This thesis examines architectural taste and patronage in Newcastle upon Tyne between 1870 and 1914. During this period, the city experienced dramatic expansion as the wealth generated in industry, finance and retail was channelled into commercial and public architecture. The overall aim is to determine whether Newcastle formed a distinctive architectural culture. Newcastle's economic and social profile gave rise to specific patterns of taste and patronage. The thesis explores the cultural networks that shaped the built form of the city, arguing that architectural patronage in Newcastle was dominated by a cultural oligarchy. This group formed an 'architectural culture', a relatively self-contained community in which particular styles and architects were favoured above others. Newcastle was a major centre of industry, finance and retail, and played a significant role in the national economy. The thesis seeks to reposition Newcastle within the context of the dynamic forces that were reshaping Britain's built environment. As the period progressed, the distinctive patterns of taste and patronage within the city were eroded by the increasingly national economy, the influence of the metropolis and the more active role played by the centralised state. The thesis relates the architectural culture under study to the national mainstream, thus shedding light on the relationship between provincial architecture and the metropolis. The thesis employs a range of methodological strategies in order to bring the different facets of architecture into focus. With clearly defined geographical and temporal boundaries, it seeks to clarify the economic, social and cultural factors that underpin architectural production, thus offering a new insight into architectural patronage.

No description available.

Constructing a Reflective Site is a fine art practice-based research project, which considers the relationship between art practice and teaching. It does this through a critical examination of reflection in art, in pedagogy and in philosophy. Contemporary art forms, like relational practice, discursive practice and artists appropriating education as their medium, raise new questions regarding the mechanisms by which practice informs or can inform teaching within Higher Education. Reflection can be one way to elucidate and question this interrelationship towards an understanding of how notions of knowledge can be seen to operate across practice and teaching. This research is undertaken from within a dual position on practice: art practice and teaching as practice. The concept of practice-based research has been adopted from emerging positions in relation to artistic practice and artistic research, and this position has also been employed in the study of teaching as practice. This is thus a dual study, which has employed an indisciplinary approach towards an examination of subject specificity in fine art teaching. Notions of site have been used both as an artistic position in relation to the research, and as a theoretical framework, drawing on Miwon Kwon’s genealogy of site-specific practice. The research sought to explore the relationship between reflection in teaching and learning and reflection within an artistic practice and has found that, in epistemological, cognitive, social and historical terms, reflection does not necessarily constitute the same experience across pedagogy and art practice. This has consequences both for art students when asked to critically reflect on their work and also for developing the field of artistic research and concepts of artistic knowledge. Furthermore, these differences highlight the need to continually examine contemporary arts practices for models contributing to subject specific pedagogies in fine art, in order to keep the relationship between the subject and the academy critical and productive.

Samuel Bourne (1834-1912), one of the most prestigious Victorian English commercial photographers to have worked in British India, is best known for his photographs of the Himalayas. Bourne's work features in general studies of photography of the period; his representations of the Indian landscape have been the object of studies and several exhibitions. Bourne was in India initially from 1863 to 1870 thereby establishing his career as a professional photographer. Soon after his arrival he started a business with the experienced photographer Charles Shepherd. Within a few years, the firm of Bourne & Shepherd became recognised as being a directing influence over British-Indian photography. The photographs were taken either in studio or on location, and included individual and group portraits of both the British and Indians, topographical images in which peoples were incidental, as well as a range of representations of Indian life, customs and types. These images were informed by, and in turn contributed to, an expanding body of photographic practice that mixed, to varying degrees, authenticity and aesthetic style. Whilst Bourne's work was significant and influential in the representation of Indian peoples, no substantial study has been undertaken until now. The aim of this thesis is to redress this imbalance. The central focus highlights the specific character of the images portraying Indian people. This specificity was determined by a combination of technical and 'authorial' factors, by the audience to which they were addressed — ranging from the general public in Britain to the family circle of wealthy Indians — by commercial considerations, and by current and evolving notions of authority, race and gender. The first two chapters seek to frame Bourne's work by first examining the political and cultural context of photography in India during the mid-nineteenth century, then by focusing on the context of the photographer's own production. The following three chapters are concerned with the study of the photographs themselves regarding what they depict and the questions they raise such as gender, racial identities and imperialism. The last chapter is an attempt to assess the significance of these photographs by comparing them with the work of Lala Deen Dayal, and highlighting different perspectives on Bourne's work regarding British India and Western societies. Placed in the context of the development of photography as a medium of record and representation, this thesis aims to show that Bourne's work is a significant historical source for understanding British cultural presence in post-Mutiny India.

