The most important point of urban building is its response to the urban environment, culture, and history. The main purpose of urban building is to better integrate the building into the surrounding environment, maintain the continuous urban streetscape, create attractive architectural spaces, while also contribute to the creation of a beautiful and harmonious urban environment.

This portfolio is mainly about the design of an urban building for health and well-being located on Clyde Street in the city center. Start from the urban background scale to the specific block scale, discussing the selection of site and the potential of the site. Then, by introducing the site research, analyzing the current problems of the site and possible causes, and providing certain solutions to these problems. These research lead to the selection of the program. Finally, combined with the analysis of the urban context, a design scheme is proposed.

Clutha is one of Glasgow’s first bars and has long witnessed the development of Glasgow. Over the years, the disrepair brought about by history has become an obstacle to the development of Clutha, and many problems have gradually surfaced. The project will start with an in-depth analysis of the historical context of the site from the historical culture of the area where Clutha is located, and find the uniqueness of Clutah. While analyzing the regional conditions, the unique network of Glasgow’s music development was analyzed, making the project have a good internal music network system architecture and become the core of the new Clutha. Next, the project reconstructed the function and form of the building from each floor in turn, incorporating a richer space and Clutha’s unique musical attributes into a limited space, thereby building the new Clutah into an emerging music and cultural center in Glasgow.

Sushmitha Srihari is a Postgraduate student at Mackintosh School of Architecture. Through the work experience as an architect, she believes the built environment is the key element which shapes the city and its people. At GSA, she has been learning the concepts of Urban design and their applications in today’s world.

The research and design project is focused on urban issues such as i) tension between the future of markets as a city-wide ‘destination’ versus neighbourhood or local amenity ii) Importance of socialising space in the city. The research conducted shows the study of 19th C market building typologies in the UK and Socialising patterns or usage of markets in the daily lives of the people.

This project studied and combined sociological, historic and architectural research to envision one of the most complex spaces in the urban fabric – the market place. Each of these aspects can define and impact the local economy and trade as well as how public open spaces are perceived. The project is aimed to understand how to successfully regenerate the market place as a lively functional and economic community space in the urban setting.

‘Connecting New Centres for Tradeston & Laurieston’

How might hierarchy of urban form introduced into Glasgow’s gridiron diversify pedestrian movement and experience? is the question to the design project in Tradeston & Laurieston located across river Clyde in south-side of Glasgow city centre.

The non-hierarchical system gird has the overall similarity of sizes and visuals on most streets, which makes harder for pedestrians to perceive a sense of hierarchy and difficulties pedestrian movement.

In Consequence, the author believed a city without the sense of hierarchy of urban form reduces the diversified pedestrian experience.

Recognised by the street user, the quality of varied diverse experience of pedestrians because people remembering the image of identity of different places. Glasgow’s gridiron which is essentially a non- hierarchical urban pattern, lack of the hierarchy of urban form. Missing of the secondary and tertiary street, the city loss the opportunity to introduce more diversity in the street network.

The hierarchy allows for the great decision by the pedestrian when travelling from their location to destination. The variety of street types have corresponding building typology that enclosed the space between buildings.

This design project aims to investigate how pedestrian movement between two neighbouring districts of Tradeston and Laurieston in Glasgow has been affected by an existing grid-iron morphology.

The project introduces a hierarchy of urban form including central square with primary public buildings; primary streets, mid-block lanes to plays as shared space and building variety at the scale of the block into the Glasgow grid-iron system.

Reflection on the success of the design project will allow conclusions on the applicability of a similar method to the understanding and transformation of other locations of under-performing gridiron morphologies.

The ‘Other’ Playground: An Interactive and Heterotopic Right to the City

This project speculates about the exercise of the public’s right to play in the city through an interactive three-dimensional design proposal. Developed out of a rich understanding of the host space, the project combines the ideas of community gardens and sculptural playgrounds, to convert a previously in-between, overlooked or interstitial space in Glasgow into a site of rich cultural activity.

Through embodied experiences of play, the design aims to engage and stimulate an interaction amongst the local population and the site; improving and enhancing the relationships between the body and the urban fabric, whilst giving the users a voice to celebrate their own imagination and creativity.

Based in Possilpark, the project takes advantage of growth opportunities and embraces innovative ways of working to develop a model for finding sustainable, attractive and economically viable ways to re-engage interest in lost and forgotten civic spaces. Until around 1870 Possilpark was no more than a mansion house and home farm with few residents.

Since the 1950’s Glasgow, as with many cities across Scotland, has seen the demise of its industrial sector. The inter and post-war period was the most traumatic for the industries and although Glasgow clung onto being the “workshop of the Empire”, by the 1990s most of the engine shops were derelict and the shipyards reduced to wasteland. The most rapid deindustrialization took place during the 1970s and 1980s, with many of the traditional industries drastically shrunk or completely closed down. Although many initiatives promised revival, a shift towards a new service-oriented economy emerged to replace traditional heavy industries. This left many Scottish cities peppered with derelict spaces and industrial wastelands.

Possilpark was unable to avoid this pattern of urban decay, and today 100% of residents live within 500m of vacant or derelict land. The district is also one of Scotland’s most deprived areas with 15% undeployed.

The site is located on the intersection of Allander St and Barloch St in Possilpark.

Previously supporting the east corner of a tenement block, demolished in 1970, the stalled space currently functions as a car park.

Along with the scale and derelict condition of the space, which provided a huge canvas for the project, the fundamental reasons for choosing the site was its location in Possilpark and the area’s social demographic context. At the epicentre of one of Glasgow’s poorest neighbourhoods and running parallel to Saracen Highstreet, the site provided the opportunity to benefit an extremely diverse and deprived community.

The site, as with many streets throughout Possilpark, had become an avenue of anonymity, rather than a place of rich culture and activity. After visiting the site and talking to local residents it became apparent the traditional sense of a community had broken down. The increased transience of people in and out of Possilpark had developed a situation of people living in close quarters to each other but operating very isolated and separate lives. This ultimately breeds fear, contempt and frustration, bringing on a sense of alienation and powerlessness within the community.

This observation drove the development of a community based, public spaces project. These spaces are important assets to the urban fabric, providing people with opportunities to come together and engage with the community. When successful they can become a ‘self-organising public service’ for everyone in the society to participate in, learn from and to help create local attachments.

In Topographies of Contemporary Architecture Ignasi de Solà-Morales says architecture has gone silent. However, have we in fact just become deaf to the spaces around us through a lack of interaction and embodied experiences of play?

Relying less on visual stimulation and targeting a wider range of sensory stimuli the proposal shows how adding something new and enhancing the existing can positively change the way we experience and interact with the built environment.

The visuals explore the finer details of the design, whilst showing the inhabited capacity and tactile nature of the space from four different perspectives. To represent the demographic of people in Possilpark the images are populated with a range of figures, of varying heights, body shapes and abilities. These figures animate the design; suggesting how the space could be used and the rich variety of experiential goals the design can yield.

The project did not explore the technical details and specifications of the designed objects; how they would be made and what they would be made from, however, the visuals suggest a pallet of materials and textures which would achieve the goals of the space and design.

A conscious decision was made to crop the images and shape the field for view. Stepping away from a rectilinear frame not only avoided traditional presentation aesthetics, in line with the motifs of the project but also listened to David Hockney’s criticism of ‘traditional’ photography’s static field of view, revealed during early research into collage. Furthermore, the use of organic shapes to frame the visuals playfully focuses the attention on the designed space, drawing the eye into the centre of the space and reducing the attention given to the surrounding buildings.

After graduating from the Glasgow School of Art in 2019 with a first-class in BA (Hons) Interior Design, I am extremely proud to have completed my masters of Architectural Studies at the Mackintosh School of Architecture.

Having spent the last two summers interning at Interior Visions in Thailand and Waldo Works in London, I’m currently looking to widen my knowledge and experience within the growing discipline of design and architecture.

Creative Urban Practice.

An artistic exploration into urban space.

The production of a series of digital screen prints to create opportunity for speculation on how terrain vague urban spaces are viewed.

The considered urban spaces are ‘terrain vague spaces’. These spaces are often under appreciated, or misunderstood. They are overlooked.

This project consists of a series of images to provoke the viewer to consider these ‘terrain vague spaces’ differently, to contemplate value in otherwise undervalued spaces.

The artistic process allows characteristics of terrain vague spaces to be revealed. Highlighting the spaces value, and prompting these spaces to become part of the city in a way that wasn’t previously considered.

The final output of the project is three series of art practice, digital screen print images, which challenge conventional readings of urban space. Each series draws attention to a key principle of terrain vague spaces evident across three studied sites.

The images use abstraction to allow for the displacing and realigning of knowledge to realign thought. Specifically, this is the realigning of logic from spatial knowledge to re-frame thought on urban space.

Printed editions at A0.

FRAMEWORK FOR A JAPANESE RITUAL

How does architecture facilitate ritual practice within the context of the Japanese archipelago? 

During Paul’s time in Japan he encountered many ritual practices, from daily activities to religious ceremony. Bathing to tea ceremony. As a result, he investigated elements of a design for a timber Bathhouse, not only the physical attributes of the construction [and making] but the philosophies and atmospheres, namely the metaphysical qualities, which underpin these Japanese spaces.

To gain an understanding of Japanese spacial concepts it was of value to draft using more Eastern illustrative devices. Traditional Japanese prints show an innate convention for the use isometric projection, which may be because of the orthogonal nature of Japanese traditional architecture. The lack of three- dimensionality in this method of drawing amplifies the quality of the space. In particular, he was inspired by the traditional isometric projections by traditional carpenters that he encountered during his travels, these simple line drawings honour the immense complexity involved in traditional timber building construction and the skill of the maker. Craft and complexity of draftsmanship, therefore, can be an implication of skill and complexity in craftsmanship.

Beyond this, through the process of physically producing each drawing in a sequence of subjective lines, the essence of craft became apparent. With each intersecting line, columns began to merge; interlocking like they were newly carved at a carpenters’ workshop.

The rapid development of the global civil aviation industry has led to a surge in the number of airports. Airport departure hall consumes a lot of energy throughout the year due to their large size, complex function, busy business and long operation time. Among other functions the energy consumption for artificial lighting and air conditioning is one of the main factors leading to high energy consumption in the terminal. Skylight lighting, as a common way of lighting, is also different from ordinary buildings when it is applied to departure halls. At the same time, there is a special relationship between the energy consumption of air conditioning and the energy consumption of daylighting due to environmental conditions in low latitudes, and skylight lighting has a better energy saving potential in low latitudes. In view of this, this paper studies and analyzes options of skylight design for a typical airport departure hall form and layout. Based on the study of the design of departure halls and the theory of natural lighting design, the elements of daylighting design of skylights of the departure hall are summarized, and the natural lighting effect of the three skylights are discussed.

Yasmine Amani is a textile artist and expert embroiderer, specialising in hand embroidery and embellishments. In her work, she combines traditional hand intensive embroidery methods with contemporary and current concepts, aiming to entertain and captivate the viewer. She has previously worked on commissions for the BBC, including embellishing a jacket which was worn by Susan Calman on BBC Scotlands’ Hogmanay.

Inspired by iconography and the decorative opulence of Faberge eggs, Yasmine Amani’s Master’s project looks to turn the chicken into the icon of the 21st Century. Inspired by films such as ‘Chicken Run’ and ‘Marie Antoinette’, she aims to reimagine the chicken with a new found sense of sophistication, glamour and grandeur.

Through a limited palette and material choice, subtle changes in the differing tones, weights, textures and transparencies of ribbon can be detected, echoing the beautiful plumage found in chickens. Influenced by designers such as Simone Rocha and Valentino, her fashion visualisations aim to manifest a sense of importance in its wearer.  With an emphasis on volume, her textiles are integral to mirroring the voluptuous qualities and plumage of the chicken, adding to the overall impact of the garment. Additionally, with the exclusive use of hand embroidery methods, she creates the look and feel of a sumptuous body of feathers throughout her collection, elevating the once humble chicken to a level beyond its popularity as meat.

Yasmine practices responsible methods in her work by using second-hand materials wherever possible, sourcing these through Ebay, charity, thrift and vintage shops. Additionally, by exclusively using hand embroidery methods in the making of her textiles, this excludes the need and use of machinery for the whole textile process. Furthermore, due to her style of embroidery, it would be hoped that the longevity of the item would span out many years and cherished by whoever it remains with.

Yufei Cai is a high-end womenswear designer specialising in clothing with a romantic style, aiming to offer a different analysis and concept of beauty. She explores the silhouette by utilizing flowers as a research object, breaking through conventional clothing construction by using sculpture to show the effect of blooming. The entire series of work is visual and powerful, and she prefers traditional handcraft sewing methods to make clothes. Though the use of textured fabric and fabrication techniques, she explores sensory interaction with three- dimensional garments. This is enhanced by responsible design through designing innovative womenswear that considers functionality and aesthetic so that the designs can be worn by people with impaired sight.

At the heart of Kieran’s studio practice is a design ethos that is driven by combining traditional textile techniques with contemporary production methodologies. His design collections explore the synergy between creative process and production, enabling him to push design boundaries and deliver fashion and textile outcomes that have an innovative, futurist aesthetic, whilst maintaining a relationship with craftmanship and traditional artistry. These values place Kieran’s collections amongst contemporary fashion designers who are utilising fashion as a method of progression – whether that be of the body, inspiration or the use of unconventional or non-traditional materials.

Drawing inspiration from a range of cultural, natural and architectural sources, Kieran has applied a research and development process that undertakes multiple stages to interrogate initial research within a 2D and 3D context. Photography work is used as initial inspiration, which is then reinterpreted digitally via CAD programs, or by hand through various drawing and manipulation techniques. This process allows Kieran to identify areas which could be developed further and apply hierarchical value to his work based on which has more potential to be successfully developed.

Translating drawing into material prototypes continues to inspire and innovate Kieran’s design process. This is highly influenced by designers such as Iris Van Herpen, Alexander McQueen and Issey Miyake, all of which inspire Kieran with their application of contemporary technology and unconventional materials within their collections. From this point, a lot of Kieran’s inspiration is derived from the creative process and the exploration of materials. He is encouraged to push the limits of the materials at his disposal, creating hybrids which combine the attributes he feels necessary to effectively translate ideas and perform in the required manner. This exploration develops into a cycle of production and self-reflection, with each step being influenced by the previous and informing the next until the process and material are perfected within the context of the garment and how he wants them to look and behave.

Kieran’s current collection, titled ‘Transient Bodies’, has been inspired by the theme of transience – the temporary transitionary phase between one state and another. Initial inspiration came from researching the online model Imma.Gram – a virtual being who is a combination of a physical person and digital superimposition, the graphic work of Bridget Riley and kinetic sculptures developed by Nick Cave. The combination of the optical phenomena found within both bodies of work when combined with fashion, and the concept provided by Imma.Gram, was an avenue Kieran was keen to develop and explore. Inhabiting the space between fantasy and reality, physical and digital, natural and synthetic is something that has only just began to be explored within the realms of fashion. Kieran wants to continue development of the continuous dialogue between fashion and technology as more methods of creation and materials are created and the way in which fashion is presented and consumed continues to change.

