Strolls project and website

The Strolls project was originally devised for a colleague in Finland and a cross cultural event event called AU goes to FI – the core concept is both re-experience of and presentation of the ‘everyday’ experience of life rather than the usual cultural icons. The project grew and was presented as a mash-up site with google maps (truna aka j.turner & David Browning). The site is now cob-webbed but some of the participant made strolls are archived here. The emphasis on the walk and taking of image stills (as opposed to the straightforward video) is based on a notion of partaking of the environment with technology. The process involves a strange and distinct embodiment as the maker must stop and choose each subsequent shot in order to build up the final animated sequence. The viewer becomes subtly involved in the maker’s decisions.

Out of the Box Festival for 3 to 8 year olds (Artistic Director)

The Out of the Box Festival was founded in 1994 by the Queensland Performing Arts Centre and has been held biannually ever since both within and around the centre in what is now known as the Cultural Precinct at Southbank. It is unique in Australia in that it caters entirely to children aged 8 years and under, with a highly curated program of ticketed performance events, workshops and free arts-based events. It is attended by school and kindergarten groups and by families, and besides engaging children in high quality arts experiences, the festival is also a platform for advocating the developmental and educational benefits of the arts for children. Dr Mark Radvan was the artistic director of the 2008 festival, with responsibility for developing the curatorial direction of each festival, for creating and programming its events, and for working with festival partners The Queensland Art Gallery, The Queensland Museum, The State Library of Queensland and The Queensland Theatre Company. Radvan designed selected and commissioned works to demonstrate how the arts create memorable, celebratory and immersive experiences that stimulate children’s imagination, their curiosity and confidence about the material world and the cultures of its people. A core event was an outdoor music and dance performance space featuring entirely Indigenous performers that was not only the beating heart of the festival, but served to underlie the importance of mainstreaming awareness of our first peoples in the increasingly culturally diverse communities of children attending.

The night, my brother and me

Theatre performance of a story about the unexplored emotional lives of children experiencing loss.

Practice as Method : The Ex/centric Fixations Project

In this chapter, I consider the efficacy of creative practice as a research method, concentrating specifically on its applications in the performing arts, using one of my own recent projects, The Ex/centric Fixations Project (2009), as an example.

Trailing Touch

Trailing Touch (2014) is a twenty minute classically-based dance work set to music by composers Carter Burwell and Hildur Gudnadottir. It is an abstract work that explores images based on imperfect patterns and seeks to transmit the sensations felt when clusters form and disperse through the space or crisscross to create swirling wave-like reactions in the dancers’ tulle skirts. These simple references are inspired by the lyrical use of arms found in ballet, particular to the ballet aesthetic. Trailing Touch was created in collaboration with QUT’s third-year BFA (Dance Performance) students and performed as part of Dance14 at QUT’s Gardens Points Theatre from the 4th to 8th November 2014 and was performed in Singapore as part of Contact Contemporary Dance Festival on 30th November, 2014. Additionally, the creative process of Trailing Touch (2014) forms the initial project of Phase III of my PhD research, Writing the Dance Score in the Twenty-first Century: An approach for the Independent Choreographer. This PhD research will examine the potential of dance scores as a suite of choreographic strategies to map key aspects of the choreographic process. While a certain degree of ambiguity drives the creative process, the suite of choreographic strategies attempt to capture what is transmitted through the lived experience of dance. “[T]hese documents harbor a force of expression, a visual energy related to the body and the movement” (Louppe 1994, 7) that triggers movement responses, unforeseen intensities and enables personal interpretation. Consequently, Phase III will test and evaluate the relevance of Phase II research within the pressures of mainstream dance rehearsal and performance contexts. In Project One Trailing Touch this was demonstrated in the dance scores produced by the choreographer and interpreted by the dancers within the performance. By drawing from both the theoretical and practical, it is anticipated that this research will suggest a form of languaging movement that is not reliant on images or numbers, but generated in response to the intuitive and complex process underpinning choreographic practice. Rather than constructing a codified dance notation system, it will focus on strategies that reveal movement, its spatial patterns, qualities and intensities of expression and the procedures underlying key choreographic concepts. The outcome of this research project aims to support the independent choreographer in two major areas, by facilitating and enriching the choreographic process for both the performers and choreographer, and by strengthening artistic development and performance outcomes.

