Creative Journeys contribute to our knowledge of how practical ontology navigates multi-perspectives through an auto-ethnographic journey with material. I investigate how it may be possible to navigate geographic locations – Norway, Britain and Spain – through knitting as an approach to practical and philosophical exploration. In Creative Journeys I am in a process of reflexive practice, engaged in external and internal dialogue, haptic encounters, challenges and creative action. My thesis suggests that engagement with material is a fluid process and understanding evolves, so too does my journey in life. In such circumstances material functions as a mediator; creates a bridge between hand, movement, time and space. Material transcends boundaries, assists orientation and facilitates articulation of aesthetics, reminiscence, symbols, patterns, colour, sensory appreciation; all of which contribute to an understanding of relationships. Body is material and being conscious of body movement with the rhythm of diverse locations enables me to make connections through daily events, to attune to different atmospheres. In such a journey there are moments of harmony and misunderstanding, discord and adjustments; interruptions occur with energy and disrupt patterns of life. These are crossing points which enable me to experience myself through the perspective of the other; to understand how situated knowledge changes in relation to diverse perspectives; and to understand how I may contribute to the social fabric of life of diverse locations through the art of paying attention to detail. Creative Journeys are investigated through three questions: How do I relate to the world? How do art subjectivities manifest themselves through art practice? How does art evolve through relations? The questions are examined within the perspective of situated knowledge; subjectivities; material of location and practice. Investigating material in the context of these questions provides opportunities to develop capacities to navigate social, cultural and political orientation, economy, health, race, gender and belief, which all impact on the journey. My approach to the thesis evolved through my relations with creative works of knitted artefacts which I documented in personal journals. The components of practice have woven threads of inquiry through theory and reflective critical practice and form an aspect of the viva voce examination. Along with the illustrations they contribute to 20% of the written component of the thesis.

This practice-based art and design project explores the potential use of contemporary materials and techniques in relation to extending aesthetic and structural possibilities of embroidery, with a focus on developing textile formations through the medium of ‘free stitch’ machine embroidery. Embroidery is often perceived by the non-enthusiast as a ‘granny craft’: an ‘old’ technique. Contemporary representations of embroidery suggest that new and innovative interpretations exist. Through investigation and experimentation with products, textiles and techniques, the embroidered artefacts that I have crafted are intended to disrupt the conventional perceptions of embroidery by alluding to conceptual associations of tradition and nostalgia. The aim of this project is to promote embroidery as a diverse medium; its use as a means of narrative, a valued skill that spans both art and craft disciplines, and to lift the status of craft by encouraging discourse of craft practice within an academic environment.

This work consists of a collection of poetry, Lessons in Augury, preceded by a thesis, ‘Beating the Bounds: Exploring Borders and Scale in Contemporary British Environmental Poetry’. This thesis examines the significance of borders that are both culturally and ecologically meaningful, asking how these borders function in contemporary environmental poetry. It argues that such borders provide sites in which environmental poets can explore the interconnection of anthropocentric and ecocentric systems of value and work towards an understanding of human concerns at more-than-human, ecological scales. The first chapter examines the significance of the borders of the ‘dwelling space’ in John Burnside’s poetry. The following chapters move on to investigate the significance of more specific borders: coastlines and mountain ranges in Thomas A. Clark’s recent collections, the river in Alice Oswald’s Dart and the border between day and night in Richard Caddel’s posthumously published Writing in the Dark. The main focus of this thesis is creative practice. It investigates how poets writing out of very different traditions use borders that are culturally and ecologically meaningful as sites where they can develop their environmental poetics. The analysis of these poets’ explorations of borders provides the basis for a comparative study of their creative practices and poetic techniques. In particular, this thesis argues that the act of ‘beating the bounds’ – the physical exploration of border spaces – is fundamental to all of the works discussed. The final chapter, ‘Lines of Flight’, offers a point of connection between the critical and creative aspects of this project. It examines the relationship between critical research and creative practice, and charts some of the links between this thesis and the poetry collection Lessons in Augury.

This thesis explores ways of adopting elements of Calabrian folk music in compositions of contemporary music beyond the mere adoption of melodies and instruments. Through this work, I aim to create a practice for contemporary improvisation and composition that is deeply imbued with elements derived from the music theory, the sonic environment and the performance practices of Calabria. The work described in this dissertation consists of two components: ethnomusicological research and a practice-based enquiry. This research focuses mainly on three aspects of Calabrian folk music: generative principles, the tuning system and processes of bagpipes, and soundscapes created by animal bells. These aspects guided both the ethnomusicological enquiry and the creative exploration. They are first described and analysed in their original context: folk music was studied in the field, amid and within the tradition bearers; research was conducted from a cultural and musicological perspective within the methodological and ethical framework of ethnomusicology. The data emerging from the ethnomusicological investigations informed the creative enquiry carried out through practice-led research. The outcomes of my investigation into Calabrian music became the core principles of my compositions of contemporary music. Generative principles were explored from the perspectives of both composition and improvisation They informed primarily a series of pieces for saxophone solo and a composition for chamber ensemble. The tuning system and processes of Calabrian bagpipes were investigated in compositions centred on pitch and extended harmonic spaces. They informed two compositions for string quartet and a piece for saxophone quartet. Soundscapes informed the composition of a piece of spatial music for goat bells that adopts indeterminacy methods for structuring the performance. The creative work, attached to this thesis as a portfolio of compositions, is analysed through self-reflective methods and in relation to the work of other contemporary music practitioners. My enquiry of the folk sources contributes to the field of ethnomusicology with new insight into Calabrian music. The creative processes and the techniques developed throughout this research also have implications for the broader field of contemporary music, as they offer a perspective on new ways of engaging creatively with folk materials.