The resulting collection is an exploration of pattern and illusory artistic techniques to inform textile and silhouette forms. Working specifically with polyester based materials and plastics, techniques such as sublimation printing and mediums such a bemis, provided colour and bonding opportunities that created complimentary materials to Kieran’s design concepts. This process of working has resulted in the development of the ‘living hinge’ method of fabric manipulation. Where Kieran has used laser cutting techniques to apply a complex series of pattern explorations, adjusting variables such as line distance, length and shape, to create flexible materials that distort the figure and mislead the eye as they are worn, adapting to the wearers movement.

Innovation, material research and application drive Kieran’s design process.  His undergraduate research focused on the application of varying smart materials, such as thermochromic dyes, and the application of 3D printing and laser technology within the textile and fashion industries. His master’s study has enabled him to continue this research and explore the application of relevant synthetic materials, combined with contemporary design and fabrication processes to be explored and enhanced within a fashion context. This interest has extended to how these processes can be applied at a haute couture and high street level and Kieran has constructed archival catalogues of his material development, investigations, fabric prototyping, manipulation techniques and printing specifications to accompany his design outcomes. Kieran’s long-term goal is to continue his research into material development, challenging the ways in which the industry views and expands upon the ideas of conventional materials within contemporary fashion design. Fashion, as an industry, must become more sustainable and Kieran has attempted throughout the generation of his collection to make choices which have the least detrimental effects to our environment. Further work still needs to be done in this regard and this dialogue will be a permanent feature of his design process as he progresses throughout his career, gaining experience working for like-minded fashion houses before launching his own brand which sees his own visions brought to life on the runway, whatever that may look like in the future.

Manwei Ou is a womenswear designer who graduated from MDes Fashion and Textile of Glasgow School of Art. Inspired by the curtains blowing in the wind of Gabriel Lester’s installation , the designer decided to research the concept of frozen in time and space and experiment with capturing old clothing in the mid-air through photography.

These images selected from the impressive shape of thousands of pictures lead to a sensitive collection of twisted, flexible silhouettes dresses and hats. The shadow cast by the clothes on the wall in the photo also contributed a lot to this collection.

The work refers to revoke the warm memory and the unforgettable moment of urban people, as well as the concretization of personal abstract emotions, second-hand garments’ rebirth. Time is unstoppable, but we had this moment.

I created a new Collection with the interests and the feelings of mine which inspired by sound and silence and focused on the whole process of design through the studies at GSA. I became a surface led student and focused more on textiles in the whole year. I did much more textiles works than before and got much more than my expectation after the whole year studying in GSA. I explored the working method of fashion design and created my personal aesthetic.

I was inspired by the Artist, Film and Muse research project a lot. The muse in this project of mine is Brian Eno who works as a musician. Music gives me a fascinating world in my life, and I would like to create a relationship between music and clothes for a long time. So I was really excited to start this project. The project I was working on is to translate music and sound into garments. It was a pretty exciting project but with many difficulties, and I created a relationship among the sense of hearing and seeing by my own understanding of music and garments.

My project consists of three parts, sound part, visual part and the part of “sound” and “silence”. Throughout this project I undertaken  an in-depth research. In my previous project I took little time on research，so the outcomes were limited by my limited views. In this project I did research by the whole time in stage 1 and got much more than my expectation. So my work in stage 2 was making a selection of stage 1’s works to further my project, instead of continuing working difficultly with the limited ideas. I explored the sound materials and silent materials in stage 2, and I found flexible foam which is interesting to work with it on garments. It was my first time using an untraditional material on fabrics and it was an exiting start for my future projects.

Currently, the fashion industry is one of the most wasteful industries in terms of resources. Most brands launch new products at least twice a year or more. Garments are losing their value through time because popular trends are always changing. Chao’s designs are inspired by the traditional Japanese patchworking techniques, such as “Boro” and “Sashiko”. Those techniques link to the traditional Japanese aesthetic “Wabi-Sabi”, which embraces imperfection, incompleteness, and impermanent beauty. Chao uses “Boro” and “Sashiko” techniques and the concept of “Wabi-Sabi” to repurpose textiles, deconstructing and reconstructing garments to give new lives to old pieces of clothing. This practice can produce numerous designs, giving a new life and purpose to otherwise disregarded clothing.

Shanxu Cong, also called Vivien.

As a women’s wear designer, she is concerned about women’s freedom and protection, and she also explores the development of underwear style structure to convey women’s pursuit of free life attitude.

In her opinion, the sexiest moment of a woman is the moment when she comes home, takes off her clothes one by one and lies lazily in her delicate bedroom. With this in mind, she conducted an in-depth visual photographic investigation of the process of undressing.

This is the moment to show the beauty of the female body line, but it is not limited to age and figure. The structural change of folds is a good way to express these body lines. She loved the wrinkles, whether they were in the fabric of clothing or on human skin, and she didn’t see anything bad with them. Just like she loves everything about herself.

Pauline Levy is a French multidisciplinary Graphic Designer, currently based in Paris. Keen on experimentation, she explores different mediums such as sculpture, drawing, and photography, and plays with materials and colours, as part of the research process. Publications are often the outcome of her projects, because of her high interest in Editorial and Type design, discovered during her bachelor degree in Art Direction at Penninghen (Paris). Meanwhile, her passion for Dance, and more widely performing arts, led her to focus on movements, space, and body. Feet were her main interest of studies during this year, bringing her to a developed and various reflection presented through two different supports: a publication and a dance performance. At the moment, the dance performance is presented as a score, and will evolve into a video, in collaboration with some dancers. Next steps for her are to increase collaborative and interactive projects, in the dance field in particular, and to discover more in Type and Set Design.

Nina Klaff is a photographer, filmmaker, and writer currently based in London. Drawing from her background in digital anthropology and cultural analysis, her work addresses social issues in an experimental and evocative manner, with an ethereal aesthetic grounded in digital art. Her most recent Masters projects have revolved around the question of human connectivity in the age of social distancing. Her professional work includes portraiture, production photography for theatre and music, events, and creative writing and image-making for print and digital publications internationally.

Yu Xie is a photographer from China. His works focus on how do we look at the current social situation and its impact on individuals? We re-examine our way of life from the perspectives of individuals, habits, groups, urban structures, international news, etc. Explain, embody, analyze and criticize what is applicable to the individual’s emotions, the connection with the group, and how the individual can explore and respond to the next potential crisis in the context of the individual or the relationship between the individual and the urban development.

INNER CITY

In this project, he initially focused on an exploration of the ubiquity of architecture and urban objects within the city. Through constructed image making his project has morphed into a wider critique of how we see cities and the symbols within them. The images explore liminal or transitional spaces and their meanings are interpreted through his subjective perspective. His hope is that the viewer looks at the world he have constructed, and sees a world of absurdity, fiction, reality and fantasy. Something that is both familiar and unfamiliar, unnerving and uncanny. An inner city born of my observations and imagination.

Normal

After the covid 19 outbreak and subsequent pandemic, the whole world seemed to stop, but in the wider expanse of history, what has felt like forever, has in reality been just a few short months. Time did not stand still. His life and the world changed quietly. His room effectively became his world as he gradually crepts towards his new normal. This normal was uncertain but not unfamiliar. The objects and space were effectively the same, but how he viewed them had changed. Through his camera he sought to try and make sense of his surroundings and state of mind. Using primarily still life, his photographs look for clues and explore metaphor through the daily narration of his new normal life.

THE AMAZON IS ON FIRE. SAVE AMAZON.

In recent years, Coronavirus, Australia fire, dramatic temperature change and amazon rainforest destruction rate have returned to their peak. The frequent occurrence of disasters on earth made me start to think about human beings and the environment. How to balance the relationship between human and nature? How can the situation of the “future” not be worse than that of the present?

My topic is about the deforestation of Amazon rainforest. The number of fires in the Amazon rainforest increased 30.5% in 2019 from the previous year, while deforestation rose 85%, according to recent data released by Brazil’s space research agency INPE. The Amazon rainforest is far away from our lives, but its roles the lungs of the earth. Where would we be without it? My project is to make a publication–THE AMAZON IS ON FIRE( bilingual edition in Chinese and English)–to make more people aware of Amazon rainforest.

“The Fire” does not only fire in the Amazon rainforest but more importantly, the amazon is in a state of emergency and need of rescue right now.

I am a multidisciplinary artist utilising skills in Film Making, Photography and Visual language as my primary method of storytelling. Adhering to an underlying ethical code within my practise is a required part of acting responsibly as an artist, designer and a consumer, something I needed to be keenly aware of, given the sensitive nature of my work. This is no longer a choice or privilege, but a commitment everyone carries with their actions and Communication Design challenges me to ensure these values are upheld.

For the film “Mektub” I followed the animal welfare organisation “Ims’one Project” based in Morocco who seek to vaccinate, sterilize, tag and release street dogs as well as house the most vulnerable in the region. The documentary highlights the general situation facing street dogs in Imsouane, Morocco, and the attempts by local animal welfare organisations to introduce legislation combating the inhumane mass culling by authorities as an attempt to control their population. Woven alongside the issues facing dogs is also the personal portrait of Fran Belle, founder of “Ims’one Project”. Fran has to care for them as humanely as possible with limited resources, relying often on little more than her own relentless determination and immense self sacrifice.

Yingjie is a graphic designer. He usually uses illustrations and typography to reflect the concept of his work. Sometimes he will use almost crazy methods to achieve his goals. Some of the concepts of his works may seem naughty or even lazy, but he hopes that the audience can find something deeper behind these.

After coming to GSA, he focused on exploring more interesting things and concepts that people usually don’t notice easily, and try to use crazy ways to transform these concepts into his works. ‘Films in 1994 ’ is a good example.

As a Chinese, he understand the environment and current situation of Chinese art. He especially admire the artists from the 1970s to the 1990s. They worked hard to find their own artistic value and dared to fight for their purpose under the circumstances that the social environment changed very quickly. The spirit of confrontation is very worthy of the current artists to learn. Yingjie is also attracted by this spirit and hopes to make a work to commemorate it.

email: yingjiezhou1220@gmail.com

Compared with the undergraduate study of visual communication in a comprehensive university, the postgraduate study of graphics in Glasgow School of Art has brought Renyu Tian a greater space to explore and professional perspective.

The exit of graphics is not limited. Renyu believes that the information conveyed by graphics is diversified and can be very personal. When expressing views on some social phenomena, such as the infodemic and the conceptual change of marriage to modern people, she is more inclined to start from her senses and feelings.

I have a deep passion for trying to tackle the climate crisis. I consider it my way of contributing to that, by acting as a communicator and advocate for the greatness of change and alternatives that lie ahead of us. As an Illustrator, I want to utilise the ability of art to tap into people’s emotions and reach their guts – to influence a decision-making process and to motivate people to fight apathy and to find perspective. What I personally like so much about art, as a tool, is that it can easily be used to show a way of growing out of, instead of fighting against, whatever has to be changed. This follows the principle that whatever you give your attention to will expand. It is the perfect possibility to generate a new reality by feeding people‘s imagination – making something that might be yet invisible visible. “Homo sapiens rules the world because it is the only animal that can believe in things that exist purely in its own imagination, such as gods, states, money, and human rights.”, says Noah Yuval Harari in his book “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind”; hence, all systems on our planet earth (except for the ecosystem) once were just ideas in someone‘s mind who then acted upon them, convinced others of the ideas‘ strength, and therefore created a new reality. With all of my projects, I aim to contribute to creating such a new reality; one that is not based on exploiting people and planet, but one that is built on social, sustainable, and equitable values.

If this made you curious about more: Chrysopoeia is my recently launched caboodle of work where I will showcase all of my future projects.

Xiaoxin Wang is an illustrator and visual designer from China. She is currently working as a freelance illustrator. She explores the use of comics to tell stories about what happens around her. She uses irony and humor to take us into a surreal space. Her work aims to give the reader an emotional identity. She was shuttling back and forth between reality and the surreal.

Xiaoxin graduated from Hubei Institution of Fine Arts with a degree in Visual Communication Design before completing her GSA master’s degree.
“My works focus on the study of all kinds of emotions brought by the society. Through the observation of the people around me, I find that some of the pressures brought by the community are very subtle by looking at these stories and adding some emotional content. It is the most exciting thing to let the work wander between the real and the surreal. “

Introduction 

The Re-Building project is looking into how interior design can act as a therapeutic space for those struggling to live a happy life due to a traumatic event they have experienced. This space teaches people resilience towards trauma and helps them develop protective factors to allow a healthier response to traumatic events in the future. This space focuses on empathy and experience to promote healthy emotions and behaviours. In a physical term, Re-Building is used to renovate old, unwanted, damaged, or abandoned buildings. In an emotional term, Re-Building is a safe zone where people can identify the effects of a traumatic event and learn how their body needs to respond through a natural and safe release of energy to build resilience.

Aims and objectives 

The first aim of this project is to build resilience in people through a therapeutic encounter with the interior of the selected building. This research developed through several experiments of expression and gathering of feedback from both human and computer-generated software to understand how human emotion can be translated into an inanimate object.

Plato, the Philosopher, once said that there is a metaphysical realm of Ideal Forms. These Forms are universal and unchanging. Based on this, the second aim of this research is therefore to pursue the meaning of the Ideal Form and more specifically the Ideal Form of Interior. To do this, it was important to start this research by gathering insight on ornamentation, beauty, purpose, function, form, evolution, and future of any building to highlight the important factors in each of these categories.

The objective was then to create ornamentation of the human emotion so that both human labour and human emotion can contribute in the construction of the Ideal Form of Interior and to discover if Interior design can come closer to the Ideal Form by implying that function follows human needs and form follows human behaviour.

Trauma 

A traumatic event is a deeply distressing or disturbing experience through an emotional shock or a physical injury and there are three key therapy types for this. Somatic experiencing therapy focuses on bodily sensations, rather than thoughts and memories about the traumatic event. By concentrating on what’s happening within the body, there can be a release of trauma related energy through shaking, crying, and other forms of physical release. Cognitive-behavioural therapy helps people to process and evaluate their thoughts and feelings about a trauma. And finally, Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing incorporates elements of Cognitive-behavioural therapy with eye movements or other forms of rhythmic, left-right stimulation that can “unfreeze” traumatic memories.

For Erika, it is important to highlight the potential in old and abandoned buildings to avoid further damage to the environment as sustainability should be the bases of all future designs while maintaining the design variety of the past. Throughout each of her projects, Erika has the passion to make a difference by learning about personal issues of the public and tackling them one by one using interior design to create awareness with the aim to stimulate people to live and socialise in an emotionally healthier way. She aims to continue discovering new ways to help people through the adaptation of designs of the past, maintaining that the user’s well-being and happiness is a priority.

Boyi Zhou comes from China. She has background and a Bachelor degree in Furniture and Product Design. Through her placement year working as a Visual and Merchandising designer in IKEA, she has gained an interest in spatial design. Therefore, she determined to conduct her master studies in Interior Design at The Glasgow School of Art.

“Virtual space design: an exploration of future living space” is her graduate project, which aims to investigate the future living environment under the influence of rapid development of internet and technologies. The final outcome constructed a future community in modular design. There are five main modules: Entrance, Information Center, Entertainment Center, Working Area and Living Area. Each part is important and indispensible. In this vertical structure, this community could extend upward continuously to adapt to the flexible populations. People could realize everything in this community without moving to anywhere, which means the reduction of fuel costs, pollution, time wasted, transport infrastructures and so on. Thus, this project also has a close link to green cities and smart cities.

