A new theory of Aboriginal art. The paradigms developed by scholars have a huge impact on the value of art. After the Australian artworld repositioned Aboriginal art from the frame of 'primitive art' to that of contemporary art, the price of and market for Aboriginal art increased enormously. However, Aboriginal art failed to penetrate the international contemporary artworld because the paradigms of contemporary art within which it was framed were outmoded. Through examining the production of Ab ....A new theory of Aboriginal art. The paradigms developed by scholars have a huge impact on the value of art. After the Australian artworld repositioned Aboriginal art from the frame of 'primitive art' to that of contemporary art, the price of and market for Aboriginal art increased enormously. However, Aboriginal art failed to penetrate the international contemporary artworld because the paradigms of contemporary art within which it was framed were outmoded. Through examining the production of Aboriginal art from the perspectives of its producers and recent globalised contemporary art practices, this project aims to develop a new theory of Aboriginal art that is more aligned with the thinking of current curators who set the agenda at the upper end of the market.Read moreRead less
The reformulation of landscape as a user-generated interactive aesthetic. This project seeks to provide Australia with an opportunity to advance its understanding of landscape and climate change by building the world's first networked landscape visualisation system.
Atmoscape: the aesthetic reformulation of the atmosphere using intelligent imaging systems. The proposed research provides Australia with an opportunity to advance its understanding of atmosphere and climate by building the world's first remote sensing visualisation system networked across three continents.
Art and Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific: The Limits of Tolerance in the Twenty-First Century. The question of human rights is emerging as perhaps the most critical issue of the twenty-first century. This project aims to develop a cross-disciplinary methodology and a set of conceptual frameworks for analysing the interactions between contemporary art and global discourses on human rights in the Asia-Pacific. In the process we address the debate on universality versus cultural specificity in rel ....Art and Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific: The Limits of Tolerance in the Twenty-First Century. The question of human rights is emerging as perhaps the most critical issue of the twenty-first century. This project aims to develop a cross-disciplinary methodology and a set of conceptual frameworks for analysing the interactions between contemporary art and global discourses on human rights in the Asia-Pacific. In the process we address the debate on universality versus cultural specificity in relation to human rights issues, and we seek to place current Australian responses to human rights in the context of the dynamically changing region in which we live.Read moreRead less
Art and Cultural Exchange at the Strait of Gibraltar. The project aims to give a first-time analysis of visual culture at the Strait of Gibraltar. It asks how painting, photography, film, and maps relate to colonial expansion, with a focus on Australian, French and Spanish involvement in the Western Mediterranean. The British fortress-colony of Gibraltar and the international Moroccan port of Tangier have never before been subject to comparative analysis. Key outcomes include two major exhibit ....Art and Cultural Exchange at the Strait of Gibraltar. The project aims to give a first-time analysis of visual culture at the Strait of Gibraltar. It asks how painting, photography, film, and maps relate to colonial expansion, with a focus on Australian, French and Spanish involvement in the Western Mediterranean. The British fortress-colony of Gibraltar and the international Moroccan port of Tangier have never before been subject to comparative analysis. Key outcomes include two major exhibitions, one on Australian Orientalism at the National Gallery and the second on historical art in the region. By shedding historical light on people smuggling, contraband and post-Brexit identity at the Strait, the project aims to generate cultural knowledge pertinent to international co-operation.Read moreRead less
The War Rug: the history, iconography and theory of the war art tradition of the Baluch of Afghanistan 1979-2004. The 'war rugs' of Afghanistan, a new topic of art-historical, sociopolitical, and cross-cultural communications, reflects an Indigenous perspective of twenty five years of conflict in the region. This project will: *Produce new knowledge on a regional topic of considerable sociopolitical relevance *Enable Australia to take a leading role in the articulation of new fields of knowledg ....The War Rug: the history, iconography and theory of the war art tradition of the Baluch of Afghanistan 1979-2004. The 'war rugs' of Afghanistan, a new topic of art-historical, sociopolitical, and cross-cultural communications, reflects an Indigenous perspective of twenty five years of conflict in the region. This project will: *Produce new knowledge on a regional topic of considerable sociopolitical relevance *Enable Australia to take a leading role in the articulation of new fields of knowledge and academic discourse, enhancing both our international reputation and knowledge of the region *Provide an exemplary model for the role of museums in the conceptualisation of artistic categories cross-culturally *Develop new applications of online database technologies *Develop new modes of integrating new digital technologies in an exhibition setting. Read moreRead less
Heritage in the limelight: the magic lantern in Australia and the world. The project aims to discover and analyse the large number of glass magic lantern slides that remain under-used in our public collections. International scholarship has recently begun to show that lantern slide shows were a ubiquitous, globalised and formative cultural experience. The project aims to explore the international reach and diversity of this globalised modernist apparatus from the Australian perspective. It plans ....Heritage in the limelight: the magic lantern in Australia and the world. The project aims to discover and analyse the large number of glass magic lantern slides that remain under-used in our public collections. International scholarship has recently begun to show that lantern slide shows were a ubiquitous, globalised and formative cultural experience. The project aims to explore the international reach and diversity of this globalised modernist apparatus from the Australian perspective. It plans to understand how diverse audiences affectively experienced these powerful forms of early media, and to develop ways for today’s Australians to re-experience their magic, invigorating and expanding our cultural heritage.Read moreRead less
Towards efficient real-time generation of detectable musical macrostructure. Efficient generation of detectable large scale musical structure is needed for commercial audiovisual applications, and for creative music making. But computer mediation of music has focused elsewhere: on sound synthesis and sequencing, editing, mixing and notation. I will apply computational processes like the handling of chunks of genetic information in evolution, to generate large scale musical structure. I will con ....Towards efficient real-time generation of detectable musical macrostructure. Efficient generation of detectable large scale musical structure is needed for commercial audiovisual applications, and for creative music making. But computer mediation of music has focused elsewhere: on sound synthesis and sequencing, editing, mixing and notation. I will apply computational processes like the handling of chunks of genetic information in evolution, to generate large scale musical structure. I will control segmentation; framing of internal segments; spatialisation; and the overlaying of separable musical streams. Expert cognitive assessment of the resultant structures will be investigated, and theories of segmentation, streaming and their relationships with expression and affect developed and tested.Read moreRead less
Understanding creative excellence: a case study in poetry. Creativity is the engine of a healthy and successful society. In order to learn how best to encourage and generate creativity, there needs to be a greater understanding of how successful creative professionals operate. This project focuses on poets as a case study that will inform the development of ways to enhance creativity in other professional groups.
The role of piano music, and the piano manufacturing industry in Australia's cultural history. This project aims to re-examine Australia's cultural heritage through a study of the history of the piano. The study will research the Australian piano manufacturing industry; the piano roll recording industry and a significant group of pianist composers.