Slow horizon

“Slow Horizon” is comprised of six lenticular panels hung in an even, horizontal sequence. As the viewer moves in front of the work, each panel alternates subtly between two vertical colour gradients. From left to right, the panels move through yellow, orange, magenta and violet to ‘midnight blue’. Together, the coloured panels comprise an abstract horizon line that references the changing nature of light at sunset. The scale, movement and chromatic qualities of the panels also allude to the formal characteristics of the screen technologies that pervade contemporary visual culture. “Slow Horizon” contributes to studies in the field of contemporary art. It is particularly concerned with the relationships between abstraction, colour, signification and perception. Since early Modernity, debates concerning representation and the formal qualities of the picture plane have been fundamental to art practice and theory. These debates have often dovetailed with questions of art’s capacity to generate shifts in thought and perception. Practitioners such as Ellsworth Kelly, James Turrell and Ed Ruscha have variously used block and blended colour to engage in these formal, symbolic and perceptual potentials of colour. Using a practice-led research methodology, “Slow Horizon” furthers this creative inquiry. By conflating the reductive visual logics of abstraction and minimalism with the iconic, romantic evocations of sunset imagery, it questions not only the contemporary relationship between abstraction and image-making, but also art’s ability to create moments of stillness and contemplation in a context significantly shaped by screen technologies. “Slow Horizon” has been exhibited internationally as part of “Supermassive” at LA Louver Gallery, Venice, California in 2013. The exhibition was reviewed in The Los Angeles Times.

Imaging affect : abstraction and the echo of the unknowable

As an artist my primary interest is in the abstract, that is in images of the imageless. I am curious about the emergence of pictorial significance and content from this unknowable space. To speak of the significance of an imageless image is also to speak of its affect. I aim to explore this both theoretically and practically. Theoretically I will explore affect through the late work of Lyotard and his notion of the affect-phrase. This is an under-examined aspect of Lyotard and demarcates a valuable way to look at the origins, impact and ramifications of affect for art. Practically I will apply these understandings to the development of my own creative work which includes both painting and digital work. My studio practice moves towards exploring the unfamiliar through the powerful and restless silence of affect.In this intense space each work or body of work 'leaks' into the next occasioning a sense of borderlessness, or of uncertainty. This interpenetration and co-mingling of conceptual and material terrains combines to present temporal and spatial slippages evident within the works themselves and their making, but it is also evident in bodies of work across the chronology of their making. Through a mapping of my own painting and digital arts practice and the utilisation of Lyotard’s notion of the affect -phrase I aim to describe the action of this ‘charged emptiness’ on creativity and explore and explain its significance on that we call image and its animation of what we call critical discourse.

Affect and inarticulacy : the silent voice of the artist

This paper is based on a practice-led research project I conducted into the artist’s ‘voice’ as part of my PhD. The artist’s ‘voice’ is, I argue, comprised of a dual motivation—'articulate' representation and ‘inarticulate’ affect—two things which do not necessarily derive from the artist; two things that are in effect, trans-subjective. Within this paper I will explore the ‘inarticulate’ through the later Lyotard’s affect-phrase, in conjunction with the example of my own painting and digital arts practice, to show just how this unknown can be mapped and understood as generative. As a visual artist my primary interest is in abstraction; I am curious about the emergence of pictorial significance and content from affect’s seemingly unknowable space. My studio practice occasions a sense of borderlessness, and uncertainty where each work or body of work ‘leaks’ into the next, exploring the unfamiliar through the powerful and restless discursive silence of affect. It is within this silence that is performed the disturbing yet generative disconnect that is the affect-phrase. This I contend is apparent in art’s manifest materiality that is, its degree of abstraction and muteness. For the later Lyotard, affect disrupts articulation by injuring or violating the rules of the genres of discourse. For this to be evident one needs to attend to the subtleties of how affect may ‘animate’ discourse. In other words how affect’s discursive disruption activates art’s resistance to definitive interpretation generating even demanding diverse ‘meaning’ creation for art, the abstract, and critical discourse.

