Urban Imaginaries/Cultural Landscapes: An Asia-Pacific Transnational and Cross-Cultural Research Collaboration. The aim of the program is to foster research collaboration between the ANU's Humanities Research Centre and Lingnan University's Cultural Research and Development Program by examining public culture, transnational culture, urban landscapes and urban cultural identities in the contemporary Asia-Pacific and Australian context. We will do this by extending ties with researchers from the ....Urban Imaginaries/Cultural Landscapes: An Asia-Pacific Transnational and Cross-Cultural Research Collaboration. The aim of the program is to foster research collaboration between the ANU's Humanities Research Centre and Lingnan University's Cultural Research and Development Program by examining public culture, transnational culture, urban landscapes and urban cultural identities in the contemporary Asia-Pacific and Australian context. We will do this by extending ties with researchers from the region including early career and students and by developing a comparative cross-cultural methodology capable of encompassing specific socio-historical patterns and processes of dynamically changing public cultural formations in contemporary urban centres in the Asia-Pacific, including Australia. Specific outcomes include a book, e-journal and a multi-media exhibition.
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The influence of Contemporary Japanese architecture: its meanings and its miss-readings. Contemporary architecture and urbanism in Australia has generally been concerned with addressing 'modernity' while little concerned with specific culture or place, and with little discernable ideology. Consequently, the City of Sydney is much used by international film-makers as an undifferentiated generic metropolis backdrop. In contrast, Japan's contemporary architects have developed a politically-charged ....The influence of Contemporary Japanese architecture: its meanings and its miss-readings. Contemporary architecture and urbanism in Australia has generally been concerned with addressing 'modernity' while little concerned with specific culture or place, and with little discernable ideology. Consequently, the City of Sydney is much used by international film-makers as an undifferentiated generic metropolis backdrop. In contrast, Japan's contemporary architects have developed a politically-charged architecture which registers the complexity of their national identity while turning its back on nationalism. This project will contrast the ideologies of leading contemporary architects in Japan and Australia and will serve as a benchmark against which contemporary Australian architecture can be assessed.Read moreRead less
THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN MODERNISM. Most histories treat modernism in Australia as a phenomenon of ?fine art,? or simply painting. This project will instead reveal modernism's highly public impact across a range of media (design, photography, advertising, architecture and art). This new history will better explain how modernist visual idioms became ubiquitous in everyday contemporary design and our built environment after their initial, often hostile reception. The project will provid ....THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN MODERNISM. Most histories treat modernism in Australia as a phenomenon of ?fine art,? or simply painting. This project will instead reveal modernism's highly public impact across a range of media (design, photography, advertising, architecture and art). This new history will better explain how modernist visual idioms became ubiquitous in everyday contemporary design and our built environment after their initial, often hostile reception. The project will provide an integrated research analysis of the extensive, but disparate, archives on Australian modernism. It will communicate its research findings through a new scholarly study, a major large-scale travelling public exhibition, a CD, and a website.Read moreRead less
Video Art Online: from UBU Films to the Present. There is little Australian video art systematically presented online, nor is there a broad set of reference materials on this important area of artistic practice in Australia. This project will create an innovative way to store, catalogue, interpret and archive video art works using open source software that will be freely available to others to use and develop. This project presents significant for Australia by:(i) extending the reach and profile ....Video Art Online: from UBU Films to the Present. There is little Australian video art systematically presented online, nor is there a broad set of reference materials on this important area of artistic practice in Australia. This project will create an innovative way to store, catalogue, interpret and archive video art works using open source software that will be freely available to others to use and develop. This project presents significant for Australia by:(i) extending the reach and profile of two of Australia's most important new media and contemporary art institutions, (ii) making available open source solutions for online video archives to the cultural sector (iii) providing the broader Australian community access to video art works in a scholarly, easy-to-use repository.Read moreRead less
The Behaviour of Western Artists' Materials in Tropical Environments. This project is a study of the behaviour of western artists materials in tropical climates through the visual examination and scientific analysis of both simulated and aged paintings from four museums in Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. This will form new methodologies and guidelines for the preventive care, transportation, storage and conservation treatment of western artists materials in hot, humid climates. ....The Behaviour of Western Artists' Materials in Tropical Environments. This project is a study of the behaviour of western artists materials in tropical climates through the visual examination and scientific analysis of both simulated and aged paintings from four museums in Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. This will form new methodologies and guidelines for the preventive care, transportation, storage and conservation treatment of western artists materials in hot, humid climates. The success of this project will have profound implications on the analytical techniques available for conservation research.Read moreRead less