This practice-led thesis places archival research within the framework of a contemporary art practice and proposes an interpretive reading of tailoring patterns as informative documents and inspiring drawings in their own right. Conventionally, patterns are treated only as a means to an end, aiding garment production. It is rare for patterns to be analysed by contemporary dress historians for their contribution to history. This thesis will demonstrate how tailoring patterns are undervalued and neglected, and remain a hidden craft. This qualitative research is conducted in the archive in order to gain a deep understanding of a group of patterns – here military patterns – that in turn inspired an artistic and curatorial output. An archive of uniforms worn by officers of the British Raj held at the National Army Museum was identified for this research; these uniforms were closely examined, handled and drawn in situ. The drawings were placed next to military patterns from different sources and scrutinized using a case-study method. The analysis revealed that information could be derived from the patterns making them relevant in respect to an understanding of dress history. The archival research is further interpreted in art and curatorial practice in the second half of the thesis by suggesting that patterns are unique abstracted drawings of the human form, carrying with them not only the outline of the garment but also impressions of the body. A reflective approach to the practice illustrates how the archival research became the primary source materials to create romantic Love Garden sculptures. The researcher positions his own emerging practice at the blurring of fashion, art and curatorial practice; and articulates how other artists, practitioners and designers have responded to the pattern as an object and a drawing, producing work in the context of art, fashion and design. The thesis demonstrates that military patterns and the tailoring knowledge they comprise represent rich and rewarding source materials for producing contemporary artworks, and also vital historical documents in the context of dress history.

The Presence of Absence and Other States of Space argues that absence has an underlying presence that links the territorialised space of the non-place and the interstitial space of the border zone. It is posited that disturbed areas are created that interrupt, amongst other things, placial identity. It was also argued that the term 'non-place' has a limited validity in contemporary society. Also, as a fine art, practice-led study, viewing space was continually questioned both with regard to my own practice and to other, mostly contemporary, artists. The research was multi-disciplinary and used observation and reflection to form the basis of studio practice from which exhibition material was then gathered. Ideas were tested in both conventional and unconventional exhibition spaces, predominantly through installation, expanded sculpture and site-specific. Throughout, theory and practice have existed side by side, each informing and being informed by the other in a circular and reflective manner. The academic and practice research base was international and included the UK, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Laos, Norway and United States of America. Primary authors included Marc Augé, Gaston Bachelard, Homi K. Bhabha, Michel De Certeau and Henri Lefebvre and, later, particular resonances were found in Martin Heidegger and Michel Foucault. Visual references were mainly Western and included Belgium artist, Francis Alÿs (b.1956) and Michael Elmgreen (b. Denmark 1961) and Ingar Dragset (b. Norway 1969). The main outcomes have been that absence was identified as an underlying concept especially regarding placial identity; that place was seen as a site of memory and experience in addition to being locational; the term 'non-place' was found to be of general limited validity mainly due to the overwhelming presence of genericness caused chiefly by contemporary economic constraint. In the narrow authoritarian space of the border, a pause was identified that occurred in the everyday life of the user that showed similarity to the user of the non-place. Applied to the process of viewing it was accepted that, whilst the white cube mode of viewing was imperfect, no better system was found where the artwork could be idealised in such a way. As an overall viewing experience for the casual viewer however, it gave a poor outcome. Viewing of art in the everyday created dichotomies that related directly to the duration of display where permanent art could easily become invisible due to its constant presence. Immediate relevance was found in my own practice especially with regard to art exhibition and viewing. The importance of these findings concerns art and architecture where value has to be placed on social and cultural identity that then contributes to placial identity, thus creating presence instead of absence.

This study involves listening to illness narratives embedded in in-depth life review processes. The method of multiple interview and multi-modal analysis and reflective responding utilised in the study aims to add to the existing field of research by expanding the understanding of what it is like to be heard or not heard, for people who are either patients, or family members. The study also aims to demonstrate how self-aware ,compassionate and reflective listening, particularly in healthcare relationships, can allow meaning to emerge from within the illness experience, thus enriching the wellbeing of patients, family members and their various healthcare professionals. / Stories of disruption arising within healthcare settings often confronted me during more than forty years of nursing experience and also resonated within my personal experiences. These stories express a gulf between patients, family members, or residents in healthcare institutions, and the healthcare organization and its staff. A recurring theme was that these people felt that they had not been listened to by those they trusted to give them care, with a lasting sense of disruption to their wellbeing. In focusing on the dimensions of reflective listening and intersubjective responding, the implications of being heard on the well being of both narrator and listener can be elucidated. An objective of the research became to articulate the attributes and values of compassionate, reflective listening and elucidate the complex nature of the narrating and listening relationship. (For complete abstract open document)

