In this commentary, I discuss several publications that explored relationships between suffering, the production of garments and their appropriation as fashionable items. The aim of the research was to investigate the role of suffering in initiating change within the creation and consumption of fashionable clothes. Suffering through pain, anguish or distress is an extreme affliction. Pushing something to its limits of endurance, making it suffer, can undermine order and to survive, it needs to be reassembled in a different way. This concept is somewhat akin to Charles Darwin’s ideas about evolution (1859). A quote attributed to him declared: “It’s not the strongest of the species that survive nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change” (Megginson, 1963, p.4). His work coined the phrase “Survival of the fittest” (Peel, 1992, p.143), introducing the idea that survival is a struggle against environmental change in nature and a species evolves through a process of mutation and retention known as natural selection. In the commercial struggle for survival many fashionable styles are discarded while some remain durable due to their adaptability to new trends and ideas. These could be described as the ‘fittest’ styles surviving through their re-assemblance each season, sustaining the marketable cycle. Suffering in the ways clothes are worn and produced was examined through a number of approaches. Object based research investigated the design and manufacture of fashionable garments. Action based research and semi-structured interviews in a design environment considered the fashion designer’s responses to suffering and the changes it can initiate in production and consumption. The research findings indicate that suffering within the fashion industry can be a positive attribute that may be regarded as a part of life, a prerequisite for hope, a force for change and a source of creativity. It can influence the way clothes are produced and the skills necessary to produce them. A model depicting the connection between suffering and fashion is posited as a tentative theory suggesting there is a spiral relationship: changes in fashion production and consumption resulting from suffering evolve into a spiral of further suffering impacting on future fashion design and production.

This research engages with the complex relationship between reality and fiction in immersive theatre. It proposes a theoretical standpoint, based upon the constructivist epistemological theory of Maturana (1980) and Schmidt (1984), which allows critical analysis of the reality/fiction complex. The study then tests this method of analysis on nine existing pieces of work by other artists. The findings from this analysis are then used to explore the notion of dissimulation, the manner by which the constructed fictional artifice of the performance is presented in such a way as it begins to appropriate the conventions of everyday reality. Dissimulation is also used as the basis upon which to suggest points for development in existing work as a means of highlighting the potential use of analysis for practitioners. The application of the strategies used to dissimulate existing work along with application of theory behind the process of dissimulation are then applied practically to the creation of scripts for two new pieces of work, Menagerie and Wonderland. The study also suggests the utilisation of the technique of retrospecting and the proposes the concept of char/actor augmentation as a means of facilitating improvisation through a performance script. The study concludes that the application of constructivist epistemological theory through the proposed method of analysis can reveal information about the manner by which works of immersive theatre apply dissimulative strategies that is re-applicable in the creation of new work and therefore presents a means of thinking that can help practitioners to develop new and existing work.

This critical review forms a reflection on the research published within the following publications: Patrick Procktor: Art and Life (Unicorn Press, 2010) Keith Vaughan: The Mature Oils 1946-1977, (Sansom & Co., 2012) The research is on two artists, Patrick Procktor (1936-2003), and Keith Vaughan (1912-1977). The monograph on Procktor – previously one of the least documented of the generation of artists who came to prominence in London in the Sixties – positions him in a history of art from which he had been notably absent. The research on Vaughan asserts a new reading of his work, one that is both deeper and more nuanced in its analysis of the ways in which personal experience and sexuality are encoded autobiographically within his work. Crucially, in both artists biography and work are symbiotically linked; the research therefore examines the links between life and art. Revisionary in intent, the work examines trajectories of experience of gay British (or rather, English) artists in the twentieth century, artists who sought to express themselves and forge careers within the constraints of a heteronormative society, albeit one in which attitudes to sexuality were undergoing change. As gay men, both were constrained by the social mores of their times, and each used painting as a means to affirm personal and sexual identities. A key research interest is in the ways in which sexuality and persona are reflected in critical responses to the artist’s work: in Vaughan, Procktor and other gay male artists of the period. The writing on both Procktor and Vaughan examines the relationship between their personal and professional/artistic lives, framed within a broader socio-political and art historical context. It asserts the place of biography as a means to understand and form new readings of the work. The work adds substantially to the literature and wider discourse on post-war British painting and social history.