This thesis interrogates my and others?? creative praxis using the tools of the Internet, webcam, blogging and digital video, to elucidate possibilities for communication. I examine whether these tools are productive for my creativity and others?? in increasing communicative spaces and building social networks amongst the complexities of globalised culture. Many cultural commentators consider the Internet as a new kind of public sphere, developing community, strengthening the lifeworld and providing ethical discourse. The Internet, however, is a context not without problems. Still, less that one quarter of the world??s population has access, and computer illiteracy and governance (to name only a few) contribute to its limitations ?? this dichotomy is central to my investigation. I demonstrate that information communication technologies (ICTs) such as the Internet are radically altering our everyday lives and mediation is increasingly pervasive. I argue, therefore, that our globalised context demands alternative communicative spaces to mainstream media that allow diversity, plurality, intersubjectivity and new forms of interrogation. I ask whether the Internet can assist in the development of social networks and newest social movements (NSMs) by increasing civic bonds and communities. I posit communicative action, reflexivity and praxis as productive tools for a critical practice. I suggest that these theories are influential in researching the Internet??s potential in generating social awareness. I argue that the Internet can be used to construct social spaces and, in conjunction with creativity, can increase its productive capacity in developing diverse and ethical communicative contexts.

Given the accessibility of media devices available to us today and utilising van Leeuwen's concept of inscription and synthesis as a guide, this thesis explores the practice of re-presenting a domestic material object, the Croxley Recipe Book, into digital media. Driven by a creative practice research method, but also utilising materiality, digital storytelling practices and modality as important conceptual frames, this project was fundamentally experimental in nature. A materiality-framed content analysis, interpreted through cultural analysis, initially unraveled some of the cookbook's significance and contextualised it within a particular time of New Zealand's cultural history. Through the expressive and anecdotal practice of digital storytelling the cookbook's significance was further negotiated, especially as the material book was engaged with through the affective and experiential digital medium of moving-image. A total of six digital film works were created on an accompanying DVD, each of which represents some of the cookbook's significance but approached through different representational strategies. The Croxley Recipe Book Archive Film and Pav. Bakin' with Mark are archival documentaries, while Pav is more expressive and aligned with the digital storytelling form. Spinning Yarns and Tall Tales, a film essay, engages and reflects with the multiple processes and trajectories of the project, while Extras and The Creative Process Journal demonstrate the emergent nature of the research. The written thesis discusses the emergent nature of the research process and justifies the conceptual underpinning of the research.

This project is a creative production that combines image, sound, and narrative. It uses these elements to employ a twist as a device for a paradigm and genre shift in a short film text. My short film introduces a plot that is seemingly linear. Yet, the twist presents a piece of information that reveals the actual non-linear nature of the story, which in turn necessitates the re-interpretation of the plot. The aim of this project is to explore how a twist in a narrative-based short film can alter the cues and perceptions the audience receive from the plot. The project is predominantly practice-based (80%).

This thesis interrogates my and others?? creative praxis using the tools of the Internet, webcam, blogging and digital video, to elucidate possibilities for communication. I examine whether these tools are productive for my creativity and others?? in increasing communicative spaces and building social networks amongst the complexities of globalised culture. Many cultural commentators consider the Internet as a new kind of public sphere, developing community, strengthening the lifeworld and providing ethical discourse. The Internet, however, is a context not without problems. Still, less that one quarter of the world??s population has access, and computer illiteracy and governance (to name only a few) contribute to its limitations ?? this dichotomy is central to my investigation. I demonstrate that information communication technologies (ICTs) such as the Internet are radically altering our everyday lives and mediation is increasingly pervasive. I argue, therefore, that our globalised context demands alternative communicative spaces to mainstream media that allow diversity, plurality, intersubjectivity and new forms of interrogation. I ask whether the Internet can assist in the development of social networks and newest social movements (NSMs) by increasing civic bonds and communities. I posit communicative action, reflexivity and praxis as productive tools for a critical practice. I suggest that these theories are influential in researching the Internet??s potential in generating social awareness. I argue that the Internet can be used to construct social spaces and, in conjunction with creativity, can increase its productive capacity in developing diverse and ethical communicative contexts.

This project is a creative production that combines image, sound, and narrative. It uses these elements to employ a twist as a device for a paradigm and genre shift in a short film text. My short film introduces a plot that is seemingly linear. Yet, the twist presents a piece of information that reveals the actual non-linear nature of the story, which in turn necessitates the re-interpretation of the plot. The aim of this project is to explore how a twist in a narrative-based short film can alter the cues and perceptions the audience receive from the plot. The project is predominantly practice-based (80%).

abstract: “In Spirit - An Archetypal Journey of the Soul” is a document illustrating the process of creating an evening length autobiographical aerial dance theater performance, In Spirit, through the investigation of theoretical, kinesthetic and choreographic research of archetypal symbolism, as well as aesthetic, choreographic and pedagogical aspects of aerial dance. The Jungian research specifically informed the identification of symbolism and the roles that archetypes play in creating a clear storyline within aerial dance theatre. In addition, research of aesthetic voice and current aerial dance practitioners became important and gave perspectives on creative pedagogical engagement in contemporary dance and aerial dance-making. For the duration of the process of creating In Spirit image-based creative tools, tarot symbolism, Jungian archetypes, aerial dance training and collaboration were explored with the cast of ten dancers. Through this research and embodying the spirit of collaboration, the choreographer and dancers worked diligently to train dancers with no previous experience in aerial dance to perform in aerial roles. The evening-length performance of In Spirit synthesized contemporary dance, aerial dance, theatre and symbolism regarding rebirth. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Dance 2020