Teimu (The Garden of Dreams): aural and aesthetic attributes of Japanese gardens as models for spatial environments. Traditional Japanese garden design has greatly influenced both 20C Western landscape designers and composers of Western art music. By investigating the aural and aesthetic attributes of five renowned Japanese gardens, RMIT and University of Melbourne researchers will seek out spatial sound designs that could enhance sound quality in urban environments and provide a pioneering app ....Teimu (The Garden of Dreams): aural and aesthetic attributes of Japanese gardens as models for spatial environments. Traditional Japanese garden design has greatly influenced both 20C Western landscape designers and composers of Western art music. By investigating the aural and aesthetic attributes of five renowned Japanese gardens, RMIT and University of Melbourne researchers will seek out spatial sound designs that could enhance sound quality in urban environments and provide a pioneering approach to architectural modeling and the built environment. This project has long-term cross-disciplinary implications. The results and methods contained in this project may assist in innovative sound design for new media applications, better listening environments in urban areas, unique approaches for data modeling, and a catalyst for future design strategies.Read moreRead less
What is successful public art today?: exploring how contemporary public art and memorial design shapes public engagement, perceptions and behaviour. Much public money is invested in public art and memorials. The research explores critical questions of value: what the public enjoys about such artworks, if and how artworks contribute amenity to public spaces, and whether recent artworks engage effectively with social memory, identity and politics. The research situates local practice within intern ....What is successful public art today?: exploring how contemporary public art and memorial design shapes public engagement, perceptions and behaviour. Much public money is invested in public art and memorials. The research explores critical questions of value: what the public enjoys about such artworks, if and how artworks contribute amenity to public spaces, and whether recent artworks engage effectively with social memory, identity and politics. The research situates local practice within international trends, to inform Australian designers, policymakers, art patrons and public space managers about recent innovations in technology, craft, creativity and critique, so they can create and choose public artworks and memorials which engage with the potentials of contemporary arts practice, the complexities of contemporary culture, and the diversity of social behaviour in public spaces.Read moreRead less
Creative Industries in Queensland: Cluster Mapping and Value-chain Analysis. 'Creative industries' is a new term in academic, policy and industry discourse that captures 'new economy enterprise' dynamics which associated categories 'the arts', 'media' and cultural industries' do not. This project will advance the conceptualisation of creative industries and assist policy and industry by analysing the creative industries in Queensland with a business model of value chain and cluster mapping. Si ....Creative Industries in Queensland: Cluster Mapping and Value-chain Analysis. 'Creative industries' is a new term in academic, policy and industry discourse that captures 'new economy enterprise' dynamics which associated categories 'the arts', 'media' and cultural industries' do not. This project will advance the conceptualisation of creative industries and assist policy and industry by analysing the creative industries in Queensland with a business model of value chain and cluster mapping. Significantly, it will highlight integrated value chain relationships rather than 'silo' constructions of the sector; and produce data useful for informed economics and cultural development strategies by industry partners. Its innovations will benefit industry, and governments, agencies, and councils.Read moreRead less
Creative Economy:Investigating South Australia's Creative Industries. This project aims at providing a rich and informative data set and analyses of South Australia's Creative Industries to enable a better understanding of the value networks operating in, across and beyond sectors and enable the State's creative industries to be benchmarked against their national and global counterparts. It will carry out a comprehensive, finely granulated, bottom up data gathering exercise and associated analy ....Creative Economy:Investigating South Australia's Creative Industries. This project aims at providing a rich and informative data set and analyses of South Australia's Creative Industries to enable a better understanding of the value networks operating in, across and beyond sectors and enable the State's creative industries to be benchmarked against their national and global counterparts. It will carry out a comprehensive, finely granulated, bottom up data gathering exercise and associated analyses needed at the State level to identify gaps in existing information for addressing policy settings and development. This will extend to a cross-sectoral cluster analysis and support a sustainable industry policy within the changing media environment.Read moreRead less
Australian Film Theory and Criticism. Australian film theory and criticism has burgeoned over the past thirty years, but there is no dedicated book-length study of the field. This research project will fill the gap, not only tracing the specificity of Australian film theory and criticism but also reasserting its place on the international scholarly agenda. In tracing the critical positions, personalities and institutions that have shaped film theory and criticism in this country, this project wi ....Australian Film Theory and Criticism. Australian film theory and criticism has burgeoned over the past thirty years, but there is no dedicated book-length study of the field. This research project will fill the gap, not only tracing the specificity of Australian film theory and criticism but also reasserting its place on the international scholarly agenda. In tracing the critical positions, personalities and institutions that have shaped film theory and criticism in this country, this project will at once disseminate and preserve (for scholars and the general public alike) the legacy of those critical intellectuals who have striven to understand the nation's most popular art and entertainment form, the cinema. Read moreRead less