The use of the ‘commission-accession’ principle as a mechanism for sustainable collecting in public museums and galleries has been significantly under-researched, only recently soliciting attention from national funding bodies in the United Kingdom (UK). This research has assessed an unfolding situation and provided a body of current evaluative evidence for commission-based acquisitions and a model for curators to use in future contemporary art purchases. ‘Commission-accession’ is a practice increasingly used by European and American museums yet has seen little uptake in the UK. Very recent examples demonstrate that new works produced via commissioning which then enter permanent collections, have significant financial and audience benefits that UK museums could harness, by drawing on the expertise of local and national commissioning organisations. Very little evaluative information is available on inter-institutional precedents in the United States (US) or ‘achat par commande’ in France. Neither is there yet literature that investigates the ambition for and viability of such models in the UK. This thesis addresses both of these areas, and provides evaluative case studies that will be of particular value to curators who seek sustainable ways to build their contemporary art collections. It draws on a survey of 82 museums and galleries across the UK conducted for this research, which provide a picture of where and how ‘commission-accession’ has been applied, and demonstrates its impacts as a strategy. In addition interviews with artists and curators in the UK, US and France on the social, economic and cultural implications of ‘commission-accession’ processes were undertaken. These have shed new light on issues inherent to the commissioning of contemporary art such as communication, trust, and risk as well as drawing attention to the benefits and challenges involved in commissioning as of yet unmade works of art.

At the core of this doctoral submission is a portfolio of three of my recent choreographic works(all created between 2011-2014), complemented by a text, which attempts to formulate a theoretical approach for explicating the works, through the lens of Theodor Adorno’s theory of the inherent negativity of modernist artworks. Such an approach places Adorno’s ideas at the very centre of the analytical view presented here, albeit via the semiotic (re)articulation of these same ideas in recent work by Christoph Menke. This, in turn, draws on earlier work done within aesthetic semiotics by Viktor Shklovsky, through which it is hoped that insight, clarification, and historical contextualisation will be forthcoming, whilst also casting an eye on the contemporary situation within arts making. The thesis is therefore a theoretical analysis of aesthetically negative philosophical thought within choreographic practice, but simultaneously it is an attempt to point to new knowledge; namely an enhancement of Menke's semiotic reading of Adorno, extended from the field of literature from which it originates, and brought into the field of dance, movement, and choreography. In addition to this, a vital second aspect of my approach will be a consideration of the extra - semiotic aspects of dance, read through a phenomenological understanding of kinaesthesia, and how our understanding of movement and choreography is rooted in basic aspects of our perceptive capabilities. Prior to the introduction, the beginning of this thesis, there is a presentation of factual information regarding the production aspects of the performances in a brief Foreword. The structure of the thesis is then as follows. The Introduction offers a short historic overview of Adorno’s theory of ‘aesthetic negativity’, and this is followed by three Chapters, titled: (1) Object and Subject, (2) Recombination, and (3) Projection. These three notions are not only essential to my work as methodological tools, but they also provide important references, connections and bilateral correspondences to similar concepts within Adorno’s aesthetic theory, thereby clarifying the relationship between theory and practice in my work. Chapter Four aims to re-inspect the works comprising The Urban Series in a similar fashion, while also placing their specific context within external, everyday and urban environments under critical examination.