There have been only sporadic attempts to highlight Chinese women’s role and influence in art, even though their contribution has been major. This thesis seeks to understand the significance of women’s participation in modern Chinese art history through the narratives and works of Pan Yuliang, Nie Ou and Yin Xiuzhen, who were professionally active at different political stages of twentieth-century China. Using an interdisciplinary framework, drawing on concepts from theories such as modernism, feminism and postcolonialism, this thesis analyzes a culturally specific field in art history and the interrelationship between various factors that have contributed to it. As artists of a peripheral culture, various factors in the artistic production of Chinese women have been overlooked and often misinterpreted. This thesis argues that the three artists in this study have produced different, individualized responses to the Euro-American model of modernism. To highlight the cultural specificity of China, the introductory chapter will include a short comparative analysis between Chinese modernism and the modernisms of other Asian countries. The adoption of Western art forms by early overseas-trained Chinese artists such as Pan indicates as many intricacies and ambivalences as in the complex relationship of China with Western imperialism. Chapter Two situates the Westernized works of Pan in the context of Chinese modernism, pre-feminism and the semi-colonized state of early twentieth-century China. In relation to the theories of orientalism and provincialism, implications of the ambiguities of Pan’s representations are extended to debates that explore the subjectivity and identity of non-European artists in their quest for modernism. Nie Ou was born into the era when the Chinese Communists had just taken over in 1949. Under the autocratic rule of the Communists, Nie was exiled to the northern countryside during her early adulthood as part of the “re-educating the elite” program. Chapter Three demonstrates how Nie successfully emerged from the repercussions of the Cultural Revolution. During this period of intensified Chinese nationalism, Nie found ways to merge the influences of the restrictive style of Socialist Realism and the poetic Chinese literati painting tradition to create an individualized style of representation. China underwent rapid modernization in the 1980s and 1990s. Chapter Four examines the works of contemporary artist Yin Xiuzhen who, with her avant-garde installations, has pushed the boundaries of what constitutes conventional Chinese art. This chapter analyzes Yin’s works in the context of late twentieth-century China, where the nation was no longer a Socialist monolith but a complex amalgam in which old and new, Socialist and capitalist, modern and postmodern co-existed. Yin’s works will be studied in relation to theories of postmodernism, postfeminism and globalism. Chapter Five consolidates the earlier chapters by reflecting on how various conditions throughout the twentieth century have changed and shaped the role of women in Chinese art history. The concluding chapter will consider the influence Chinese women artists may have on the art discourse in China today, and perhaps across other cultures. This chapter will explore the constraints upon them and the potential of their future role, not only in China but also in the broader sense of what it means to be an artist internationally.

This study involves listening to illness narratives embedded in in-depth life review processes. The method of multiple interview and multi-modal analysis and reflective responding utilised in the study aims to add to the existing field of research by expanding the understanding of what it is like to be heard or not heard, for people who are either patients, or family members. The study also aims to demonstrate how self-aware ,compassionate and reflective listening, particularly in healthcare relationships, can allow meaning to emerge from within the illness experience, thus enriching the wellbeing of patients, family members and their various healthcare professionals. / Stories of disruption arising within healthcare settings often confronted me during more than forty years of nursing experience and also resonated within my personal experiences. These stories express a gulf between patients, family members, or residents in healthcare institutions, and the healthcare organization and its staff. A recurring theme was that these people felt that they had not been listened to by those they trusted to give them care, with a lasting sense of disruption to their wellbeing. In focusing on the dimensions of reflective listening and intersubjective responding, the implications of being heard on the well being of both narrator and listener can be elucidated. An objective of the research became to articulate the attributes and values of compassionate, reflective listening and elucidate the complex nature of the narrating and listening relationship. (For complete abstract open document)

Den här kvalitativa studien utgår ifrån ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv.Positioneringsteorin används för att analysera den producerade empirin. Två pedagoger och fembarn i åldrarna två till tre år på en förskola i västra Sverige har deltagit i studien. Videofilmninghar använts som metod för att producera empirin. Syftet med studien är att studera pedagogernasförhållningssätt gentemot de yngsta barnen i åldrarna två till tre vid bildskapande. Syftet är ocksåatt studera de positioner som pedagoger och barn intar och tilldelas under aktivitetens gång. Vårfrågeställning har varit: Hur gestaltar sig samspelet mellan pedagog-pedagog och pedagog-barnunder bildskapande? Resultatet visar att pedagogernas subjektspositioner bidrog till hur barnentog sig an bildaktiviteterna samt positionerna som de blev tilldelade. En bidragande faktor ibildaktiviteterna var också huruvida barnen positionerade sig själva och de andra barnen samtpedagogerna. Det sociala samspelet skiftade under aktiviteternas gång beroende på vilkasubjektspositioner som var aktuella. Men det förekom ompositionering vid flera tillfällen utifrånvad situationen krävde. De båda pedagogerna intog vitt skilda subjektspositioner underaktiviteterna. / This qualitative study is based on a social constructionist perspective. Positioning theory is used to analyze the produced empirical data. Two preschool teachers and five children two to threeyears old at a nursery school in western Sweden have participated in the study. Video recordinghas been used as a method to produce the empirical data. The purpose of the study is to study theeducators approach towards the youngest children aged two to three during activities in thecreative arts. The aim is also to study the positions educators and children adopt and assignduring the activity. Our research question was: How is the interaction between teacher-teacherand teacher-child during creative arts portrayed? The result shows that teachers' attitudescontributed to the way the children took on the art activities and the positions which they wereassigned. It also contributed to how the children responded. A contributing factor in the artactivities were also whether the children positioned themselves and the other children andteachers, or were positioned themselves. Social interaction shifted during the activity dependingon the subject positions that were active at the time. During the activities there wererepositioning several times based on what the situation demanded. The two teachers took verydifferent subject positions during the activities.