Abstraction as noise : enhancing the poetic

Abstraction in its resistance to evident meaning has the capacity to interrupt or at least provide tools with which to question an overly compliant reception of the information to which we are subject. It does so by highlighting a latency or potentiality inherent in materiality that points to the possibility of a critical resistance to this ceaseless flow of sound/image/data. This resistance has been remarked on in differing ways by a number of commentators such as Lyotard, in his exploration of the avant-garde and the sublime for example. This joint paper will initially map the collaborative project by Daniel Mafe and Andrew Brown, Affecting Interference which conjoins painting with digital sound and animations into a single, large scale, immersive exhibition/installation. The work acts as an interstitial point between contrasting approaches to abstraction: the visual and aural, the digital and analogue. The paper will then explore the ramifications of this through the examination of abstraction as ‘noise’, that is as that raw inassimilable materiality, within which lays the creative possibility to forge and embrace the as-yet-unthought and almost-forgotten. It does so by establishing a space for a more poetic and slower paced critical engagement for the viewing and receiving information or data. This slowing of perception through the suspension of easy recognition runs counter to our current ‘high performance’ culture, and it’s requisite demand for speedy assimilation of content, representing instead the poetic encounter with a potentiality or latency inherent in the nameless particularity of that which is.

On APT 6 : Rohan Wealleans performing identity at the disjuncture between customary and contemporary culture

A review of the 6th APT focusing on the work and performance of Rohan Wealleans

Supermassive

“Supermassive” is a synchronised four-channel video installation with sound. Each video channel shows a different camera view of an animated three-dimensional scene, which visually references galactic or astral imagery. This scene is comprised of forty-four separate clusters of slowly orbiting white text. Each cluster refers to a different topic that has been sourced online. The topics are diverse with recurring subjects relating to spirituality, science, popular culture, food and experiences of contemporary urban life. The slow movements of the text and camera views are reinforced through a rhythmic, contemplative soundtrack. As an immersive installation, “Supermassive” operates somewhere between a meditational mind map and a representation of a contemporary data stream. “Supermassive” contributes to studies in the field of contemporary art. It is particularly concerned with the ways that graphic representations of language can operate in the exploration of contemporary lived experiences, whether actual or virtual. Artists such as Ed Ruscha and Christopher Wool have long explored the emotive and psychological potentials of graphic text. Other artists such as Doug Aitken and Pipilotti Rist have engaged with the physical and spatial potentials of audio-visual installations to create emotive and symbolic experiences for their audiences. Using a practice-led research methodology, “Supermassive” extends these creative inquiries. By creating a reflective atmosphere in which divergent textual subjects are pictured together, the work explores not only how we navigate information, but also how such navigations inform understandings of our physical and psychological realities. “Supermassive” has been exhibited internationally at LA Louver Gallery, Venice, California in 2013 and nationally with GBK as part of Art Month Sydney, also in 2013. It has been critically reviewed in The Los Angeles Times.

Tranquility falls

“Tranquility Falls” depicts a computer-generated waterfall set to sentimental stock music. As the water gushes, text borrowed from a popular talk show host’s self-help advice fade in and out graphically down the screen. As the animated phrases increase in tempo, the sounds of the waterfall begin to overwhelm the tender music. By creating overtly fabricated sensations of inspiration and awe, the work questions how and where we experience contemplation, wonderment and guidance in a contemporary context. “Tranquility Falls” contributes to studies in the field of contemporary art. It is particularly concerned with representations of spirituality and nature. These have been important themes in art practice for some time. For example, artists such as Olafur Eliasson and James Turrell have created artificial insertions in nature in order to question contemporary experiences of the natural environment. Other artists such as Nam Jun Paik have more directly addressed the changing relationship between spirituality and popular culture. Using a practice-led research methodology, “Tranquility Falls” extends these creative inquiries. By presenting an overtly synthetic but strangely evocative pun on a ‘fountain of knowledge’, it questions whether we are informed less by traditional engagements with organised religions and natural wonder, and instead, increasingly reliant on the mechanisms of popular culture for moments of insight and reflection. “Tranquility Falls” has been exhibited internationally at LA Louver Gallery, Venice, California in 2013 and nationally with GBK as part of Art Month Sydney, also in 2013. It has been critically reviewed in The Los Angeles Times.

