News and Events June & July 2011

Paul Granjon: See yourself sensing

Paul Granjon's (CFAR) ‘Robotic Perception Kit' has been included in the publication See Yourself Sensing: Redefining Human Perception (Madeline Schwartzman, Black Dog Publishing, 2011). This is the first book to survey how, over the last 50 years, artists, architects and designers have been experimenting with the boundaries of our senses to alter the way we experience the world.

The kit was developed during a residency in Le Lieu, Québec City, Canada, in March 2006. It comprises two sets of helmets, fitted with an ultra-sound sensor and an infra-red beacon commected to LED's and two pairs of blacked-out goggles. The helmet sensors provide information about the obstacles in the room and the presences of other robotic perception units in the close environment. When the sensors detect, the corresponding diode lights up, and the participant can take the appropriate action, emulating the program of a robot.

From September to November 2011, a collection of Granjon's robots, devices and drawings will be also be shown as part of Oriel Factory, a solo exhibition at Oriel Davies, Newtown, Powys.

EBERE at SEB'11

1-3 June 2011
Marseille, France

Members of the Ecological Built Environment Research and Enterprise (EBERE) group presented at the 2001 Sustainability in Energy and Buildings (SEB'11) conference held in Marseille - 1st to 3rd June 2011.

Dr John Littlewood presented a keynote talk ;Mechanisms for assessing the environmental performance of dwellings through the interaction of Universities and SMEs' and co-authored the paper ‘In-Construction Testing Of The Thermal Performance Of Dwellings Using Thermography' with research students Tim Taylor and Joanne Hopper.

Commenting on his keynote presentation in an interview with the Editor of Heritage Portal, Dr Littlewood said: "It discussed and presented the challenges of assessing whether low carbon design solutions are translated into low carbon construction of new dwellings and improvement of existing deprived dwellings. Very often what is designed is not translated into what is constructed or what is retrofitted."

Update: Digital Policy: Connectivity, Creativity and Rights

The new ESRC research seminar series Digital Policy: Connectivity, Creativity and Rights 2011-13 is now underway with the second event, ‘Digital Policy Issues for the New Communications Bill' taking place at the Oxford Internet Institute in June. The event was followed up by a response to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport Open Letter from the Secretary of State, Jeremy Hunt, ‘A Communications Review for the Digital Age'. Future seminars in the series are currently being planned and the organizers welcome suggestions for their focus and would be pleased to hear from colleagues who would like to co-sponsor/host individual seminars. Please contact Prof. Youngs.

The network is a collaboration between the University of Wales, Newport (UWN), led by Prof. Gillian Youngs, Academic Director of the Institute of Advanced Broadcasting, with Dr Tracy Simmons, University of Leicester, Prof. William Dutton, Oxford Internet Institute (OII), and Prof. Katharine Sarikakis, University of Vienna. Further details on the series and the two seminars already held can be found on the series website.

Peter Bobby in Seoul

'Help Earth', 3rd International Festival of Photography
6-18 July 2011
Gallery Iang, Seoul, South Korea

Peter Bobby (eCPR) has been invited to represent England at the Korean Society of Photography's 3rd International Festival of Photography. Bobby is the UK's only representative and will show his work ‘High-rise (23rd, Executive Lounge)' along side artists such as Olaf Otto Becker, Marc Cohen, Harri Palviranta and Maria Teresa Ponce. A publication will be produced to support the exhibition.

Sally Grant - the designs of Celia Birtwell

Sally Grant (DIGIT) has been awarded a Research Scholarship from the Society of Antiquaries of London to research the Textile design of Celia Birtwell, Ossie Clark's long time collaborator and a symbol of the UK's achievements as a significant cultural force in post-war Europe. Celia Birtwell's influence has held sway for four decades and continues today in the expansion of the vintage clothing industry, where the designs sell for thousands. Birtwell's collection for Jane Shepherdsons' Topshop outsold the Kate Moss collection, making it the most popular collection to date.

Grant will visit collections of Birtwell's work held at the V&A's and the Bath Fashion Museum. The central aim of the project is to produce new research about the legacy of 'Swinging London' and the spatial proximity of the manufacturing and supply chains to the designers, connecting textiles and fashion to urban life in the metropolis.

Team Sports at The Nihilists

16th July 2011
Sugar Loaf Mountain, Abergavenny

Team Sports, a sound performance group with Matthew Lovett, Jimmy Ottley & Ian Watson performed at The Nihilists a one day visual art event, located on the Sugar Loaf mountain near Abergavenny.

For the event, Team Sports explored the relationship between the musician and their surroundings. Using the physical environment of the mountain as a musical score, the group responded to sounds, visual stimuli, and other environmental that occurred to create a piece that engaged with all aspects of the sound continuum.

The Nihilists was a series of outdoor installations with generate electricity in order to illuminate they futility designed and realised by artist Stefhan Caddick. A review of event is available here.

Shorelines update

Wellbeing 2011
Birmingham City University
18th - 19th July 2011

Dr Cathy Treadaway (DIGIT) will present her paper ‘Shorelines: transforming emotion through creativity', which focuses on the findings from the final Shorelines case study, at the Wellbeing 2011 conference in Birmingham in July. The conference, held at Birmingham City University, in partnership with RIBA, will ‘explore the multi-dimensions of well-being by bringing together professionals, practitioners and academics, drawn from a wide range of disciplines to present papers, debate and discuss current understanding, practice and theory'.

Dr Treadaway has also been awarded the David Elder Edwards Bequest for the Shorelines project. The award will be used to fund an artists' residency as part of the project to create an artwork for South Ayrshire Council's permanent museum and art collection. It is anticipated that the week long residency will take place in early December to run concurrently with the Shorelines exhibition.