Author: aucadmin

For Grief: A photographic social documentary of funeral directors and their experiences

Yoko Lance, Queensland College of Art Part of CW15

In many developed countries, death and funerals are often considered a taboo subject which people avoid talking about. “Death” and “dead” are often rephrased as “loss”, “gone” or “passed away”, and “the deceased” or “remains” are used instead of “dead body” and “corpse”. The concept of death is carefully sanitised in our society and we often deny death. This denial can lead to stigmatisation of people who work in the funeral industry because they handle dead bodies and appear to profit from death and grief. Utilising digital still-photography and video interviews, a qualitative photographic field study was conducted with three funeral directors in Queensland, Australia in 2013. The project undertook an investigation of their work and private time to determine whether funeral directors are stigmatised in today’s sanitised society. The research showed that the funeral directors have experienced stigmatisation directly related to their occupation, however this stigma has waned as their role in the industry becomes established. The project revealed that over time, this stigma becomes less concerning to Funeral Directors who instead focus on the process of burial and funerary arrangements. Interviews with Funeral Directors reveal rarely discussed side-effects of dealing with their own grief affected by depressing facts of death.

The Spatial and Temporal Poetics of Webcam Viewing

Alannah Gunter, Queensland College of Art Part of CW15

This paper will explore the aesthetics of the pixelated scenes relayed across the globe by streaming webcams. It will examine the mesmerising and transportative powers that these shimmering pixels possess – what is it that makes them poetic, and how does this differ from other types of vicarious travel? It will investigate the ways in which our experience of temporal and spatial relationships shift – how our perception of place undergoes a transformation as the line between ‘here’ and ‘there’ becomes blurred and suggest that a new digital and vicarious aesthetic has evolved to exist within the wider context of travel imagery.

Audiovisual Installation as Ecological Performativity

Teresa Connors, University of Waikato Part of CW15

The motivation behind this paper stems from my practice as a composer and my research as a PhD candidate at the University of Waikato. The majority of artifacts that result from this research are audiovisual installations that explore new relationships from an ecological perspective. In this context, the term ecological refers to the philosophical school of thought that believes the world to be a network of interconnected and interdependent phenomena. In an attempt to contextualize my research and explore new possibilities for creative practice, I have become interested in a number of theories and lines of thought. These include Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela’s Santiago Theory of Cognition, Andrew Pickering’s Dance of Agency, Karen Barad’s notion of Intra- Action, Jane Bennett’s idea of Thing-Power, and Timothy Morton’s Hyperobject. This paper presents these theories in the context of a creative practice that aims to engage with ontological considerations of interconnectedness. It investigates the interrelationships between living and non- living systems as process and structure, and their artistic potential for an empathic discourse by extending our human identity to include the larger biosphere.

Opera Composition and Performance Utilising Computer-Based Recording Technologies and Virtual Instruments: A Case Study

Eve Klein, University of New England Part of CW15

Classical music has resisted incorporating music technologies into compositional practices, in part because technology allows greater access to the techniques and timbres associated with virtuosic human acoustic performance. However, classical music composition and production can be enabled by music technologies, and they offer an effective vehicle for women to test and occupy the role of composer, performer and producer. This paper outlines how home-studio music production technologies were used to compose and stage The Pomegranate Cycle (2010, 2013). The Pomegranate Cycle was composed, recorded, performed and produced by a female opera singer using consumer-level recording technologies. This self-directed methodology is unique in opera, providing a model for other singer-composers.

Valuing the older dancer through digital technology

Sonia York-Pryce, Queensland College of Art Part of CW15

Today’s focus on a youth-orientated consumer culture weighs heavily in the current dance world and for some who are approaching forty, retirement is perceived as the legitimate choice. Should this still be the case? The findings in the research indicate there is a deep-vested interest in the lived body experience of mature dancers, their worth to Western contemporary dance culture, their peers and their corporeal value. This Western cultural norm has engendered prejudice towards the physicality of mature dancers’ bodies, disregarding a lifetime of embodied dance experience. Which is the preferred or appropriate body to perform, the youthful or the mature? By investigating through film and photography, from a dancers’ perspective, I aim to highlight the mature mover and conserve their visibility in the dancer-world.

Cinematographic Evolution: What Can History Tell Us About The Future?

Daniel Maddock, Griffith Film School Part of CW15

Many commentators and proponents of the film industry have called for a review of the cinematographic award asking who is responsible for these images; the cinematographer or the visual effects artists. Theorist Jean Baudrillard said cinema plagiarises itself, remakes its classics, retro-activates its own myths. So, what can the history of filmmaking tell us about the practice of visual effects? Four of the previous five winners for Best Cinematography in a Feature Film at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards (2009-2013) have been films which have contained a large component of computer generated imagery (animation and/or visual effects). Some of these films have moved far beyond creating virtual backgrounds for the actors to appear in. Avatar, Life of Pi and Gravity are examples of films creating whole universes and characters for the actor to interact with. This paper analyses the use of visual effects in popular filmmaking prior to the use of computer technology for the art. This historical analysis is then compared and contrasted against today’s discussion/argument of cinematographic authorship. What did it consist of before the use of computers in filmmaking? Are and will cinematographers always be the authors of the image?

CreateWorld 2015 : Second Call for Participation

Planning for CreateWorld 2015 continues, and we’re delighted to announce that Cat Hope has been confirmed as a keynote speaker.  Cat is a musician and co-author of the recently published book Digital Art – An Introduction to New Media, which explores the idea of digital art as part of the ongoing continuum of technology that artists have been fascinated with throughout history.

A second call for participation has also opened, seeking posters, papers, performances, exhibitions, workshops and panel session, with submissions due by January 16, 2015.

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CreateWorld 2015 Call for Participation

CreateWorld is our 2 day performance, presentation, and professional development event, specifically for academic and technical staff who work in the digital arts disciplines.

The conference features a wide range of academic and technical presenters from the tertiary education and industry sectors, and includes several keynotes, panel sessions, hypotheticals, hands-on technical workshops, and regular presentation sessions.

The organising committee has issued a call for participation and are seeking posters, papers, performances, exhibitions, workshops and panel session.

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iOS High School

Melanie Tarr and David McMeekin

David McMeekin and Melanie Tarr began an iOS development course at a high school in 2012. The course has grown in strength since then and just published its first app on the app store.

The first part of this talk outlines the pitfalls and advantages in coordinating a high school iOS program, including guidelines for other developers considering this, and where the program should ideally fit within a tertiary/secondary environment.

The second half of the presentation is about coordinating a mentor development team, the challenges and success the mentors faced, and how to overcome those hurdles, followed by a brief outline of the app development process for the first app published.

David McMeekin is a software engineer who is currently a research fellow and lecturer at Curtin Uni. David is still unsure as to what he wants to be when he grows up but currently is enjoying research in the area of semantic web and search for the real time delivery of spatially enabled data.

Melanie TarrMelanie Tarr began working at ECU too long ago to mention now, and supported the engineering department as the Mac support engineer for four years. She then moved to Macintosh technical support for WAAPA, managing all of its IT support for two years before having her first child. She is now a PhD student (ECU), and believes digital literacy includes coding and has seen that high school children are capable of this.