Folding Beijing creates a more extreme scenario, where China’s population capacity explodes in the future, and the population does not live on land. So around the 22nd century, space was divided into three levels, with different people occupying different Spaces and allocating each 48-hour cycle in different proportions. So in the inherent space can we expand and compress the space by folding.

AN ARTISTIC RESPONSE TO THE CURRENT SCENARIO OF PANDEMIC-INDUCED,  ISOLATION & INTROSPECTION.

A new design methodology based on pure elements which re-imagines the domestic interior as a santuary which is sensually and spiritually uplifting. 

Julia Sagias is a Scottish interior designer and artist from Glasgow. In 2020 she completed the Masters of Design in interior design. She has a first class degree in history of art from the University of Glasgow and is a practising artist based in the Southside of the city. Julia is a determined individual, having left a career in the cultural sector to study at the GSA and set up her creative business, Julia Clare Interiors. With a background in art and design theory, she has a strong conceptual approach combined with the artistic skills to apply her research, implementing a variety of artistic techniques including drawing, sketching and painting. She takes a concientous approach to the environment through the use of upcycling and natural materials.

Through her time at GSA Julia addressed issues such as emotional wellbeing experienced through the phenomenology of ambience, materials, spatial composition and colour of the interior space. This project, entitled  CONCEPTUAL AMBIENCE is a direct reponse to the current experience of perpetual, pandemic-induced isolation and introspection.  She was inspired to imagine the poetic ambience, form and materiality of the domestic interior which culminated in the redesign of the site of her own lock-down, her home.

Detailed through an in-depth exploration of form, colour, texture and space, and with a theoretical background based on the Classical and Modernist concept of Purism, this project demonstrates a way to create order and wellbeing through the layering of elemental form and colour and the careful arrangement of mass and surface. CONCEPTUAL AMBIENCE is a manifesto and methodology; an applied design language consisting of pure, geometric elements and a colour book of 30 earth-based colours and pure metals. The outcome is the creation of an interior programme inspired by Greek architecture and Le Corbusier’s Modernist interpretation of this typology.

Julia’s creative experiments include 3D digital modelling as well as sketching, and sculpting textural surface and form with gypsum and clay,  painting and gilding. This warm, serene aesthetic is a space which prioritises the private realm and interprets it as a sanctuary, with free-flowing movement between bedroom, bathroom and changing room and a continuous visual sequence throughout the house in an open-plan layout and atrium. As per the concept of the Total Work of Art, the layering of a unifying colour design, texture and form throughout creates a sense of balance, order and harmony. The result is a poetically ambient and emotionally therapeutic space which makes domestic isolation a calming and enriching experience.

Lucy McInally received a BA in Art History from the University of East Anglia in 2017 and moved to Southeast Asia until 2019, working in property development and start-ups in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Her experiences working for inclusive growth deal projects at the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal at the University of Stirling last year have enabled Lucy to focus her interior design work towards intergenerational living and the sustainability of cities. During her year studying a Masters in Interior Design at the Glasgow School of Art, Lucy has explored co-design practice.

Co-design methods engages with stakeholders and listens to the needs of communities to ensure that the results are usable. Involving a facilitator and groups of active participants, the social activities include discussion of ideas and experiences, collaborative experimentation and envisaging conceptual proposals. Due to the egalitarian nature of co-design, each members’ input is valued equally. The success of co-design processes leads the collective group to recognise their contribution in its outputs.

This research project applies co-design methods to interrupt the restrictive conditions at parks, as urban spaces within the interior of cities. Parks have been historically associated with hegemony; typologies of Britain’s parks are “owned” by governing bodies who implement the rules towards how people navigate these “public” spaces. When the Coronavirus pandemic led to a period of national lockdown, many people frequently visited their local park. Meanwhile, some councils in Britain’s impoverished neighbourhoods closed their local park. These systems of control are inequitable towards certain social groups.

Under the conditions of the pandemic, Lucy has developed her own co-design processes by exploring digital tools and physical collaboration with household members using play methods, whilst maintaining a strong personal role for the facilitator. A feminist methodology was applied to this project through a micro investigation of one marginalised group – women – who have been historically excluded from “public” sites and city planning. There is also scope for future workshops to occur with additional intersectional marginalised groups and urban spaces. Lucy hopes to continue developing co-design processes under an enterprise model.

Millions of people around the world often encounter artworks. Whether in museums or on the Internet, art is a ubiquitous part of human life. The fascination with art is a unique experience of influence. Although the feelings are different, it is undeniable that people’s physiological reactions can be stimulated when viewing artworks. This reaction process makes artworks have the ability to affect basic aspects of emotion or body, such as self-regulation, personality, and worldview. Changes in cognitive abilities. At the same time, this process of responding to artworks will even have an impact on people’s mental health by reducing stress. Therefore, this project will explore the interaction between artworks, people and space, and then use a three-dimensional visualization space to present this abstract reaction process that occurs in our brains when people view artworks.

Painting is the most common form of visual art expression. These products created by artists are an external expression of the artist’s inner world view and subconscious. When some works are created, there will be some motivations to encourage artists to present the content. Sigmund Freud has been studying artists and conducting psychoanalytic art throughout his career. He believes that art work is focused on a method of imagination. Art is created from imagination, can be analyzed to explain its meaning, and therefore can also exist as a means of communication. Artists pass their works to others in a way of understanding, participating, and experiencing the world, and thus establish connections with others. As a product of inner emotion and subconsciousness, artwork has the function and power to communicate with the outside world.

In the process of being appreciated by people, people’s basic emotional feedback is transformed from direct acceptance of the content of the painting to a personal understanding of the content of the painting. People will first use their eyes to accept the information conveyed by the artwork, and then according to their own understanding, add personal imagination, and convert the artwork into personal content in their minds. The process of touching people by artworks comes from the endless space of imagination that the content depicted by artworks brings people.

The development of imagination has constructed many wonderful moments in people’s lives. Imagination involves a process of “connection”, in which experience evokes thoughts and thus becomes integrated with thoughts. Imagination can help people visualize invisible things and form images of objects or experiences before bringing them into physical reality. Imagination is built on vision, which is a supplement to vision. People transform the two-dimensional graphics they see into virtual three-dimensional space in their own imagination space. Artwork will stimulate people’s imagination, and at the same time, imagination will enrich the content beyond the two-dimensional plane of artwork, and make artwork full of more possibilities.

Emotions will cause people to produce a series of specific performance states for a series of specific themes. Imagination expresses our emotions and responds to our emotions. Therefore, when describing and constructing the three-dimensional virtual space of this project, I will start from the five basic core emotions of people to describe the imaginary space in the brain after seeing the artwork under different emotions. At the same time, these five spaces They are integrated on the basis of a certain logic.

Art reflects real life and conceptual experience. Art is important because it is considered therapeutic, it provides an escape from reality, and it also provides meaning to life. The therapeutic effect of artwork is reflected in the process of viewing and appreciation, it enables people to establish a connection between the mind and the body, and uses imagination to build their own unique and private space. Imagination gives people the right to change subjectively. People can have emotional and spiritual dialogue in the virtual space of imagination, cover up some things, and transform them into new things. The model of this project will show a healing process, which exists in our minds and is the product of the collision between painting and imagination.

In the creation of the two-dimensional painting part of this project, five works by the surrealist painter Dali were referenced. In his works, mirroring is mostly used to express truth and falsity, so I also used mirroring to express the real and imagined space in my design. In the painting of swan reflecting on elephant, he used purple and yellow as opposites to describe the two opposite worlds. My work extracts these two colors to construct a world that is upside down, where the false and the real are opposed. At the same time, in the false world constructed by imagination, people will feel that time has stopped, and a metaphorical pattern is needed to help people distinguish the boundary between the two worlds and avoid getting lost in the falsehood. Many art historians point out that “red fruit” and “strawberry” are metaphors that symbolize people’s desire to pursue happiness, so I chose strawberry as a sign to guide people in the right direction in this amusement space.

The space of this project is divided into five spaces to express according to the five basic emotions of people, namely sadness, disgust, fear, anger and happiness. In order to express the entertainment and healing characteristics of the space, I abstracted some basic entertainment facilities. Forms and use their functions to metaphor the nature of space. At the very bottom of the space is the disgust space, which uses a maze metaphor, and the anger space for bumper cars continues upward, expressing anger with collision. Continuing upward is a falling roller coaster, used to express fear, and there is a sadness space that expresses fluctuations with huge ups and downs. This model has a forward part and a reverse part. Among them, the part of the hot air balloon that only metaphors happy emotions has only positive space and no reverse space. The process of forward and reverse is a metaphor of the healing process of art to the human spirit. At the beginning, emotions were negative and sad, but after a series of mental space games, everything developed into opposites, the negative emotions began to change, and finally reached the peak of happiness.

Different people from various cultural backgrounds form rich and diverse cultures in the world. A unique place, country, or group of people is defined by their specific culture and thus it is very important to develop and cherish one’s own cultures in this special and ever-changing time. As a Chinese, I am keen to study and treasure some of the traditional Chinese values that I endorse.

One of the most important values in Chinese culture is filial piety. According to Confucius, “Respecting and supporting the family’s senior members and handling their funeral affairs” are duties of younger generations, and “caring for the old and nurturing the young” are fundamental family virtues. In the modern context, proper gatherings and communications are crucial to Chinese people to help them to know their parents better and care for them accordingly. However, compared with the traditional Chinese houses design, the modern Chinese flats provides smaller and defined shared space, which is not good for family communications and eldercare.

I am aiming to propose modular furniture design at shared spaces in Chinese houses to provide more opportunities for gathering and communications among family members to take care of the elders in the families. Meanwhile, I also developed a model to verify the effectiveness of communications for the final design and potentially related designs.

At the beginning of the year 2020, the majority of Chinese people were asked to stay strictly at home for more than one month to stop COVID-19 from spreading, which unexpectedly provided a great opportunity for a family gathering. People explored many family activities in a limited shared space. By sourcing stories that happened at home during COVID-19 through public reaction data collected by government or other related media and also by interviewing some people, I found how people communicate through specific family activities. The stories are categorized according to the relative position of the people and then I used the model to verify the effectiveness of communications of different categories for a better understanding of the stories.

Case studies of multifunctional furniture and spaces that could enhance communications were also analyzed and they were verified by the communication effectiveness model for inspirations.

Finally, I proposed modular furniture that can be changed according to different family activities to meet the needs of various gatherings and communications. The furniture was proved to be useful in enhancing communications by the verification using the model developed. The final design of the furniture also provides more potentials of usage that could be explored by the users.

I am a recent graduate in the Product Design Engineering master course. Having a background in Production Engineering and Management I am familiar with technical issues and I have developed strong problem-solving skills. However, I have always been more interested in people and nature than in machines and production lines. Being a Product Design Engineer gives me the opportunity to fulfil my passion which is to solve problems but with a more creative and human-centred approach.

This year at the Glasgow School of Art I learned a lot about design thinking and design processes and gained valuable skills for my next steps. As a member of the Covid-19 class, we faced practical limitations, but it was an opportunity to show flexibility and creativity and find alternative ways to complete our projects.

This project was based on my particular interest in sustainable design and a problem arising due to Covid-19 pandemic. This is the Personal Protective Equipment and the terrible consequences that this waste has on the environment. More specifically mask waste adds to the already existing plastic pollution, as it contains plastic layers. ECO UVmask is a reusable sustainable mask which offers high protection, focuses on human needs, has a portable case where it can be easily stored and sterilised and after its disposal does not remain in the environment.

Many people have mentioned that sleeping on a plane can be a painful experience, leading to the need for a deep rest when you arrive at your destination, which is bad for jet lag.This product promotes the secretion of melatonin by regulating human body temperature, so that passengers can have a good quality sleep during the long-haul flight.

Technology: Add an air pockets layer in the middle of the aircraft blanket, and control the insulation of the blanket through intelligent breathing:  introduce and outlet air from the blanket.This process is completed by intelligent air pump, which is connected with user smartphone and sensor. Also, the light belt on the pump can tell flight attendants whether to wake you up for meal. Controlling air content in the blanket can control human body temperature, promote the secretion of melatonin, thus promote deep sleep, and adjust human biological clock during the flight.

The rapid development of smart phone photography has brought great threats to the camera field. Now more and more people are using mobile phones to take pictures and share them with friends. It seems that cameras have been making slow progress. I try to think about the existing forms of cameras from a new angle, hoping to bring new thoughts to the development of the camera field.

I used to have a bachelor degree in Material Science and Engineering from the University of Science and Technology Beijing. After graduating, I chosed to transfer my major to Product Design Engineering. In the past year, I learned a lot about product design in Glasgow. As the last project of my master’s study stage, I focused on the topic of “Future Food Supply”.

FUTURE FOOD SUPPLY
Shared Food Delivery Robot for Urban Balcony Farming

There is huge diversity in the way people usually get food today, such as meal deal from Tesco, takeout, cooking at home, fast food, etc. But what the food supply will be in the future？There may be more possibilities.

Analysing based on Speculative Design, both physical store disappearing and more direct contact with food producer are possible futures. But, No matter which one will be the future, Freshness is very likely to be still one of important requirements. From another angle, lots of food were wasted in past few months due to epidemic because some people over-purchased surplus food. However, residents live in my apartment shared their surplus food with neighbor, which reveals the huge potential benfits of social participation for dealing with food supply.

Accordingly, in order to provide food as fresh as possible and improve sense of social participation, I decided set Urban Farming as Main Context and Surplus food Sharing as Main Concept. Then I initially created such background: There is such kind of apartment with balcony farms and residents could share food with neighbor. Based on this scenario, lots of evidence support me to design a food delivery facility. And I developed my design concept from smart tracking cart to one-piece delivery robot and finally to modular delivery robot. More detailed Design Process Journal on the right illustrates entire concept development and design process.

Final product were designed to contain two parts: Sharing Box and Travelling Robot. There are 1 sharing box per household which is used to store surplus food and 2 travelling robots per 8 households which is used to transport box automatically. As for how it works, the project poster and video on the right shows a story which may be of great help for you to understand it.

Susan grows three species of vegetables on her balcony. One day, she harvests some and reserves what she need. Then she puts surplus food into sharing box and uploads sharing data with her phone. Few mintues later, travelling robot sends notification to her when it arrives. The sharing box is placed on robot and will be transported to the sharing room. Travelling Robot can find the path automatically, including taking lifts. In sharing room, zhang, as a volunteer, will take sharing box off and sort food inside. If sharing box away, travelling robot is free to execute the next command controlled by the cloud server. Go back to susan, her son fells not satisfied with only three types of vegetable. So she orders some food other grows. If informed a new order, zhang will pick this order into an empty sharing box and send them by travelling robot. Finally, although susan just grows three types vegetables, what she can get will not be limited in these three species.

In conclusion, this product will help to build a cooperative community in a building where residents can get various fresh food directly from balcony farms mainly in order to meet their requirement of freshness and social participation.

Thank you for watching. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcomed.

