In the Spaces of the Archive By Caroline Bartlett

In the Spaces of the Archive
By Caroline Bartlett
 

2002. Bodies of Knowledge Volume V; Arbiters of Taste. (1934 encyclopaedia, embroidery hoops, silk crepeline, pins). 34 x 84 x 5cm. Photographer Michael Wickes. Collection Victoria and Albert Museum

Abstract: In this paper, I offer an explanation of my own working art practices as set within the context of the spaces of the archive and presented as a series of questions arrived at through action, illuminated in turn by anthropological theory. Over the last few years I have examined various museum collections, archives and encyclopedias in relation to the way these knowledge systems both represent and promote the formation of individual and collective identities, memories and value systems.

Artifacts located within museological and archival systems can be powerful sensory and social forms in which different meanings and memories are embedded, but their significance can be obscured rather than revealed by the systems which control them. How we experience these objects within the physical, material, social, and political spaces of the archive leads to questions about how these sets of relations interact and what can be understood from this. In this vein then, and in the context of the tactile and sensory orientation of my own textile art practice, I look at four of my site-specific works produced in relation to the spaces of the archive: Overwritings (1999), Storeys of Memory (2001), Bodies of Knowledge (2002) and Conversation Piece (2003), focusing in particular on the latter, and show how investigation into different collections has prompted the making of new aesthetic objects which comment on and attempt to draw out these relations. Read full paper

 

 

Abstract from: In the Spaces of the Archive

Full paper published in craft+design enquiry: issue 1 Migratory Practices

Crafting relations: Aspects of materiality and interactivity in exhibition environments, Sandra Karina Löschke

 Crafting relations: Aspects of materiality and interactivity in exhibition environments
 By Sandra Karina Lösch

 

1968 Reconstruction of the Abstract Cabinet at the Sprengel Museum Hannover/Germany, 2009.

Abstract: The past decades have seen the early avant-garde’s laboratory paradigm and associated exhibition practices re-appropriated by relational art. Both art movements re-evaluate our relationship to the world and to one another and exhibition environments play an important role in the crafting of these relations.

Against this background, the paper investigates two aspects of avant-garde practice that touch upon relational aspects in exhibitions: first, the Constructivists’ radical re-evaluation of materiality as relations of energies between the physical world and human beings that has been summarised under the heading of faktura; and, secondly, the practical and directed application of faktura in the design of exhibition environments with the objective of producing new relations between audience, art institution and the world.

Using Lissitzky’s Hannover and Dresden demonstration rooms as case studies, the paper identifies an inventory of techniques and materials deployed for the construction of what has been considered the first relational environment. It intends to establish a platform for the discussion of trans-historical correspondences that can be detected in contemporary approaches to interactivity and materiality — particularly in art practices associated with relational aesthetics and postproduction art. Does Lissitzky’s precedent anticipate, challenge, or offer expansions on current thinking? Read full Paper

 
Abstract from: Crafting relations: Aspects of materiality and interactivity in exhibition environments
Full paper published in craft+design enquiry: issue 4 Relational Craft and Design

Ecology and the aesthetics of imperfect balance

Ecology and the aesthetics of imperfect balance

By Roderick Bamford

 Malin Lundmark, Tea-cup-lamp, 2003, porcelain.

Photo: Stephan Lundberg, courtesy of Malin Lundmark.

Roderick Bamford’s practice traverses art, craft and design, with a specialization in ceramics. He works from a studio north of Sydney and lectures at the College of Fine Arts, University of NSW.

Abstract: Historically, craft values have provided a pivotal argument in the conflict between industrial and natural worldviews, concerning both the artefacts and social conditions of their creation. Today, the implications of carbon both as a fuel and a toxin demand a better understanding of the ‘sign’ values embedded in such dialogue, and inform responses to the dangers posed by dominant anthropocentric perspectives. Amidst the logic of a number of ‘design for sustainability’ arguments, craft emerges as an antidotal signifier to the combined impacts of hyper efficient production and rampant ‘throw away’ consumerism. Yet, in the carbon context, notions of benign impact and enduring value associated with craft can elicit contradictions. Drawing on literary arguments and examples in practice, this paper surveys relationships between craft and design as instruments of sustainability theory. Whilst recognizing the importance of qualitative factors in this context, and the increasing attention given to them in research, the critique emerges largely from a more established quantitative, or measured perspective. The relevance of this approach is attributed to the primacy of material outputs in both craft and design practice. In this context the writing aims to address a comparative gap in the discussion of practices in craft and design, and to contribute to a deeper understanding of their relationship. In seeking possibilities for craft within a discipline of sustainable culture, it explores a role for aesthetics in the context of what may be considered unnecessary artifacts. Read full paper 

Abstract from: Ecology and the aesthetics of imperfect balance
Full paper published in craft+design enquiry: issue 3 Sustainability in craft and design

Abstracts closing tomorrow

NOW CLOSED
Abstracts for Issue number 7 “Landscape, Place and Identity in Craft and Design” Guest Edited by Kay Lawrence are due 30 April 2014. Please contact Editor Jenny Deves for information on submitting abstracts or visit the blog
jenny.deves@anu.edu.au

Current Call for papers closing soon

Call for Papers issue #7 CLOSING SOON NOW CLOSED
 

Image credit: Sue Kneebone For Better or for Worse, 2010 Giclee print

The Call for Papers for craft + design enquiry issue #7, guest edited by Kay Lawrence, closes soon for both the OPEN SECTION and the THEMED SECTION “Landscape, Place and Identity in Craft and Design”.

Abstracts are due by 30 April 2014, if invited full Papers are due by 30 June 2014.
The full Call for Papers #7 can be found on call for papers page 

craft + design enquiry Publisher Name Change

Recognising the industry-wide shift to digital publishing, ANU E Press has changed its name to ANU Press!

ANU Press will continue to function as an electronic, open access publisher. The change occurs in response to recognition that the publishing industry as a whole has embraced digital publishing, so the ‘E’ has become superfluous and the Press will be more appropriately served by a simpler, more encompassing brand.

 All works published henceforth will be branded as ANU Press works. Volumes previously published under the E Press badge will not be affected.

craft+design enquiry can be found at http://press.anu.edu.au/titles/craftdesign-enquiry/

Reminder: Current call for papers issue #7

  NOW CLOSED

“Landscape, Place and Identity in Craft and Design” Issue 7: 2015,
Guest Edited by Kay Lawrence

Image credit: Sue Kneebone, For better or for worse, 2010, giclee print

Kay Lawrence invites contributors to submit abstracts responding to the theme “Landscape, Place and Identity in Craft and Design” or to submit abstracts for the Open Section exploring subjects on any aspect of craft and design. 

Submit abstracts now until 30 April 2014, if invited, full papers are due 30 June 2014.


About the theme, Kay writes “The words used to describe the physical environment and our relationship to it, are always nuanced. The concept of 'place' refers to a particular portion of space that may or may not be occupied by people, while also encompassing the idea of dwelling, of living in a particular place.....

View full #7 Call for Papers link