13th December 2022. Consider this a scrap book of ideas, clips, reminders, accumulated references, and images.

“A Dissertation is a longer piece of academic writing. It should be between
4000-6000 words long, or an equivalent presentation. Writing your Dissertation
has been split across the 3.1 and 3.2 units, to allow you more time to work on it.
In 3.1 you will develop a Dissertation proposal and a literature review, in
preparation for your full draft in 3.2″

“What constitutes a text?
A ‘text’ refers to any primary source of information. This can include:
● Printed or online texts such books, articles, newspaper, magazines,
websites, essays, journals or musical scores.
● Media such as film, television, music, radio, podcasts, or games.
● Artwork in exhibitions, museum artifacts (sic), archival material, or visited
exhibitions.
● Conferences, lectures, talks, symposia, performances, theatre and dance,
performed music, or other events.
● Correspondence, letters, emails, or recorded conversations.
You can apply Harvard referencing to any text you choose to reference.”

This is from the OCA guidelines and I suspect refers only to how you describe reference sources in a document. But I’ve seen a documentary an hour long by a photography student, this is a creative arts course, and my work is likely to front up AR, so my ambition is to make some of the text live with AR; to embed it with external videos in short clips, and to install AR links to films I’ve made along curatorial lines. Story-telling will be a key feature.

There are no guidelines as to what ‘development of a proposal’ means or a literature review as this piece of work involves no experimental/interview elements and a literature review would be an integral part of the eventual dissertation. I propose to submit my draft which will be populated to some extent with references, unless the proposal simply means an outline of the eventual content of the dissertation. Hopefully, this will be clarified at the meeting due to take place early this month.*

_______

https://online.flippingbook.com/view/54522518/: Dissertation – preparation log

This is a free trial which will end on December 30th. The monthly subscription fee for the elements I find most useful is nearly £40 which is not good value for what’s likely to be just one document so I’m looking for another way of doing this.

30th December 2022. Now expired.

_______

This version is via Canva. The free version has limitations which include a link that only I can view, embedding in various social media platforms which I might try next, and a PDF (below). I like the ability to format the appearance but organising the text (and trying to make it readable) is tremendously fiddly. As a download, it maintains its formatting well and, at full screen, the text is readable. I’m not sure I’d like to make a larger document in this way though.

_______

These are collected resources from an earlier essay which I’ve described as the manifesto for my proposed level 3 work.

References and source materials from Level 2 essay

Glossary

AI – artificial intelligence

AR – augmented reality

VR – virtual reality

Bibliography

Chevreul, M. (1839) The Law of Simultaneous Colour Contrast. See Faber Birren’s (1987) book, The Principles of Harmony and Contrast of Colours and their Applications to the Arts. Schiffer Pub. ltd.

Conboy-Hill, S. (2022a). Physical and digital art: a trail and the side of a house. [online] Available at Physical and digital art – a trail and the side of a house – Exploring Media (wordpress.com) Accessed 19th June 2022

Conboy-Hill, S. (2022b). Option 1 project 3 exercise 1,2,3 physical translation. [online] Available at Option 1, Project 3, exercise 1.2.3 – physical translation – Exploring Media (wordpress.com). Accessed 22nd June 2022.

Dorninger, J. (2022). Mapping the Forest exhibition. [online] Available at https://www.juliadorninger.com Accessed 21st June 2022

Gormley, A. (2019). How Art Began. BBC2 documentary, available online via YouTube (1) BBC Two HD Antony Gormley How Art Began (2019) – YouTube

Hendrickson, L. and Natel, S. 2022. Is AI-generated art really creative? It depends on the presentation. The Conversation.

Hockney, D. (2001) Secret Knowledge. Gardners Books. Jones, H., Soranzo, A., Waldock, J., and Sharpe, R. (2019). Four ways in which Leonardo da Vinci was ahead of his time. The Conversation. [online] Available at https://theconversation.com/four-ways-in-which-leonardo-da-vinci-was-ahead-of-his-time-115338. Accessed 19th June 2022.