Daniel graduated with a 2.1 in Aero-Mechanical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde in 2018, before spending a year working as a freelance photographer, videographer and visual artist in Glasgow’s thriving punk and alternative rock music scene. Having had work commissioned by or featured in a range of editorials including Noisey, NME, Dork, The BBC, Dr. Martens and many more, Daniel made the decision to return to university for the Product Design Engineering postgraduate MSc. course at GSA, allowing him to combine his passion for design and creativity with his already established academic ability in engineering.

While studying at GSA, Daniel has developed a focus on user-centred design, with a particular interest in user experience. Throughout the first semester of study, he contributed a crucial role on Teamentia, in the development of the Remelodies project. This project centred around carers for, and sufferers of dementia, finding a way to remove the clinical element from their pre-existing relationships, be that husband and wife, mother and daughter, father and son, two friends or any other possible combination. The project received notable praise from an expert, a Glasgow based dementia events co-ordinator, who was consulted throughout the project and later was highly commended in the SIE Fresh Ideas competition.

Daniel’s major project also centred around user experience, this time with the aim of finding a way to minimise the disadvantages faced by dyslexic students in education on account of their lesser reading rate when compared to their non-dyslexic peers. The final design solution (the Minstrel) is an audiobook reader with an enhanced user experience, allowing users; improved navigational controls, improved feedback on progress through a text, a method of highlighting from an audiobook and a way to avoid their place being lost should they lose focus on the audio-narration. Three diagnosed dyslexic students and one expert, a product design engineering lead from Rakuten Kobo, were consulted throughout the project. The final design solution was commended as an intuitive solution with solves a major problem.

The project starts from photography. While after the research on the increasing amount of digital images generated by people, I found a problem on the rapid development of information and communication technologies and the carbon footprint it brings. According to the research about photo storing, it is estimated that there will be 1.4 trillion pieces of photos taken by people,and over 7 trillion pieces of photos will be stored by people.With the advertising of cloud storage service, more and more photos will be sent to cloud data centers by users, which means more energy will be consumed to storing data of digital images.

With the further increase in Internet penetration, more people will use personal computers and mobile phones. The large amount of data needs to be stored. More data centers will be put into use. Depending on scope, in 2020 ICT stands for up to 7% of the total global electricity use. In the future, we can foresee that human society will invest a lot of power and manpower to operate data centers. While it is our responsibility to protect our environment, we should think about how to build a greener Internet.

While most photos uploaded to the cloud storage are seldom viewed by people, I am thinking about storing them locally to reduce the energy used as well as protecting the privacy.

PROTECTOR

A pair of smart rings could remind you to do not touch your face and wash your hands for 20s

About my design: These smart rings mainly have a fluid sensor and a Three-axis accelerometer and gyroscope sensor. It can detect the tendency of face-touch behavior and also the handwash case. when you have the tendency to touch your face it would vibrate 0.5s to remind you that you have the unconscious face-touching behavior. when it detects that you are washing hands it starts to count and vibrate for two seconds at the twentieth second to tell you that you can finish washing your hands.

Background: People are worried about back to work as the epidemic is not over yet. I also found that people would quickly adapt to the work environment and their awareness of self-cleaning protection may decrease although they said that they are worried about back to work at the beginning. During the observation, I found that what we really need attention is the potential danger of our unconscious face-touching behavior, besides wash hands for 20 seconds is also needed to reduce the risk of unconscious face- touching behavior but most people can’t accurately account to 20s for hands washing. So what if people could be reminded to do not touch their face and also could know whether they have washed hands to 20s.

How to use: As for how to use it, if we start it for the first time it will automatically go into setting mode, and what we need to do is to follow the instruction to record two positions, and the red led would flash to lead you. once you complete set you can start to use it and next time you can click it three times to reset the positions again if you want. Now we can start to use it, we don’t need to do anything in this stage, just wear them on our hands, once you have the tendency to touch your face, it would vibrate 0.5 seconds to remind you, of course, you can choose to continue touch and put your hands down, if you choose to touch your face it would not vibrate, cuz at this time you already realize that you are doing the unconscious face-touching action. And it would only vibrate again the next time you have the tendency to touch your face. And for the wash hand vibrate remind, once it detects that there is handwash liquid and starts to count, and once you use it wash for the 20s it starts to vibrate 2s to remind you that you can finish washing.

My portfolio:

Portfolio of my final project, more details information about my design process and also the product

CITRUS
Turning Citrus Peel Waste into Valuable Kitchen Cleaning Products.

Inspired by a juice bar throwing a lot of orange peels every day, a thought was triggered. How can those peels, the material gifted by nature, be thrown into the trash can without thinking about it? This kind of natural material, called ‘waste’, deserves to be treated more appropriately.

In terms of chemical properties, orange peel essential oil have excellent antibacterial properties that can be used as natural substitutes for chemical detergent. In terms of physical properties, the treated orange peel can be transformed into biological materials.

So this project will take advantage of the chemical and physical properties of orange peels. Firstly, extract the essential oil from the orange peel which has antimicrobial property as a natural dishwashing detergent to replace the chemical dishwashing liquid. Then, convert the remaining orange peel after extracting essential oil into a dishwashing tool to replace the non-degradable polyester sponge.

This project presents a peel waste recycling system that is neglected in daily life to users in the form of products. It hopes users can more truly experience the process of giving peel waste a second life.At the same time, hopefully, the peel recycling process will get people thinking about: how can we redefine the use of this so-called waste? And how can we collaborate with beneficial natural systems to create more sustainable material prototypes?

M – Charge Pile

In the past five years, the electric vehicle market has developed rapidly, which result in an increasing requirement of charging. However, users do not feel charging at public is convenient with more charge piles. One of the reasons cause this problem is the bad distribution of commercial charging resources.

In order to deal with that we put forward a more flexible commercial charging solution which named M-Charge point. It runs on the rail and charge pile could move along that to charge a vehicle in different positions. Reserve the original way of providing service – serving one parking space with one charging pile, it serves five even ten parking spaces at different position, which improves the efficiency of resource and save the cost of  construction.

is a British Product Design Engineer with a background in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, whose MSc final project is titled ‘Designing For The Homeless‘.

It was identified that the Glasgow housing crisis is particularly affected by two key problems; a poor perception of the homeless by the public and homeless sleep deprivation. The negative connotations surrounding the homeless population and a resulting lack of human contact makes it difficult for them to get the support they need. Sleep deprivation is an unrecognised concern for most homeless people. Rough sleeping is mentally, physically and emotionally draining, and the constant exposure to noise leads to ailments like insomnia that further impacts the homelessness stigma.

Introducing Caraid; a system that utlises RFID technology and white noise sleep therapy to address these issues. An associated service was designed which sought to change the way the public interacts with the homeless, by encouraging empathy and initiating contact.

In solidarity with those embroiled in complaints against GSA we present a collaborative piece of writing that came about as part of a conversation responding to Fred Moten and Stefano Harney’s text ‘The university: last words’ and our own experiences of the institution.

This text is available to listen to as a special edition of the Art Writing Soft Shell podcast here.

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     hang on can’t hear back in a sec
Radically detach
Rejecting the gowns the dress
I think just stop paying
the feedback is the grades / collective feedback takes its place
If we accept
experience economy
Access to your peers
in a pragmatic way
undermine value of credential
What is required
Using the university as a hermit crab shell
university as hermit crab shell
university as a hermit crab shell
occupy
carapace
Any kind of shell
something useful that can be carried off
steal from the university
Access to each other
beep
you’ve all been expelled
refusing
refusing to end
Refusing the discipline
sticky question
extracted as currency
extracted from you as the university’s currency
Submit awful work
Do your best work in secret amongst each other
do your best work in secret
then you lick it
the university as guard of resource
University as guard to be undermined
break down barriers of access
Disperse them outwards
I can let anyone into a zoom
physical barriers
Robin Hood it
What they hold
authorship
people on the inside giving away for free
Intellectual property
how are those entangled
Property ownership authorship
property ownership authorship
Collective authorship
complicity
Talked out of it by submission
voices that join in with each other
hierarchy of work
Work rises
hierarchy of work
What it means to have an art practice
arts ed capitalises on “my work”
the privilege of being paid to work/research
academics rise
Individuality of submissions
Read by a higher reader
even if working as a collaboration
the individuality of submissions
can’t submit as one
Property–>value
the labour isn’t equivalent
From the beginning we are learnt to say ‘my practice’ ‘my work’
You go in holding this thing
disrupt and defer
the language of “my practice”
a practice of individuation
language of practice is the language of funding applications
we don’t present without names
We don’t present nameless
Naming as a form of violence
naming as ossifying
fixing to commodify
Acknowledgement as first step
Overcoming our complicity
my work/my practice,
What could it become
many many terms
Different ways to conceptualise it and put it into language
what role does language have in all of this
a manifesto
manifesto as movement to a different language
language of movement of criticism
Instead of floating through it
what we understand collectively
our own our practices
maybe just not paying
if you’ve got a problem you assume there’s a specific solution to that problem
Step outside – the potentials get bigger
meet in the car park
Stepping around the problem
increasing surveillance of students
Restriction of access
ways to work around that
movement around the campus is documented
Not a given that that’s okay
surveillance – it’s not a given that that’s ok
you start at group and end at solo
whole artist trajectory is group show towards solo show
start at group and end at solo
Art – start in group move to solo / it’s all pushed that way / it’s a tradition – proponent of larger apparatus of making solo
a larger apparatus of making solo
Abolish the solo show!
(Dorothea Lange, at her big moma retrospective, insisted on including her assistant’s work in it)
Presented to a student, to take part in – take part, scoop
student paying for the conversation / staff being paid to ‘give the conversation | taking part is the language of the university
Conscientious and active students paying
often not lines defined by the students themselves
this weird accountability thing
Its not a mutual thing
staff student ‘relationship’
the beginning of being solidified
We’re in the beginnings of being solidified
the early fizzy stages
it didn’t feel fun anymore
The work, my work, a unit of work
play
Resisting articulation or end
the structures that make things not fun anymore
Sustained practice (SH)
fun and play as subversive strategies
What about anger
what about anger
Anger within play
Play assumes we’re happy
where is anger within play
an indulgence
pastoral care as pull / indulgent
someone to care what you’re doing
you can’t show anger bc you’re getting pastoral care
It puts you in a clinch
play as in mess with it
Other ways to be antagonistic within the structure
it ultimately benefits the uni
Never made the actual work
withheld the work
benefited the course – won prizes
To not make the final product
it is very slippery
that’s not really the fucking point
The inconvenience of anger
the inconvenience of anger and of not playing
Of not giving back
Inconvenience of giving something back that’s not palatable
Not playing
Not user friendly
how do people think it’s different and why
remove reference to it
The institution are uncomfortable so trying to remove reference to them / keep it in house
the idea of looking back
Alumnus are used
alumnus – they let themselves be used
that doesn’t make any sense chronologically
University relying on complacency on a more giant body of students
university relying on complacency of larger body of students
like business does
I’ve just got to get through this
the individuation of it
I’m gonna carve this time out
I’m going to carve this time out
the sacrifices people have made
the sacrifices people have made
money/time
Relies on the sacrifices
A bind
competition, apathy
Some people aren’t in a position to reject it
powerless within that
to be in a specific place
What can we do as a group to disrupt or reject that
on a day to day basis
habitual things
Habitual actions
What habitual things over a long term force change
the privilege to be able to protest
the privilege to be able to protest
it’s about access as well
access to these thought processes
Access to these discussions
organising outwith the institution
Brief moments of interactions have sometimes been more worthwhile than 2 hr seminars
that spontaneous conversation that arises
the stuff that’s around the institution the para
is probably most valuable
The stuff that’s around the institution /the para part of the institution
Those spaces, they’re spontaneous
there’s something and it’s a bit sideways
make the structure make less sense
Let it go let it stop being property
how you articulate where your position in the university is
How you articulate what your position in the university is
what agency or organisation could look like
Let the property go
can ‘an organisation’ not have property
divert you from your aims are usually the three p’s: property, prestige, power
digital exclusion
Who’s left behind
The shifts that have had to happen
Necessary adaptation
false sense of agency
fob us off
Property when it’s not investment
property when it’s not investment
GAS – things are housed there
can an organisation or an institution be a free entity if it doesn’t have property?
keeping that space safe
is the issue not with the property but who controls the use of the property?
How do you make an open and radical accountability process?
a radical accountability process
those issues come up very much in the virtual space
not as free as the university would like you to believe
Property is theft
property as a thing or a space that can be collectively owned
property as something you own and others don’t (property is theft)
it is a long change
decentralising who holds the power
it didn’t just appear as we know it now
Rely on a common thought
I’m such a good product of capitalism
how much I’m a good product of capitalism – following through a structure –
radical complicity
Underpass learning
nowhere to gather
what you fund to keep going
the whole text is an echo in a way
///

Collectively authored by the current and continuing 19/20 Art Writing MLitt cohort.

IMPORTANT LINKS :
www.pauseorpayuk.org
www.alt-d.online
gsamfa.net/

In solidarity with those embroiled in complaints against GSA we present a collaborative piece of writing that came about as part of a conversation responding to Fred Moten and Stefano Harney’s text ‘The university: Last words’ and our own experiences of the institution.

