintings derived from

are positioned in lines that directly correlate

lists and polls, such as the top ten most

with the film’s original placement on the

profitable films, the top 100 films of the

lists. In this way new hybrid narratives can

century selected by the film critics of Village

be created in the viewer’s mind, from the

Voice or the top 250 rated films by the public

relationship of the paintings to each another.

on www.IMDB.com. Each single image was taken from the approximately two hundred

The Jump (2009) is a 30-minute animation

thousand possibilities that appear during a

constructed from over 500 paintings. It is a

film. Laura Mulvey has written of how ‘The

faithful re-working of Chris Marker’s visual

pensive spectator who pauses the image

essay on memory and ruins, La Jetee, which

with new technologies may bring to the

is famously (almost) completely made out

cinema the resonance of the still photograph,

of still B&W photographs. La Jetee has been

the association with death usually concealed

written about extensively and often by artists

by the film’s movement, its particularly

such as Victor Burgin and Uriel Orlow. The

strong inscription of the index.’ Prior to the

latter has written that the film is profoundly

easy freeze-framing that digital technology

cinematic despite the use of the still image.

enables, the projectionist was perhaps the

He writes that ‘In La Jetee the cinematic

person (along with the editor) who was most

ceases to be identified by movement (and

aware of the potency of any single image

thus in opposition to photography, as defined

within the film.

by lack of movement) and its illusion of a time-space continuum and narrative flow

The choice of each image in Frames came

becomes associated with the conventions

from a long running interest in non-places

of montage: rhythm, angles, repeated shots

and, by extension, non-moments. Each

from different points of view, shots and

still image is essentially unimportant to

counter-shots, fades and dissolves.’ I feel

the viewer within the overall narrative. For

La Jetee opens up possibilities for cinema

example in a film there might appear a brief

to reach out beyond the normality of the

shot of an aeroplane in the sky, which visually

conservative mainstream. Over time, this film

tells the viewer that the narrative has moved

has become increasingly important to me,

from one city to another, but is unmemorable

not least because it reveals and

as an isolated moment, and contributes 23

reminds us that cinema is a sequence of rapidly moving still images. I will never forget seeing a celluloid print of La Jetee; in order to create the illusion of a still photograph on the screen, each image had to be endlessly repeated. Usually each frame is slightly different to the previous one, hence the creation of the illusion of movement. As a projectionist this was particularly striking and unusual to see. Through the insistent repeat of la jetee, photography’s hold on cinema is made manifest. With the rise of CGI, cinema is now becoming more closely linked to painting, as spaces and even characters are being created (painted) in computers. This relationship of cinema to painting harks back to the early days of film, when the narrative potential of

My paintings are then put back into the time

movie?)” La Jetee’s main character is able

photograph appeared in La Jetee, ranging

cinema was seen in parallel to painting, as

frame of La Jetee and hence the editing

to hold on to a single image (significantly

from a fraction of a second to over a minute.

opposed to the ability to ‘capture’ an image,

decisions of Marker demarcate the time-

not memory) from his childhood to such an

La Jetee’s editing of the images is unique,

through photography. The Jump replaces

period each painting is available to be seen.

extent that he is able to travel through time,

particular and measured. Janet Harbord

each still image from Marker’s original with

Brian Dillon, in a feature on Marker in the

thus revealing the power of memory and

observed that the viewer is ‘allowed to look

a colour-saturated oil painting, as a way of

Guardian wrote how “La Jetee is a complex

image. However, as Dillon suggests, we are,

for so long, and the images we are allowed

commenting on the relationship between

and poetic reflection on the destruction and

equally, living in a time that has a collective

to look at for longer than the others are

cinema, painting and photography, long

redemptive powers of memory. (Film itself,

memory lapse. In The Jump the choice of how

chosen for us.’ This is at odds with the usual

heralded as a major reason for the perceived

we might say, is an art of forgetting: how

long to spend in front of painting, (an average

freedom of time within the gallery for the

death of painting.

much do you actually recall of your favourite

of 3 seconds) is replaced by the time each

viewer to look at paintings.

The still image from cinema was further

vaudeville. Senses of departure and arrival

explored from a signicantly different

pervade the work, along with an understated

standpoint in my most recent piece of work.

simplicity that belies insecurity about the

This time 2880 scenes/images from a

unknown forward trajectory.’ The exhibition

full range of genres, countries, tastes and

presented artists’ current reflections

timescales flash repeatedly and incessantly.

and interpretations of cinema, revealing

The Six Most Beautiful Minutes in the History

unexpected models of the moving image

of Cinema (2010-13) mines the history of

across a range of media, including painting,

cinema to create a raging cacophony of 8

performance and video installations.

frames per second of images culled from

Together the work explored a field where

cinema that lasts for 6 minutes. 2880

cinema — as experience, language, history,

scenes/images from a full range of genres,

theory and artefact — is unraveled as potent

countries, tastes and timescales flash

material and strategy for artistic production.

repeatedly. The evolution of film history is

UnSpooling attempted to examine, through

presented on mass, from the Lumière’s La

the spatial installation of the works, the

Sortie des usines Lumière à Lyon through

basic problems of the curation of durational

French New Wave to the latest Oscar winners;

artworks alongside other artworks in the

and from a diverse geography, from India to

same space The ‘black-box’ of the gallery

Thailand to Cuba. Each film is treated equally,

(usually used for exhibitions that use

irrespective of profit, taste or awards, and in

projection) was challenged and opened

turn, our brains seek to make sense of the

up as, for example, paintings were seen

mass by recognising the familiar.

alongside video installations.

In 2010/11 I co-curated Unspooling: Artists

In 2013 I co-curated Misdirect Movies, with

& Cinema with artist Dave Griffiths at

John Rimmer. This opened at Royal Standard,

Cornerhouse in Manchester. This exhibition

Liverpool, and toured to Standpoint Gallery,

bought together work from 20 contemporary

London, before arriving at Greyfriars, Lincoln

artists, including Michael Borremans,

in October and Meter Room, Coventry in

this is achieved, through the use diverse

Montage and collage have long been

Gebhard Sengmuller, Wayne Lloyd and

November. The 7 artists (including Elizabeth

media included, encompassing moving-

intrinsically interrelated and the digital

Juhana Moisander, in an attempt to raise

McAlpine, David Reed and Rosa Barba)

image, artists book and even microfiche. The

revolution has recently opened up myriad

questions of what we might learn from

featured in Misdirect Movies all make work

idea of collage is extended into the changing

avenues for both filmmakers and artists

cinema’s, analogue, past in order to imagine

that uses images and footage gleaned from

selection of artworks and overall tone of the

in this regard. Sergei Eisenstein is widely

its future. The exhibition sought to ‘establish

cinema and film. It can be argued that the

exhibition, as it moves and changes from

regarded as the master of Montage and

a staging post in the future acceleration and

artworks included push at new possibilities

venue to venue. My own artworks, discussed

has written that ‘By what, then, is montage

mutation of form — Cinema 4.0 perhaps…

of collage as it moves from a paper based

above, feature at some point during the

characterized and, consequently, its cell

In UnSpooling, pre-cinematic traces emerge

discipline into other media and becomes

exhibition; with a visitor to each of the four

— the shot? By Collision. By conflict of two

of kinetic devices, magic lanterns and

more akin to an approach. In the exhibition

venues would see only see each work once.

pieces in opposition to each other, By 25

Conflict. By collision.’ Building on Duchamp’s

there; their presence is only visible when an

legacy of the readymade and factors such

error occurs and the film breaks/burns, the

as the ability to pause and grab from a DVD

changeover is missed or the wrong format

or the wealth of information readily available

lens or gate has been put in. Maybe this is

on the web have allowed existing images and

a little like the role of a curator or an artist.

material to come to the fore in their use by

When a show has been well selected and

artists. The principles of collage or sampling

installed then the curator disappears into the

have, arguably, become the defining principle

background. When an artwork truly succeeds,

of or direction for recent art, with countless

then any problems dissipate and the viewer is

artists appropriating material to reconfigure

left to focus on what meaning and thoughts

and shift meaning to create new artworks.

it prompts. In this way I believe an artist or curator can become akin to the projectionist;

My time working as a projectionist has greatly

a good one is not visible, it is their good

influenced the way that I look at films, art

work that is.

and more general everyday activities. I often observe things on the periphery or outside of the main point or focus, as a projectionist does. I have long been struck by something painter and film critic, Manny Farber, wrote about Howard Hawks’ The Big Sleep. He writes of how one glance by Humphrey Bogart at a sign as he crosses a road has more power (he uses the word charm) than in

1 Nicholas Bourriaud, Postproduction (New York: Lucas & Sternberg, 2007) p. 13 2 Laura Mulvey, Death 24x a Second, (London: Reakton Books, 2009), p. 186 3 Uriel Orlow, “Photography as Cinema: La Jetee and the Redemptive Powers of the Image”: in The Cinematic, ed. David Campany, (London, Whitechapel Publications, 2007), p. 180.

whole sequences of other films. For me this

4 Brian Dillon, ‘Fade Away’, The Guardian - Review, (28 March 2009): p. 16

gesture by Bogart and how it can seemingly

5 Janet Harbord, La Jetee, (London: Afterall Books, 2009), p. 35

effortlessly portray meaning or a feeling, is aligned to the projectionist’s attention put onto the cue dot. A projectionist work is best done when no one notices that they are

6 Dave Griffiths, “Unspooling Cinema 4.0”;in UnSpooling: Artists & Cinema, ed. Andrew Bracey & Dave Griffiths, (Manchester, Cornerhouse Publications, 2010), p. 6-7 7 Sergei Eisenstein, “Montage is Conflict” ”: in The Cinematic, ed. David Campany, (London, Whitechapel Publications, 2007), p. 30

the vitrine project Dr Neil Maycroft Senior Lecturer

I’ve been fascinated by marginal ‘stuff’ for as long as I can

waiting-to-be-used (sometimes for years on

assigned much more clearly to mainstream

remember and I mean marginal in three senses; first, that which is

end), the ‘peripherals’ referred to above, and

categories. The broken refrigerator used for

physically on the margins, second, that which belongs to marginal

objects making their journey from culture

storage in the garage was once a working

categories of description and analysis and, third, marginal as

back to nature, all constitute the ambiguous

consumer technology and somebody still

‘peripheral’ — those objects which are appendages to familiar objects

matter of daily life. To be sure, many of

knows what that strange gizmo at the

but which often escape our attention. The first two meanings do not

these types of stuff are found relegated to

back of the kitchen drawer is for. So, the

coincide but do overlap on occasion. For example, most architectural

‘marginal’ domestic spaces, some obvious

study of such ambiguous objects should

ruins, for obvious reasons, tend to be located in marginal areas;

and ‘acceptable’ though contestable

continue with certain stipulations in place:

however, ‘ruin’ is not often presented as a category of marginal

including cupboards, drawers, boxes, sheds,

Objects themselves, whether ambiguous

material culture. Quite the contrary, ruins have been a focus of

and other locations less obvious and more

or not, always belong to more than one

fascination and discussion throughout history and the current

disruptive and including edges of occupied

scheme of classification, the ambiguity of

interest in industrial ruins is but the latest in a long series of centres

rooms, spare rooms, tables, sideboards, the

objects should not be reduced to their own

of attention and attraction. Conversely, fly tipping is most often

slow erosion of ‘living’ space by a tide of not-

description or representation, nor should a

spatially marginal and its constituent materials usually belong to

quite-discarded objects. Clutter, for example

person’s familiarity with or experience of an

categories of the marginal, that is, rubbish, waste, the irreparable,

is ambiguous, it can comprise materials on

object be the only basis for its description as

and so on.

their way to be classified, sorted, and stored

ambiguous. These caveats should become

but it can also be a form of storage itself,

clearer in what follows as the question of

often deemed to be temporary at first but

ambiguous matter is explored; is ambiguity

gradually becoming more permanent.

a property of things themselves or is it a

Ambiguous matter(s): Thinking through marginal ‘stuff’

classification of things? These categories of stuff are not in themselves necessarily ambiguous (they

Others have trodden this path well before me

would be of limited use if they were) but

but, as might be expected, their contributions

For me, the most interesting marginal stuff is not geographically

very often the things assigned to them are.

are not widely known. Samuel Rosenberg’s

marginal; rather, it is right among us and is germane to an

It is of course one of the delicious ironies of

The confessions of a trivialist and Ivor Noël

understanding of the material culture of everyday life. The broken,

ambiguous matter that it, by definition, defies

Hume’s All the best rubbish are notable while

the discarded, the stored, the hoarded, rubbish, the unused and

easy categorisation, not that some have not

more recent contributions (an index of the

tried to take the classificatory task on board.

growing academic attention paid to such

Indeed, one of the attractions of this stuff is

matters) include Roger-Pol Droit’s How are

that it comprises objects that were once

things? A philosophical experiment, William

wood are all regarded sympathetically while rotting stacks of paper in a hoarder’s home, gelatinous slurry accreting around one’s own drains, or the prospect of Lenin’s nose sliding off his absurdly mummified face provoke a different set of much less positive responses. Indeed, we use words to demarcate acceptable from off-putting decay, with the Davies King’s Collections of nothing and

second clearly in pole position — rot, putrefy,

Steven Connor’s Paraphernalia: The curious

decompose, moulder, spoil, gone bad.

lives of magical things. There are others

However, we must not blame the language

and the obscure masterpiece of the genre is

for this state of affairs, this is not a labelling

Francesco Orlando’s Obsolete objects in the

theory of decay. No, there is good evidence

literary imagination: Ruins, relics, rarities,

at the intersection of the social, cultural and

rubbish, uninhabited places, and hidden

natural sciences that supports the view that

treasures. However, Orlando offers exactly

we have a proclivity to be put off by certain

that which I am keen to avoid here;

forms of decay. One might be tempted to

a classificatory approach, and one so

say that this is the case with organic matter

recognisably of the past and thus cannot

him, offer him food, pat his head (and, ahem,

detailed and considered that it can

rather than the inorganic but that can be a

be new. It is a moot point whether in such

poke him in the eyes).

sometimes feel overwhelming. For example,

distinction without a difference; it is precisely

instances it is the absence of the past,

just one of Orlando’s categories of broken

the transformation of the inorganic form

through the eradication of decay, or the

After a couple of years of direct sunlight, rain,

objects ‘images of nonfunctional corporality’

into the organic which accounts for at least

presence of the past, through the simulation

frost, snow, and so on, the poor critter had

contains thirty-six subcategories spread

a portion of the attraction of the ruinous as

of newness, that is the chief attraction —

deteriorated to the state shown. At this point

across five levels and includes ‘the sterile

well as our distaste.

we can be drawn to both the railway museum

one of my children decided that ‘mind yer

and the locomotive graveyard.

eyes’ had become scary and unapproachable

noxious’, ‘the worn realistic’, and ‘the threadbare grotesque.’ All good stuff but here I take a more prosaic approach, Let’s begin with… The ruinous and the ambiguity of decay

and I was obliged to remove him. He had lost

Of course, we fight against decay on many fronts and this rear guard action in itself

However, for most of us, our experience of

his primary attraction; as he eyes were no

can result in ambiguous matter. Midas

material decay tends to less problematic and

longer distinct he could no longer be ‘mind

Dekkers in his iconoclastic The way of all

consists of the observation of objects that

yer eyes’ and his permanent ‘blindness’

flesh: A celebration of decay invokes the

once we experienced as new on their often-

killed the desire to regularly poke him in the

Like the celebrated ‘death and taxes’ decay

over-restored museum object, polished to

slow journey from ‘culture’ to ‘nature.’ Figure

eyes and giggle. He is no longer there and

is inevitable, all material culture is on a

absurdity and proclaiming a status that is

1 shows what my children called

it was only when I was doing some digital

journey back to nature. Degrees of decay, as

‘too new to be old yet, too old to be new.’