Tactile abstractions [Exhibition Catalogue Essay]

Among the many meanings of abstraction is the focus on images that are at a distance from their origins. This understanding of abstraction is central to Savanhdary Vongpoothorn’s layered, textured and sensuous canvas Crossing (2003). The references in this painting to Laotian textile design and creation endows it with the sense of a fabric-like nature, gives it the feel of cloth wrapped around bodies and of threads woven into complex symmetrical patterns. Here, the distance from origins is expressed as a separation from the material forms of Lao culture. At the same time the work is a visual reference to the stretching or bending of forms, the breaking up of shapes in the natural or constructed environment, all of which create an expressive effect through the warm rose grid and visual illusions of movement and travel. This visual play suggests the sense that migration or movement is a means through which cultural forms get recoded and translated. The making of Crossing like many of Savanhdary’s works involved manipulation of the canvas through pricking and poking, and then the application of layers and dots of paint. The overall effect is one of a synthesis of different cultural motifs and the addition of new dimensions to familiar forms. This highlights the centrality of the idea of 'reassemblage’ in abstraction, the processes of remaking of self, of the natural world and of cultural artefacts. Savanhdary constructs intricate laced knots of colour and texture in work which expresses the possibilities presented by travel, migration and the subsequent remixture that emerges upon crossing through different cultural worlds.

Criminalisation and normative theory

Criminal law scholarship is enjoying a renaissance in normative theory, evident in a growing list of publications from leading scholars that attempt to elucidate a set of principles on which criminalisation and criminal law might — indeed should — be based. This development has been less marked in Australia, where a stream of criminologically influenced criminal law scholarship, teaching and practice has emerged over nearly three decades. There are certain tensions between this predominantly contextual, process-oriented and criminological tradition that has emerged in Australia, characterised by a critical approach to the search for ‘general principles’ of the criminal law, and the more recent revival of interest in developing a set of principles on which a ‘normative theory of criminal law’ might be founded. Aspects of this tension will be detailed through examination of recent examples of criminalisation in New South Wales that are broadly representative of trends across all Australian urisdictions. The article will then reflect on the links between these particular features of criminalisation and attempts to develop a ‘normative theory’ of criminalisation.

The double risk of primitivism

This essay examines the possibilities for practices that appeal to the primitive in the contemporary cultural context. The idea of the primitive is driven by a desire to challenge the limitations of Western culture, while at the same time attracting the charge of promoting Eurocentrism. This essay investigates this double risk and how artists have sought to evade it, confound it, or accentuate it.

Improving dental and medical students’ psychological health using a self-development coaching program : a pilot study

Introduction: Dental and medical students worldwide, including in Saudi Arabia, have been reported to have a high incidence of poor psychological health, such as depression, stress, anxiety, and lowlife satisfaction. Self-development coaching programs have become an increasingly popular way to improve individuals’ lives. However, few studies have evaluated the psychological effects of such programs among dental and medical students. Moreover, no studies have been conducted on self-development coaching programs in Saudi Arabia. Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of a larger study via a pilot study and to acquire preliminary findings about the effectiveness of a self-development coaching program on psychological health among dental and medical students in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A pre-post interventional study design was used to test a self-development coaching program (How to be an Ultra-Super Student) with a sample of medical students (n=17) at Umm Al-Qura University at Saudi Arabia. The outcome measures were students’ psychological distress (depression, anxiety, and stress), life satisfaction, self-efficacy, the coach, and coaching program characteristics. Results: The study showed that there was a significant improvement in depression (p=0.04), self-efficacy (p=0.02), and satisfaction with life (p=0.04), which supported the feasibility of a large study in the future. Conclusions: The study’s findings encourage the implementation of a randomized, controlled trial study with a larger sample to further test the effectiveness of using self-development coaching programs with medical and dental students in Saudi Arabia to improve their psychological health.