The Fleet Store : devising a public retail exhibition to promote creative, innovative and sustainable business models for emerging fashion designers

1.Description of the Work The Fleet Store was devised as a creative output to establish an exhibition linked to a fashion business model where emerging designers were encouraged to research new and innovative strategies for creating design-driven and commercial collections for a public consumer. This was a project that was devised to break down the perceptions of emerging fashion designers that designing commercial collections linked to a sustainable business model is a boring and unnecessary process. The focus was to demystify the business of fashion and to link its importance to a design-driven and public outcome that is more familiar to fashion designers. The criterion for participation was that all designers had to be registered as a business with the Australian Taxation Office. Designers were chosen from the Creative Enterprise Australia Fashion Business Incubator, the QUT fashion graduate alumni and current QUT fashion design and double degree (fashion and business) students with existing businesses. The project evolved from a series of collaborative workshops where designers were introduced to new and innovative creative industries’ business models and the processes, costings and timings involved to create a niche, sustainable business for a public exhibition of design-driven commercial collections. All designers initiated their own business infra-structure but were then introduced to the concept of collaboration for successful and profitable exhibition and business outcomes. Collaborative strategies such as crowd funding, crowd sourcing, peer to peer mentoring and manufacturing were all researched, and strategies for the establishment of the retail exhibition were all devised in a collaborative environment. All participants also took on roles outside their ‘designer’ background to create a retail exhibition that was creative but also had critical mass and aesthetic for the consumer. The Fleet Store ‘popped up’ for 2 weeks (10 days), in a heritage-listed building in an inner city location. Passers-by were important, but the main consumer was enlisted by the use of interest and investment from crowd sourcing, crowd funding, ethical marketing, corporate social responsibility projects and collaborative public relations and social media strategies. The research has furthered discussion on innovative strategies for emerging fashion designers to initiate and maintain sustainable businesses and suggests that collaboration combined with a design-driven and business focus can create a sustainable and economically viable retail exhibition. 2. Research Statement Research Background The research field involved developing a new ethical, design-driven, collaborative and sustainable model for fashion design practice and management. The research asked can a public, design-driven, collaborative retail exhibition create a platform for promoting creative, innovative and sustainable business models for emerging fashion designers. The methodology was primarily practice-led as all participants were designers in their own right and the project manager acted as a mentor and curator to guide the process and analyse the potential of the research question. The Fleet Store offers new knowledge in design practice and management; with the creation of a model where design outcomes and business models are inextricably linked to the success of the creative output. Key innovations include extending the commercialisation of emerging fashion businesses by creating a curated retail gallery for collaborative and sustainable strategies to support niche fashion designer labels. This has contributed to a broader conversation on how to nurture and sustain competitive Australian fashion designers/labels. Research Contribution and Significance The Fleet Store has contributed to a growing body of research into innovative and sustainable business models for niche fashion and creative industries’ practitioners. All participants have maintained their business infra-structure and many are currently growing their businesses, using the strategies tested for the Fleet Store. The exhibition space was visited by over 1,000 people and sales of $27,000 were made in 10 days of opening. (Follow up sales of $3,000 has also been reported.) Three of the designers were ‘discovered’ from the exhibition and have received substantial orders from high profile national buyers and retailers for next season delivery. Several participants have since collaborated to create other pop up retail environments and are now mentoring other emerging designers on the significance of a collaborative retail exhibition to consolidate niche business models for emerging fashion designers.

Shifting intimacies

Our world is literally and figuratively turning to ‘dust’. This work acknowledges decay and renewal and the transitional, cyclical natures of interrelated ecologies. It also suggests advanced levels of degradation potentially beyond reparation. Dust exists both on and beneath the border of our unaided vision. Dust particles are predominantly forms of disintegrating solids that often become the substance or catalyst of future forms. Like many tiny forms, dust is an often unnoticed residue with ‘planet-size consequences’. (Hanna Holmes 2001) The image depicts an ethereal, backlit body, continually circling and morphing, apparently floating, suggesting endless cycles of birth, life and death and inviting differing states of meditation, exploration, stillness and play. This never ending video work is taken from a large-scale interactive/media artwork created during a six-month research residency in England at the Institute of Contemporary Art London and at Vincent Dance Theatre Sheffield in 2006. It was originally presented on a raised floor screen made of pure white sand at the ICA in London (see). The project involved developing new interaction, engagement and image making strategies for media arts practice, drawing on the application of both kinetic and proprioceptive dance/performance knowledges. The work was further informed by ecological network theory that assesses the systemic implications of private and public actions within bounded systems. The creative methodology was primarily practice-led which fomented the particular qualities of imagery, generated through cross-fertilising embodied knowledge of Dance and Media Arts. This was achieved through extensive workshopping undertaken in theatres, working ‘on the floor’ live, with dancers, props, sound and projection. And eventually of course, all this dust must settle. (Holmes 2001, from Dust Jacket) Holmes, H. 2001, The Secret Life of Dust: From the Cosmos to the Kitchen Counter, the Big Consequences of Little Things, p.3