‘mind yer eyes’, the head of a garden

‘housekeeping’ that I came across this

well as the objects and contexts of decaying,

On the one hand, such objects are pristine

ornament which one of them snapped off

picture of him. He was, however, a significant

tend to be indicators of the aesthetic lure and

and have no marks of wear or use so do not

when it was still new and which I pushed into

presence in the lives of my children for a

appreciation of such material deterioration.

appear old while, on the other hand, they

the garden wall. They would often talk to

couple of years.

Ruined buildings, rusting steam locomotives,

have a quondam form (of shape, materials,

the ‘slow bonfire’ of a stack of oxidising

colour, surface decoration, etc.) which is

Fig 1 Mind yer eyes

that which is marginal to academic interest.

Who outside of mechanical engineering, tool

This is a theme continued in the next pair of

making, machining, etc., would recognise

examples, those exploring the relationship

these terms? And this iterates one of the

between product obsolescence and

caveats invoked earlier; a person’s familiarity

ambiguous matter(s).

with or experience of an object should not constitute the sole basis for its description

Ambiguity and obsolescence

as ambiguous. Many of us use objects that

I have written extensively on product

would be unfamiliar to other people. That

obsolescence both planned and unplanned

does not make them ambiguous; indeed, the

and it is certainly an enduring feature of

Machinery’s Handbook is vitally concerned

consumer societies, over the last century in

with the eradication of ambiguity in the

particular, that new technologies, objects and

engineering workshop. Nonetheless invoking

goods emerge against a background stream

the world of defunct tools and techniques

of products going the other way, flowing into

is a common strategy for displaying one’s

obsolescence. Much of this obsolescence

‘expertise’.

The contrast provided by the wall is notable;

Nature seems to be in a rush to reclaim this

is both technological and welcome as new

the wall is decaying, brick faces are

object and has made a multi-fronted attack.

products simplify arduous tasks. Other

The above example also illustrates another

crumbling, mortar has shrunk and fallen

But it is a thing of beauty to my mind and

examples are far more controversial and for

of my introductory stipulations for the study

out. However, such decay is regarded as

deserves its place alongside any number of

users awkward, frustrating and costly.

of ambiguous matter; that the ambiguity of

acceptable, even quaint, while that of its

‘romantic’ ruined buildings. The thin slivers

lone inhabitant came to be regarded, at

of detached brick resemble the leaves with

Consequently, there are whole categories,

description or representation. I have used

least by my children, with unease; we learn

which they share the pool of water and the

as well as myriad individual examples, of

words above to provoke possible ambiguity

to discriminate between different forms of

mossy top puts one in mind of grass-topped

objects that are ambiguous because they are

— babbitting, luting, etc., I could just as

decay from an early age. Decaying brick also

rocky cliff. It’s a question of perspective; I

obsolescent. Anything that one has not met,

easily have shown images of these things

provides the second example.

sometimes reveal this object gradually by

used, experienced, even at a remote view,

and they would have been just as unfamiliar

slowly zooming out from one small section.

as a user could be argued to be ambiguous

to most people, just as ‘ambiguous’. That

I love objects like this, especially tracing the

It’s an effective technique, one shamelessly

—‘what exactly is that for?’ However, this

would have been part of the same high-

chain of events by which they come to be in

purloined from Ask The Family (‘Ah! Pish!,

is an easy game to play and is somewhat

minded conceit. However, images can give

their present state. In this instance a brick

Tush! Would that it were, Mycroft, would that

unfair. For example, on one single page of my

clues and occasionally in my research I will

was placed upon the lid of a plastic water

it were.’), and it can often take a ‘full reveal’

1942 copy of the 11th edition of Machinery’s

come across a series of images of objects

butt—to prevent it filling with rainwater (I

before it is recognised.

Handbook there are detailed descriptions

which were once commonplace but are no

of ‘babbitting jigs’, ‘mandrels’ and ‘luting’

longer so despite retaining a material link, in

know, I know!) — and was left for many years.

objects should not be reduced to their own

Initially the brick was intact, complete if a

It is examples such as these that tend to

materials (page 519 out of a magnificent

function especially and sometimes in form,

bit weathered. Over the years one can see

escape the attention of orthodox analyses of

1815 pages of similar content — and note

to their present day equivalents. This can

how,first, the brick has physically decayed

material culture, even of waste and decay.

the wonderful apostrophe of possession; the

be especially interesting in the case of what

Consequently, we could talk of material

handbook ‘belongs’ to machinery which is

might be called ‘peripheral’ objects, that is

culture as marginal in a further manner;

presented as an almost autonomous agent).

accessories, adjuncts and appurtenances

Fig 2 Brick moss thing

Patent applications can certainly be very useful and revealing documents though, of course, one needs to know the identity of the above objects to find their particular patent documents. Packed with fascinating technical and, less obvious, social detail patent forms often confound one’s expectations. This is the case with the above two objects and they provide a corrective to ‘easy’ design history. Both of these objects’ patent applications are dated 1949 and both were granted in 1951. This might surprise us; while many observers would correctly guess that the to an often more familiar object. The

especially strange words describing strange

object in Figure 4 is from the 1950s (though

As Rolf Harris used to ask, ‘can you tell what

philosopher Henri Lefebvre’s notion that

objects, images reveal more since the form

quite early in the decade for something so

it is yet?’ The bottom five objects would seem

objects are organised into ‘sub-systems’

of many objects are at least vaguely familiar,

‘fifties’ looking) there is a good chance that

to have more in common with each other

supporting ‘Leading Objects’ comes to mind

haptic interaction reveals even more as

the object in Figure 3 would be placed earlier,

than with the ‘unknown’ object at the top

here. Consider the object in Figure 3.

our reservoir of material memories is made

anywhere from the late 1920s to the late

of the page (that is even demonstrating its

active). Now consider the object in Figure 4

1940s.

function here). Is it simply a ‘modern’ version

This cast iron object, about two inches tall

that has precisely the same purpose as the

was a commonplace from around 1950 to

object in Figure 3.

1980 and, while certainly more often found

of one of the archaic tools invoked earlier? Figure 4 provides some possible clues that

Perhaps a more ‘traditional’ version will give

might help the research — the letters EMCA.

the game away...

in the workplace than domestically, would

It would appear that in this version the

Do these represent a brand or perhaps an

be familiar to many people who were adults

designer has decided to radically alter the

acronym? Unfortunately, Google is not our

during that period. However, the vast majority

form of the object by giving it a characteristic

friend here. First, the search box wants to

of people that I show this to have no idea

‘streamform’ styling. We might guess that this

search for EMCARE rather than EMCA; East

what it is (certainly not by looking, however,

is an object from the 1950s even if we do not

Midlands Care Homes would not seem to be

handling objects is a different matter entirely

know what it is. The patent documents for

the key to understanding this object. Insisting

— and the ambiguity borne from unfamiliarity

this object confirm that but also reveal that

that Google searches for EMCA throws up

can be short-circuited effectively by physical

the functional method has been redesigned

the East Midlands Cheerleading Academy,

engagement with unknown objects. There

too. That is, while both objects do they same

again, rather unpromising. EMCA, or Emca,

is a hierarchy of interpretive strengths here;

thing they do it using different technologies

is, or was, a brand and if we consult a trade

words can bamboozle most,

as well as through different forms.

catalogue from 1957 we will see the object in the context of other objects all sharing the same function.

Fig 3 What is it?

Fig 4 What does it do?

Fig 5 These all do the same thing Fig 6 Ah, now I get it, I think?

...of course, it’s a pencil sharpener; only it

have a knurled grip. The leads require

world of functional objects of many kinds.

isn’t? It looks like a pencil sharpener but is

‘pointing’ and the above previously

And, despite an on-going cultural fascination

too flat and squat and the hole will clearly

ambiguous objects all fulfil this purpose. In

with the form of designed objects—shape,

not take a pencil. Ambiguity in this case is

the 1950s and 1960s there were hundreds

colour, materials, meanings—function

suspended between both recognition and

of brands and versions of this prosaic object

remains paramount. However, function is

unfamiliarity. Without additional knowledge,

and its ‘peripherals’. Today, however, they

not always an unambiguous matter. We

which the object in Figure 6 is incapable of

remain largely unknown. Even in a school of

know this from our daily lives. Take, for

disclosing by itself, it will remain ambiguous.

art and design they draw blank looks from

example, the way in which many designed

It is a ‘lead pointer’ as are the other objects

both students and staff. Certainly, without

objects offer possibilities which invite us to

from Figures 3, 4 and 5. A lead pointer is

knowledge of the ‘Leading Object’ in the

find new functions besides, or instead of,

used to sharpen the leads used in ‘lead

system, the lead holder, the peripheral

their primary, designed functions. Chairs

holders’ or ‘drafting pencils’ like those shown

objects retain an ambiguity that resists

become coat hangers, clothes pegs are used

in Figure 7.

our analytical efforts. These are the kind

to seal bags, shoes prop open doors, and

of obsolescent objects that fascinate

so on. Such improvisation is commonplace.

me; too prosaic to feature in mainstream

Where designers have tried to anticipate this

design history, too inconsequential for

creativity by explicitly designing functional

most design theorists, they tend to be

alternatives, as additional offerings to

the preserve of dedicated collectors who

objects’ primary purposes, they have tended

constitute a dwindling reserve of knowledge

to be unsuccessful; users do not appreciate

and understanding of an engrossing minor

their creative improvisation being constrained

tributary of material culture. A barely

or directed in this manner. Nonetheless,

perceived nimbus of the obsolete and the

primary, ‘designed-in’ function can lead to

often ambiguous, then, surrounds the

ambiguity despite the many rules that are

prevailing account of mainstream design

seen to guide ‘good’ design. I will consider a

history. However, it is not only in this vague

couple of examples.

This is a typical selection of lead holders

realm that design is capable of generating

ranging from the 1950s to the 1980s and

ambiguity.

they are a type of pencil used in graphic

Fig 7 What they?

I have written elsewhere about hoarding as a cultural activity—rather than as a mental

design, engineering, drafting, architecture,

Ambiguous design: a self-defeating

illness—and I revealed then that I grew up in

and so on. They have a somewhat generic

mechanism?Despite a recent view that

the home of a hoarder. While my mother’s

form and usually feature a non auto-

design is the all-important manifestation

hoarding did not attain the ‘extreme’ status

advancing clutch mechanism (unlike

of purposeful human action, infused by

so beloved of recent television producers

‘propelling’ pencils), replaceable leads (the

its proselytisers with social and cultural

until many years after my sister and I had left

above are all 2 mm lead holders) and usually

powers that it cannot possible possess, for

home, the emergent signs of this behaviour

most of us design is a more prosaic and

were noticeable earlier and I remember the

pragmatic affair. Chief amongst its favourable

origins. In the early 1970s ‘high-street’ frozen

attributes is the ability to furnish us with a

food shops were becoming established.

pantry filled up with washed out frozen food

It is not immediately obvious and I have

Consisting of long rows of chest freezers, and

containers (as well as margarine tubs, jam

bamboozled many groups of design students,

relying on very little overt branding, these

jars, and so on). The justification offered was

both undergraduate and postgraduate

shops offered a series of opportunities for

that these would ‘come in handy one day.’

when presenting them with this picture.

consumers of differing motives. First, they

However, two noteworthy factors guided this

It concerns the rules for the designing of

provided bulk quantities of foods at lower

cumulative process. First, the foodstuffs

successful cognitive ‘affordances’ and it runs

prices than other retailers — more for less

and other things which were formerly kept in

like this. Many years ago, in his seminal The

was the promise. Second, they gave the

the pantry stared to appear in other places

design of everyday things, Donald Norman

opportunity to store more food, for longer, at

in the kitchen to make room in the pantry

drew attention to just this issue. According

home thus lessening the need for individual

and, second, the plastic containers were all

to Norman door opening technologies are

shopping trips, a rather attractive prospect,

empty and stacked one upon the other — no

easy to design ‘right’; flat plates are for

as more women were moving into paid work.

containing of containers in other containers

pushing and handles are for pulling (there

Third, and in honour of our Cultural Studies

was permissible. So one space designed for

are also ‘hardware’ clues for twisting and

brethren, they allowed working class families

storage, the pantry, was slowly colonised by

sliding mechanisms but, as with breathing

to ‘buy into’ the technological modernity

another explicitly functional technology of

through one’s nose and Internet trolling,

offered by both a new food processing,

storage, plastic containers, until the one was

these belong to a higher stage of human

packaging and retailing technology and

practically filled with the other. Consequently,

development). No door handles should,

its domestic corollary — the domestic

little was stored except empty containers

therefore, need an instructional sign. The

freezer. And, in the specific context of the

that had been exactly designed to store

above doors, however, are badly designed

time, they offered an insurance against

things. This is functional design becoming,

with both a handle that implicitly ‘says’ pull

the consequences of disruption wrought

not creative innovation, but a ‘self-defeating

and a sign that explicitly says ‘push.’ Almost

by the three-day week and its consequent

mechanism’ for one user at least. Of course,

everyone who approaches this door, even on

power cuts (though this was poorly thought

one further consequence lay in the growing

successive visits, generates a characteristic

through by many who failed to realise the

cumulating of stuff around the kitchen—both

little thump as they initially pull the door

effects of power cuts on the efficacy of home

that which had previously been in the pantry

before realising they have to push to open.

freezing)! However, for the nascent hoarder,

and those new acquisitions that would have

The sign saying ‘push’ is irrelevant for most

these frozen food shops offered one more

been stored in the pantry had it not been full

users as they simply push on the handle, they

intriguing possibility; re-useable, sealable and

of storage containers. The resulting clutter,

do not remove the hand and then push some

durable plastic containers. At this time, the

or ‘rammel’ slowly began to be moved to new

other part of the door; pushing is the only

commercial variants, such as Tupperware,

and novel locations in and around the house.

other available option. However, after a few

were still considered by many to be expensive

This is how it started.

visits many users know the door has to be

and freezer shops offered a seemingly free, given-away-with-the-food, alternative.

pushed and do so. What is interesting is that, The second example concerns much more

as one can see from the wear on the door,

mainstream design considerations, those of

many people, once they are familiar with its

Much hoarding begins with the ostensible

usability and function. Look at the doors in

eccentricities, open it by simply pushing the

sorting and organising of stuff and so it was

Figure 8, there’s something wrong, something

door, eschewing the handle altogether. The

with my mother. Slowly, but discernibly, our

amiss from a good design perspective.