This text is available to listen to as a special edition of the Art Writing Soft Shell podcast here.

hang on can’t hear back in a sec
Radically detach
Rejecting the gowns the dress
I think just stop paying
the feedback is the grades / collective feedback takes its place
If we accept
experience economy
Access to your peers
in a pragmatic way
undermine value of credential
What is required
Using the university as a hermit crab shell
university as hermit crab shell
university as a hermit crab shell
occupy
carapace
Any kind of shell
something useful that can be carried off
steal from the university
Access to each other
beep
you’ve all been expelled
refusing
refusing to end
Refusing the discipline
sticky question
extracted as currency
extracted from you as the university’s currency
Submit awful work
Do your best work in secret amongst each other
do your best work in secret
then you lick it
the university as guard of resource
University as guard to be undermined
break down barriers of access
Disperse them outwards
I can let anyone into a zoom
physical barriers
Robin Hood it
What they hold
authorship
people on the inside giving away for free
Intellectual property
how are those entangled
Property ownership authorship
property ownership authorship
Collective authorship
complicity
Talked out of it by submission
voices that join in with each other
hierarchy of work
Work rises
hierarchy of work
What it means to have an art practice
arts ed capitalises on “my work”
the privilege of being paid to work/research
academics rise
Individuality of submissions
Read by a higher reader
even if working as a collaboration
the individuality of submissions
can’t submit as one
Property–>value
the labour isn’t equivalent
From the beginning we are learnt to say ‘my practice’ ‘my work’
You go in holding this thing
disrupt and defer
the language of “my practice”
a practice of individuation
language of practice is the language of funding applications
we don’t present without names
We don’t present nameless
Naming as a form of violence
naming as ossifying
fixing to commodify
Acknowledgement as first step
Overcoming our complicity
my work/my practice,
What could it become
many many terms
Different ways to conceptualise it and put it into language
what role does language have in all of this
a manifesto
manifesto as movement to a different language
language of movement of criticism
Instead of floating through it
what we understand collectively
our own our practices
maybe just not paying
if you’ve got a problem you assume there’s a specific solution to that problem
Step outside – the potentials get bigger
meet in the car park
Stepping around the problem
increasing surveillance of students
Restriction of access
ways to work around that
movement around the campus is documented
Not a given that that’s okay
surveillance – it’s not a given that that’s ok
you start at group and end at solo
whole artist trajectory is group show towards solo show
start at group and end at solo
Art – start in group move to solo / it’s all pushed that way / it’s a tradition – proponent of larger apparatus of making solo
a larger apparatus of making solo
Abolish the solo show!
(Dorothea Lange, at her big moma retrospective, insisted on including her assistant’s work in it)
Presented to a student, to take part in – take part, scoop
student paying for the conversation / staff being paid to ‘give the conversation | taking part is the language of the university
Conscientious and active students paying
often not lines defined by the students themselves
this weird accountability thing
Its not a mutual thing
staff student ‘relationship’
the beginning of being solidified
We’re in the beginnings of being solidified
the early fizzy stages
it didn’t feel fun anymore
The work, my work, a unit of work
play
Resisting articulation or end
the structures that make things not fun anymore
Sustained practice (SH)
fun and play as subversive strategies
What about anger
what about anger
Anger within play
Play assumes we’re happy
where is anger within play
an indulgence
pastoral care as pull / indulgent
someone to care what you’re doing
you can’t show anger bc you’re getting pastoral care
It puts you in a clinch
play as in mess with it
Other ways to be antagonistic within the structure
it ultimately benefits the uni
Never made the actual work
withheld the work
benefited the course – won prizes
To not make the final product
it is very slippery
that’s not really the fucking point
The inconvenience of anger
the inconvenience of anger and of not playing
Of not giving back
Inconvenience of giving something back that’s not palatable
Not playing
Not user friendly
how do people think it’s different and why
remove reference to it
The institution are uncomfortable so trying to remove reference to them / keep it in house
the idea of looking back
Alumnus are used
alumnus – they let themselves be used
that doesn’t make any sense chronologically
University relying on complacency on a more giant body of students
university relying on complacency of larger body of students
like business does
I’ve just got to get through this
the individuation of it
I’m gonna carve this time out
I’m going to carve this time out
the sacrifices people have made
the sacrifices people have made
money/time
Relies on the sacrifices
A bind
competition, apathy
Some people aren’t in a position to reject it
powerless within that
to be in a specific place
What can we do as a group to disrupt or reject that
on a day to day basis
habitual things
Habitual actions
What habitual things over a long term force change
the privilege to be able to protest
the privilege to be able to protest
it’s about access as well
access to these thought processes
Access to these discussions
organising outwith the institution
Brief moments of interactions have sometimes been more worthwhile than 2 hr seminars
that spontaneous conversation that arises
the stuff that’s around the institution the para
is probably most valuable
The stuff that’s around the institution /the para part of the institution
Those spaces, they’re spontaneous
there’s something and it’s a bit sideways
make the structure make less sense
Let it go let it stop being property
how you articulate where your position in the university is
How you articulate what your position in the university is
what agency or organisation could look like
Let the property go
can ‘an organisation’ not have property
divert you from your aims are usually the three p’s: property, prestige, power
digital exclusion
Who’s left behind
The shifts that have had to happen
Necessary adaptation
false sense of agency
fob us off
Property when it’s not investment
property when it’s not investment
GAS – things are housed there
can an organisation or an institution be a free entity if it doesn’t have property?
keeping that space safe
is the issue not with the property but who controls the use of the property?
How do you make an open and radical accountability process?
a radical accountability process
those issues come up very much in the virtual space
not as free as the university would like you to believe
Property is theft
property as a thing or a space that can be collectively owned
property as something you own and others don’t (property is theft)
it is a long change
decentralising who holds the power
it didn’t just appear as we know it now
Rely on a common thought
I’m such a good product of capitalism
how much I’m a good product of capitalism – following through a structure –
radical complicity
Underpass learning
nowhere to gather
what you fund to keep going
the whole text is an echo in a way

///

Collectively authored by the current and continuing 19/20 Art Writing MLitt cohort.

IMPORTANT LINKS :
www.pauseorpayuk.org
www.alt-d.online

In solidarity with those embroiled in complaints against GSA we present a collaborative piece of writing that came about as part of a conversation responding to Fred Moten and Stefano Harney’s text ‘The university (last words)’ and our own experiences of the institution.

This text is available to listen to as a special edition of the Art Writing Soft Shell podcast here.

///

hang on can’t hear back in a sec 
Radically detach
Rejecting the gowns the dress
I think just stop paying
the feedback is the grades / collective feedback takes its place
If we accept
experience economy
Access to your peers
in a pragmatic way
undermine value of credential
What is required
Using the university as a hermit crab shell
university as hermit crab shell
university as a hermit crab shell
occupy
carapace
Any kind of shell
something useful that can be carried off
steal from the university
Access to each other
beep
you’ve all been expelled
refusing
refusing to end
Refusing the discipline
sticky question
extracted as currency
extracted from you as the university’s currency
Submit awful work
Do your best work in secret amongst each other
do your best work in secret
then you lick it
the university as guard of resource
University as guard to be undermined
break down barriers of access
Disperse them outwards
I can let anyone into a zoom
physical barriers
Robin Hood it
What they hold
authorship
people on the inside giving away for free
Intellectual property
how are those entangled
Property ownership authorship
property ownership authorship
Collective authorship
complicity
Talked out of it by submission
voices that join in with each other
hierarchy of work
Work rises
hierarchy of work
What it means to have an art practice
arts ed capitalises on “my work”
the privilege of being paid to work/research
academics rise
Individuality of submissions
Read by a higher reader
even if working as a collaboration
the individuality of submissions
can’t submit as one
Property–>value
the labour isn’t equivalent
From the beginning we are learnt to say ‘my practice’ ‘my work’
You go in holding this thing
disrupt and defer
the language of “my practice”
a practice of individuation
language of practice is the language of funding applications
we don’t present without names
We don’t present nameless
Naming as a form of violence
naming as ossifying
fixing to commodify
Acknowledgement as first step
Overcoming our complicity
my work/my practice,
What could it become
many many terms
Different ways to conceptualise it and put it into language
what role does language have in all of this
a manifesto
manifesto as movement to a different language
language of movement of criticism
Instead of floating through it
what we understand collectively
our own our practices
maybe just not paying
if you’ve got a problem you assume there’s a specific solution to that problem
Step outside – the potentials get bigger
meet in the car park
Stepping around the problem
increasing surveillance of students
Restriction of access
ways to work around that
movement around the campus is documented
Not a given that that’s okay
surveillance – it’s not a given that that’s ok
you start at group and end at solo
whole artist trajectory is group show towards solo show
start at group and end at solo
Art – start in group move to solo / it’s all pushed that way / it’s a tradition – proponent of larger apparatus of making solo
a larger apparatus of making solo
Abolish the solo show!
(Dorothea Lange, at her big moma retrospective, insisted on including her assistant’s work in it)
Presented to a student, to take part in – take part, scoop
student paying for the conversation / staff being paid to ‘give the conversation | taking part is the language of the university
Conscientious and active students paying
often not lines defined by the students themselves
this weird accountability thing
Its not a mutual thing
staff student ‘relationship’
the beginning of being solidified
We’re in the beginnings of being solidified
the early fizzy stages
it didn’t feel fun anymore
The work, my work, a unit of work
play
Resisting articulation or end
the structures that make things not fun anymore
Sustained practice (SH)
fun and play as subversive strategies
What about anger
what about anger
Anger within play
Play assumes we’re happy
where is anger within play
an indulgence
pastoral care as pull / indulgent
someone to care what you’re doing
you can’t show anger bc you’re getting pastoral care
It puts you in a clinch
play as in mess with it
Other ways to be antagonistic within the structure
it ultimately benefits the uni
Never made the actual work
withheld the work
benefited the course – won prizes
To not make the final product
it is very slippery
that’s not really the fucking point
The inconvenience of anger
the inconvenience of anger and of not playing
Of not giving back
Inconvenience of giving something back that’s not palatable
Not playing
Not user friendly
how do people think it’s different and why
remove reference to it
The institution are uncomfortable so trying to remove reference to them / keep it in house
the idea of looking back
Alumnus are used
alumnus – they let themselves be used
that doesn’t make any sense chronologically
University relying on complacency on a more giant body of students
university relying on complacency of larger body of students
like business does
I’ve just got to get through this
the individuation of it
I’m gonna carve this time out
I’m going to carve this time out
the sacrifices people have made
the sacrifices people have made
money/time
Relies on the sacrifices
A bind
competition, apathy
Some people aren’t in a position to reject it
powerless within that
to be in a specific place
What can we do as a group to disrupt or reject that
on a day to day basis
habitual things
Habitual actions
What habitual things over a long term force change
the privilege to be able to protest
the privilege to be able to protest
it’s about access as well
access to these thought processes
Access to these discussions
organising outwith the institution
Brief moments of interactions have sometimes been more worthwhile than 2 hr seminars
that spontaneous conversation that arises
the stuff that’s around the institution the para
is probably most valuable
The stuff that’s around the institution /the para part of the institution
Those spaces, they’re spontaneous
there’s something and it’s a bit sideways
make the structure make less sense
Let it go let it stop being property
how you articulate where your position in the university is
How you articulate what your position in the university is
what agency or organisation could look like
Let the property go
can ‘an organisation’ not have property
divert you from your aims are usually the three p’s: property, prestige, power
digital exclusion
Who’s left behind
The shifts that have had to happen
Necessary adaptation
false sense of agency
fob us off
Property when it’s not investment
property when it’s not investment
GAS – things are housed there
can an organisation or an institution be a free entity if it doesn’t have property?
keeping that space safe
is the issue not with the property but who controls the use of the property?
How do you make an open and radical accountability process?
a radical accountability process
those issues come up very much in the virtual space
not as free as the university would like you to believe
Property is theft
property as a thing or a space that can be collectively owned
property as something you own and others don’t (property is theft)
it is a long change
decentralising who holds the power
it didn’t just appear as we know it now
Rely on a common thought
I’m such a good product of capitalism
how much I’m a good product of capitalism – following through a structure –
radical complicity
Underpass learning
nowhere to gather
what you fund to keep going
the whole text is an echo in a way

Collectively authored by the current and continuing 19/20 Art Writing MLitt cohort.

IMPORTANT LINKS :

www.pauseorpayuk.org
www.alt-d.online
gsashowcase.net/louie-tyssen/
gsamfa.net/

About the Project

Roc Blackblock– Barcelona; KMG – Edinburgh; Priestcorp – Glasgow; Siguel – Poland and Dr. D – London

Running through autumn 2020, Art of Defiance originated in Glasgow as a progression of creative responses centred on the ideas of connection, disruption, influence and change within the period of the Covid-19 pandemic. The project is curated by Marianne Vosloo and has developed through close collaborations with artists spanning a range of backgrounds, whose practices seek to create spaces of resistance and forms of disruption in the physical and digital public spheres in a time of crisis.

Art of Defiance takes the form of a series of poster interventions in advertising sites situated on the walls of the railway arches in Glasgow’s Eastvale Place. This small dead-end street is tucked away in between a diverging point of two railway lines next to an old industrial site, now a multi-disciplinary arts venue called SWG3. In addition, the project takes the form of web postings on social media and a customised website, developed collaboratively with each artist. The project connects a group of visual artists, street artists, aerosol artists and communication designers with overlapping subversive practices. Art of Defiance captures creative reactions to concealed, pre-existing and invisible issues further exposed by the pandemic, personal experiences, contemporary events and public discourse.

The zero in A0D represents artists, practices and voices not fully recognised in the art canon and, those who prefer the shadows of artistic anonymity. At the same time, zero is the new beginning of unlimited possibilities and visions for the future.

Curatorial Rationale

The emergence of coronavirus rapidly grew from a highly infectious disease into a set of circumstances and restrictions worldwide that would affect everything that we know and all aspects of our lives. What surfaced as a result of this turmoil was an unmasking and magnification of social and economic inequalities, with many levels of injustices made visible by an “invisible agent” (‘The Pandemic’s Invisible Agent‘, www.hyperallergic.com). The humanitarian crisis that unfolded simultaneously presented new possibilities to unsettle, subvert and transform systems and structures of power in creative ways, whilst concurrently revealing acts of resilience and new visions for the future.

The development of Art of Defiance started in the street; directly engaging with the strong imagery of placards and protests seen in early 2020. Most memorable was the political graffiti slogans painted in protest onto the monument of the Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, as part of numerous 2020 protests against police brutality in the U.S.A.  The discarded placards around the toppled Edward Colston statue in Bristol similarly highlighted the strong presence of art in protest. This builds on evolving political struggles, acts of intervention to raise awareness of repressive and regressive acts of selfish capitalism, and an emerging satirical theme in activist art. Art in public space continued to emerge resilient and unrestrained, despite pandemic restrictions, while the rest of society viewed it on the internet under lockdown.

The placement of artwork into advertising sites such as billboards and bus stops in the urban environment is a disruption and repurposing of the commercial space. At the same time, the content of artwork created specifically for Art of Defiance is in itself seeking to disrupt, defy and challenge the major social, economic and political manipulations of 2020. A0D is the beginning of a community beyond the local, and which engages in the broader discussions around public art emerging during the pandemic.

Each of the artists has devised a poster intervention considered as an act of defiance in itself, which directly addresses the pandemic period. They have produced a piece of artwork during 2020 whilst remaining in five separate locations in Europe, working under different lockdown restrictions and limitations. The production of the artwork as posters connects with the history of artistic protest posters used at times of major social change.

A0D is both an arts commission and a shift towards a movement in public art. The platform gives a collective voice to artists working in different parts of the world, and that is my contribution as curator. The project goes beyond curating the poster interventions in Glasgow, to try and connect with, and actively contribute to, a broader conversation internationally.

The major global events arising throughout 2020 alongside coronavirus fears, have motivated a surge in activist contemporaneous research across public sites as well as newly formed online artistic platforms, creating an ideal recipe for Art of Defiance: for artists to shout back, to escape the limitations of daily life, and to challenge authority. And possibly to signal the start of a major new cultural revolution?

Curatorial Statement

I am a South African with an extensive interest in subversive and activist art practice, especially in street culture, public space interventions and the involvement of art in pivotal contemporary events. This interest emerged in my formative years in the Limpopo and Gauteng Provinces of South Africa where my awareness of the powerful effect of art in communal space developed into a fascination for art as a disruptive force. My visual experience of art as a tool of protest against the Apartheid regime and as part of a wider internal resistance movement fighting for change, established my desire to seek out art on the unconventional fringes of the mainstream. My curatorial practice explores interdisciplinary connectivity, transformational shifts and social engagement through art with a particular interest in artistic practices identified as marginalised, alternative, or part of DIY urban sub-cultures. My current research-led projects focus on anti-establishment art and creative activism within spaces that seek to defy and undermine dominant systems of influence and control on society.