Jozwiak, J. (2013). Meaning and Meaning-Making: an exploration into the importance of creative viewer response for art practice. Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of Fine Art. Goldsmiths College, university of London.

Kentridge, W. (2008). I am not me, the horse is not mine. The Tate gallery. [online] Available at https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/william-kentridge-2680. Accessed 21st June 2022

Kloosterboer, L. (2014). Painting in Acrylics. Firefly Books. P18

Meyfroidt, S. (2021). Music. [Online] Available at https://meyfroidt.com/2021/09/17/music/ Accessed 19th June 2021.

Pettitt, P. and Pike, A. (2022) Ancient Cave Art: how new hi-tech archaeology is revealing the ghosts of human history. The Conversation.

Portrait of the artist as a cheat. The Guardian, February 2000. [online] Available at Portrait of the artist as a cheat | David Hockney | The Guardian Accessed 19th June 2022.

Smith, B. (2022). 60 Drawings Plus 10. Whitaker Museum.

Books  

Encyclopaedia Britannica. [online] Available at https://www.britannica.com/art/brush-art Accessed 21st June 2022.

Artists and artist groups

Beeple is Mike Winkelman, graphic designer, who has “been creating a picture everyday from start to finish and posting it online for over ten years without missing a single day” and sold an NFT of his Everydays at Sotheby’s for $69 million in 2021 Source [online] Jacob Kastrenakes in The Verge, March 2021, available at Beeple sold an NFT for $69 million – The Verge. Accessed 19th June 2022. HOME | BEEPLE | the work of mike winkelmann (beeple-crap.com) Accessed 19th June 2022.

Casey Reas (1972-) is a professor of design media arts at UCLA, “Renowned for his development of Processing, an open-source, flexible software sketchbook and language for learning how to code within the context of the visual arts”. [online] Available at CASEY REAS | UCLA Arts Accessed 19th June 2022.

Elastic. Umbrella organisation for specifically hired creative directors and graphic artists. See Game of Thrones (2011) — Art of the Title Accessed 19th June 2022.

Television

Universe (BBC 2021). Currently available on BBC iPlayer.

List of Illustrations.

Fig. 1. Screen clip from Casey Reas Google image search. [online] Available at https://www.google.com/search?q=casey+reas&rlz=1C1GCEA_enGB957GB957&sxsrf=ALiCzsauWtbPJR9JsuiuLSK-jnS_8KXFWg:1658843274337&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiQh-vg2Jb5AhVRQkEAHbmqAs0Q_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1920&bih=947. Accessed 19th June 2022.

Fig 2. Dorninger, J.(undated). Screen clip from the artist’s website. [online] Available at https://www.juliadorninger.com. Accessed June 20th, 2022. Permission requested.

Fig 3. Kentridge, W. (2008) I am not me, the horse is not mine.[online] Screen clip. Available at https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/william-kentridge-2680. Accessed 20th June 2022.

Fig 4. Conboy-Hill, S. 2022. Rift. Fantasy geological. Made in acrylics initially then digitally manipulated in Paintshop Pro, Rebelle 5 Pro, and Flamepainter before drawing out the animations in Photo Mirage and compositing with audio in Filmora.

Fig 5. Conboy-Hill, S. (2022). Red Wall. The socio-political rift in UK voting patterns which put blue holes in the traditionally red Labour wall of the North. Acrylics photographed in low light with animation in PhotoMirage, greenscreen in Paintshop Pro for compositing with video and audio in Filmora.

Fig 6. Conboy-Hill, S. (2022). Blue Passports. The socio-political rift of Brexit. Acrylics and collage on A2 paper, animated in MotionLeap, additional greenscreen effects and audio added in Filmora.

Fig 7. Conboy-Hill, S. (2022). No/rmal. The disconnect between the public and private of historical institutions. Acrylics, soft pastels, and collage on A2 paper. The final image shown was taken at night in low light and with LEDs and used in greenscreen compositing with audio in Filmora.