Using conservation evidence to guide management

Almost 10 years ago, Pullin and Knight (2001) called for an “effectiveness revolution in conservation” to be enabled by the systematic evaluation of evidence for conservation decision making. Drawing from the model used in clinicalmedicine, they outlined the concept of “evidencebased conservation” in which existing information, or evidence, from relevant and rigorous research is compiled and analyzed in a systematic manner to inform conservation actions (Cochrane 1972). The promise of evidencebased conservation has generated significant interest; 25 systematic reviews have been completed since 2004 and dozens are underway (Collaboration for Environmental Evidence 2010). However we argue that an “effectiveness revolution” (Pullin & Knight 2001) in conservation will not be possible unless mechanisms are devised for incorporating the growing evidence base into decision frameworks. For conservation professionals to accomplish the missions of their organizations they must demonstrate that their actions actually achieve objectives (Pullin & Knight 2009). Systematic evaluation provides a framework for objectively evaluating the effectiveness of actions. To leverage the benefit of these evaluations, we need resource-allocation systems that are responsive to their outcomes. The allocation of conservation resources is often the product of institutional priorities or reliance on intuition (Sutherland et al. 2004; Pullin & Knight 2005; Cook et al. 2010). We highlight the NICE technologyappraisal process because it provides an example of formal integration of systematic-evidence evaluation with provision of guidance for action. The transparent process, which clearly delineates costs and benefits of each alternative action, could also provide the public with new insight into the environmental effects of different decisions. This insight could stimulate a wider discussion about investment in conservation by demonstrating how changes in funding might affect the probability of achieving conservation objectives. ©2010 Society for Conservation Biology

The Reef Cycle: Engaging in creativity and global awareness

This is a report of a musical theatre production performed at QUT Gardens Point Campus in November 2014 for the occasion of the end of year Annual Art Exhibition and concert of the Post graduate research students. Both the performance and the exhibition focused on environmental issues especially in relation to coal and coral in Queensland. The poster was prepared by Stephen Bennett former student in Creative Industries.

The Reef Cycle: Paradise; Paradise Plundered; Paradise Preserved by people Power

This is a musical theatre production with an environmental message addressing a Queensland, Australia tussle between the development of the Galilee Coal Basin and the potential threat to the health of the Great Barrier Reef along the Queensland coast. The drama is enacted by characters representing "goodies" and "baddies" and includes epic poetry, dance, orchestra and drama. The whole performance is enacted in the midst of a post graduate student art exhibition with a coral and coal theme.

MITIE C-Arm - Advanced innovation in education

Aim: In 2013 QUT introduced the Medical Imaging Training Immersive Environment (MITIE) as a virtual reality (VR) platform that allowed students to practice general radiography. The system software has been expanded to now include C-Arm. The aim of this project was to investigate the use of this technology in the pedagogy of undergraduate medical imaging students who have limited to no experience in the use of the C-Arm clinically. Method: The Medical Imaging Training Immersive Environment (MITIE) application provides students with realistic and fully interactive 3D models of C-Arm equipment. As with VR initiatives in other health disciplines (1–2) the software mimics clinical practice as much as possible and uses 3D technology to enhance 3D spatial awareness and realism. The application allows students to set up and expose a virtual patient in a 3D environment as well as creating the resultant “image” for comparison with a gold standard. Automated feedback highlights ways for the student to improve their patient positioning, equipment setup or exposure factors. The students' equipment knowledge was tested using an on line assessment quiz and surveys provided information on the students' pre-clinical confidence scale, with post-clinical data comparisons. Ethical approval for the project was provided by the university ethics panel. Results: This study is currently under way and this paper will present analysis of initial student feedback relating to the perceived value of the application for confidence in a high risk environment (i.e. operating theatre) and related clinical skills development. Further in-depth evaluation is ongoing with full results to be presented. Conclusion: MITIE C-Arm has a development role to play in the pre-clinical skills training for Medical Radiation Science students. It will augment their theoretical understanding prior to their clinical experience. References 1. Bridge P, Appleyard R, Ward J, Phillips R, Beavis A. The development and evaluation of a virtual radiotherapy treatment machine using an immersive visualisation environment. Computers and Education 2007; 49(2): 481–494. 2. Gunn T, Berry C, Bridge P et al. 3D Virtual Radiography: Development and Initial Feedback. Paper presented at the 10th Annual Scientific Meeting of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy, March 2013 Hobart, Tasmania.