Fig 8 Bad door Fig 9 Mad door

door design would be improved without the handle and without the sign. 33

Consider a slightly more developed example.

The above two examples, would seem to confirm the principles of

plate, particularly a few inches to the side

The doors in Figure 9 are wonderfully

good design which Norman proffers; their ambiguity results from

of it (with a more vague and diffuse wear

ambiguous and confusing. Putting aside

poor design decisions. However, more can be said, doors are not

pattern more central and lower). Functionally,

the obvious difficulty with a door which one

always as straightforward as Norman proposes. Consider Figure 10

this makes little sense. Why shorten the

must ‘keep shut’ (always, or only when it

for a moment.

lever of a pushing door so making it (OK, very

is open? Surely, the injunction should read

marginally) more difficult to open? I think it’s

‘Fire door; Do not leave open,’ not the same

because a) it is a pushing door and b) it’s a

thing at all). The handle and instruction

toilet door.

fiasco is a brilliant piece of nonsense. Two handles which both invite users to pull but

We saw in Figure 8 that badly designed

with different labels, one says ‘push’ while

pushing doors can generate a diffuse

the other says ‘pull’? The ‘pull’ handle is a

wear pattern from successive pushing use.

lovely piece of cognitive nervousness, ‘yes, I

Perhaps, then, the door does not require a

am a pulling handle and I really do open the

flat plate at all, perhaps simply the intimation

door if you pull me, please believe me’ but is

of a flat plate would work, or even no plate at

understandable next to its mad companion

all After all, in the example of Figure 8 there

‘I too am a handle that invites you to pull but

is no obvious place to push, no pushing plate

to open the door you must push me. I know

(and most people are pushing ‘outside’ the

that’s bonkers as I am identical to my pulling

pulling handle, thus lengthening the lever

neighbour.’ As with the previous example,

and making opening the door marginally

one observes many users initially pulling the

easier, though a few are going ‘inside’ so to

‘push’ door before realising that it must be

speak. The glass strip does not help; glass

pushed. However, in this instance matters are

is for looking through not for pushing. We

even more ambiguous as the ‘pull’ door is

teach our children this from a very young age

kept permanently locked yet still both invites

so we cannot then blame them as adults for

and commands one to pull it. There is no way

not having the confidence to push a, albeit

of knowing that it is locked and many is the

toughened, piece of glass).

user who seeing the ‘pull’ handle first pulls and then pushes it without success before

It is also a toilet door shown in Figure 10

moving on to the ‘push’ handle. It is entirely

This seems, at first sight, unambiguous, a door with a flat plate for

(and what a brilliant and enduring piece of

possible to have four goes at this door

pushing, no label proclaiming the need to push and which does

design tells us this) and thus carries many

before successfully opening it, an appallingly

indeed open when it is pushed. A vindication of good design? Yes, but

and culturally varied connotations concerning

ambiguous and self-defeating piece of design

what intrigues me is the manner in which the door has worn. It would

cleanliness, germs, disease and dirt. It may

from the user’s perspective (the identities

seem that the door is often pushed at points other than the pushing

be that the pushing plate is avoided because

and locations of the above doors have been

users somehow feel that there is a

concealed to hide their embarrassment). Fig 10 Lad door

connection with uncleanliness. Pushing to one side would seem to

In answering the first question I would

constitution of social relations as motorcars,

offer the possibility of avoiding ‘contamination.’ Of course, this could

aver that, no, I am not claiming a new or

and badly designed doors are not as

be said of Figure 8 but in that instance the wear pattern might be

novel approach. There may be an emergent

significant as the built environments of

being reinforced as a clue to opening the door rather than as a cue

philosophy but it is not a systematic one

which they constitute and contribute a part.

to avoid touching where others have. Context too is important and

such as offered by Orlando, it is more of an

Nonetheless, if the wider perspective is kept

Figure 8 shows library doors that carry very different associations to

empirically informed musing akin to that of

in mind, the ambiguous and marginal can

toilet doors. The ironies are, of course, manifold, the hands of people

Droit or Rosenberg. An attitude might capture

be objects of considerable interest as I hope

entering the toilet might well be marginally ‘dirtier’ than those leaving

more accurately what I am advocating; I have

I have demonstrated.

who have washed their hands but at the point of entering the ‘dirt’

a more enduring research project concerning

associated with going to the toilet has not yet been met with and one

both ‘friendly things’ and ‘modesty’ in

would not touch the pushing plate on the way out anyway. Moreover,

apprehending material culture and my

the pushing plate is likely to be cleaner than the surrounding area — I

interest in ambiguous matter is probably

have watched the cleaner wiping the plate but not touching the worn

best seen in that context. I especially do not

patch on the door. I have also seen many people pushing the door

think that there is any overarching theory that

open with their bags — the more diffuse lower wear patch is actually

neatly explains the ambiguous and marginal

caused by people opening the door by backing into it. Most of these

in material culture. I do not think that any

people have not had their hands full, they have, seemingly, sought to

body of theory can account for the diversity of

avoid touching the door. So, while Norman’s rules for good cognitive

forms, uses, states or categories of material

affordances in design would seem to be valuable, perhaps they do not

culture. Furthermore, much current theory

tell the whole story. If my speculations were allowed then there would

seems to burden objects of material culture

seem to be an emotional, even irrational, element to the operation of

with a significance that they cannot possibly

some doors at least. Something of this has been recognised in much

shoulder. Which brings me to the second

recent design writing that extolls the benefits of emotional design

question.

and design that engages the user in an experience of use. However, most of this literature tends to promote the positive content of design

Are what I am doing, and the method by

interaction, aiming to reveal the reasons why users should recognise

which I am doing it of any significance?

and adopt a more emotional engagement with objects. Perhaps

Well, it interests me and that should

the last example suggests that this worthy cause could be usefully

be justification enough. However, the

augmented by some consideration of ‘design for dis-ease’ and not

title ‘ambiguous matter(s)’ is of course,

Droit, R-P. (2005) How are things? A philosophical experiment. London, Faber and Faber.

just of ease?

double-edged. Despite the violence done

Hume, I. N. (1974) All the best rubbish. New York, Harper & Row.

to the seamlessness of reality inflicted Conclusions

by classificatory systems, there are some

Earlier I described a fourth definition of marginal material culture: that

things that are regarded as marginal with

which is marginal to the attentions of ‘mainstream’ academic interest.

good reason; they are less important than

The examples offered here tend to conform to that designation. Is

other things. The intriguing erosion of bricks

there then a ‘new’ approach being developed here and, moreover, is it

is unimportant compared with crumbling

of any significance in the study of material culture?

roads, pencils are not as significant in the

References Connor, S. (2011) Paraphernalia: The curious lives of magical things. London, Profile Books. Dekkers, M. (2000) The way of all flesh: A celebration of decay. London, The Harvill Press.

King, W. D. (2008) Collections of nothing. The University of Chicago Press. Norman, D. (1988) The design of everyday things. New York, Doubleday. Orlando, F. (2006) Obsolete objects in the literary imagination: Ruins, relics, rarities, rubbish, uninhabited places, and hidden treasures. Yale University. Rosenberg, S. (1972) The confessions of a trivialist. Baltimore, Penguin Book Inc.

the vitrine project Gyles Lingwood Principal Lecturer: Design and Advertising Roger Horberry Copywriter

If an idea is not at first absurd, then there is no hope for it.

In our area of creative advertising and

Fear of ridicule has, over the years, acted

brand communications (and no doubt many

as a brake on many potentially marvellous

others) the barrier is usually inhibition born

ideas. Here’s our advice — take a chance. All

of not wanting to make a fool of oneself.

good ideas owe a debt to courage at some

Yet creative ideas often aren’t reasonable

point in their evolution. Their creators found

in the true sense of the word. They don’t

it within themselves to overcome the sniggers

The above quote comes from everyone’s

lend themselves to easy analysis, they’re

and yawns that are the legally required

favourite physicist, Albert Einstein. What the

awkward, unpredictable, slippery things

response to all bold new ideas the world over.

wild-haired one was getting at is that only

that shouldn’t add up but somehow do.

those ideas that challenge conventional

So an important theme in our book Read

Here are a couple of techniques we advise

wisdom are worth a damn. Another, slightly

Me — 10 Lessons on Writing Great Copy is

our readers to try. Firstly, remember that

more wordy, version of the same thought is

encouraging our audience to embrace the

everyone is afraid, so-called creative types

philosopher Alfred North Whitehead’s …

absurd and damn the consequences.

even more so that others. Those intent on pissing on your fireworks are also afraid — of

… ‘Almost all new ideas have a certain

You’re no doubt familiar with the idea

you and your ideas, so take your courage in

aspect of foolishness to them when they are

that creativity is a connection of two

both hands and blurt out your thoughts, no

first produced’.

previously separate ideas, brought together

matter how bizarre.

to generate a third, previously unthought And it’s true — history is littered with

thought. Frequently an absurd thought, but

Secondly, there are no bad ideas. All

examples of apparently ridiculous ideas

a potentially great one. So our advice is look

manner of everyday inventions are the result

that go on to prove their worth. ‘A machine,

for connections, and if they don’t present

of apparent mistakes (photography, matches,

heavier than air, in which you intend to fly?

themselves, look harder.

electric current, America…).

Are you drunk, Sir?’ Above all, don’t be afraid.

Thirdly, have plenty of ideas, the more the merrier. Creativity is a habit anyone can acquire and nurture, but only if they’re prepared to take the first step. By embracing the absurd we take a risk, but what’s the alternative? Not taking a risk? That’s where mediocrity lies. By risking nothing we risk everything. In fact we could almost use the amount of flak an idea attracts as a barometer of it’s potential — if it idea gets a right slagging then it might just be pure gold.

‘Read Me – 10 Lessons on Writing Great Copy’ by Gyles Lingwood & Roger Horberry will be published by Laurence King in Summer 2014.

Image: Gyles Lingwood 37

the vitrine project

The decision to give the exhibition a visual

Dr Jim Cheshire Reader

focus was taken at the start. Effective exhibitions need to work well in a visual sense and the aim was not to replace the experience of reading Tennyson but to give a broader sense of his impact on Victorian culture. Tennyson’s influence on the visual arts also had obvious potential: the Pre-

Curating Tennyson for the Bicentenary: some reflections on

Tennyson Transformed

Raphaelite art upon which he was such an important influence has great popular appeal, as can be seen from the stream of exhibitions on this subject that appear around the country. This set up the first challenge for the curatorial team. Although the Tennyson Research Centre’s visual material is extensive, much of it is small in scale and lacks immediate visual impact. For

Curatorial work presents a unique set of

thing I need to acknowledge is that a team

example, one of the gems of the collection

challenges that are very different from

of individuals was responsible for putting

is the set of proofs for the illustrations to

those of academic writing. While an author

together the exhibition: Andrea Martin, Grace

the ‘Moxon Tennyson’. Spend the time to

can draw upon evidence from an almost

Timmins, Ben Stoker and I were all heavily

examine these properly and their intricate

infinite variety of sources, the narrative

involved in various aspects of the exhibition

detail becomes apparent (fig. 1). But they are

that a curator can construct is constrained

from the start. Dawn Heywood, Julie Bush

very small, lack colour and frankly, for the

by the objects available and the space

and other staff from The Collection were

non-specialist, are far too easy to walk past

that they have to display them in. This

increasingly involved as the practical logistics

on a gallery wall. What our exhibition needed

short essay is a reflection on some of the

of the exhibition began to take priority. Two

was a few really strong familiar oil paintings:

factors that influenced the structure and

broad issues influenced our decision to

eye catching images that could stimulate

appearance of ‘Tennyson Transformed’ held

initiate the project. Firstly, we wanted to mark

visitor interest and help a range of people to

at The Collection, Lincoln, between May

the bicentenary of Tennyson’s birth with a

engage with some of the less immediately

and August 2009. I will attempt explain how

whole series of events to highlight the poet’s

charismatic exhibits.

the decisions of the curatorial team came

significance within British culture. Events

about and the difficulties and opportunities

were launched across Lincolnshire, with the

The decision to give the exhibition a visual

that arose during the course of curating the

‘Tennyson Transformed’ Exhibition as the

focus was taken at the start. Effective

exhibition.

focal point. Secondly, we had a good basis

exhibitions need to work well in a visual

for the exhibition in the unique holdings of

sense and the aim was not to replace the

The planning for ‘Tennyson Transformed’

the Tennyson Research Centre, the most

experience of reading Tennyson but to give a

started in the Summer of 2006 and the first

important Tennyson archive in the world.