Additional materials

https://ars.electronica.art/aeblog/en A diverse and exciting magazine bringing together art and technology; for example, the STARTS project: “Giulia Foscari: We are deeply honoured to have been awarded the STRATS prize. We are great believers in the power of artistic production to catalyse global action, disseminate scientific knowledge and accelerate the process of data democratisation, which are at the heart of the STARTS initiative.”

https://www.rightclicksave.com/article/the-hybrid-art-of-claudia-hart?fbclid=IwAR00y_BRzTFoDlg-tG0N8WsUSS-kHJ5dOOwaJWIQH19EnlyBsa4Gpo_aNvc Claudia Hart talking about digital combines and NFTs.

https://ars.electronica.art/newdigitaldeal/en/hybrid-art Hybrid art; for example the Garden Barcelona exhibition: This exhibition program is articulated around a long-term sedimentation process that emerges from the transdisciplinary collaboration between different institutions (art production centers, the university, scientific and technological centers, citizen lab center), that has led to the awarding of six scholarships for artistic research-production through an open call and a collective selection process. During the fully funded production and research residency, artists intertwine and situate their respective practices at the intersections of scientific centers (BSC, ICFO, BIST) associated with the Barcelona art, science and technology hub (Hac Te), as well as visual arts and dancing arts centers (Hangar, La Caldera)

https://shinybinary.com/ Digital artist with a catalogue of high profile clients.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/ez5zzp/the-gif-mountainsides-and-internet-landscapes-of-mark-dorf</a></p&gt; Mark Dorf’s use of image breakdown into detail and data sets: “All of Emergence was created while I was an artist in residence at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) in Gothic, CO. During my time there, I was working alongside ecologists and biologists in the field assisting them with their research, observing, and creating my own works. All of the imagery seen in Emergence explores the ways in which we collect, dissect, and interpret information.”

https://www.erikjo.com/ Surreal photography.

Virtual | Digital | Physical – HYBR1D ART J0URNAL (hybridartjournal.com) Hybrid Art Journal invites us to ‘make epic shit’.

Applications

Artivive. “The augmented reality platform for art”. Viennese company linking ‘classical with digital’ art. [online] Available at https://artivive.com Accessed 19th June (2022).

Filmora – video editing. Wondershare. Desktop. One off purchase. Pro version being retired.

Flamepainter – light painting. Escapemotions. Desktop and smart devices.

MotionLeap – animation. Lightricks. Smart devices.

Paintshop Pro – image editing. Corel. Desktop.

PhotoLeap – Lightricks. Smart devices.

PhotoMirage – animation. Corel. Desktop.

Power Director – Cyberlink. Suite including audio, colour, and photo editing/compositing by subscription.

Rebelle – painting. Escapemotions. Desktop.

_______

To clarify for whoever needs or would like to know, I write large and edit down, and the core of any piece of work, whether academic or fiction, is the story, the narrative. I was advised by a senior colleague when I admitted to having sat in front of a blank piece of paper at the start of writing up my PhD, to just write the story because the rest was admin and it would get in the way if I tried to dot all the reference is and cross the methodological ts from the start. He was right and I’ve done that ever since.

Telling the tale gets my thought together, prompts arguments and counter arguments I hadn’t thought of, brings up adjacent ideas and paradigms I may never have considered, and adds a fluency to my writing I doubt I would achieve any other way. The two drafts below of that Level 2 essay illustrate that process.

This is an early draft of the level 2 essay and comes in at ~3500 words. It contains ideas and discussions with myself that were edited out for the final 1000 word essay.

This is the first draft of ~2000 words. Again, thinking as I go and constructing hypothetical arguments on the fly.

