Architectural Fictions

Architectural Fictions was a curatorial project that brought together the work of eight artist that in different ways addressed principles of fictioning and narrative in relation to the built environment. The project brought critical focus to the narrative structures implicit in the production of space. Through dialogue with the participants, the project developed speculative critical exchange, examining questions such as the interplay between the real and the virtual and the role of design in relation to processes of habitation. Architectural Fictions formed a keynote exhibition in South Hill Park Arts Centre program. SHP is funded by the Arts Council England and is in partnership with ARC which delivers events by professionals from the field of art and culture. A public lecture about Architectural Fictions was delivered by Mary Maclean and Tim Renshaw who together make up the group Outside Architecture. Outside Architecture aims to open up speculative dialogues and images on the materials and signs that compose the texture of shared and lived in spaces.

Untitled (Abstraction of labour time eternal recurrence monad)

An AHRC funded project titled: Picturing ideas? Visualising and Synthesising Ideas as art (2009-10). Outputs including: 4 exhibitions; 4 publications; 3 papers; 2 largescale backlit digital prints; 1 commissioned print. (See Additional Information) ----ABSTRACT: Utilising the virtuality of digital imagery this practice-led project explored the possibility of the cross-articulation between text and image and the bridging or synthesising potential of the visual affect of ideas. A series of digital images were produced 'picturing' or 'visualising' philosophical ideas derived from the writings of the philosopher Giles Deleuze, as remodellings of pre-existing philosophical ideas; developed through dialogues and consultation with specialists in the fields from which the ideas were drawn (philosophy, psychology, film) as well as artists and theorists concerned with ideas of 'mental imagery' and visualisation. Final images were produced as a synthesis (or combination) of these visualisations and presented in the format of large scale, backlit digital prints at a series of prestigious international exhibitions (see details above). Evaluation took the form of a four page illustrated text in Frieze magazine (August 2009) and three papers delivered at University of Ulster, Goldsmiths College of Art and Loughborough University. The project also included the publication of a catalogue essay (EAST 09) and an illustrated poem (in the Dark Monarch publication). A print version of the image was commissioned by Invisible Exports Gallery, New York and subsequently exhibited in The Devos Art Museum, School of Art & Design at Northern Michigan University and in a publication edited by Cedar Lewisohn for Tate Publishing. The project was funded by an AHRC practice-led grant (17K) and Arts Council of England award (1.5K). The outputs, including high profile, publicly accessible exhibitions, prestigious publications and conference papers ensured the dissemination of the research to a wide range of audiences, including scholars/researchers across the arts and humanities engaged in practice-based and interdisciplinary theoretical work (in particular in the fields of contemporary art and art theory and those working on the integration of art and theory/philosophy/psychology) but also the wider audience for contemporary art.

Cognitive and bodily selves: how do they interact following brain lesion?

Dualism has long distinguished between the mental and the body experiences. Probing the structure and organisation of the self traditionally calls for a distinction between these two sides of the self coin. It is far beyond the scope of this chapter to address these philosophical issues, and our starting point will be the simple distinction between reflective processes involved in the elaboration of body image, self awareness and self-recognition (i.e. ‘the self’) and the sensori-motor dialogues involved in action control, reactions and automatisms (i.e. ‘the body’ schema). This oversimplification does not take into account the complex interactions taking place between these two levels of description, but our initial aim will be to distinguish between them, before addressing the question of their interactions. Cognitive and sensori-motor processes have frequently been distinguished (review: Rossetti and Revonsuo 2000), and it may be proposed that a similar dissociation can be put forward, a priori, between a central representation of self and a bodily representation corresponding to body schema (Figure 1).

The type and frequency of interactions that occur between staff and children outside in Early Years Foundation Stage settings during a fixed playtime period when there are tricycles available

This study reports on an investigation into adult and child interactions observed in the outdoor play environment in four Local Authority early years foundation stage settings in England. In this instance the common two features across the settings were the presence of tricycles and a timetabled outdoor play period. In total, across the four schools, there were 204 children. The study aimed to gain an understanding of the nature of the dialogues between staff and children, that is, the types of exchange that occurred when either the child approached an adult or the adult approached a child. The most frequent type of utterance was also analysed. The study concludes that adults in these settings spoke more than children and the greatest type of utterance was that of the adult about domestic matters. When the child initiated the conversation there were more extended child utterances than domestic utterances. This may suggest that children wish to be involved in conversations of depth and meaning and that staff need to become aware of how to develop this conversational language with children.