Biography

Marianne Vosloo is a freelance curator, artist and event organiser, and an arts programmer at SWG3, Glasgow. She is the co-organiser of Yardworks, an annual multi-disciplinary live arts event at SWG3, showcasing Visual Art, Street Art, Design, Typography and Aerosol Art in public space. Marianne has a degree in Art History and Visual Communication from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Recent exhibitions include Authority & Freedom: Testing the Context (Underneath M8 motorway and A804 Phoenix Road, Glasgow, 2019) co-curated with Beatriz Lobo Britto, Jiaying Cao, Kehan Liu and Pui Ying Claudia Chan, and Control Alter Delete (The Photography Studio, SWG3, Glasgow, 2020). The latter event linked the work of a satirical artist, illustrator and writer, a subvertiser and visual activist, painting and printmaking students and a street artist to showcase overlapping subversive responses to structures of power and authority.

Cat Dunn is an eclectic mix of jewellery artist, activist, researcher/producer, public speaker and social justice art curator. She holds a BA Hons in Jewellery Design and Silversmithing from The Glasgow School of Art and is currently enrolled at both The Glasgow School of Art and University of Glasgow on her Master’s studies in Curatorial Practice(Contemporary Art). As a jeweller, her love of the Victorian Era, architecture and historic construction can be seen within her pieces.  As activist and curator her work seeks to engage and create dialogue through engaging with subjects as diverse as the civil rights movement, slavery, racism, and feminism, often investigating those aspects that are all too frequently hidden or misrepresented.  The overall basis of her practice is grounded on creating or adding to Black Space where inclusivity and diversity are key; with her varied and diverse approaches to making jewellery; installations; and curatorial projects, the context of the work must have an impact on the viewer.

Recent curatorial works include:  The Hunterian Collaborative Project, 2020; Reclamation – A site specific event with Artists Ashanti Harris and Georgia Robenstone, 2019, In Residence – POC Collective-Project Space 1 – 16 Nicholson St Gallery – 2018, New Dreams – Clarke and Fyfe Gallery, Kelvin Gallery – Glasgow University, 2016.(More info below)

Recent curatorial jewellery works include: Jewellery exhibition – New Ashgate Gallery Trust, 2019, Jewellery Exhibition – Truman Brewery, London, 2019, Jewellery exhibition – Llantarnam Grange, Wales, 2019, Degree show – Reid Building, The Glasgow School of Art, 2019, Facets – The Glasgow School of Art, 2018, #tehknelogy – Project, Space 3. The Glasgow School of Art, 2017, Thinking Through Making exhibition – Reid Building, Glasgow, 2016

SELECTED PROJECTS:

NOWYOUSEEUS

NOWYOUSEEUS is an online research led activist project about identity as seen through the lived experiences of womxn of colour with Afro-Caribbean textured hair, and will grow in content and material over time. A bespoke online platform was created for NOWYOUSEEUS and comprises of newly created artworks, from international artists across a range of genres; a group audio chat inclusive of personal reflections and memories, an artists’ talk inclusive of lived experiences; a clinical dialogue with a respected Scottish dermatologist; historical context; narratives and archives; and personal hair recipe cards.

Overall, all of these elements work together to speak to the idea of identity through the experiences of black/brown womxn with Afro-Caribbean hair. The project therefore hopes to educate wider publics on the historical facts of Afro-Caribbean textured hair while introducing them to new artists inspired by, and using this texture of hair as a muse, and by doing so, it aims to break down stereotypical barriers, showing and celebrating the beauty and diversity of Afro-Caribbean hair through art, language and memories.

NOWYOUSEEUS can be viewed on http://www.nowyouseeus.org

In/Visible, April 2020, The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, (cancelled due to Covid19)

Curatorial Team: Carol Dunn, Claude Chan, Hannah Braithwaite, Shalmali Shetty

The curators aimed to achieve an experience that welcomed and created room for conversations and discourse amongst people from a variety of disciplines.
This project focused on dance and performance, one of the most significant and developing art historical fields of this century. “A new performative turn” has emerged; strongly correlating with shifts in performance, discourses, and broader society, especially in today’s world of divisive politics. This project was carefully positioned within the current political climate, especially within the context of the Windrush generation, and Brexit, and the current feeling of imposed isolation. The curators felt it was important to explore contemporary dance and its history within a gallery space and use it as a lens through which we can better understand bodies in a gallery, and the challenges of existing within an institution or art space. What does that mean for someone who does not feel as welcomed in the gallery/space? How can we help people feel welcome?

Unravelling the related history of performance as part of visual arts, and in the process to point out and extend the boundaries of what is possible in the paradigm of art and performance today. The project hoped to introduce a new type of audience to the educational yet historical space of Kelvin-Hall Complex and aimed to break down the barriers by showing that everyone deserves the chance to be welcomed in an art setting.

In/Visible was inspired by the works of artists Jimmy Robert and Georgina Starr where the curators created a one-day event focusing on the idea of visibility and presence within a gallery space; They divided the day into four categories: a zine-making workshop, a film screening, a talk followed by a Q&A session, and the display of visual materials/ artwork and zines. They saw all of these elements working together to speak of the idea of visibility/ invisibility. The curatorial approach also revolved around the concept of hospitality and the gesture of welcoming people into a space. The curators believed creating this environment was essential.

The proposed day would have started with a zine-making workshop. This event was free but ticketed, and they were looking to involve about 20 participants, for whom stationery would have by been provided by them. They were looking to collaborate with the Glasgow Zine Library who would facilitate the workshop. The motivation behind the workshop was to allow participants an opportunity to explore the idea of visibility/ invisibility and what that means to them on a personal level.

The film screening was to be led by and (scheduled in collaboration with) Glasgow-based curator Lydia Honeybone , organizer and founder of Queer Classics film screenings series. The film screening revolved around works that pertain to the idea of queerness and performance. Drawing inspiration from Jimmy Robert’s own work as a gay black performer, the curators wanted to highlight this facet of performance art/ history and demonstrate works of other queer performers. This functioned within the concept of ‘making visible’, or present that which is often left out.

London-based Kate Coyne was due to lead the talk, the final event of the day. Coyne is the principal dancer for Michael Clark and Company (currently one of the leading contemporary dance companies in the UK) and formerly a principal ballerina. Coyne’s talk also focused on the theme of visibility and invisibility within professional dance. Speaking of her experience in many areas of the dance world, as well as showcasing the invisible labour of professional dance through behind-the-scenes footage. This talk was to be followed by a question and answer session or a long-table discussion encouraging engagement from the audience.

The visual displays and artworks for the event would in part be provided by Glasgow-based artist Ashanti Harris . Harris suggested a video work that dealt with the idea of presence and visibility through an interactive video. Not only will Harris’ presence as a black performance artist be important and significant within the context of this event, but the piece itself intended to allow for visitors to become participants and be made visible in the gallery through the artwork. The displays would have been showcased throughout the day.

The audience itself would have been diverse. The curators were seeking to engage with an audience that includes Glasgow’s dance, queer, and art loving communities, and aimed to include/ welcome people who may not feel welcome in a historically academic/ colonial space of a formal art gallery like the Hunterian. They wanted to welcome an inclusive and diversified audience who reflected the kind of practices they wished to put on display and as such, had intended to send invitations to the dance communities around Glasgow, as reaching out to their students and welcoming them into this space would have proven invaluable.

Through creating this project, the curators gained an insight and valuable experience of working within an institution and the benefits and challenges that come with that. We were able to practice curatorial and writing skills following a project from conception to its very final stages.

RECLAMATION, November 2019, Rockvilla site, Whisky Bond Complex, Speirs Wharf

Curatorial Team: Carol Dunn, Kate Holford, Grace Jackson

The aim of RECLAMATION was to disrupt the notion of safe space, as propagated by the frameworks of educational institutions. By initializing performance and interactions with the site of Rockvilla School – the ruin of a Victorian school building designed at the same time as the development of teacher training programmes of educator David Stow – we wish to pose some of the following questions to our audience: is our site of education (Stow College, named after David Stow) a ‘safe space’ for learning? Is it equal? Do you feel free to test things out in your space of learning and voice your ideas or identity? Is this the same for everyone? Why not? Are there unspoken rules that govern how you exist within an educational space? We sought to instigate these thoughts through the lenses of feminism and post-colonial theory, referring to the specificity of being a person of colour, and/or woman, within spaces of education and related knowledge-power structures.

Exhibitions have become the medium through which most art becomes known, where signification is constructed, maintained, deconstructed, becoming part spectacle, part socio-historical even part structuring device. These establish and administer the cultural meanings of Art.

As a result, exhibitions are examined more in depth with what largely remains unexplored, that is the interconnected manifestations between curators, institutions and the artists.
As curators we did not want that scrutiny on or for our own project.

Rockvilla had key elements that made the site a viable option, with a history of gender discrimination, lack of inclusion and issues of self-worth.
As such we choose to petition and work with two women artists of different backgrounds but with the same ethos of working with vulnerable women and showing them as being powerful. Our chosen artists Ashanti Harris and Georgia Robenstone had worked within the confines of gender issues, as had Kirsty Henderson at The Whisky Bond.

We wanted to create an inclusive, safe research space where each artist could attempt something new, or re-visit something that they had perhaps done historically but attempt with a different twist. Our only curatorial intervention was allowing these artists the freedom to discover and explore the site, to have the option to use movement, voice, sound or image to assist with their project.

Curator’s Biography

Jiaying Cao is a curator and designer from China, currently living in Glasgow. She is adept at turning concepts into reality, and likes to explore different forms, genres and media in both curation and graphic design. She is currently interested in film-making and has also created and participated in the shooting of several short films. Recently, she has been conducting research on curatorial activities in different professional fields, exploring productive ways to present artworks to the public.

She holds a BA in Information and Communications from Shih Hsin University in Taiwan (2019). Recently curated exhibitions include: Monologue: an exhibition about solitude co-curated with Tingzhen Zhang, Weizheng Huang, Weidong Zhuang and Yongru Chen in December 2018 at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, Taipei; Authority & Freedom: Testing the Context, co-curated with Beatriz Lobo Britto, Pui Ying Chan, Kehan Liu and Marianne Vosloo in October 2019 at M8 motorway pedestrian underpath, Glasgow; and the Online project Dia-Logue, August 2020.

Curatorial statement

My curatorial methodology is based on interview and expanded dialogue. I seek to explore how interviews and online interactions serve to promote art and enable it to reach a wider audience, establishing through these my own curatorial framework.

Most of my curatorial projects include two elements: interactivity and interviews. Interviews have the potential to communicate core ideas about artworks, while interactivity encourages expression and sensory experience. I actively use these two methods to close the distance between art and the audience

Through the practice of interviewing I can learn more about artists and their practices,  have a symbiotic exchange and influence on one another. The format of the interview allows the artist’s voice to be heard, giving the audience a closer understanding of the ideas and intention behind their artworks. Additionally, through the process of interviewing, I can learn about other people’s curatorial experiences, and subsequently through an iterative practice, continually review and find the most suitable curatorial methods for myself.

This interaction with artists and curators builds the internal framework of my curatorial practice. Interactivity can attract audiences to engage with curatorial projects or exhibitions, and through this interaction, the audience is not only a viewer, but also, part of the exhibition experience, hopefully allowing the audience to be completely immersed in it. In turn, breaking the stereotype that art is untouchable, so that art can be accessed and felt by more people.

Project Description:

Dia-Logue is an online project curated by Jiaying Cao. Through the art interview as the main method, this project explores diverse methods for bringing artwork(s) to the public(s) and curatorial workings across different fields. Jiaying firmly believes that the sonic space can draw the audience closer.

The project launched on 3 August 2020 and will continue to develop as a long-term project. Everyone is welcome to join and have a chat with her, to make this project more colourful and abundant as it grows in content and form.

Kat Zavada (b. 1990, Poland) is an independent curator, researcher and spiritual technocrat based in Glasgow. She uses speculation as a method to investigate radical & fringe concepts. Her current research examines “humans as data beings”, dataveillance and post-work imaginaries.

After her first Master’s in Social Communication at the Pedagogical University of Cracow with a dissertation titled “The political image of the alt-right movement in Poland”, Kat went on to study MLitt Curatorial Practice Contemporary Art at The Glasgow School of Art and the University of Glasgow.

Recent curatorial projects include: Data Beings – collaboration with artisit Letta Shtohryn (in progress), Works On Work – collaborative research platform (ongoing), Hyper Hyper podcast (ongoing). She conducted a research in support of the COP26 related programme during her internship at the CCA Glasgow (disrupted by COVID-19). Kat contributed to the organisation of several arts and culture projects such as Cracow Gallery Weekend (2018), she founded and organised the visual art & experimental music festival Nadmiar/Excess (2017 – ongoing).
Portfolio: www.katzavada.com

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Curatorial Statement ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Curation for me is a form of critical enquiry, knowledge creation and exchange.
I use speculation as a method to investigate fringe or radical topics – to question the present by constructing alternative realities. My process bounces between academic rigour and humour, as I tackle academic themes in a sometimes non-academic manner.

My curatorial process has a rhizomatic structure, an assemblage of the political, economics, sociology, philosophy and pop culture. My research spans neoliberal tech utopias, South China Post’s newsletter, Reddit memes, Reza Negarestani’s tweets and conspiracy theories. I’m intrigued by topics related to post-work, late capitalism, data colonialism and post-Anthropocene imaginaries.

Each new project has its beginnings in a ‘curatorial crush’ which is born out of excitement, uncertainty and true admiration for an artist’s practice. This, I believe, leads to a dynamic collaboration full of challenging discussions and intellectual stimulations. Through my curatorial practice, I strive for genuine relations built upon trust and mutual respect, but foremost, openness to honest feedback and constructive critique.

I don’t have just one curatorial methodology and I do not believe in a one-size-fits-all model. Instead, I approach projects by learning the process and needs of my collaborators. I listen, respond and adjust to find a comfortable and effective way of working for both sides. It is a flexible and empathetic way of working. This creates a solid base that allows for exciting explorations and the creation of new knowledge.

Hu Yihang is a “silent” pseudo curator and radical post-idealist in a sense. His practice investigates “redundant events” arising from the ontological contradiction of ideological intervention in communities; His recent research centres on the reconstruction of the body caused by epistemological and aesthetic conflicts, the ontology of organic bodies and digital simulacra and the dialectic of texts as visual and phonetic act in the exhibitions.

He is also a co-founder of curatorial community /nfornonsense/ & founder of /Stray Dogs’ Garden (野犬花园)/ & 1/3 of curatorial collective /the_bricolage/.

Recent produced exhibitions include: /My Truth is Your Story/ (Britannia Panopticon Music Hall, November 2019), co-curated with Hannah Benassi and Shalmali Shetty; (online project, March 2020); /Phenakite are Forever/ (online project, August 2020); /Bon Voyage/ (Wooton Gallery, January 2021).

yihang.hu29@gmail.com
Instagram: @yihanginthewild

Beatriz Lobo (b. 1994, Brazil) is a curator, museologist and researcher. An enthusiast of non-hierarchical thinking, she believes in the equality of ideas and non-linear ways of composing and organizing them. Interested in performance art as a form of critique, and guided by a theoretical approach, she works under an intersectional feminist framework. Her most recent research investigates strategies to decolonize the curatorial through Brazilian art practices.

Beatriz holds a BA (Hons) in Museum Studies and her professional experience extends from community-based museums to private collections. For more information, please refer to the website.