________

I logged these about a week before the current date (4th January, 2023) with a view to illustrating the art that had generally been ignored or thought of as ‘primitive’ because it wasn’t Western. Without some appreciation of where the stories come from that the Aboriginal people paint, they may look like patterns, but to know that would be to have an understanding of a culture now thought to be the oldest in the world. From estimates of some 8000 years before Jim Bowler found the remains of Mungo Lady in 1969, carbon dating has now put these at around 40-60000 years. I’d like to say I found this information in a dusty academic tome buried at the back of a neglect library shelf but in fact it was in the audio book of Bill Bryson’s Down Under circa 2000/2015. I have, though, chased down the primary sources.

From Dreamtime to AR time – sixty thousand years of technology in art?

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=aboriginal+art

Dreamtime Travelling through the Australian continent – documentary

Dreamtime and the Seven Sisters – The World’s oldest story?

How Indigenous elders create authentic Aboriginal art | 60 Minutes Australia

The myth of Aboriginal stories being myths | Jacinta Koolmatrie | TEDxAdelaide

Aboriginal Artist Nellie Marks Nakamarra 1017

How does Aboriginal art create meaning

Aboriginal Art. The Men of Fifth World | Tribes – Planet Doc Full Documentary

Aboriginal Art – recording the Dreamtime: Lecture by Rebecca Hossack

Aboriginal Art Painting, Dreamtime  EnglishWithSophia

Australian dreamtime story – the world’s biggest rock, Burringurrah, Mount Augustus | ABC Australia

Some of these videos feel uncomfortably patronising; White voices speaking over Aboriginal ones and mediating their story, much as Koolmatrie above describes. Talk of ‘they used to believe’ as though that whole philosophy of life and meaning has been swept away for the bright shiny Western view of things. The EnglishWithSophia video is cringe-worthy but, if there’s to be a winner on the scale of awfulness it’s probably Hossack whose ‘adoption ‘ of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjirri feels very close to White Saviour syndrome. She is earnest but set out with a deception – bringing him over on a promise to meet the Queen which she knew she could not deliver. Except that she has a cousin of the Queen at Possum’s opening night and he fixes it. It feels very much like the social blindness of very entitled people who simply don’t see how they are with people who aren’t like them.

Aboriginal Dreamtime

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dreaming

Thompson Yulidjirri. Clips via google search 2023.

_______

31st December and, to celebrate leaving behind three of the worst years my generation has experienced and the dismal feeling that 2023 may need a kick in the behind to get over that bar, I’ve used the back of an old painting to draw out the ideas for this piece of work. The shape this piece of work will take is currently unspecified as the course materials don’t indicate the requirement of a written piece for this module, just ‘preparatory work’ for the piece as a whole which should, logically, slide from this module into the next. This was questioned recently with regard to the literature review followed next module by the dissertation which, presumably, would entail a second literature review. A meeting is planned for some time in January to clarify and involves Emma, Clare, the Director of Learning and Teaching(?), and me.

Meanwhile, a few productive moments with some charcoal and marker pens:

Somewhere between December 31st and today (4th January) because who knows what happens to time over these oddly punctuated weeks? These are integrated discussions, not discrete elements.

The history of technology is the history of the use of tools – the repurposing or deliberate construction of something to achieve an aim previously carried out with only whatever was available anatomically. Cupping hands to hold water for instance, replaced by sturdy leaves and eventually fired pots, shaped metal, and glass. For art, this includes the shift from applying pigment using just the hands, although arguably the pigment has become technology by the existence of this process – it was not ‘made’ to be pigment or to be applied to surfaces and so it has been repurposed at the motivation of a human mind.

Everything that follows was once new and likely to be perceived as a threat to the established ways of doing things. Artists became excited about the camera obscura and then dismayed and defensive about photography which threatened to deprive them of their traditional subject matter – portraits and landscapes. Photography had a capacity to document subjects in a way painting could not, and it was much quicker, perceived as scientific, and so had the value of veracity. Little did they know what was coming.

The unanticipated consequence of this was to free up artists to become interpreters of their subjects – painting not what the subject objectively is but what it is about or what it means.