broader sense of his impact on Victorian

Fig 1 D.G. Rossetti, Mariana in the South, proof woodcut for Poems by Alfred Tennyson (the Moxon Tennyson), c.1867

culture. Tennyson’s influence on the visual

exhibition in Lincoln. We had been building

the most familiar visual representations of

arts also had obvious potential: the Pre-

up good relationships for several years; both

Tennyson’s poetry and a great attraction for

Raphaelite art upon which he was such

Andrea Martin and I worked on the exhibition

visitors. Again the timing of the exhibition

an important influence has great popular

‘Peter De Wint 1784-1849’ in 2006, which

presented difficulties. Early in the planning

appeal, as can be seen from the stream

involved negotiating a number of loans.

stages it became apparent that a major

of exhibitions on this subject that appear

Timing can be crucial: big international

Waterhouse retrospective was planned for

around the country. This set up the first

galleries and museums work on their

2008-2009 (Prettejohn et al.), an unfortunate

challenge for the curatorial team. Although

exhibition programmes about five years in

coincidence that meant that in some

the Tennyson Research Centre’s visual

advance — if you don’t get requests in early

instances both projects were chasing the

material is extensive, much of it is small in

it is quite possible that your key loans will

same paintings. Fortunately, we had made

scale and lacks immediate visual impact. For

already be committed elsewhere. This had

the major loan requests our first priority and

example, one of the gems of the collection

an impact on what we could borrow; for

were rewarded with a positive response from

is the set of proofs for the illustrations to

example, Tate Britain launched their excellent

Leeds City Art Gallery who agreed to lend us

the ‘Moxon Tennyson’. Spend the time to

retrospective of J. E. Millais in 2007-8. The

Waterhouse’s stunning Lady of Shalott from

examine these properly and their intricate

exhibition then toured to Amsterdam and two

1894. When Falmouth Art gallery agreed to

detail becomes apparent (fig. 1). But they are

venues in Japan (Rosenfield and Smith). As a

loan Waterhouse’s exciting and expressive

very small, lack colour and frankly, for the

result almost every major Millais oil painting

oil sketch we were delighted. This allowed

non-specialist, are far too easy to walk past

had only just returned to Tate Britain when

us to reunite the two paintings for the first

on a gallery wall. What our exhibition needed

we were seeking loans for our exhibition.

time in this country since they were painted,

was a few really strong familiar oil paintings:

Paintings such as Mariana would clearly

something very satisfying for the curatorial

eye catching images that could stimulate

have been good exhibits for us but as it had

team. Falmouth Art Gallery were a wonderful

visitor interest and help a range of people to

been away from its home for many months,

support throughout the exhibition: they

engage with some of the less immediately

it was always unlikely that the painting would

generously allowed us to use their image for

charismatic exhibits.

be loaned again so soon. Despite it being a

publicity purposes, which gave us a suitably

difficult year for Millais, we were delighted

engaging image with which to promote the

Securing the loan of prominent paintings

with the Tate’s response to our requests.

exhibition. (fig. 2)

can be difficult but we had several factors

Arthur Hughes’s April Love gave us an iconic

in our favour. The Collection is a high quality

Pre-Raphaelite painting, Frederick Sandy’s

The intellectual framework for the exhibition

recent building, which was short-listed for the

Oriana is a captivating image that deserves

was driven by a number of considerations.

2006 Gulbenkian award for museums and

to be better known and D. G. Rossetti’s

We wanted to show how central Tennyson’s

galleries. This was crucial because without

watercolour The Heart of the Night related

work was to Victorian visual culture and how

good security and the ability to maintain

directly to Rossetti’s illustration to ‘Mariana

a whole range of artists responded to his

the correct environmental conditions, major

in the South’, which we displayed next to it.

work. While many people know about the Pre-

institutions will not even consider loan Fig 2 John Dowling, poster for Tennyson Transformed using J.W.Waterhouse’s Lady of Shalott

Raphaelite link, the influence of his poetry

requests. We had a good rationale for our

Securing a good J. W. Waterhouse painting

on photographers, sculptors and even early

exhibition: Tennyson is an undeniably major

was another key objective: his evocative

filmmakers is less well recognised and so

figure and we had the basis for a good

images of the Lady of Shalott are arguably

demonstrating the diversity of creative 39

responses to his work became an

make the visitor feel there are things still to

aim of the exhibition. We decided that

discover around the corner rather than reveal

an effective approach would be to group

everything in one glance. In a similar way we

objects according to Tennyson’s poems: this

gave the end wall to Waterhouse’s oil sketch

potentially allowed us to mix up the different

and finished painting: these two strong

media, avoid a tedious chronology and retain

images side by side were enough to create

Tennyson’s poetry as the driving force behind

something in their own right about the artist’s

the exhibition. In practice four of the seven

complex response to Tennyson’s poem.

subjects were determined by this taxonomy. Generally speaking if there were not enough

One of the exciting aspects of planning

objects to make a satisfying exhibition

exhibitions is the chance to present recent

group they had to be subsumed into a more

research through objects. Our display on

thematic category, thus ‘Tennyson and

‘Tennyson and his Illustrators’ was influenced

Pre-Raphaelitism’ was the first subject, as

by Lorraine Janzen Kooistra’s research

we could not construct a convincing group

on the illustrated Princess: the Tennyson

around ‘The Gardener’s Daughter’ (April Love)

Research Centre holds Tennyson’s copy with

or ‘Oriana’ but they belonged together in a

his annotations (fig. 3) and the V&A agreed

visual sense. Idylls of the King and ‘Charge

to lend us Maclise’s copy of the poem with

of the Light Brigade’ worked well as groups

his sketches in the margins (Koositra, 2007).

organised by poem: the former consisted of

Our display about ‘The Charge of the Light

paintings, photographs, sculpture, ceramics

Brigade’ drew upon Helen Groth’s work on

and illustrated books while the latter allowed

the circulation of Tennyson’s poem through

us to exhibit corrected manuscripts alongside

contemporary technology (Groth, 2002). The

an illustrated book and Roger Fenton’s

process of sifting through potential exhibits

famous photograph The Valley of the Shadow

can also point towards new research. While

of Death.

surveying the illustrated editions in the TRC for some months it became apparent that we

Sometimes particularly strong objects can

had ignored an entire shelf of Gustave Dore’s

work well on their own. The V&A lent us

edition of Idylls of the King. Eventually I set

a spectacular cabinet designed by Bruce

aside a day to examine these in detail: it soon

Talbert with scenes form ‘The Daydream’:

became apparent that the same illustrations

we decided to place this on a plinth with

were issued in a bewildering array of

a backboard opposite to the exhibition

formats - line engravings, proof editions,

entrance — the polished, inlaid wood had the

lithographs, photographs. This raised a

virtue of giving the exhibition a Victorian feel

series of questions that has suggested that

and also obscured some the exhibits on the

the received understanding of this edition

far side of the room: it is good practice to

is deeply flawed. It is often cited as a great

Fig 3 Tennyson’s annotated copy of The Princess, illustrated by Daniel Maclise, 1860.

Fig 4 Attributed to Ella, Rose and Emmie Taylor, Enid Serves Geraint, from Idylls of the King, illustrated by Three Sisters, 1860.

commercial success (Hagan, 1979, 113;

Sometimes research leads to a change in

Olsen, 2003, 232) when in fact there is a

The exhibition could not have taken place

curatorial emphasis. Initially we decided not

good case for seeing this it as the key factor

without a generous grant from the Heritage

to have any images of the poet in the main

in the financial failure of the Moxon firm.

Lottery Fund. The costs of the cases required

exhibition space at all: we wanted to avoid

(Cheshire 2012) Another group of objects

for displaying the books, the conservation

anything like a biographical exercise. As a

that stimulated a lot of interest was that of

of objects and the costs associated with

result a small side exhibition in an adjoining

amateur illustrations to Tennyson’s poetry,

insuring and moving valuable objects would

room was planned. As we considered our

particularly Idylls of the King. Over the years

have been crippling otherwise. In addition

material in more depth it became apparent

a number of amateur attempts at illustrating

this allowed us to keep the exhibition free

how closely the image of the poet and his

Tennyson have been donated to the Tennyson

of an entrance fee. The HLF representative

reputation were bound up together. Ben

Research Centre and while these might lack

was extremely positive about the exhibition

Stoker’s careful research into the overlap

artistic value in the usual sense they provoke

but suggested that we could have toured the

between the fact and fiction of Tennyson’s

some interesting thoughts. Idylls of the King

exhibition to another part of the country. We

early life stimulated our realisation as

illustrated by Three Sisters is a good example

would have liked to do this but it would have

to how important Tennyson’s physical

(fig. 4). The ‘Three Sisters’ were probably

required a different approach to funding. The

appearance was in the spread of his fame

Ella, Rose and Emmie Taylor who made the

Tennyson Research Centre was awarded the

and popularity (Stoker, 2009). Aided by

book as a gift. It is likely that they used a

maximum of £50,000 in the ‘Your Heritage’

loans from the Spedding family, the British

published set of reproductions, Outlines

scheme for ‘access and learning’ and

Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and

for Illumination from Idylls of the King by

‘heritage and conservation’. If we wanted

another generous private collector, we

Tennyson, designed by F.S.A. and advertised

to tour the exhibition we would have had to

were able to show how the poet’s image

in Winsor and Newton’s ‘List of colours

apply to the ‘Heritage Grants’ scheme that

changed. This section did not tell the poet’s

and materials for Illumination and Missal

covers awards of over £50,000, opening us

life story but showed how the poet’s image

Painting’, of c. 1859. This shows that at least

up to much more competition. Given how

was transformed from Romantic student to

one publisher saw enough demand among

crucial this grant was to us we decided to go

Victorian patriarch (Figure 5). We made a

amateurs for a specialist publication. We

for the grant that gave the exhibition the best

conscious decision to hang this section more

felt that it was worth stressing the popularity

chance of coming to fruition.

densely than the rest of the exhibition to

of Idylls of the King and a result decided

signal a change in tone.

to exhibit a large group, half dedicated to amateur artists and the other half to more commercial responses to the same poem.

Fig 5 S.Begg, The Death of Lord Tennyson, Supplement to Black and White, 15 October 1892.

The provincial location of the exhibition can

On the less positive side it is frustratingly

be seen as both a strength and a weakness.

difficult to achieve national coverage for a

were very well supported by local sponsors,

We always felt that this should be a platform

provincial exhibition. Some of the narratives

a number of whom contributed between

for encouraging people to travel to Lincoln:

contained within the exhibition could

£500 and £2000. Reviews of the catalogue

many regional museums and galleries

have made excellent content for weekend

helped the profile of the project as a whole:

stage exhibitions of national significance

newspapers but despite the best efforts of

The Times Literary Supplement reproduced

and we understood our own exhibition in

the communications teams at Lincolnshire

an illustration (7/12/2009), although

these terms. In addition, the exhibition

County Council and the University of Lincoln

perversely they selected one of the more lurid

added another dimension to a whole series

this was very hard to achieve. We did

amateur illustrations, and the Art Newspaper

of events that celebrated the Tennyson

manage to get an image and a small feature

published quite a comprehensive review in

bicentenary. We were particularly pleased

in the Guardian (Clark, 2009) and plenty

October which picked up a major theme of

that the Tennyson Society’s conference

of coverage by local media but with a very

the exhibition and catalogue (Lee, 2009). As

‘The Young Tennyson’ coincided with the

modest advertising budget it is very difficult

Lund Humphries is part of Ashgate the book

exhibition: it was heartening to think that

to compete with the media coverage of

is being marketed widely in the USA and so

we had the opportunity to reach a specialist

exhibitions in larger cities.

hopefully the aims of the project will receive

group of visitors and hopefully it made the

some interest on an international level.

trip all the more worthwhile for delegates

One aspect of the project that undoubtedly

who had travelled from the USA, Japan and

helped its profile was the publication of a

We won ‘Best Exhibition’ in the Renaissance

around Europe to come to the conference.

catalogue (Cheshire, 2009). A substantial

East Midlands County Heritage Awards and

publication is crucial if you want to put down

work continues to secure funding for the

Roughly 10,000 people visited the

a marker for an exhibition: once the show is

compilation of a comprehensive catalogue

exhibition, a respectable figure considering

taken down it is the catalogue that dominates

of the holdings of the Tennyson Research

that this was not a good period for school

subsequent interpretation of the event. We

Centre. The more I work on Tennyson the

visits. The exhibition was also a platform for

already had a good working relationship

more fascinated I become with his life and

other events, for example textile artists from

with Lund Humphries and they proved to be

work. The enormous significance of the

the ‘66 Group’ were shown objects in the

very helpful collaborators for the Tennyson

Tennyson Research Centre’s holdings are

Tennyson Research Centre and many chose

catalogue. In practice it helped push forward

increasingly apparent to me and I hope that

to respond in their exhibition at Hub National

the conceptual framework of the exhibition,

the events in 2009 went some way towards

Centre for Craft and Design. Across the

as a draft text for the catalogue was required

broadcasting this to a wider audience.

county there were 37,000 visits to events

a year before the exhibition opened. An

related to the Tennyson bicentenary: this

extensively illustrated catalogue is expensive

is very good for the region and good

and we relied heavily on the faith of The

for Tennyson

Collection (who signed the contract) and sponsorship to help with the expensive

Works cited Cheshire, Jim, 2012. ‘The Fall of the House of Moxon: James Bertrand Payne and the Illustrated Idylls of the King’ Victorian Poetry, 50.1, 67-90. Cheshire, Jim (ed.), 2009. Tennyson Transformed: Alfred Lord Tennyson and Visual Culture, London: Lund Humphries. Clark, Robert, 2009. ‘Exhibition Preview: Tennyson Transformed, Lincoln’, The Guardian 30 May. Groth, Helen, 2002. ‘Technological mediations and the public sphere: Roger Fenton’s Crimea exhibition and The Charge of the Light Brigade’, Victorian Literature and Culture, Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 553-570. Hagan, June Steffensen, 1979. Tennyson and his Publishers. London, Macmillan. Kooistra, Lorraine, 2007. “Poetry in the Victorian Marketplace: The Illustrated Princess as Christmas Gift Book.” Victorian Poetry 45.1, 49-76. Lee, Donald, 2009. ‘Alfred, Lord Tennyson - iconophobe’, The Art Newspaper, 206, 55. Olsen, Victoria, 2003. From Life: Julia Margaret Cameron and Victorian Photography. London: Arum Press. Rosenfield, Jason and Alison Smith, 2007. Millais, London, Tate Publishing Times Literary Supplement, 7 August 2009. Stoker, Ben, 2009. ‘Alfred: Informal Portraits of a Poet’, in Cheshire (ed.), Tennyson Transformed: Alfred Lord Tennyson and Visual Culture, London: Lund Humphries, pp. 62-7. Three Sisters, 1860. The Idylls of the King, illustrated by three Sisters Prettejohn, E et al., 2009. J. W. Waterhouse the Modern Pre-Raphaelite, London, Royal Academy [This article was previously published The Tennyson Research Bulletin 9.4 (November 2010), 364-375.]

the vitrine project Stewart Collinson Lecturer

The Disorder of † Thingks (Anthropic)

† Sic

the vitrine project Dave Evans Lecturer

The Royal Standard is an artist led gallery and social workspace in Liverpool and I am part of a team of four co-curators who manage the space. During 2012 we were invited to participate in Liverpool Biennial as part of their Unexpected Guest strand of programming.