This study analyses art in Brazil from earlier 20th century modernismo to the official arrival of abstractionism at the MAM-SP in 1949. It is divided in two parts, and considers the political and socio-cultural realities and the nationalist and internationalist currents that underpinned the two art historical periods. Part 1 covers the first phase of modernismo (1917-1929) and argues that, whilst acting towards the renovation of Brazil’s aesthetic-literary realm, the movement challenged the political discourse on racial difference and white supremacy implied in the academicist view, thus it undermined the ‘coloniality of power’ inherent in the traditional academic rhetoric. It also argues that on the international front, Brazilian modernismo was original because it extracted from the primitive reference a counter-narrative to Western epistemology. Part 2 analyses modernismo from 1930 to the MAM-SP’s first international abstract art exhibition of 1949. One of its main arguments is that State patronage, during the Vargas populist dictatorship, appropriated the emancipatory programme of 1920s modernismo and turned it into an ideological representation of the nation. The State not only turned this programme into propaganda, but also facilitated its canonisation. The other main argument is that international abstractionism arrived in Brazil thanks to the intersection between the growing need for an international art institution in the country, and the agendas of national and international free-enterprise capitalism. The thesis establishes a dialogue between the art historical period chosen, and the evolution of patronage and art institutions in the country, thus it explores aspects of the complex relationship between art/culture and patronage/power. It identifies and discusses the two major roles played by patronage in the Brazilian field of cultural production during the first half of the 20th century, that is, its legitimising agency, and its participation in the culture war between aesthetic-literary reformers and traditionalists.

This doctoral work is based on analysis of the discourse on cultural value in contemporary Italy, what are the 'grand narratives' that characterize this discourse and what is the relationship between them. In particular, great relevance is given to the concepts of “neoliberalism” and “commons”. The application of these two economical terms to the field of culture is particularly relevant in the Italian discourse: in 2011, Italy saw the rise of protest groups made of professionals from the arts sector who opposed practices influenced by the theories on the commons to the implementation of neoliberal-inspired policies. In fact, since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008, the discontent of the Italian population with the implementation of austerity policies and the lack of political and economic stability caused an uprising involvement in political activism. The cultural sector, in particular, was facing a lack of state funding; in addition, many young professionals had been struggling to find a paid job, especially in the theatre sector. The dissatisfaction of the emergent creative class led to a series of demonstrations and campaigns that asked for the recognition of the rights of arts workers. Many abandoned buildings, especially former theatres, were occupied and became spaces dedicated to artistic and political experimentation. Two of these organisations are discussed in the case studies: Teatro Valle Occupato, in Rome, and Rebeldía, in Pisa. The idea of cultural value promoted by these organisations is analysed in relation to the one reflected by Italian cultural policy after 2008. This thesis shows not only how cultural value is shaped by economic factors such as austerity, but also how it represents a battleground where different ways of understanding politics and policy clash, mingle and sometimes overlap. Furthermore, it shows that activist forms of arts management can develop their own pathways to innovation, filling a vacuum left by cultural policy.

This research examines the natural habitat dioramas created by Major P.H.G. Powell-Cotton, in doing so it affects a remembering of a sense of place where a diorama reflects in Mieke Bal's view a three-dimensionality that draws on architectural space; it then considers the three dimensional representation of the landscape within the diorama itself; the two-dimensional illusion of a trompe l'oeil landscape painting; and the exterior space occupied by the viewer. The Powell-Cotton natural habitat dioramas exist behind large glass screens their purpose follows an aesthetic relationship with the emergence of the natural habitat diorama and the ability to transfix perception through the re-interpretation of an idyll. The potential for this practice-based research was to explore the possibility of developing an aesthetic for sculpture and architectural space. However in focussing on the Powell-Cotton dioramas the notion of aesthetic attitude would lose ground due to their idiosyncratic, artificial, and extraordinary nature, it then prepared the basis of interpretation in establishing 'theatres of landscape' as an open concept. With landscape, a sense of place anticipates various positions and numerous delays; it recollects the cognitive knowledge brought to the prospect that involves aspects in, of and about landscape. Regarding the studio-based project, the diorama was placed between the real and the unreal, challenging Bal's rationale of the cognitive relationship of a diorama to the concept of a discursive space. Where both artist and viewer 'activates' this space with their presence, they bring their own recollection of landscape and by assigning landscape with memory the potentiality is where cognition becomes accentuated. Whereas the unknown and uncharted can refute reality, memory is dependent on what is known both formally and informally, it places the natural habitat diorama in a visual system that is both constructive and destructive. Therefore the research methodology examines the historical context of the diorama through a doctoral thesis by Karen Wonders and an analysis of Louis Daguerre's diorama by Richard Altick. Following Bal's analysis of the diorama, this created a dilemma - in what ways are the perceptions of the observer determined, and how are they undermined? Jonathan Crary and Giuliana Bruno considered the diorama's position in relation to film and film archaeology, which ultimately the diorama and natural habitat diorama could not compete with. In asking what has Powell-Cotton's museum to offer in the 21st century, this thesis examines the concept of a diorama, its objectives and correspondingly its failings. As the dioramas in the Powell-Cotton Museum were undocumented, these dioramas and their written, visual and architectural relationship to Louis Daguerre offer a contribution to knowledge concurrent with the relationship of this practice based research project. Whereupon the research diary forms the basis of a contribution to new knowledge in the construction of small and large-scale dioramas, sculpture and installations. By challenging Bal's analysis this research practice would investigate natural and projected light and the visual language of transparency, translucency and opacity in the representation of landscape and landscape as motif, and progressing to the structural implications of 2D and 3D work.