Climate change, extreme weather events and issues of human perception

The central proposition of Toby Pillatt is that in developing an understanding of past human affairs weather is as important as, or more so than, climate. Climate may be simply defined as average weather, whilst weather is the day-to-day occurrence of atmospheric phenomena which impact in perceptible ways on people's lives. The general proposition is sound enough; the challenges come in implementing these ideas in ways which advance our understanding of past people–environment relationships.

Back to the margins in search of the core: foreign land's geography of exclusion

The crisis of the national project in the early 1990s, caused by a short-lived but disastrous government, led Brazilian art cinema, for the first time, to look at itself as periphery and re-approach the old colonial centre, Portugal. Terra estrangeira/Foreign Land (Walter Salles & Daniela Thomas, Brazil/Portugal, 1995), a film about Brazilian exiles in Portugal, is the best illustration of this perspective shift aimed at providing a new sense of Brazil’s scale and position within a global context. Shot mainly on location in São Paulo, Lisbon and Cape Verde, it promotes the encounter of Lusophone peoples who find a common ground in their marginal situation. Even Portugal is defined by its location at the edge of Europe and by beliefs such as Sebastianism, whose origins go back to the time when the country was dominated by Spain. As a result, notions of ‘core’ or ‘centre’ are devolved to the realm of myth. The film’s carefully crafted dialogues combine Brazilian, Portuguese and Creole linguistic peculiarities into a common dialect of exclusion, while language puns trigger visual rhymes which refer back to the Cinema Novo (the Brazilian New Wave) repertoire and restage the imaginary of the discovery turned into unfulfilled utopia. The main characters also acquire historical resonances, as they are depicted as descendants of Iberian conquistadors turned into smugglers of precious stones in the present. Their activities define a circuit of international exchange which resonates with that of globalized cinema, a realm in which Foreign Land, made up of citations and homage to other cinemas, tries to retrieve a sense of belonging.

Odd deposits and average practice. A critical history of the concept of structured deposition.

This paper presents a critical history of the concept of ‘structured deposition’. It examines the long-term development of this idea in archaeology, from its origins in the early 1980s through to the present day, looking at how it has been moulded and transformed. On the basis of this historical account, a number of problems are identified with the way that ‘structured deposition’ has generally been conceptualized and applied. It is suggested that the range of deposits described under a single banner as being ‘structured’ is unhelpfully broad, and that archaeologists have been too willing to view material culture patterning as intentionally produced – the result of symbolic or ritual action. It is also argued that the material signatures of ‘everyday’ practice have been undertheorized and all too often ignored. Ultimately, it is suggested that if we are ever to understand fully the archaeological signatures of past practice, it is vital to consider the ‘everyday’ as well as the ‘ritual’ processes which lie behind the patterns we uncover in the ground.

User's manual

'Typeform dialogues', as originally planned for publication, was an interactive CD-based screen interface presenting a comparative survey of typeform history and description. The CD was to be held inside a printed book that included two essays and a User’s Manual. Although 'Typeform dialogues' (CD+book) was not completed as planned, a PDF file was published containing the User’s Manual, together with background information about the interface and the project it was part of. The User's Manual presents all interface sections and features (using screen grabs) and explains their editorial rationale, design, and function.