Service Provider at The Royal Standard

Liverpool Biennial 2012 The Unexpected Guest The programme explored notions of hospitality, how explicit welcomes are offered and implicit codes of conduct expected, and how the constantly shifting boundaries of a networked and globalised world impact on this dynamic. We quickly recognised that a large part of what we do at The Royal Standard is to be hospitable — to provide space for the discussion, production and exhibition of artwork. Our activities covered this whole spectrum, so we wanted our programming to reflect this. To make this happen we initiated Service Provider, ‘outsourcing’ The Royal Standard to five artist 44

GeneratorPROJECTS & Catrin Jeans ‘The Agency’ performance as part of Service Provider, Liverpool Biennial 2012.

led groups during the biennial, proving

commission body, we aped the fragmented

Artist led spaces like The Royal Standard

space, money and manpower to realise a

subcontracting and outsourcing of late

can respond reflexively to conditions in ways

project — the only stipulation being that each

capitalism, with the selected organisations

larger institutions cannot. During Liverpool

provided a service to a specific service-user

further required to think about who they were

Biennial we had a unique opportunity to

group. While we were keen to show the whole

‘serving’. The results were a full programme

explore how young and emerging artists

spectrum of activities that occur in artist led

of events and activities in the gallery and on

navigate the complexities of artistic

spaces year round, there was also a subtext

the Royal Standard’s website that included

production in a post fordist system, and the

exploring the shift in arts production from

car park performances, artist’s cook nights,

results were encouraging. The absence of

objects to experiences and how publically

the setting up of a travel company selling

‘things’ during Service Provider did not betray

funded arts organisations are expected to fall

tours around the other art venues in the city,

an absence of creative activity, in fact quite

in line with the social or economic interests

a relaxation booth exclusively for Biennial

the opposite, it demonstrated the multitude

of the day, be that educating, providing

employees and finished with a solo show,

of different ways of working that artists now

entertainment or encouraging regeneration.

exploring our responsibility to the objects

employ to interpret and interact with the

By placing ourselves in the position of

we host in the gallery.

world around them.

GeneratorPROJECTS & Catrin Jeans ‘The Agency’ performance as part of Service Provider, Liverpool Biennial 2012.

the vitrine project Steve Dutton Professor of Contemporary Art Practice

End of Ends End of Ends is a text/sound installation by

Dutton and Webb said of this work, ‘The

going, maybe they become interesting,

Steve Dutton and Neil Webb that plays with

starting point was the consideration that

possibly revealing, opening into something

an understanding of the ‘ending’. It is a

all things must come to an end, and that it

almost repressed like some kind of

potentially vast list of ‘endings’ and an ever-

might be worth looking into the impossibility

Surrealist game.

expanding sound loop.

of making a work that in itself could not end, until everything else had. It is this element

Despite the eschatological leanings the list

The first physical manifestation of the work

of the impossible which forms the drive of

could never actually be complete, that is, if

was commissioned and presented by Bend In

the work.

the list of endings ends, then all ‘things’ have

The River at x-church in Gainsborough on

ended. Although it’s about things passing,

Sat 19/20/24/25/Sat 26 May 2012

The list began as a potentially endless

paradoxically, it makes new and unforeseen

and since then the work has gone on to

document of endings, a book of infinite

events take place.

have been presented in a variety of ways,

volumes. It was to be apocalyptic; mountains

most recently as a sound/voice piece for

crumbled, planes crashed, territories flooded

The piece is developed to expand indefinitely,

‘possession’ at Bangkok Arts and Culture

etc; but as we dug down we quickly ran out

to be added to by anyone who wishes to

Centre in March 2013.

of the ‘big’ things and had to try a bit harder;

participate in the work. Our hope is that the

they got a bit more intimate, stupid and

work, despite its focus on the winding down

Participants are invited to add their own

bland; but then we got stuck again because

of things, will actually continue to grow out

‘endings’ to the list by going to

then you feel that you have exhausted the

of these submissions of endings as if to deny

www.endofends.co.uk

things you think might end, which is very

the work its central raison d’être.’

where they can also see the work.

weird but true, but then when you keep

all nerves shredded

no more contempt

any futures impossible

everything discarded

all friends reunited

all sounds heard

all endings ended

all envelopes licked

all waters run

no more quarrels

all numbers counted

all past passed

all attitudes become form

all glass shattered

everything remembered

all parties over

all ideas reduced to a sound-bite

no more cuddles

all captives released

all history forgotten

all meanings made

every emptiness filled

all bodies resplendent

all lives lived well

no more handwritten words

no more excess

all puzzles solved

everything assumed

every heaven opened

all planes grounded

every day turned into night

all races run

all birdsong synthesised

all comfort breaks taken

every sign unreadable

nothing to be resumed

every bubble burst

all breath expelled

every star faded

all connections made

every image photo-shopped

all investments cashed in

all signs read

all outcasts cast out

all connections lost

all things considered

all seas dry

no more hurt  hearts

all flaws ironed out

all paradoxes welcomed

all noses wiped

all silences heard

all institutions dissolved

every deed done

every door closed

all paint dried

every muscle toned

all souls untethered

every tickets clipped

the tears ran out

all laws broken

all money spent

every light gone out

every chance encounter come

no more eyes on the road

every new problem embraced

all trees felled

we expired

all viewing remote

all paths blocked

all dead arisen

across

all frogs flattened

work all finished

all arguments resolved

permanent blindness for everyone

all plots hatched

every dam breached

every difference resolved

every key lost

every line drawn

every sin forgiven

every hair grown out

they actually did win

every sphere expanded

all avenues closed

all revolutions complete

all coats gloves and scarves

all dreams dreamt

our love unconsummated

all images consumed

all wealth belonged to one person

all gates are closed

all lies debunked

every planet orbited

put away

the end of all sounds

every word uttered

all realities experienced

every passion spent

every breath my last

all clues given

all accounts finalized

all blood sucked

the sun always risen

my father’s laugh no longer heard

all sleep slept

every deal sealed

all our prayers answered

all hints dropped

every sun set

all hotmail hacked

aesthetics conquered spirituality

every precious moment

every courtesy extended

all tables set

our lights extinguished

all food eaten

every sin forgiven

all stalematea reached

education overcame myths

remembered

every clock watched

all soil tilled

everything accepted

all growth stopped

all children born

all risks taken

all were happy

all balls in the back of the net

all my goodbyes said

every problem solved

all power brokered

all blood run dry

every dispute settled

all bubbles burst

all songs sung

every word spoken

every pipe smoked

rivers all run

our enemies slain

all eyes gouged

all hope lost

every tear shed

no time to left to think

all reality checked

no more sense of place

all birds flown

all towers fallen

all tears fallen

every promise broken

every last crumb eaten

all lips licked

our pains all relieved

all hens plucked

all information gleaned

all sentiments felt

all families united

all living departed

every plate licked clean

all dances danced

all activities ceased

everything seen

all cheques signed

every email deleted

every pain relieved

all want satiated

all nuts gnawed

all hands clasped

all eyes averted

all flesh off the bone

all irony duly noted

every task complete

all mountains flattened

every wisdom attained

every last drop drunk

all trails travelled

every moment savoured

all horizons lost

every star gazed

all steel softened

all water drunk

every fire burned out

all barns mucked

all stones turned

all awkwardness smoothed over

property all sold

all eyebrows plucked

no stone left unturned

every energy wasted

all thoughts thought

all endings ended

all answers questioned

all differences homogenised

all coins collected

all lessons learned

all software developed

all knowledge known

all tales told

every fibre stimulated

every diamond mined

no more time to walk

everything escaped

all history repeated

all pissing finished

all thoughts thought

all stones rolled

every molecule excited

every child disowned

all excess baggage dumped

nothing left to find

all films watched

all parts played

all dreams forgotten

every fish caught

all grain stored

every spirit crushed

all my love in storage

all time redeemed

all eyes crossed

all markets closed

all nails bitten

every war fought

all snow thawed

all engines oiled

every atom counted

every last gasp breathed

every firefly extinguished

every wave landed

every spot squeezed

all pages scrolled

every penny spent

all pistons primed

all ties severed

everything backed up

all heads banged

all books read

every nose picked

all blogs trolled

every bill has been paid

every finger on a trigger

every table reserved

all things reversed

all brows furrowed

all that came to pass, passed

all kids shouted at

all things made

every meeting convened

all noises off

all truths glossed over

all beginnings reached ends

all toenails cut

my mouth remained forever

all snowmen melted

all is dotted

all pheasants plucked

every message encoded

all dust swept under the carpet

all stellar implosions imploded

every last word uttered

closed

all flowers wilted

all beers bought

every scene written

all weapons concealed

all cash stashed under the bed

all retractions taken place

all lost dogs found

the dolphins left us

all friendship spurned

every line scored

every act performed

all death wishes granted

no more labelling

everything extracted

every last breath breathed

the answer to everything was

every candle blown out

all t’s crossed

all charges dropped

all trenches dug

all debts collected

all things trapped

all curtains drawn

not 42

no more grey hairs

all stones turned

all cocks sucked

all territories mapped

all communication misinterpreted

all heads shaven

all patients visited

infinite unread emails

every spell cast

all prizes given

every episode watched

every lunch naked

all art formulaic

everyone deserted

all trees planted

all stones skimmed

all sounds heard

all eyes closed

all shirts tucked

every word uttered

every artery clogged

all drowned in the desert

end of all rhythms

every letter read

every colour faded

all boats launched

all rules bent

every meal eaten

all moments passed

every exit passed

all calls barred

all wine became claret

all wounds healed

all lips kissed

every wheel stopped turning

our street pulled down

every death counted

I will know I have died

all lost cats found

all music became opera

all teachings taught

every deed done

all the money spent

every commercial property vacant

all ducks all in a row

all fires extinguished

every muscle relaxed

all our papers burned

all things said and done

all piña coladas sipped

every mistake rectified

all tyres slashed

all marrow sucked

no more suicide rock

no more not yets

all our chicken-legs eaten

all people equalled

every clock watched

every limb lopped

every action witnessed

every ounce of love given

nevermore drowned and wet

no more objects of desire

all death metered out

all slaves freed

all armbands off

all meanings meant

no more privacy

patience all run out

all dead ends reached

no more fingers crossed

all love given

all building stopped

every disappointment shown

every sin repented

the end of solitude

my home demolished

all voids voided

every cancer cured

all time spent

everything forgotten

all smiles unreturned

every chickens plucked

all alternatives considered

your love unrequited

all wires cut

all lights out

all wildness tamed

all farts farted

every last breath breathed

all feelings repressed

every decision made

our meetings all convened

everything consumed

all offers invited

every voice silenced

all goodbyes said

every bed made

all good deeds rewarded (...)

the vitrine project Dr Angela Bartram Senior Lecturer Fine Art Dr Mary O’Neill Senior Lecturer Fine Art

Bartram O’Neill Collaborative Biography Bartram O’Neill have exhibited, performed and published nationally

Both are senior lecturers at the University of Lincoln in the

and internationally both independently and collaboratively. Most

department of fine art.

recently they performed after a residency at Grace Exhibition Space New York 2012, as part of Low Lives 4 streamed event, at ‘BLOP

Bartram has an expansive independent exhibition profile including

2012’ at Arnolfini Bristol, at ‘Action Art Now’ for O U I International

‘The Animal Gaze’ (2011 and 2008), ‘East Goes East,’ Krakow (2010),

performance festival in York, 2011, and at ‘The Future Can Wait’ in

‘East International 2009,’ ‘Animalism’ at the National Media Museum

London, 2009.

(2009), amongst others.

They publish writing on their practice including ‘Response Oral

O’Neill has published works on performance, ephemerality, mourning,

Response’ in Total Art Journal most recently (volume 1, number 2,

ethics and contemporary art, and the conditions in the twentieth

Fall 2012).

century which contributed to the development of increasingly transient art forms.

Bartram O’Neill Collaborative Artists’ Statement Angela Bartram and Mary O’Neill are a collaborative partnership

They offer an alternative creative strategy to the binaries of theory

Rather than prioritising one form over

whose work centres on art and ethics and the documentation of

and practice, academic and artist, event and text. The site of their

another, each manifestation is seen

performance through situated writing and text that moves beyond

practice is not just the physical location, but includes the artist’s

as having generative potential

formal academic conventions.

body, the anticipated audience, the environment, the document, and

for further

the atmosphere.

creative responses, creating an ongoing work.

Vitrine 2: MA Design programme

Image: Justin Tagg

Shahira Allen

MA Design — Full time Title: Project Potential

Graphic Communication pathway

Project Potential was a two-day free event that took place in Market Rasen during their busiest period; the market weekend. Market Rasen’s high street is very much based on local produce and is unenthusiastic about the idea of large corporate companies saturating their town. Project Potential was in response to a brief brought to the MA Design group by MR BIG (Market Rasen Business Improvement Group) which came-around when the town was successful in winning a pot of money to contribute towards the regeneration of their high street. The money was won through (and in association with) a recent television programme, Queen of the High Street presented by Mary Portas, focusing on the revival of failing independent towns across England. Market Rasen’s high street has been under pressure and in recent years has seen a lot of businesses close down.