DISSERTATION TITLE

Performing Refusal: Lygia Clark’s practice as a decolonial tool within the curatorial

ABSTRACT
Although decoloniality has been a prominent topic in the arts since the 1990s, the major studies and publications on the topic have been led by institutions from the Global North. Despite the increasing amount of exhibitions by artists of colour and other minorities, the internal structures of these institutions are still white-male dominated. This paper introduces Brazil’s political scenario since the 1960s and, under the Black Feminist Poethics methodology, discusses strategies of decoloniality within the curatorial field. By building a parallel between Lygia Clark’s practice and conceptualising refusal aligned with the Practicing Refusal Collective, it proposes refusal as a generative tool. Finally, the research is brought to a contemporary context, presenting the COLERE Project, a curatorial initiative that has emerged to perform the theory and methodology discussed in this very paper. It concludes the fundamental importance of people of colour and other minorities to lead discussions that concern themselves. Ultimately, this paper demonstrates that visibility is not power, suggesting alternative ways of working in the arts, going beyond exhibiting unprivileged artists, and placing them in a role of knowledge production and decision-making instead.

Claude Chan

Bio: Claude is a curator and researcher from Hong Kong. Her practice is concerned with queer histories, performance, technology and posthumanism, particularly the relationship between human body and technology as a framework for challenging the issues of ontology and anthropocentrism. Her research is centred around interview and conversation, with a focus on the role of the curator within an artist’s practice when facing ethical issues of display.

Recent exhibitions and research include: In/Invisibility: Presence In Performance, co-curated with Carol Dunn, Hannah Braithwaite and Shalmali Shetty (Kelvin Hall, March 2020); Authority & Freedom: Testing the Context, co-curated with Beatriz Lobo Britto, Marianne Vosloo, Dia Cao and Luke Liu (Under M8 Motorway and A804 Phoenix Road, Oct 2019). She has worked for CCA Glasgow through its Art Internship since 2019, assisting the curatorial team on the Cooking Pot Programme (May/June 2020).

Curatorial & Research Statement:

With a strong interest in posthuman art and curatorial practice, my curatorial methodology uses creative discourse as a strategy by conducting interviews with artists and curators as specialists key case studies, from which a layered exploration of experience, theories and narrative may develop.

My Master’s dissertation aims to discuss the concept of posthumanism in terms of exploring changing relationships between technology and the human body as a framework for challenging issues of ontology and anthropocentrism; observing that, the discussion of this topic in contemporary art and curatorial practice remains to be fully charted, and the theoretical research on it is worthy of which to pay attention. By reviewing historical exhibitions concerning the post-human, this research aims to examine the conditions of curating that frame the existence and further development of posthuman art, as well as presenting the desire for body enhancement as a response to expand the imagination and discussion.

My curatorial concerns centre around the moral impact of artistic practice on curatorial practice, seeking to develop a deeper understanding of the attitudes that curators should hold when facing these challenges through my research. By analyzing key case studies in my dissertation, I hope to present a wider view of posthumanism in curatorial practice, which will advance and support my own curation of projects in the future.

I, as a graduating student at the Glasgow School of Art, wish to express support of Pause or Pay and G$A MFA campaigns. Pause or Pay demand Visa extensions, pastoral support and financial compensation for the loss of teaching and access to facilities due to 2019 and 2020 UCU strikes and Covid-19.

I call upon you, practitioners of the art industry, to join the fight against universities and governments that are perpetuating inequality and a lack of diversity. When you look at our work, throw your usual assessment criteria out the window and instead look with real empathy and care. Remember that an online grad show is not appropriate for everyone. Please use your platform to boost those who are disadvantaged. Do everything you can to strengthen the future of our art world.

EMERGING COMMONS

www.emergingcommons.com

emergingcommons@gmail.com

https://www.instagram.com/emergingcommons

Emerging Commons, initiated by myself in 2020, is an ongoing independent project that facilitates community empowerment through multidisciplinary curatorial methodologies intersecting with social policy, urban planning and land reform. The project works primarily outside of traditional art venues and favours [semi-]public outdoor spaces.

My interest in curatorial practices comes from a wholehearted belief in the potential of art to transform toxicity and inequality in our societies if only art was better incorporated in all our policies, politics, industries, businesses… In many ways I align with the Artist Placement Group, but replacing the “incidental person” with a caring, politically engaged and self-reflexive curator who facilitates the strengthening of the relationship between art and life.

The scale of societal issues can be overwhelming, but it was adrienne maree brown’s book emergent strategy (2017) in combination with studying through the peak of the Covid-19 lockdown that shone a light on the power of bringing activism closer to home. brown describes an emergent strategy as a “self-help, society-help, world-help” set of principles focusing on simple interactions to create complex systems, in which strong relationships are everything. Therefore, during my studies I focused on relationality within the curatorial by examining how the curator may navigate the social dimensions of facilitator, participant and place, by situating my research within the spaces I inhabit in my day-to-day life in Glasgow.

The core of Emerging Commons aligns with brown’s conception of an ’emergent strategy’ through empowering ground-up processes that focus on decision-making and movement-building through curatorial methodologies of decentralisation and interdependence to create more possibilities for inclusion, diversity and transformative democracy. The project offers a non-hierarchical framework to mobilise participants in becoming the authors of their own empowerment. The project will constantly grow and change, and resources and knowledge will be shared for communal benefits following open source models.

POLLOKSHIELDS EAST COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT STRATEGY

Since the end of 2020 the focus has been on developing a proposal for a community empowerment strategy for Pollokshields East, a borough in the southside of Glasgow where I live. The strategy has been spurred by two devastating fires in 2019 and 2020, destroying residential flats and shops on Albert Drive and Kenmure Street (colloquially known as Albert Cross). A community empowerment strategy will help to not only recover from the fires but to tackle issues in the wider area.

A community empowerment strategy for Pollokshields East proposes 3 curatorial methods:

1) community hub and exhibition space;

2) online community map;

3) walking exercises in the Pollokshields East area.

For a community empowerment strategy for Pollokshields East there has been research undertaken on the social dimensions of curatorial practices. The way in which the curator navigates the socio-political nexus of facilitator, participants and place becomes key. Theories of ‘community assemblages’ examines the politics and processes of grouping elements together to form or create a “community” within the curatorial encounter. Theories of ‘the commons’ describe an extension of the historical definition – the communal sharing of resources and knowledge for mutual benefits – whereby the commons is a process of giving voice and creating space in the curatorial.

I completed my Masters of Curatorial Practices in Contemporary Art in January 2021 through the extended study option, and will be pursuing the realisation of a Pollokshields East community empowerment strategy henceforth.

CURATOR BIOGRAPHY

emergingcommons@gmail.com

Grace Thomson (they/them) is a curator, artist and personal development coach originating from Melbourne, Australia, residing in Glasgow, UK (with Australian/British dual citizenship). In 2015, Grace completed their BA of Fine Art at Monash University, Australia. In January 2021 Grace graduated from the Masters of Curatorial Practices (Contemporary Art) at the Glasgow School of Art. Grace is passionate about grassroots endeavours through co-founding Artmeet Artist Run Initiative and co-directing RuntLink Artist Run Gallery. Grace is committed to equality and diversity through working in the Fair Access department at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Selected education and training: Masters of Literature in Curatorial Practice (Contemporary Art), Glasgow School of Art and University of Glasgow, UK; Bachelor of Fine Art, Monash University, Australia; Double Diploma of Marketing and Management, Open Training & Education Network, Australia;  Sparqs Student Representative Training; Scottish Mental Health First Aid Training; Grade 8 Saxophone, Australian Music Examinations Board, Australia.

Selected experience: Transitions Coach, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, UK; Class Representative of Curatorial Practice (Contemporary Art), Glasgow School of Art, UK; Founding Member, Artmeet ARI, Australia; Chairperson, Runt/Link Gallery, Australia; Work Experience, WaveParticle, UK; Transitions Mentor & Guidance Administrator, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, UK; Gallery Assistant, Libby Edwards Galleries, Australia;  Curator, Looking at people looking or not looking at art more or less 1 mile from here, Glasgow UK; Workshop Facilitator, Dreams and Aspirations, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow, UK; Artist, The Maker, Space Tank Studio, Melbourne Australia; Artist, 2014 MADA Now, Monash University, Melbourne Australia; Curator and Artist, Recreational Aesthetics, Artmeet ARI, Melbourne Australia; Artist, Open for Inspections, Artmeet ARI, Melbourne Australia; Artist, Link Wall, Runt/Link Gallery, Melbourne Australia.

Hannah Braithwaite is a curator and writer working on a Master’s in Curatorial Practice at the Glasgow School of Art. She is currently based in Tkaronto/Toronto. Her previous exhibitions include Looking at People Looking (Or Not Looking) At Art More or Less 1 Mile from Here (2019), (Dis)CONNECT (2018) and an unrealized project with the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow. She holds a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Art History from Concordia University. She is interested in queer archival practices and storytelling, domestic spaces, craft and their political importance.

Her most recent project, having been touched on the surface, is a zine and online appendix for queer women to reflect upon the spaces they inhabit and create. Initiated by Hannah Braithwaite in collaboration with and featuring new writing from Hannah Karpinski and Isabelle Joy-Stephen, the project explores queer friendships, ephemera, and domestic space, inspired in part by José Esteban Muñoz’s text “Ephemera as Evidence”. Ephemera, defined by Muñoz, accounts for the residues of queer life. In having been touched on the surface, ephemera takes the form of sewing patterns, shared clothing, and familiar routines. The zine will be published in a limited run in September of 2020 and will not be available online, rather distributed locally by the collaborators.

The accompanying online appendix shows fragments of the many works that inspired and innfluenced this project. It can be found at surfacezine.tumblr.com.

BIO

Kate Holford is an artist and writer based in Glasgow, UK. She is Founding Art Director at Stillpoint Magazine (2018-ongoing), an international, digital publication that inhabits digital spaces to build public knowledge rooted in psychoanalysis. In December 2019 she co-organised the symposium Racism and Ecology in Berlin as part of Stillpoint Magazine’s Issue 003: FALLOW, and currently facilitates an Antiracism Reading Group for psychiatrists with Editor-in-Chief of Stillpoint Magazine Anne Marie Wirth Cauchon. She was curator of Imagine the Future, a performance event and exhibition of moving image installations by Jessica Holdengarde, Glasgow (2020).

As an interdisciplinary artist, she utilises curatorial strategies of connection-making and practice-led research methodologies to develop projects which often manifest as multimodal publications across print and digital formats. Much of her work appears in the written form, merging critical reflections and poetical forms. Recent research has been concerned with modes of correspondence and autotheory, in relation to intimacy, surveillance, extraction, and vulnerability, manifesting in the project Dear Lithium,. 

She was previously the Deputy Director of Stillpoint Spaces London, a psychotherapy, coworking, and events space, where she was Curator of the in-house exhibitions programme. In 2018 she held a solo exhibition of her work In The Stories There Is An Abundance; and produced Offerings, an accompanying pamphlet of poetry. She has exhibited in group exhibitions in London, Bristol, and Falmouth, UK. Previously she has been a Bookshop Manager. She completed a Master of Letters in Curatorial Practice (Contemporary Art), co-convened by the Glasgow School of Art and University of Glasgow in 2020, and received her BA(Hons) Fine Art from Falmouth University in 2013.

DEAR LITHIUM,

I: Publication: a collection of texts and analogue images that form a single ‘object’, brought together in the shape of a envelope. This object can be found in a public book exchange near the site of the UK’s first pilot lithium extraction plant, United Downs, Cornwall. This is the only edition in circulation.

II: dear-lithum.exposed: a website interrogating the effects of the digital/non-digital divide on experience of place, intimacy, and togetherness, in an age of increasing reliance on technological interfaces for creating and maintaining relationships with others.

“To discover the kinds of questions you should be asking, sometimes this can take an incredibly long time.” – Anna Tsing

My work is about memory, the past, and how they are intertwined. I’m fascinated with everyday objects, brief moments, and all the days that never get photographed and are forgotten, lost or thrown away­; how our memory can be awakened with the right keepsake.

I’m working on an archive of Isolation & Limitation, building on previous work that got interrupted by the pandemic. With the archive, I explore different ways of documenting transition to a new way of living. I’m photographing debris and creating charcoal rubbings of surfaces – observing the repetition of daily chores, joys and sorrows experienced when the future is uncertain.

During the process, I’ve explored if lost memories are missed opportunities or the process of letting go. What questions can be answered by revisiting the past? And what role should the past have when every day is unpredictable.

‘Things That Grow In Haunted Places’ is a creative research project that explores a hypothetical mutation of materials and organisms. Abbey aims to build upon the understanding that all things eventually go back into the earth, addressing environmental, political and cultural issues, as she imagines what will grow out of our synthetic waste and form the uncanny ecologies of our future.

Using sculpture, video, sound, text, photography and drawing, Abbey creates otherworldly forms that exist in an imagined, but not so far off, future. Sometimes these works look like fossils and remnants of a future past, while others speculate about the mutations of plant-animal hybrids. She brings together her multimedia works to create an immersive digital world, a poetic experience of life beyond the Anthropocene, telling a tale of the resilience of nature in the face of ecological crisis.

Abbey’s research navigates the intersection between object-oriented thought and ecological perspectives, often using allegory to depict the concepts and ideas that have been critical in the development of the project, such as her re-conceptualisation of Ghosts and Monsters from Anna Tsing’s ‘Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet’ . She is also influenced by speculative narratives, science fiction novels and ancient mythology, which highlight the importance of storytelling for earthly survival.

With this work, Abbey invites us to re-think our human position in the world in relation to all other life forms and re-consider our participation in a vast network of vibrant matter. She hopes for this to be a constantly evolving project, continuing to respond to a perpetually shifting environment.

To view her digital world, please visit: here

My works are mainly focused on the social hierarchy and class differences from a British historical view. As we know, Britain has a very deep and unique cultural tradition. I found a lot of materials and images of the ruling class in British history, especially the royal family. This is the basis of my research. Several queens are important objects of my research on how the ruling class uses clothing as a means of distinguishing itself from ordinary people. In other words, clothing is also one of the means of political governance. The ruling class creates a social hierarchy. Tell people what is rich and what is poverty, aesthetics represent high social status and what is a low class through education. Making people believe in an artificial system and believe that it is natural. This is a natural way that the world goes on. Each of us has obtained a definite position in this society’s system before we were born. And then he accepts and fulfils the rules. This kind of rule permeates all aspects of life, and clothing as the most universal and external stuff is effective and available. I think it is a very interesting and unique cultural heritage. Like the geisha culture in Japan, each country has it’s own unique and precise cultural
traditions, which makes the world diverse and worth exploring.

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Taking found images, early renaissance paintings and personal memories as source material, this series of works attempts to disrupt the grand narratives of historic paintings by borrowing their compositions, figures and techniques but orienting them within the worlds of today’s young adults and older people. These are often points of painful life transition that are universally experienced. In un-magnificent, ordinary scenes I aim to convey the contrast of the grand narrative to the colloquial.