Brave New Welcome

Brave New Welcome is the title of a short film, and a project, which was driven by a diverse group of young people who engaged with arts practices such as playback theatre, visual and media arts, and who worked with a range of professionals to develop their own response to the issue of how young people from refugee backgrounds are welcomed in Brisbane. Film Description on Vimeo: In January 2014, at a time when Australia is full of messages of ‘unwelcome’, a group of 20 young people from diverse backgrounds came together in Brisbane. We asked, ‘What does it take to make friends with people who are really different from ourselves?’ We told stories using music, playback theatre and community café dialogue. Our experience was so awesome we decided to give others a taste. So, three months later, we brought over 80 young people together in a forum to meet each other and tell stories in creative and interesting ways. We shared our ideas, asked big questions, and challenged others in our community. What can you do to create a Brave New Welcome?

Green: Exploring the aestheticized use of chroma-key techniques and technologies in two intermedial productions

Peggy Shaw’s RUFF, (USA 2013) and Queensland Theatre Company’s collaboration with Queensland University of Technology, Total Dik!, (Australia 2013) overtly and evocatively draw on an aestheticized use of the cinematic techniques and technologies of Chroma Key to reveal the tensions in their production and add layers to their performances. In doing so they offer invaluable insight where the filmic and theatrical approaches overlap. This paper draws on Eckersall, Grehan and Scheer’s New Media Dramaturgy (2014) to reposition the frame as a contribution to intermedial theatre and performance practices in light of increasing convergence between seemingly disparate discourses. In RUFF, the scenic environment replicates a chroma-key ‘studio’ which facilitates the reconstruction of memory displaced after a stroke. RUFF uses the screen and projections to recall crooners, lounge singers, movie stars, rock and roll bands, and an eclectic line of eccentric family members living inside Shaw. While the show pays tribute to those who have kept her company across decades of theatrical performance, use of non-composited chroma-key technique as a theatrical device and the work’s taciturn revelation of the production process during performance, play a central role in its exploration of the juxtaposition between its reconstructed form and content. In contrast Total Dik! uses real-time green screen compositing during performance as a scenic device. Actors manipulate scale models, refocus cameras and generate scenes within scenes in the construction of the work’s examination of an isolated Dictator. The ‘studio’ is again replicated as a site for (re)construction, only in this case Total Dik! actively seeks to reveal the process of production as the performance plays out. Building on RUFF, and other works such as By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, (2012) and Hotel Modern’s God’s Beard (2012), this work blends a convergence of mobile technologies, models, and green screen capture to explore aspects of transmedia storytelling in a theatrical environment (Jenkins, 2009, 2013). When a green screen is placed on stage, it reads at once as metaphor and challenge to the language of theatre. It becomes, or rather acts, as a ‘sign’ that alludes to the nature of the reconstructed, recomposited, manipulated and controlled. In RUFF and in Total Dik!, it is also a place where as a mode of production and subsequent reveal, it adds weight to performance. These works are informed by Auslander (1999) and Giesenkam (2007) and speak to and echo Lehmann’s Postdramatic Theatre (2006). This paper’s consideration of the integration of studio technique and live performance as a dynamic approach to multi-layered theatrical production develops our understanding of their combinatory use in a live performance environment.

A rare view: Barbara Hatley’s new book documents a career-long study of, and passion for performance in Central Java

Javanese Performances on an Indonesian Stage: Contesting Culture, Embracing Change, is Barbara Hatley’s first book about the performing arts in Indonesia, a topic that piqued her interest while undergoing a masters program at Yale University in the late 1960s. In this sense, it is a landmark study, for Hatley has since become very well known in Indonesianist circles, especially among those with an interest in matters of culture, popular and elite. Until recently, her writings on Indonesian performing arts have only been available in the form of journal articles and book chapters...

Final report : Estimating the extent of unlicensed driving: Roadside licence check survey - Wave2. Report to Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads

This report documents a second, revised roadside licence check survey undertaken by the Queensland Police Service (QPS) in conjunction with roadside random breath testing (RBT) traffic operations. The methodology utilised was devised by the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q), Transport and Main Roads (TMR) and QPS, after consideration of a number of options.