During my research phase I found that shop closure was one of the high streets main issues. Aesthetically the empty spaces did not persuade new or expanding businesses to consider the potential of Market Rasen. The main focus of Project Potential was to explore using these empty spaces in a way that would create interest in the high street and showcase the potential of the empty spaces. The free two day event saw exciting new business opportunities presented to the public giving the opportunity to allow business owners to project themselves into the empty space. An example of this is that one of the events focused on music. I organsied and hosted a free mini gig in the unoccupied space courtesy of MRBIG. This event would allow potential business owners in the music industry (whether that is selling music or musical instruments) to see the potential of the space. Other aspects of the project were branding and assessing how the digital (in this case Apps, Facebook & Twitter) could be used to encourage visitors into Market Rasen to contribute towards the rebuilding of the high street.

…

Gemma Rabionet Boadella

MA Design — Full time Title: The Dream

Fashion (costume) pathway

During the past ten years I’ve been working in graphic design; cool hunting; costume and make-up design; and art direction for theatre and video. This MA gave me space to do a project that combined my professional and my personal interests; it allowed me to do a thorough research and to produce my own fabrics, explore my own imaginary — constructing characters through costume and make up design; and it also helped me to make a step forward in text play analysis and to find arguments that sustain my work with solid rationales. I applied this new knowledge in a project inspired by William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The proposal of my research was a transdisciplinary project divided into three sections: costume design and make up, set design, and experimental theatre. I did an interpretation of the play focused on the present subject of the increasing difference between social classes — that I see as a return to the Middle Ages — and presented the play as a futuristic dystopia. I remarked the

difference between chaos — the woods — and order — the city — through the costume shapes and colours of the woods and the city stages. This play enabled me to apply conceptual thinking, explore with fabrics, and develop my own visual language, helping me to show an interpretation of the play with a new symbolic approach. The exhibited material includes samples of the creative process as atmospheres, costumes design sketches, fabric testing, mock-up costumes, and the final costumes.

Carlos Ruiz Brussain

MA Design — Full time Title: Hypersurreal

Visual Narrative pathway

During the MA I developed and tested a conceptual-creative frame that I named Hypersurreal; Hyper- because it nourishes from many sources of inspiration — such as science; psychology; creativity; primitive art; shamanism; magic; alchemy; Hermeticism; Symbolism; nonsense literature; Dadaism; magic realism; mysticism; fantastic realism; visionary art; the beat generation; outsider art; Pop art; psychedelic art; Low Brow art; popular culture: fantasy and science fiction films, TV series, video-clips, comics, rock and pop music, animation; and — surreal because it shares an important part of the thinking —working frame with the artistic avant-garde of the 1920’s. The main goal of this frame is to have access to a freer and extremely subjective state of mind that induces a flowing and highly individual approach to creative practice. I intended to demonstrate the importance of ‘feet off the ground’ and dreamlike thinking moods — random, divergent, dissociative — to arrive to innovative ideas and results. For that reason I developed a creative methodology and also a number of creative techniques and tools to prove the validity of the frame at a material level.

Nadwa Esfandnia

MA Design — Full time Title: Hajeen

Graphic Communication pathway

In the world of Graphic Design, our lives are dependent on technology, which has had a massive impact on language; “Going digital” or the “Age of Technology” has certainly altered the way we communicate, i.e. Language.

Examples of my work depict how technology has affected language, the complete form of the Arabic Alphabet has been changed, it is no longer fluid and hand written. It is now rendered to be suitable for technological use.

Within the Islamic Arts, Calligraphy is held to high esteem, as it is a way of depicting the beauty in Allah’s words, Arabic has been associated with beautiful Calligraphy for centuries. One of the most important scripts noted within Arabic history would be the Qur’an, The Holy Book, which was preserved primarily throughout the centuries through different Calligraphic styles.

The aim is to show the effects of technology on a language and as seen from the previous page, Arabic Calligraphy is not at all similar to the English Alphabet. The diacritic marks which substitute as the vowels in the Alphabet have been symbolized using the apostrophe, numbers have substituted for missing letters.

The Arabic Alphabet consists of 29 consonants and 11 vocalization marks in the shape of accents, though the structure of the alphabet has only 19 basic shapes. Arabic chat language I believe has borrowed the forms of the English alphabet for the users personal convenience, because the English keyboard is more user friendly.

For my project, Hajeen, meaning Hybrid, which aims to literally bring the Digital world into the Analogue. I have chosen to tackle the issue of technology, which is taking over the graphic design world, by bringing it back into the Analogue lifestyle, starting from scratch. Hajeen, best describes my project, as the content is a language that has been digitally altered. Arabic chat language is the biggest example of an altered language. It best visualizes the effects of technology on such an ancient language form

Jun Gao

MA Design — Full time Title: Children

3D Innovation pathway

Utilising design hacking as an underlying approach and appropriating Ikea chairs for their ubiquity — this is a series design of children’s chairs which are functional not only in comfort but also in EMOTION. I got the inspiration from the young generation, so I named this series “CHILDREN”. I tried to bring together humour, comment and design all in one package... i. Grumpy Chair, designed for children in grumpy mood. The Grumpy Chair itself is a little bit grumpy. It has four legs kicking out, which is annoying, takes space at home, it seems to say,”Do not come close to me!” but in fact it attracts more attentions. Just like a grumpy child, he does whatever is forbidden, he is crying, he attempts to make parents angry, all he has done to be annoying is ask for nothing but your love and hug.

Others can barely see their faces. I designed the hoodie chair for children, let them create a small tiny own space. Hiding from others, such as their parents. iii. Hopping Mad Stool, designed for the angry child to calm down. Hopping Mad Stool only has one leg, so you have to use your own legs to sit on it, against the wall to keep balance, which provides a quiet corner to let you calm down. In order to keep balance, you will have to pay attention to your action more than your anger. It is a way to distract children from negative mood. Also it is full of fun to do it.

ii. Hoodie Chair, a chair with a hood. I got the inspiration from hoodies. People in hoodies sometimes deliver an isolating message to others. They are walking in the street, head down.

Grumpy Chair

Lewis Gaukrodger

MA Design — Full time 3D Innovation pathway Title: Three stitch seating + the 25 mile project

Utilising waste materials and researching the strategies and limitations in doing so was the initial focus of the project. Identifying material sources within a 25 mile radius from the centre of Lincoln, set the boundaries to the project. These sources included train stations, charity shops and scrap yards. Analysing the potential of each source and investigating the diversity, turnover and quality of materials in each, led me to use scarp yards as the first test of the 25 mile radius project.

Due to the role in which an airbag is required to inflate there can be no chance of failure, therefore in manufacture, there is a high percentage of wastage whereby the material does not pass the quality control checks.

Refining the project enabled me to identify materials that I could work with. Specifically look in-depth at the materials and understanding their initial manufacturing processes, functions and life cycles. This research singled out the air bag.

Using such materials to design with poses may challenges as the intended life cycle has already been completed. Airbags have to withstand a small explosion; therefore they can be attain in many different conditions some with burn holes, split stitching or rips. What became very evident was that each airbag is unique. This led me to produce several concepts designed solely on the condition and shape of the airbag.

A product that is designed with no aesthetic consideration, purchased in the hope of never being used and completing is functional life cycle in less than 1/20th of a second. The manufacture of airbags is very intensive as the material passes through many stages from stitching, to coating with silicone.

The ‘3 Stitch’ seating concept is based around the idea of reducing any further extensive manufacturing processes. Hence only ‘3 Stitch’ seams are required to create this chair. I also aimed the product to replicate its inflation and extend this.

Anouk Kooll

MA Design — Full time Title: Tête-a-Tête

Graphic Communication pathway

Context: We naturally ommunicate all the waking hours, but why is it that we express ourselves increasingly everyday using ‘digital’, such as Web2, on the internet like social media, email and Skype? Why is it that we seem to read more information and judge emotions of the people we meet everyday via our phone or on internet, rather tan talk about it with them in person? Our parents taught us things through face to face communication, we learned our value’s through face to fac communication, we get experience and a opinion about something through communication.

The main idea was to design different outcomes that interrupt daily life, which result in people talking. I created five different events that would most likely occur outside in public. Because of these events people get to interact with other people and interupt their daily routine. The events that I created are:Talkfest., Share it or Leave it, 365 perfect picnic days, Tea Time and Tal-king

But, is digital making it better, just because it is faster? As A designer I wanted to solve what I think is going to be a big problem in the near future. Connecting in real life — face to face. With my project I want to show the value of daily interaction with people you know or or don’t know. Strategies: I created Tête a Tête. A non-profit community that uses design as a vehicle to allow people to realize the value of face to face communication.

Om Chutatib Promgul

MA Design — Full time 3D Innovation pathway Title: The Democratic System System

This project is my journey to find the solution to the use of ‘rubber wood’, the green source of material I have back at home; hands-on experience, modular system, repairing and upcycling are main themes this project has engaged with. Through the project, I intended to design an open-ended system that has a universal language one based on sustainability. In order to serve to a wide range of requirements, the system is designed to be flexible to build up and split up easily with simple dowels and pins. Hand making and home making are introduced along with the main structure system to emphasize on the power of hands-on learning.

Not only building up a new system, this project is also engages with the idea of repairing and upcycling by the concept of introducing the beauty and uniqueness of creative repairing. The designed work is an open-ended solution that is free for the user’s personal alteration. The end products are a domestic wood-based modular system that opens for a feature of accessories that made of recycled materials and the series of wooden legs that are ready to be attached to any personal object to transfer such object into a unique piece of furniture.

Turki Qallai

MA Design — Full time Title: Fire-wood

3D Innovation pathway

Research focus: To design a sustainable, contemporary, lighting concept that considers raw natural materials and new technology, and using handmade processes. The main objective: I took the Masters degree as an opportunity to make a challenging project, by stepping away from design software, and totally relying on understanding, making and experiencing the physical form of objects, through exploring the handmade. By taking an extra year of in-depth exploration in design, was an opportunity to learn new skills, new ways of reflecting on my practice — all to benefit, my future career. By the end of this new experience I had the ability to reach effective design solutions to the design problems but in ways I had not expected when starting the MA Design programme. Research problem: find a sustainable material and technology that fits the ‘research focus’. I then had to apply them aesthetically as contemporary design but using handmade methods. The design solution: I started by looking at sustainability in new technology and raw materials.

Technology: LED light is becoming inexpensive, more accessible. The main features of this lighting are; low power consumption, high lighting efficiency, long life and can be sold in different forms and shapes. Materials: after the research behind materials, I identified wood as a good solution as it is a sustainable renewable source of materials. Making methods: after weeks at the workshop experimenting, testing materials and understanding its physical property, I started to look at material applications and methods of making. The next step was to match the right concept to right design, then make some alteration to previous designs to suit the right (handmade) method. Aesthetic solution: how humans use wood to provide light, heat and comfort, for millenia, was a big inspiration. I made observations of the LEDs and light produced by wood combustion, noting key features and considering them in the design solutions. The outcome; embeding the LED strip into the wood, considering shape and form of the wood, the outcome was to give a feeling as if the wood is producing that bright light from inside.

Miranda Jingyan Zhang

MA Design — Full time Title: Finding your way

Graphic Communication pathway

Finding your way is my ongoing project which started in January, 2013. There are two reasons that let me think (a lot!) and decide to do this project: the first is that I heard some people always complain the city they lived in is boring, nothing changed, no new look; the second is when some people go to other cities that they never been there before, the only one way they look at the city is to just visit the famous tourist attractions and landmarks. I found these two social problems have a common reason — people didn’t realize we can also find the interest and beauty in things themselves, instead of waiting for someone to create it for us.

The target of this project is to encourage people find something interesting in the city, and try to use different way to look at the city. In the project. I have tried try to use seven different ways to look at the city Lincoln where I am living now: sky, sense of night, book ephemera, ‘faces’, doors, chimneys & aerials and single trees. I believe that the city is colourful, so I try to use different kinds of media to represent my ideas. Until now (May, 2013) I finished four sub projects of this major project: sky, sense of night, book ephemera and faces for my major project masters level study in university. The other three subprojects I’m still continuing doing for my personal project.

In my view, if we getting bored of the environment around us, the best way is finding something interesting that we didn’t realize or see before. And the best way for looking at a city or town is not only to visit the famous tourist attractions and landmarks, but also pay more attention to the people, the buildings, the plants, the doors … the details, that facinates our eyes, and minds — which gives us a better feeling and greater understanding of a particular place.

My works are samples, to show people and encourage the audience to find their own way to look at the city. All the information and data that I have collected and used in my works I tried my best to make them universal and reveal a pattern.

I was here, I saw this and it mattered to me. Among all the places we go to but don’t look at properly or which leave us indifferent, a few occasionally stand out with an impact that overwhelms us and forces us to take heed. They possess a quality that might clumsily be called beauty. This may not involve prettiness or any of the obvious features that guidebooks associate with beauty spots. < The Art of Travel > by Alain de Botton

Mike Belton

MA Design — Part time Title: A case for kits

Graphic Communication pathway

I first truly appreciated the world of design when I was around 8 years old. My mum had bought me an Airfix Spitfire and although I didn’t know it at the time, my journey into the world of design had begun. My practice eventually took me into the area of advertising and art direction, which seems to be quite far removed from my starting point but maybe there was something I could learn by re-examining plastic kits. Graphic design and advertising make increasing use of nonword communication and in order to develop my own practice further I went back to model kits and more specifically their instructions in order to help me develop my own pictorial communication systems. Kit instructions were a particular focus of the study and their graphic language highlighted some potential further areas for investigation, one of the most intriguing being the varying speeds in which a viewer can process graphic information. The speed with which a viewer can process a graphic symbol can be very quick and thus speed up the comprehension of the task in

hand. Some symbols however can be difficult to decipher and can actually slow down the process of understanding. Varying speed of comprehension, or ‘slow graphics’ was one of the areas that I explored, often throwing up as many questions as answers. As well as examining and developing visual communication symbols, kits themselves were studied. The entire range of kits, from a simple jigsaw to a production line manufactured Ford car were considered. The definition of kits was also interrogated and their boundaries pushed in order to try and apply kits to areas that they would not normally be associated. Prototype kits were created for smoking your own kippers and changing a plug in order to test out theories. This MA Design course of study has allowed me to re-examine areas of my own practice and has enabled me to extend further my own design vocabulary. The opportunity to reflect upon design and to articulate my thoughts has been a welcome opportunity that I have greatly appreciated.