My main influence for this body of work has been the serene, pensive figures from early renaissance painters such as Piero Della Francesca and Giotto as well as later historical artworks, such as late paintings and etchings by Francisco Goya that thematically explore the folly of man, alongside references to 20th century artists such as Winifred Knights and Justine Kurland and the poem “Musee de Beaux Arts” by W.H. Auden, particularly the first four lines which read:

“About suffering they were never wrong,

The old Masters: how well they understood

Its human position: how it takes place

While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along”

Calum Stevenson (b. 1997, Falkirk, Scotland) previously graduated with a BA(Hons) in Fine Arts from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in 2019. Recipient of the Sandra McNeilance Prize for Drawing & Painting in 2019, and the ACS Materials prize in 2018. Recent exhibitions at Heinzel Gallery, Aberdeen in 2019 & 2020.

Through his practice, Stevenson has examined aspects of his surroundings and represented his perception of the world to the viewer, touching on the fear in society which is generated by the control of the state. The collection of paintings and digital collage are sculpted by Scottish surroundings of brutalist architecture and deteriorating social housing, as well as personal experiences of violent protests, both of which comment on the oppressing themes within our contemporary society.

His recent approach to painting is a combination of figurative and abstraction. By removing the hand from painting this creates uncontrolled marks and gestures, introducing an element of serendipity to the work, whilst police figures are rendered in a controlled state to reinforce the authoritarian response. The abstract backgrounds represent the unpredictable environments and events which transpire. Our superficially certain reality is questioned by recent events and reveals the fragility and instability in society.

Most of the work appears in negative, which is a result of his interest in digital integration and the relationship between human life and technology. In his development stage, images are digitally manipulated before being translated onto the canvas, which sees Stevenson become part of that machine process.

I call myself a “small to big” artist. More specifically, it is like drawing on a blank sheet of paper. Some people will draw a draft at the beginning and finish their work base on the sketch. I am in the opposite position: direct drawing without any planning. When I create enough content without thinking, those things I created will naturally fill up the entire empty paper.
My inspiration comes from “unique moments”. Walking on a square, I saw a pigeon stepping on another pigeon’s head to get a piece of bread; two pedestrians quarreling on the road, but they still maintained a social distance during the fight. In the nightmare last night I dreamed that I was crushed to death by an elevator. Those are what I call “unique moments” in life. All my art practice also starts here by capturing those moments.

Basically, my art = +story +memory+fun+aesthetics. Sometimes they are creepy and cute.

My name is Imanina. I’m a designer interested in designing for a post-capitalist society.

My most recent work explored media and democracy in the UK and looked at how alternative, citizen-owned media might provide a voice for the mis- and under-represented groups in society.

I’m keen to further explore how design might be used as a catalyst for social good, that is accessible for all and not just an elite few.

After finishing my BA in Industrial Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, I pursued a Masters in Design Innovation & Citizenship at The Glasgow School of Art. Together with my partner Kat Zavada, we organise Nadmiar/Excess – contemporary art and experimental music festival. I was part of the editorial board of Formy.xyz – Poland’s first peer-reviewed design journal (2018–2019). I held design roles at Ergo Design and Comarch. Together with Tillman Kratzer and Kat Zavada, we are preparing to launch Works On Work – a collaboration space for people pursuing projects related to the topic work.

For me, Design isn’t necessarily about finding a solution nor about solving problems. It is about creating space or situations where conflicting views and power relations can be discussed and renegotiated. I oppose the idea of the designer as a facilitator who seeks consensus between different actants, for it blurs authorship and what follows – responsibility. My practice is not about creating consensus or pleasing all parties. On the contrary, I see great value in conflict and dissensus as vehicles for liberation.

My master’s thesis looks at the idea of wellbeing appropriated by the contemporary mainstream managerial discourse, where employees’ happiness is perceived as something to be quantified, managed, and used as a productivity-enhancement strategy.

In opposition to the dogmatic aesthetic representations happiness related to a neoliberal moral fantasy imposed by those in the position of power, I propose taking a step back to anticipate and celebrate the spontaneous, unmanageable sources of joy and satisfaction resulting from autonomy.

The project aims to document minor everyday activities, techniques and coping strategies that go against the managerial regime – micro-disobediences that give one a sense of autonomy. Some examples may include: binge-watching Netflix during work time, taking unnecessarily long breaks, choosing different routes than the algorithm decides, being intentionally mean to your customer, acting grumpy when everybody is overenthusiastic or perhaps not participating in socials. And through these ‘coming-outs’ create a space free of slack-shaming and overstepping guilt.

With this project, I want to provoke a further conversation about work dogma and the spiritual violence of positivity at work. Unguilty Pleasures is an (auto)therapeutic tool for many working people, including myself.

Since 1880, we’ve lost two thirds of our ocean’s fish biomass and if nothing changes we could lose 60% of our ocean species by 2100. Coronavirus led to a collapse in fish exports and many people’s livelihood is being used as a bargaining chip in Brexit negotations.

Within this context, I sought to ask: what is the future of our ocean industries and how might we take a more regenerative approach to harvesting our oceans?

To divine this knowledge I asked experts who work in sustainable fishing advocacy, seaweed harvesting and government bodies. I learned about Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture(IMTA): a means of growing edible seaweeds next to shellfish in a way that cultivates biodiversity by drawing new fish and plantlife to areas where it’s cultivated.

I then worked with budding crofters and people who fantasised about escaping from the city to navigate what they wanted and how they might take steps to reify their fantasies. There wasn’t an awareness of the possibilities that were available.

I propose an informational campaign that would help those who want to work closer to nature to take clear steps to starting an IMTA farm.

I originally graduated from a Graphic Design Masters orientated towards social matters. I developed a background in print and editorial design. My practice is now focusing on research, social design and community-based projects. I am interested in looking at how design can support emancipation but also how design relates to politics and democracy.

My Master’s research project looks at political representation and democratic processes. It challenges the concept of representation and majority as effective forms of democracy and proposes different frameworks for democracy and civic engagements.

Because politics is often pictured as a complex topic only accessible for experts to discuss, instead, I tried to look at it with a didactic approach.

The research presents two complementary approaches “From the System to the People” and “From the People to the System”. Ultimately, what I am asking is how to represent multiplicity? What are the obstacles and problems of representation? Why do they exist and how to go around them?

I first attempted to define the French political system of representation in principle and in practice as a case study. I looked at its history, philosophy, practices and the roles played by experts and public institutions hoping this will enable me to identify entry points or short-circuit for change and civic engagement.

As my research perspective shifted I realised people were affecting the system themselves. I researched around the problematics of participation and how, why, when and by whom they are currently fostered. I identified different discourses around participation relating to different ideologies.

To get perspective, I searched for analogies. I compared network theories, animal and vegetal philosophies with the different discourses and ideologies around participation and with the way our social and political systems function. This allowed me to anchor my topic in a wider ecosystem and to compare current interactions and modes of assembling, of co-existence, and see what can be improved or challenged.

If you would like to know more about my work, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

I am Mugdha Patil, a graduate of the Master of Design in Design Innovation and Citizenship course at the Glasgow School of Art. I completed my undergraduate studies with a Bachelor of Design degree in Furniture Design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad (NID). I am a designer who believes in making social change through people-centered and people-led actions and policies. I design services, products, product-services, and experiences that promote social, ecological transformation by applying research that focuses on people and the ecosystems (social, cultural, economic, psychological as well as physical) they occupy.

Citizenship for me means having a sense of belonging to a society. Design can help bring that about. I believe that taking into consideration the needs of an ecosystem as a whole gives us an opportunity for creating lasting change that is not just environmentally sustainable but also economically feasible and socially equitable. I believe that the design process has a thousand endings; it simply doesn’t end with a product and I continue to absorb its messages and meanings beyond that.

About the project.

My project, The Design of Dissent, combines public pedagogy and participatory design to create a Museum of Dissent. The final proposal made is that of a co-curated and co-created space where citizens can educate themselves about the various ways of critically participating in government, engage in the causes they believe in, and commemorate people’s power and struggles from the past.

The overall aim of this project is to identify how citizens perceive their duty of participation in government, especially in terms of dissent and our civic education on this particular topic. My focus is especially on the process of collective legacy-making, trust in institutions, and different approaches to critical civic participation, in times of protest and social change.

Following a qualitative case study + participatory design approach, this research intends to build a rich in-depth investigation focusing on how civic education is realized in our political lives and how critical sentiments are expressed by the citizenry, through the use of interviews, workshops, surveys, and document analysis. The results of this project are intended to bring more clarity to the ‘design’ of dissent, legacy of people’s movements, people’s trust in institutions (or lack thereof), and the viability of leaderless social movements.

A Fashion and Textiles Educator currently working at BPS Secondary College in Mauritius. As a fashion and textiles teacher she has always promoted the Green concept in students project work.

With a Bachelor degree in textile and fashion, she is always interested into studying the properties of fabric, basics of colour and texture.

This project began as an exploration of fabric construction methods.

It involves engaging stakeholders and collaborators in the processes of designing, making and testing of textiles. The strategy used is upcycling of fabric remnants sourced from the local textile mill in Elgin. The approach to upcycling, with which this practice is aligned, treats the textile source as laden with information that guides the form of new fabrics out the textile waste. Subsequently, the fabrics were sent for testing in Portugal for the creation of Almalaguês- Spanish sneakers.

Awarded as a Highly Commendable project in September 2020 for the SIE Fresh Idea Competition.

This project used design as a medium to explore the significance of ordinary furniture to residents’ daily life and the feasibility of sustainable development of furniture.

As a necessity of residents’ daily life, furniture hides many unknown stories and secrets and also carries emotions of different users. Every piece of furniture has a special meaning for everyone. However, the fast-paced life of modern society makes the circulation of products faster, and the replacement rate of furniture is increased so waste is inevitable. It is regretted that many furniture worthies of being preserved are therefore neglected and then abandoned. The reason for its waste is not only because of damaged furniture, style changes, and residents’ relocation but also ignore daily furniture and the lack of environmental awareness. Although there are endless related education projects, how to implement residents’ behaviours into daily life is the pinpoint of this project.

This project traced the circulation process of furniture, explored and redefined the meaning of furniture to residents, and finally designed a solution to extend the service life of furniture accordingly.

Dialect heritage aims to protect and promote dialect heritage. It focuses on remote communities in Scotland for their decline number of dialect speakers. Also, the research concentrate on Doric language as research example and the final outcome is related on it. The final outcome visualizes the idea of ‘dialect heritage make up a part of cultural heritage in the community’.In addition, this board game can be used as a catalyst, with youngsters meeting up with older native Scots speakers. During this process, youngsters have the opportunity to discover and begin to use new words, and the speakers found their inheritors and pass on their dialect knowledge. It could solve the problem of fewer dialect inheritors in remote communities.

A multidisciplinary designer with a socially engaged practice. Her practice-led research looks at creating accessible and democratic engagement processes and toolkits for public space and land research to mobilize alternative voices and experiences of the landscape. From sensory and sound mapping to spatial imaginaries, she is exploring ways in which notions such as ‘having a voice’ can go beyond the metaphorical, and sensory engagement can create accessible consultation processes.

Having delivered a diverse body of collaborative work internationally she has worked with experts across art, design, architecture and science to create work that is socially and environmentally driven. This includes public installations and engagement projects for TATE Britain, London Design Week, Hello Wood International Architecture Summer University, KÉK – Center of Contemporary Architecture and Istanbul Biennale.

She received I-Portunus European Union artist mobility grant to work with CCA: Center of Contemporary Art in Glasgow – as part of their ‘School for Civic Imagination’ public engagement programme and was awarded IDENSITAT ‘Sound of our Cities’, a Creative Europe Cultural Collaboration grant to deliver an urban sound mapping project in Barcelona this year.

Hi, I’m Maja! In a previous life I was a physics grad but I realized I was more passionate about studying and helping people through design. My main interests are in public space as an arena for tactile democracy, encounters, and explorations. I aim to examine this through an analytical yet playful approach.

My master’s project, Serendipity in the City, looked at the city through the lens of “designing for serendipity”. I saw serendipity as a possible antidote to physical filter bubbles, routine, and strictly functionalist uses of space.

Through a series of discussions and walks, I explored the meanings of serendipity, community, connection and strangership with a range of people. The project identified 4 key areas to consider when building for serendipity, and proposed a freely accessible publication to inspire and empower citizens to form new relationships with their surroundings.

The full report can be viewed here.

I am a visual communication designer based in Seoul, South Korea. My current interests and practice are in socio-environmental design, especially focusing on the possibilities of collective changes that individuals’ behaviour can foster.

This project ‘Empathy-derived recycling model’ opens up the opportunities of personal connection between refuse collectors and the general public, for residents’ better understanding of what results their behavioural decision on waste disposal could cause. The research explores people’s cognitive and environmental behaviour change when no one intends to cause environmental harms but far too much waste that could easily be recycled is going to landfill. The system highlights the significant environmental impact of correct recycling and putting the stuff in the right bins, and the intrinsic drive for such waste disposal behaviour can be improved by building up the familiarity with refuse collectors.

“Please try your utmost to separate and wash. It’s not just us you are helping. It’s yourself in the future.” – Mr. C, Refuse collector

I have a background in Architecture and have always been interested in exploring lived experiences. I am inspired by how narratives can play a part in shaping culture, influencing change in systems and attributing new meanings to spaces.

My graduate project was focussed on exploring the gap between the representational aspects and the built material reality of cities. My effort was to mediate an experience through a dialogue between the city and its people by challenging everyday conditions in urban streets. The result was an audio experience that could serve to dismantle the built, objective perceptions of the city and re-orient human perspectives. It is rooted in the idea that people form dynamic, iterative relationships with the spaces around them and this can be used to transform the urban experience.

With a curious mindset to unpick and discover hidden opportunities for design intervention, Fanechka seeks to understand behavioural insights from psychologists and scientists to nudge people towards a more sustainable form of living. Can Design play this role when assessing behaviours of communities collectively? She has a previous background in the interior design and architecture sector with her focus now shifted on projects that aim to understand the social and cultural complexity directly influenced by various biases, social norms and spaces.

Fanechka’s Final Project:  How might we promote pro-environmental behaviours to create sustainable neighbourhoods?

Communities and Climate Change are complex challenges that force us to act in a certain way due to various systemic issues. Based on the COMB model tool provided by the behavioural insights team in London, I directed my research to find motivators and opportunities that drove people to act a certain way.
Understanding and analysing these behavioural insights to drive social change has moulded this project.
Making the language of climate action and environmental sustainability more inclusive and accessible to groups of people from various class structures had built the foundation of this project. Can we multiply and amplify certain behaviours to create a new and pronounced sense of identity to those communities that are tied with complexities? This project does not intend to focus on one specific behaviour, as sustainability is a journey with one success action resulting in us taking the next action – this was uncovered through various forms of research.

Visualizing the whole community as a complex system within which a collection of design interventions take place would help in the shift towards adopting sustainable lifestyles. Collective behaviours could then influence individuals due to social norms or perceived values.
As the local council carefully creates change to its infrastructures it needs to also ingrain behaviours within this system simultaneously to have the community working as an ecosystem.

Proposal:   WHITE CITY CARES
The design outcome considers behaviours projected by citizens of a social housing estate in London. Based on these behaviours, there are 3 different parts that work in cohesion to instil certain values among residents i.e pro-environmental.

‘White City Cares’ inspires and empowers people from different backgrounds, cultural values and upbringings to inspire, learn and take action individually or collectively to help live as a part of the ecosystem.

Brief detail on the design process is mentioned under each slide.