This is the point at which I want to consider inclusivity and who decides what ‘good’ is because the more work a viewer has to do in order to make sense of something, the more room there is, in a field which is largely subjective, for coteries of experts to arise who claim to speak for the artist when they talk about the wheres, whats, whys and hows. This is, in my experience, opinion presented as fact and frequently dressed up in language that reaches its own soaring heights of obfuscating floridity that it may as well not be there at all.

The problem though is that it is there, and the more eloquent or influential the speaker, the more credibility the words accrue. Which brings me to the next tier of problems given that this group of elites usually comprises men. When power is invested in a particular group and excludes everyone else, there is a risk that whatever the group promotes or favours becomes canon. Hence the vast majority of art in galleries is by men, and the greatest wealth among artists is held also by men.

I will speculate that, traditionally, these men are White and Eurocentric, which may be why, as well as ignoring, excluding, and appropriating the art of women, they completely missed the history of art going back many thousands of years because it was made by Australian aboriginals.

How does this underpin my next premise which is that meaning and communication may be both critical for the future of art, especially galleried art, in a world where few people visit galleries, and many self exclude apparently because they do not understand the work and are afraid of asking.

I am moving to a Word document now where editing is easier and flow feels more natural. I’m aware of where the references need to go and, by and large, where to find them, and the building of the story enables me to generate a readable piece of work that is underpinned by academic rigour. There is some psychology to include but I am well aware that this is not a primary element and will only appear where it supports contentions about such matters as social influence and the impact of elitism and unconscious bias on inclusivity.

There’s quite a lot of pertinent symbolism here; slash and burn is both an editing strategy and here also a highlight near a burning question; the layered lights represent ideas whipping back and forth across the intellectual field; and the sliding text shows the influence of the different elements on all the others.

_______

Drafts posted earlier are deleted. 26/08/2023

6th January. Setting aside for now the bells and whistles of colour and design, I’m at that slightly agitated state where the shape and content-in-principle are there and just need populating before the actual writing, i.e. editing, can happen.

Drafts posted earlier are deleted. 26/08/2023

*13th January 2023. Meeting with Emma who clarified the situation with the dissertation and how to accommodate an assessable written piece for module 3.1 without compromising the integrity of the major piece of work.

The dissertation should be 4000-6000 words +/- 10% (seeking clarification as this is the national standard but 5% was mentioned) and completed during module 3.2

For 3.1, the only rule set in place is the word count, which is 2500, everything else is open to interpretation although it needs to be linked to the dissertation. We talked at length about what it might cover and ruled out a literature review or a research proposal as these had the potential to step on the toes of the actual dissertation and lead to issues of self plagiarisation. Later, in discussing ‘process’ – which is extensive when it relates to making art – we were able to fix that as a writer’s precursor too and to consider a piece of writing that described my various ‘universes’ and methods of pulling information together, the story telling as the precursor to the referenced piece, and the editing that is actually the largest part of any written piece; how story telling helps to establish the area of research focus and so builds in efficiency of search. My task then is to write a much more conceptual piece, which can incorporate imagery of various kinds, that describes the ‘composting’ (unconscious) process of breaking down the literal information to its gist and using that to lead a reader along a track that starts with the question and ends, after stopping at various contextual service stations along the way, at the depot of raison d’etre.

18th July 2023 and after some intensive writing, the precursor to which was the essay now titled Doors to Inception, the dissertation is done. Editing as always was the bulk of the task, especially when it read well and I still had over 1000 words to weed out. I managed to step round some of the darlings though, this time not just because I liked how they flowed and humanised the text but also because they personalised it in a way AI could not. I also made a cover because, if you can’t fancy up an art dissertation there is no hope!

This is not due for submission until the end of the next module when I may also have a different tutor with different ideas about what constitutes a dissertation; nothing anxiety-provoking about that!

I can’t post the full document until it’s been assessed but in the meantime, here’s the video embedded in the cover for activation with the AR app, Artivive.

SCH 2023

For a list of workshops, groups, conversations, and other activities see my dedicated page.