ANYFIX SERIES 2, No1 - SMOKING KIPPERS NEW SKILLS

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Smoked kippers are a mainstay of the breakfast table and have been a part of British food culture for hundreds of years. Most Kippers bought in modern supermarkets are created by a very industrialised process which makes them cheap and easily available but takes away much of the taste and texture of kippers made using time more traditional methods. Freshly smoked fish which has been made by yourself is tastier and much more satisfying to eat than commercial kippers. You can be sure that

smoked kippers made on your own kippering smoker will be free of the dyes used in the commercial smoking process. These dyes which make the fish look attractive but taint the delicate flavour of the fish are seen on nearly all supermarket bought kippers. Making your own kippering smoker and preparing herring for smoking is surprisingly easy with a little helpful guidance and helpful tips. Anyfix’s Series 2 kits make learning new skills and crafts easy. All you need is a little faith in your own abilities and our easy instructions.

Key to instruction symbols.

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Justin Tagg

MA Design — Part time Visual Narrative pathway Title: @mouseshortfilm

Mouse is a mystery/sci-fi short film about Anderson, a man who wakes in a building with no idea where he is or how he got there, before slowly discovering that in each of the rooms around him are a thousand clones of himself, all of whom woke into the same mysterious scenario. To escape he needs to outwit his ‘selves’ whilst overcoming the realisation that he is not the only Anderson... It’s about what it is to be unique or, more accurately, to experience a realisation that you are not. Could you out think a clone of yourself? At the same time, it is a film, a story, a thought experiment and not an attempt to answer those question directly but I really believe that story can get inside our heads and encourage us to think of the world in different ways. I would go as far as to say that ‘reality’ is a story we tell ourselves and narrative, when utilised correctly, is one of the purest forms of communication we have since it is modelled on the way in which we form our own interpretation of the world around us.

This is a low budget but extremely professional production full of energy and ambition. We raised our modest £5k budget from 150 individuals around the world with a wonderful crowdfunding campaign at the beginning of 2012. Crowdfunding is the principle of getting little bits of funding from lots of people and we were fortunate enough to achieve 176% of our original target. The thing that was most exciting about this is that to gain funding directly from your audience you are basically asking people to pay to watch your film before you have even started filming it. It is an audience endorsed production. For me, story is a really important tool to make complicated information or ideas accessible to people. This project has been about two things from the very beginning; 1) Tell a great story with a strong and challenging idea at its heart that is about human nature. 2) Be sustainable; understand and be respectful of your audience, find great crew and form relationships that will mean Mouse can be the project that helps get the next one off the ground.

Michelle Brown

MA Design — Part time 3D Innovation pathway Title: Household detritus and wearable jewellery

My jewellery aims to explore the transition of household detritus into wearable jewellery and how this material affects its audience. The collection has a narrative that makes connections to detritus using everyday sayings such as, ‘Don’t pour out the dirty water before you have clean’ and ‘Shit for the birds’. The sayings I have used create a union between pieces and encourage peoples thought processes to focus on detritus in a different context. The combination of detritus with the ‘cleaner’ process of rapid prototyping, using selective laser sintering, emphasises the dual subject areas of craft and design by a juxtaposition of industrial and handmade processes. The materials used include felted animal hair, dust, alumide, nylon and mud.

Ash Dowie

MA Design â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Part time Title: neptunes.fm

Graphic Communication pathway

Over the past 2 years, I have researched and experimented with design components that relate to sound. This ultimately guided me towards the conceptual web application Neptunes. fm presented here. Having identified a large consumer base for musicians and music followers online, particularly on social media services, the idea of providing a hub of a musicianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s complete networking activity through one simple interface initiated the proposal of my concept. A significant selling point that would potentially make a success of the project is use of Neptunes.fm by low-budget or unsigned musicians. It offers a cost-efficient platform to publish and organise content without sacrificing the professional aesthetic that they desire. It is important to note that this service does not act as a social media competitor, but a simple assistant to users that make use of these services for music. As separate components, the existing market for this type of product offers massive advantages and easy access for people that wish to receive this information. Neptunes.fm is a way of gathering the respective

data and allowing users to follow updates without visiting a dozen websites. The advantage to information providers, or musicians, is that by continuing the use their accounts around the web, they are keeping their Neptunes.fm profile up to date also, meaning the service would be a low-maintenance solution. Using responsive design and the latest web trends, the website application will also be accessible via an alternative approach, such as mobile or tablet devices.

Sarah Pickering-Paterson

MA Design — Part time Title: Edit

Fashion pathway

My practice and research review and explore how innovation used through customization and personalization of non-fashion products can be applied to clothing and fashion retail. It focused on key approaches and methods used by means of communication, technology and collaboration. My research led to new ways of creating, producing, presenting and communicating fashion. It was found that by challenging and changing the relationships and work practices that are currently ‘the norm’ between all parties; consumer, designer manufacturer and wholesaler, led to the consumer co-creating, co-designing clothing nearer to their desires. This was made possible by means of collaborative design innovation, virtual augmented reality and interactivity with new technologies. The information gathered during this process became significantly beneficial to retailers and designers. The research was concerned with the notion of interactivity and collaboration and the role of the consumer, manufacturer and designer in determining, in part, the course or outcome of a fashion garment. The research led to the development of the fashion brand Edit, an interactive, user generated, online fashion lab.

Suzi Tite

MA Design â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Part time Title: Interruptions

Fashion pathway

Interruptions to the skins surface is the theme at the core of this work, which has been realised through a number of exploratory routes. Originally a concept intent on using fabric manipulations to represent the skins textural qualities, this work has evolved to become an exploration focusing on garment movement and its relationship with bodily interactions. The resulting outcomes demonstrate an emphasis on conceptual pieces of clothing primarily informed by the body in motion and the revealing and concealment of the wearerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s flesh. The visual impact of these experimental garments is only fully realised when worn by a performer, whose communication with the design enhances the capacity for the transient nature of the costume to emerge. The agility of the wearer along with an aptitude for improvised movement provides a key role in the overall display of this clothing, and it is these exchanges that provide uniqueness to the performance of the garment. The unexpected forms and spaces generated, as a result of the garments construction and fabrication, inevitably vary with each wear, contributing to an individual performance.

The final garment outcomes have potential to be used in a performance, fashion, and fine art context and challenge the viewer to ask the question, which is in control: the body or the costume?

Louise Tofton

MA Design — Part time Fashion pathway Title: Dramatic Opposites - theatrical millinery

I own a bespoke millinery business — which I currently run from my Cleethorpes home – in which I create contemporary designs, using traditional millinery techniques. I set up my business at the end of 2011, but I am hoping to properly launch myself at my end of year show, in September.

My brief for this project was to create a conceptual collection of theatrical Millinery based on dramatic opposites.

My business has a unique selling point — a bespoke headpiece which is to the exact specifications of the customer. The headpiece is completely unique and so this ensures the customer complete individuality. I am based in the Cleethorpes area and so I travel locally to meet with clients where we discuss the event they want their fascinator for, different colour schemes, sizes and styling to give my customers that truly unique feel.

The theme of my collection needed to be dramatic. From inception I therefore wanted to pick a controversial topic, one that each person has an opinion on. I therefore chose to base my designs on conflict, opposition and contrast, particularly in terms of science and religion, specifically exploring electricity in the body, nerve conductivity, and cognitive behaviour whilst simultaneously considering the natural world, creation and spirituality.

The service I offer is completely bespoke, which I believe is a service lacking on the high street. I offer a one-on-one consultation, which makes the experience of purchasing a headpiece more personal and special to the client. There is a dialog between myself and the client that I find extremely important - the end result being the hat.

The aforementioned research, together with a study into the psychological attitudes, customs and traditions of hat wearing, led to the origination of twelve design ideas and final pieces that represent opposing theories in expressive and dramatic form.

Phil Pip Turton

MA Design â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Part time 3D Innovation pathway Title: Ascend climbing shoe brand

Your climbing shoes are the most direct connection between you and the climbing surface. Essentially your choice in footwear should be an extension of you. I believe that the fit, the comfort and the performance should be uncompromising and flattering to the natural abilities of the foot.

The Ascend shoes have been specifically designed to allow your feet complete freedom. This freedom gives you the ability to flex and articulate movement efficiently. Lateral balance, stability, strength, proprioception and your reactions are all significantly heightened because of this.

It is these uncompromising beliefs that have fuelled the development of the Ascend shoe, throwing aside the traditionaL the conventional and the misguided, focussing on footwear that compliments the footâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s natural position and dynamic ability, delivering complete flexibility and maximum grip.

When your feet are allowed to relax they have an amazing ability to absorb pressure from an impact. Your feet can naturally minimize the chances of developing severe conditions and injuries just by having this freedom.

Good things happen when your feet can sit naturally, they are given the opportunity to do exactly what they were designed to do without restriction.

Kyle Underwood

MA Design â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Part time Visual Narrative pathway Title: My Grandfatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Story

My project began with a series of interviews with my grandfather, and an attempt to transcribe his memoirs, alongside gathered historical facts, into a graphic novel. The making of this book has been a journey, and now I invite you to share in that journey.

Vitrine 3: MA Contemporary Curatorial Practice + MA Fine Art

Image: Ashleigh McDougall of work by design student Promgul Chutatib

Ashleigh McDougall

MA Contemporary Curatorial Practice Nottingham Castle May 10 - July 7, 2013

The Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery Café Table Commission was selected and curated by Ashleigh McDougall in conjunction with Castle staff. The Commission took the form of an open call for artists, drafted, reviewed, and selected by Ashleigh. Lincoln artist Aislinn Ritchie produced an inaugural series of new artworks for the Castle Café Table Commission. Using collected postcards as her medium, she created imaginary landscapes; fitting together impossible and diverse scenes that draw attention to the constructed nature of the world around us. The artist made a very strong proposal, and her work took advantage of the unique nature of the café table display format. Each bespoke piece referenced a different type of landscape, and drew visitors in, encouraging them to engage. Identifiable landmarks and buildings within the works were also reflected in the panoramic map of views of Nottingham located just outside, on the café’s terrace.

Aislinn’s work initiated a conversation with the past, in which found images were altered through cutting and assembly. The original context of the imagery on each postcard was removed, and the features presented with unique and alternative meanings. Aislinn is fascinated by what results when elements that should not necessarily connect, are combined. She aimed to encourage the development of narratives, stories, and questions around her created landscapes, which are comprised of images that would ordinarily only receive a face-value reading. Aislinn is a recent BA Fine Art graduate from the University of Lincoln, living and working in the city. Her practice has featured postcards and other forms of found imagery for several years, and she has exhibited in both Lincoln and Nottingham.

Amir Ghazi-Noory MA Fine Art

The Anxious Grotesque Nonsense of Amir Ghazi-Noory

Diane E Hall MA Fine Art

Journeying through The National Forest area of Leicestershire, the transformation from opencast mining to forest cannot fail to intrigue. It is the enigmatic qualities of this fragile equilibrium, between the industrial and natural environment, that is a source of fascination for me. My work is a response to the changes in this landscape through a detailed investigation into the specific Site of Long Moor and its layered history.

James Hall MA Fine Art

Victoria Hall MA Fine Art

The work explores the dissection of experiences through a combination of abstraction, colour and composition transferred on reflective surfaces. The viewer is encouraged through the use of their own reflection to contemplate personal experiences in reaction to the piece. These translations strive to explore how experiences overlap to form our life as a whole. Moreover, the abstract dialogue within the work drives the continuous evolution of both meaning and understanding.

Linda Hollaway MA Fine Art

Equality noun the state of having the same rights, opportunities, or advantages as others Regular reports in the media of violence to women and girls indicate the value given to females in many countries of the world. Using hair as metaphor, my practice investigates the status of women in contemporary societies in social and domestic contexts. The work explores both vulnerability and the rebuilding of lives following trauma.

Lindsay Mann MA Fine Art

When humans invest meaning in a portion of space and then become attached to it in some way... it becomes a place. Streets and tower blocks found on many council estates are built and designed with persistent sameness and repetition in design. This being the architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intention to encourage a sense of familiarity but which in turn, along with tenancy restrictions, limits residents capabilities of differentiating their home from others. This study of work followed residents of the Orchard Park Estate in Hull moving home due to the current housing regeneration schemes. The work addresses how residents use the space in their home and how they establish place identity amongst the repetition of design in the multi-storey tower blocks.

Cresswell, T. (1996). In Place/Out of Place: Geography, Ideology & Transgression. Minnesota: Minnesota Press.

David Robinson MA Fine Art Photographer

The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera. Dorothea Lange

The art of street photography is realising when to stop and isolate the moment around you. What started as street photography has developed into something more abstract and personal to me. These photographs show my feelings, my viewpoint about the world and my interactions within it.

Vitrine 4: Postgraduate life - Scrapbook

Images of postgraduate life and work by Carlos Ruiz Brussain, Oliver Underwood, Rebecca Barmby, Adrian Bernal, Mahsa Mousavi, Veronica Proud and John Stocker

The Vitine Project consists of three exhibition catalogues (covering postgraduate shows from 2012 and 2013), a series of A2 posters showcasing PGT Student and LSA&D Staff work, and this book. Original Vitrine Project concept and design by John Stocker, Senior Lecturer in the School of Art and Design, University of Lincoln.

Thank you to all the 2012 and 2013 Art and Design postgraduate students from MA Contemporary Curatorial Practice, MA Design and MA Fine Art for their contributions of texts and images. Well done to you all for the exceptional shows put on during 2012/13 — they were truly engaging. Thanks must also go to colleagues from Lincoln School of Art and Design for their contributions, patience and help whilst putting this book together. Finally I would like to thank the following colleagues; Dr Catherine Burge and Anna Martin for their logistical and practical support through this project — especially when it came to gathering images and texts, creating deadlines for contributions and ensuring I had stuff to work with.