Spiritual wisdom of Taoism in business : through the lens of interpretation realism in a Cisco end-to-end case study

This paper explores how the amalgamated wisdom of East and West can instigate a wisdombased renaissance of humanistic epistemology (Rooney & McKenna, 2005) to provide a platform of harmony in managing knowledge-worker productivity, one of the biggest management challenges of the 21st century (Drucker, 1999). The paper invites further discussions from the social and business research communities on the significance of "interpretation realism" technique in comprehending philosophies of Lao Tzu Confucius and Sun Tzu (Lao/Confucius/Sun] written in "Classical Chinese." This paper concludes with a call to build prudent, responsible practices in management which affects the daily lives of many (Rooney & McKenna, 2005) in today's knowledgebased economy. Interpretation Realism will be applied to an analysis of three Chinese classics of Lao/Confucius/Sun which have been embodied in the Chinese culture for over 2,500 years. Comprehending Lao/Confucius/Sun's philosophies is the first step towards understanding Classical Chinese culture. However, interpreting Chinese subtlety in language and the yin and yang circular synthesis in their mode of thinking is very different to understanding Western thought with its open communication and its linear, analytical pattern of Aristotelian/Platonic wisdom (Zuo, 2012). Furthermore, Eastern ways of communication are relatively indirect and mediatory in culture. Western ways of communication are relatively direct and litigious in culture (Goh, 2002). Furthermore, Lao/Confucius/Sun's philosophies are difficult to comprehend as there are four written Chinese formats and over 250 dialects: Pre-classical Chinese Classical Chinese Literary Chinese and modern Vernacular Chinese Because Classical Chinese is poetic, comprehension requires a mixed approach of interpretation realism combining logical reasoning behind "word splitting word occurrences", "empathetic metaphor" and "poetic appreciation of word.

Not as it seems : using Deleuzian concepts of the imaginary to rethink children’s drawings

Deleuze (1990) states in Negotiations that signs are realized in ideas. Although Deleuze referred to cinema, his thinking about signs and ideas can apply to drawings. Cinema is moving imagery and drawing is static, however both are informed and constructed from realized ideas that continue to shift beyond the artifact. Theories about children’s drawings have historically pertained to establishing schematic universalities rather than acknowledging the agglomerative connections they make to the multiple things occurring around a drawing as it is created. Universal schemas however persist within early childhood art discourses despite the growth of critical theory research into other aspects of childhood. Deleuze’s assertions about the signs and classifications of cinema help to contest notions of schematic development, i.e. children should progress through particular iconic drawing stages at particular ages. Deleuze’s quotes and thoughts on the imaginary and imagination are referenced to interrogate ‘scientific’ knowledges and the gathering of evidential truths about children’s intellectual growth and development. Four examples from a dataset of drawings from a pilot study, undertaken by the author that tested the methodological potential of intergenerational collaborative drawing in early childhood settings, facilitate focused discussion on the above contestations.

Surface analysis of lipids by mass spectrometry : More than just imaging

Mass spectrometry is now an indispensable tool for lipid analysis and is arguably the driving force in the renaissance of lipid research. In its various forms, mass spectrometry is uniquely capable of resolving the extensive compositional and structural diversity of lipids in biological systems. Furthermore, it provides the ability to accurately quantify molecular-level changes in lipid populations associated with changes in metabolism and environment; bringing lipid science to the "omics" age. The recent explosion of mass spectrometry-based surface analysis techniques is fuelling further expansion of the lipidomics field. This is evidenced by the numerous papers published on the subject of mass spectrometric imaging of lipids in recent years. While imaging mass spectrometry provides new and exciting possibilities, it is but one of the many opportunities direct surface analysis offers the lipid researcher. In this review we describe the current state-of-the-art in the direct surface analysis of lipids with a focus on tissue sections, intact cells and thin-layer chromatography substrates. The suitability of these different approaches towards analysis of the major lipid classes along with their current and potential applications in the field of lipid analysis are evaluated. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.