Light allows revelation while concealing its source; it allows articulation while it is non-articulate. It is light that allows us to stand on the edge, that border between knowing and unknowing. It was the first great kenotic act, deconstructing darkness and it is this sublime aspect of light that takes us beyond the limits of our own imaginations, and in that process raises us to unexpected insight and perception. This thesis is a discourse on the sublimity of light that has provided a catalyst for fresh reflection beyond that which is actually presented whereby the sublime can be understood as an experience rather than merely an object of sense of perception. While light and darkness can stand symbolically for many realities theologically light became a symbol of divine presence and salvation in ancient Judaism where it was seen as God's glory, was revealed in columns of fire and burning bushes, and was envisioned as a sign of the perfection of the kingdom; 'arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you' (Isa. 60:1). Similarly at the start of the Christian era light is associated with the Eucharist and although Paul celebrates in Troas at midnight it is still noted that 'there were many lights in the upper chamber where we were gathered' (Acts 20:8). The expression of this has gone far beyond the work of theologians and necessitated an interdisciplinary approach to this study linking the work of writers, poets and artists, particularly painters. All art is essentially about representing the unrepresentable. Beyond the mimetic this is more easily recognised and accepted and it is the art of abstraction that has accelerated the drive towards the sublime where "the sublime can be understood as first and foremost the result of a failed attenpt of the imagination to comprehend an absolute of magnitude or power." It is along these lines that Theology and Art can be seen to run parallel. Art has resisted the repeated announcements of its death or demise. This is because Art has always moved within itself and has never completely located itself in any movement or mere style whereas Theology has often become bogged down in a floe of words that formed vast sheets, or melted away. Art has always been greater than historical attempts at impossible depictions of some ethical idea. Art is what is left in the absence of any idea; and it is the presence of absence that remains a central concern of theology. An interdisciplinary approach raises the question of the paradox of artistic articulation towards silence; that the words and images, as they become more articulate, come closer to finality, that they are a prelude to the silence of the sublime. This study is an approach to the articulation of light; the threshold of the sublime.

In this thesis I examine the ways in which the Victorians used fantasy in literature, art, and architecture to explore the main areas of debate and key issues which were giving rise to anxiety in their society, in some cases upholding the status quo, but in others questioning accepted social mores. In particular, I consider the ways in which fantasy was used to examine what happens in a society when its traditional religious beliefs are challenged, either by commercialism as an economic creed, or by the acquisition of new knowledge, be this in the realm of science (theories of evolution) or the humanities (the new biblical criticism from Germany). Following on from this, I look at the possible alternatives to traditional religious belief which fantasy seemed able to offer to an age which appeared to need spirituality without dogma. I argue that one of the strategies most commonly adopted by the Victorians in the creation of fantasy is the disruption of time, and I consider the part played in literature and art by medievalism, and in architecture by the Gothic style and the Gothic Revival movement. This is followed by an examination of the role of Classicism in architecture, and ancient mythologies, such as Greek, Hebraic, or Babylonian, in literature and art. Finally, I consider the use of geological time as a point of departure in creating scientific fantasies. Given the very close links between the arts until the advent of aesthetic criticism at the end of the nineteenth century, I have drawn freely upon the visual and the literary arts. The main emphasis is, however, on literature and painting, with architecture playing a lesser, though still important, part in this thesis.