Front cover image: production still from ‘Mouse X’, a short film by Justin Tagg End papers: End of Ends - texts by Professor Steve Dutton and Neil Webb Back cover image: Rocket by Oliver Underwood from ‘Harry’s Birthday Party’ Postgraduate Life Scrapbook images by JS , Carlos Ruiz Brussain, Oliver Underwood, Rebecca Barmby, Adrian Bernal, Mahsa Mousavi and Veronica Proud

Gyles Lingwood for his support, enthusiasm and a really usefully discerning eye for detail. Dr Alec Shepley for having the vision to support this project from it’s very beginning. JS December 2013

All efforts have been taken to apply image credits — apologies if names have been missed.

all bells rung

every deadline met

all mud slid

all pennies dropped

no more toilets blocked

every chance taken

all the beasts have been

every friendship appreciated

all pain stopped

all management embraced

all thumbs twiddled

all pockets emptied

all toast buttered

every winner won

unleashed

no more shopping centres

every worry eased

every responsibility understood

all notions noted

all music loved

insomnia cured at last

all carpets laid

every hope has been dashed

no more capitalists

all beliefs considered

every temptation resisted

every child educated

all peat dug

the written unwritten

all travel undertaken

every preparation made

all aspirations futile

all truth recognised

all metal rusted

every whale harpooned

all mouths parched

every wink of sleep slept

all business done

all privileges withdrawn

the chance to come to terms

every embarrassment forgotten

every country road walked

all curtains hung

all matches spent all cradles

dreams completely dreamt

all cats neutered

no more denials

all carpets cleaned

all teeth rotted

all contradictions contradicted

all bones broken

rocked

passions all spent

every bone gnawed

no more claims repudiated

all letters posted

every corner seated

all tenacity faked

all doors bolted

all ideas formed

all sheets folded

every muscle strained

no more offers rejected

all cars driven

every hand clapped

every separation closed

all cartoons drawn

every comparison made

all songs sung

every window rotted

all approaches rebuffed

every word spoken

every head raised

every stain removed

all heads shaved

every hedge uprooted

every language learned

dreams remembered

all operations ceased

every feeling felt

all bodies bowed

all arrows spun

all guts followed

all my heart offered

all cars crashed

all loved ones loved

all routes blocked

no more awkward silences

all lakes frozen

all directions investigated

all trips taken

all targets reached

no more football matches

all care taken

all crowds dispersed

no more teenage angst

every illness cured

all tapes rewound

all muscles strained

all tongues slipped

all hopes dashed

all goodbyes said

all gestures futile

all nerves shredded

all history repeated

all records broken

all drains disinfected

all doors closed

all toys thrown out of the pram

all clocks stopped

all stars stopped shining

all waters run

all taxes returned

all pressures decompressed

all elastic loosened

all curtains drawn

all grass grown

all decks cleared

the earth stopped turning

all ideas reduced to a sound-bite

all fuses blown

all taxis hailed

all dogs pooped

all flannels dampened

all vows taken

all things possible

the planets all collided

no more handwritten words

all chimneys toppled

all tights stretched

all dolls dissected

all plugs pulled

all content uploaded

every gift accepted

all traces erased

all birdsong synthesised

all knuckles rapped

all pills taken

every mine mined

all shirts lifted

all fat burned off

every tuesday lived

every job done

every image photo-shopped

all trumpets sounded

all the old jokes told

every labyrinth escaped

all bags snatched

all windows closed

all peanuts shelled

all lights switched

all flaws ironed out

all bells peeled

all prayers are answered

all protection fought

every decision made

all eyes opened

all cakes cooked

all calls answered

every muscle toned

all husbands divorced

every answer unaccepted

all doors sealed

all smiles fixed

all heating turned off

every concept explained

all herbs grown

no more eyes on the road

every thought noted

every body stripped

every nail hammered in

all belts tightened

all trousers washed

every ego demolished

all crimes committed

all frogs flattened

all lips sealed

all embroidery hooped

all pencils snapped

all feet bound

every cloud passed by

all horizons seen

all vaults locked

every line drawn

every promise broken

every endings ended

all whites stained

all greetings offered

all bird song sung

every walk taken

every child named

all dreams dreamt

all bread buttered

every puppet controlled

all horses shod

all cabers tossed

my heart stopped

every tree felled

every number counted

the end of all sounds

all pies eaten

all wine appreciated

all fruit harvested

all pints pulled

our hands clasped

every bomb dropped

all webs spun

the sun always risen

all streams paddled

all wishes granted

all crates lifted

all dust settled

we go together to the end

all pain stopped

all hands washed

aesthetics conquered spirituality

all costs counted

all tokens treasured

all cups swilled

all shops shut

every well run dry

all longing eased

no more not yets

education overcame myths

all bad children comforted

all dances danced

all ground dug

all reputations tarnished

all warmth felt

every option given

no more regrets

all were happy

every eyebrow raised

all gods summoned

every head bowed

all trains derailed

every feather fallen

all doors opened

everything wound down

all songs sung

every floor mopped

every complexity simplified

all arms lifted

ties severed

all feelings felt

no stone left unturned

peace at last

no time to left to think

all bitches spayed

every doubt doubted

all banks robbed

all cream whipped

all floors cleaned

every fish eaten

all butterflies flown

all lips licked

end of all heartaches

all obscenities said

all crimes solved

all joints rolled

all lands mapped

every novel written

all wells run dry

all dances danced

all dogs neutered

all magnificence trashed

every neck made stiff

all tea bags squeezed

all books read

every goodbye said

every lost one found

all hands clasped

every drug administered

all eyes watched

all diamonds cut

all mysteries explained

all rainfall totally stopped

all nostalgia over

every day become one

all trails travelled

all days numbered

all delusions believed

all authority respected

all crosswords completed

all suns set

all bad made good

all hope found

all stones turned

all prisoners released

every space sold

every roughness smoothed

batteries charged

all mountains crumbled

every facet explored

all shit shat

all answers questioned

all time celebrated

all ideas fulfilled

every boat rocked

pregnancies terminated

every mirror cracked

every eye dazzled

no more crap

every diamond mined

every fear faced

all mothers nurtured

all eyes burned

all baggage handled

all therapy undertaken

no more stupid jokes

all games played

every child disowned

all trials tested

all our fathers passed away

every dragon slain

all sausages pricked

all document all written

every wish fulfilled

all cool breezes enjoyed

every spirit crushed

all water boiled

every tragedy re-enacted

every language spoken

all potatoes chipped

all doors opened

all utopias forgotten

every view no longer seen

all engines oiled

all burns aided

every damage done

every point pressed

all money laundered

all clothes folded

every bill paid

the possibility of a future

all pistons primed

every questions answered

all beginnings feared

all youth aged

no more beds shared

all meals cooked

all recipes tested

the chance to dream

every finger on a trigger

all our minds united

all webs spun

every whispers shouted

all swims taken

no more babies cradled

all cakes baked

the end of will

all noises off

all our colours separated

all unravelling controlled

all beings robotic

all dictators all overthrown

all toenails cut

all boxes ticked

to become one thing

every message encoded

all quotes quoted

all noises muffled

all kindness offered

no more orifices incontinent

all hands held

no more entrepreneurs

all waiting ended

all weapons concealed

every classic remade

all bombs exploded

all notes played

all lambs slaughtered

every gaze averted

every weapon acquired

no more dying parents

all death wishes granted

all calls answered

all wounds licked

all mares mounted

all worries over

all blushes felt

every weapon destroyed

every last drop squeezed out

all trenches dug

all nerves shredded

no more contempt

any futures impossible

everything consumed

all offers invited

every voice silenced

all goodbyes said

every bed made

all waters run

no more quarrels

all numbers counted

everything discarded

all friends reunited

all sounds heard

all endings ended

all envelopes licked

all ideas reduced to a sound-bite

no more cuddles

all captives released

all past passed

all attitudes become form

all glass shattered

everything remembered

all parties over

no more handwritten words

no more excess

all puzzles solved

all history forgotten

all meanings made

every emptiness filled

all bodies resplendent

all lives lived well

all birdsong synthesised

all comfort breaks taken

every sign unreadable

everything assumed

every heaven opened

all planes grounded

every day turned into night

all races run

every image photo-shopped

all investments cashed in

all signs read

nothing to be resumed

every bubble burst

all breath expelled

every star faded

all connections made

all flaws ironed out

all paradoxes welcomed

all noses wiped

all outcasts cast out

all connections lost

all things considered

all seas dry

no more hurt  hearts

every muscle toned

all souls untethered

every tickets clipped

all silences heard

all institutions dissolved

every deed done

every door closed

all paint dried

no more eyes on the road

every new problem embraced

all trees felled

the tears ran out

all laws broken

all money spent

every light gone out

every chance encounter come

all frogs flattened

work all finished

all arguments resolved

we expired

all viewing remote

all paths blocked

all dead arisen

across

every line drawn

every sin forgiven

every hair grown out

permanent blindness for everyone

all plots hatched

every dam breached

every difference resolved

every key lost

all dreams dreamt

our love unconsummated

all images consumed

they actually did win

every sphere expanded

all avenues closed

all revolutions complete

all coats gloves and scarves

the end of all sounds

every word uttered

all realities experienced

all wealth belonged to one person

all gates are closed

all lies debunked

every planet orbited

put away

the sun always risen

my father’s laugh no longer heard

all sleep slept

every passion spent

every breath my last

all clues given

all accounts finalized

all blood sucked

aesthetics conquered spirituality

every precious moment

every courtesy extended

every deal sealed

all our prayers answered

all hints dropped

every sun set

all hotmail hacked

education overcame myths

remembered

every clock watched

all tables set

our lights extinguished

all food eaten

every sin forgiven

all stalematea reached

all were happy

all balls in the back of the net

all my goodbyes said

all soil tilled

everything accepted

all growth stopped

all children born

all risks taken

all songs sung

every word spoken

every pipe smoked

every problem solved

all power brokered

all blood run dry

every dispute settled

all bubbles burst

no time to left to think

all reality checked

no more sense of place

rivers all run

our enemies slain

all eyes gouged

all hope lost

every tear shed

all lips licked

our pains all relieved

all hens plucked

all birds flown

all towers fallen

all tears fallen

every promise broken

every last crumb eaten

all dances danced

all activities ceased

everything seen

all information gleaned

all sentiments felt

all families united

all living departed

every plate licked clean

all hands clasped

all eyes averted

all flesh off the bone

all cheques signed

every email deleted

every pain relieved

all want satiated

all nuts gnawed

all trails travelled

every moment savoured

all horizons lost

all irony duly noted

every task complete

all mountains flattened

every wisdom attained

every last drop drunk

all stones turned

all awkwardness smoothed over

property all sold

every star gazed

all steel softened

all water drunk

every fire burned out

all barns mucked

all answers questioned

all differences homogenised

all coins collected

all eyebrows plucked

no stone left unturned

every energy wasted

all thoughts thought

all endings ended

every diamond mined

no more time to walk

everything escaped

all lessons learned

all software developed

all knowledge known

all tales told

every fibre stimulated

every child disowned

all excess baggage dumped

nothing left to find

all history repeated

all pissing finished

all thoughts thought

all stones rolled

every molecule excited

every spirit crushed

all my love in storage

all time redeemed

all films watched

all parts played

all dreams forgotten

every fish caught

all grain stored

all engines oiled

every atom counted

every last gasp breathed

all eyes crossed

all markets closed

all nails bitten

every war fought

all snow thawed

all pistons primed

all ties severed

everything backed up

every firefly extinguished

every wave landed

every spot squeezed

all pages scrolled

every penny spent

every finger on a trigger

every table reserved

all things reversed

all heads banged

all books read

every nose picked

all blogs trolled

every bill has been paid

all noises off

all truths glossed over

all beginnings reached ends

all brows furrowed

all that came to pass, passed

all kids shouted at

all things made

every meeting convened

every message encoded

all dust swept under the carpet

all stellar implosions imploded

all toenails cut

my mouth remained forever

all snowmen melted

all is dotted

all pheasants plucked

all weapons concealed

all cash stashed under the bed

all retractions taken place

every last word uttered

closed

all flowers wilted

all beers bought

every scene written

all death wishes granted

no more labelling

everything extracted

all lost dogs found

the dolphins left us

all friendship spurned

every line scored

every act performed

all trenches dug

all debts collected

all things trapped

every last breath breathed

the answer to everything was

every candle blown out

all t’s crossed

all charges dropped

all territories mapped

all communication misinterpreted

all heads shaven

all curtains drawn

not 42

no more grey hairs

all stones turned

all cocks sucked

every lunch naked

all art formulaic

everyone deserted

all patients visited

infinite unread emails

every spell cast

all prizes given

every episode watched

every word uttered

every artery clogged

all drowned in the desert

all trees planted

all stones skimmed

all sounds heard

all eyes closed

all shirts tucked

every meal eaten

all moments passed

no more entities

end of all rhythms

every letter read

every colour faded

all boats launched

all rules bent

our street pulled down

every death counted

every exit passed

all calls barred

all wine became claret

all wounds healed

all lips kissed

every wheel stopped turning

every commercial property vacant

all ducks all in a row

I will know I have died

all lost cats found

all music became opera

all teachings taught

every deed done

all the money spent

all tyres slashed

all marrow sucked

all fires extinguished

every muscle relaxed

all our papers burned

all things said and done

all piña coladas sipped

every mistake rectified

every action witnessed

every ounce of love given

no more suicide rock

no more not yets

all our chicken-legs eaten

all people equalled

every clock watched

every limb lopped

no more privacy

patience all run out

nevermore drowned and wet

no more objects of desire

all death metered out

all slaves freed

all armbands off

all meanings meant

the end of solitude

my home demolished

all dead ends reached

no more fingers crossed

all love given

all building stopped

every disappointment shown

every sin repented

all alternatives considered

your love unrequited

all voids voided

every cancer cured

all time spent

everything forgotten

all smiles unreturned

every chickens plucked

every decision made

our meetings all convened

all wires cut

all lights out

all wildness tamed

all farts farted

every last breath breathed

all feelings repressed...

the vitrine project:

As part of the Lincoln School of Art and Design (LSA&D) 150th Anniversary celebrations, this small book presents an opportunity to look at some of the recent research and creative output from our community of staff and postgraduate students. A central tenet for the creation of this publication was to visibly place postgraduate student work alongside the research and creative outputs produced by LSA&D staff. As the School looks forward and builds on its long history, the theory and praxis of what we do as individuals will continue to inform our collegiate and studio focused creative education. This book is a taster, giving just a flavour of what we do here at LSA&D. The research and creative enguiry that underpins what happens in the School can be challenging, very often thought provoking and certainly leading edge. As LSA&D positions itself on a world stage these activities will continue to inform our teaching and learning, ensuring that our students are seen, and respected as producers: producers of engaging, high quality and relevant art, design and conservation.