CSR: the co-evolution of grocery multiples in the UK (2005-2010)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate if CSR is balanced between firm and wider society interests. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative interpretive hermeneutic approach is used to analyse a variety of publically published secondary sources on the CSR of Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons and Co-operative in the UK grocery multiple sector (2005-2010). Findings – CSR strategic outcomes currently favour the firm more than society interests. A multilayered framework in the form of Social Responsibility of the Corporation (SRC) is designed and offered in support of balancing the business-society relationship more evenly. Research limitations/implications – This study is limited to firms originating from within the UK grocery multiple sector. Asda could not be included in the study as it does not publish CSR reports annually in the UK after becoming part of Walmart group. Practical implications – A framework for multi-level standardised definition of CSR in the form of SRC is offered. The inclusion of employees and members of the public on CSR/SRC boards is recommended to foster wider collaboration. The SRC framework promotes standardisation at global level while respecting diversity and firm heterogeneity at firm level. The findings may further contribute to GRI; UN Global Compact; WEF dialogues. Social implications – Recommendations are made to extend CSR board diversity for improved dialogue with communities. The SRC framework may be applied at global; national; industry and firm level. The framework can be applied internationally or locally. Future studies may offer quantitative attributes for balancing CSR/SRC. Originality/value – A globally unique and universally applicable framework for evaluating CSR activities is proposed. Future studies may extend the authors' framework to other industries, national environments or globally in the pursuit of balance between firm and society. Furthermore, firms may also adopt the framework to support CSR activities.

Artefacts between disciplines: the toothbrush and the axe

This paper takes the form of a dialogue between an archaeologist and a sociologist. In recent years, interdisciplinary working has become increasingly fashionable within academia. The aim of our exchange was to establish exactly what implications this way of working has for understandings of material culture. Our methodology was simple, involving the ‘archaeological’ and ‘sociological’ analysis of two different objects. In undertaking this work, we hoped to bring about new or different understandings of the objects under scrutiny. The process was indeed successful, but not necessarily in the ways we had expected. Ultimately, it revealed a complex set of questions about how the materials of culture are conceptualized and understood, and led us to a renewed appreciation of the theoretical and methodological qualities of what we do within our respective disciplines

New legal texts from the Hermeneumata Pseudodositheana

Several previously unnoticed texts concerning ancient lawcourts can be found in the Colloquia of the Hermeneumata Pseudodositheana, a set of bilingual dialogues composed for language learners during the Roman empire. The texts describe court cases, both criminal and civil; their writers probably taught in law schools between the second and fourth centuries ad. Editions, translations, and summary information about these texts are provided.

Outwitted by the hidden: unsure emotions

In this paper the authors consider natural, feigned or absence of emotions in text-based dialogues. The dialogues occurred during interactions between human Judges/Interrogators and hidden entities in practical Turing tests implemented at Bletchley Park in June 2012. The authors focus on the interactions that left the Interrogator unable to say whether they were talking to a human or a machine after five minutes of questioning; the hidden interlocutor received an ‘unsure’ classification. In cases where the Judge has provided post-event feedback the authors present their rationale from three viva voce one-to-one Turing tests. The authors find that emoticons and other visual devices used to express feelings in text-based interaction were missing in the conversations between the Interrogators and hidden interlocutors.

Toward a scholarly edition of Beckett's critical writings

This essay outlines the case for a new, scholarly edition of Beckett's critical writings, one that would be complete and with critical annotation. For the most part these texts (critical writings, tributes, in memoria and epigraphs) have been published in a range of places. As well as in the magazines, newspapers, books and special-issue publications in which pieces originally appeared, a number were collected in Disjecta (Calder 1983 & Grove 1984). This volume, however, is not exhaustive; it misses out a number of important texts (not least Proust) and contains some textual inaccuracies. Furthermore, Beckett's critical writings are currently not available from the UK publishers Faber and the Grove Press Centenary Edition of Beckett's works, the fourth volume of which contains a section entitled ‘Criticism’, presents only three works of criticism by Beckett (Proust, ‘Dante … Bruno . Vico . . Joyce’ and ‘Three Dialogues’). In this essay, we give a brief (and far from exhaustive) overview of the publication history of Beckett's non-fiction prose texts, before outlining some of the editorial challenges they pose. Although Beckett tended to be dismissive of these works, they form an integral part of his canon.

Learning Latin the ancient way: Latin textbooks from the ancient world

A collection of Latin textbooks used by Greek speakers in the Roman empire, translated and annotated for modern readers. Includes reading material such as dialogues, phrasebooks, Colloquia of the Hermeneumata Pseudodositheana, stories about the Trojan war, Aesop's fables, legal treatises, and model letters; grammatical works from Dositheus and Charisius; glossaries/lexica; prose compostion exercises; alphabets. Some texts are transliterated.