Review of "When Species Meet" (2008) by Donna Haraway (Part 1 - Introduction)

Having started to read some of the ideas of Donna Haraway in her book "When Species Meet" (2008) University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, I was immediately taken by the idea that the majority of cells in the human body is made up of about 10% genomes and the remaining 90% of cells, consists of various other materials including bacteria, viruses, protozoa and other organisms!

Our bodies, ours as far as one could understand them belonging to us, therefore, are shared with all these other organisms. Our journey through life has become a vessel for those other bioforms. What an interesting notion this might be, especially if we consider Donna Haraway's anti-anthropocentric meditation.

Some of the reading was difficult to become immersed in, because of what I consider to be a rather typical Californian style. Her language is at times staccato, and yet at other times overly academic. The message, therefore, is occasionally blurred, but maybe this is a device that Haraway uses in an attempt to remain obscure?
She seems to have a habit of using a string of similar words separated by commas, each of which ostensibly means the same thing. Once you get used to this style, and what appears to be an incessant form of wordplay (which is something that I'm not always averse to, as I do enjoy a sense of humour at times)! Putting Haraway's writing style aside; however, the content of her works is useful. 

The simple idea that we share the world with a myriad of other creatures, and therefore need to take account and be responsible neighbours, makes good reading.

There is plenty to read in her book "When Species Meet" and my conclusion here is that my study of it, together with the study of another book recently published will serve me well for this term. This new paper, which Haraway co-wrote with one of her students (Thom Van Dooren), is in a book entitled "Flight Ways: Life and Loss at the Edge of Extinction", (2016). I already have a copy, - hot off the press!

I intend to continue to provide regular updates of my thoughts about both these books, so watch this space!

Research on the visual perception(s) of hawks

In the article entitled "The Deep Fovea, Sideways Vision and Spiral Flight Packs in Raptors", Vance A.Tucker of the Department of biology, Duke University, North Carolina, published in November 2000, he talks about Falcons Eagles and Hawks, collectively known as raptors, as having two areas of the focal point of the retina (the fovea), that he calls the shallow fovea and the deep fovea. Through his work and through the work of other biologists it has been found that the deep fovea has a much higher acuity of sight, compared to the shallow fovea.

Birds in general tend to spend much of their time looking sideways at an object depending on the proximity of it. When an object is further away, between approximately 8 m and 21 m, they adopt an observational style which is more readily identifiable to us humans, as that kind of inquisitive head tilted, sideways look. Indeed as objects move further away again, approximately 80% of their gaze is through these angled positions.

When considering that birds of prey swooped down on to their victims from significant heights, air to ground speed increases, and therefore any changes in drag coefficients and aerodynamics through altering their wings, or indeed their head position would slow the descent and give prey animals more time to react. It seems therefore that raptors have modified their behaviour in such swoops and dives, so as to make an approach in what appears to be spiral pattern. What this means is that the raptor can continue at the fastest velocity, yet at the same time through sideways focus through their leading eye, they are able to take advantage of almost straight line speed without losing their abilities of extreme accuracy in vision.

Conclusions;

Further research into the acuity of raptors vision and in particular, the Peregrine falcon would be worthwhile, as I am particularly interested in the anatomy of the eye, and its similarities to the ideas of the traditional camera chamber, and later technological advancements in digital photoreceptors such as charge-coupled devices (CCD's).

Reflections on the recent work of Helen Marten and other Contemporary Artists, Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield

I was delighted to hear that the recent winner of the first Hepworth Prize for Contemporary Art, went to a local lady (born in Macclesfield, Helen Marten, in November 2016.  Ms Marten went on then to win the even more prestigious Turner Prize in London, a couple of weeks later.

This all seems very appropriate and fitting too, with the project and theories that I am pursuing too.  Notably, the contemporary importance of Speculative Realism in art, and the new manifestations of Art objects that Helen Marten and her contemporaries, such as Phyllida Barlow, Steven Claydon and David Medalla (all runners-up in both competitions) are currently creating.

I had the opportunity to visit the Hepworth Gallery and examine the works by Marten and the other shortlisted artists.

Helen Marten, "Guild of Pharmacists", 2014.  Mixed media,
found objects. Hepworth Gallery, West Yorkshire.

I was very impressed with Marten's work as it has come from someone at quite a young age.  Marten has already exhibited in New York, Italy and other European cities, with an accomplished oeuvre at only 30 years of age.

Helen Marten, "Part Offering (brother cappuccino), 2014.

Helen Marten, "Part Offering ( doubtless other creatures would have come and gone of course), 2014.

"Part Offering (new and amazingly sexual daughters)," 2014

 The materials used also have synergy to what I also use, which are a mixture of text, painted / screen printed and drawn work, often supported with or juxtaposed with mixed digital media including videos, text and finally found objects.  Together they form new and very different artefacts that explore how we as viewers, may encounter, see, feel and touch things that are both familiar, (i.e. every-day) and at the same time unfamiliar.

 Other exhibitors at the Hepworth who were shortlisted were Phyllida Barlow and her huge installation "Scree", originally installed at Des Moines Art centre, Des Moines, Iowa, USA in 2013, and a new installation is now placed within one room at the Hepworth;

Also of consideration is the work by Steven Claydon, with work that has some similarities to that of Marten, but seems to manifest itself in a more masculine way, as can be seen in his works below;

The importance of their work in connection with my studies of quotidian subjects, comes from the ideas of re-use; Anamnesis.  This is the title of a series of books by Open-Court publishing and includes Graham Harman's works on Hiedegger and others entitled "The Speculative Turn; Continental Materialism and Realism", and also includes work by Levi Bryant, Nick Srnicek.

(** NOTE ** ALL IMAGES on this page are for personal use only as Research material.
 ** Copyright of all artwork objects acknowledged in attribution to the original artists **).

Reflections on the final lecture by Dr Bailey, regarding closure of modules of the first semester

The lecture was opened with a statement that all work should actually be completed to submission by Friday, 16 December; to allow us to have a formal holiday over the Christmas period.

This will allow for a kind of breathing space before the very concentrated efforts required before the next semester's modules.

The next phase of development within these lectures will be "Creative Innovation and Entrepreneurialism".
These new modules will provide an opportunity for collaboration across the whole group, with cross-disciplinary practice including textiles and other studies.

One of the actions required over the holiday period is to develop a website built around the WIX.com service.  That will hold a group dynamic, and will help to build our individual portfolios while working together with live project brief.

It is intended that one develops this project brief commercially through outside agencies to the University. It is, therefore, necessary to choose one of the three outlines topics of submissions as detailed by Dr Bailey.

1. The first option is to engage with either of two outside companies in developing brand and image and marketing products and outputs.
2. The second option is to work with the local Huddersfield gallery and a body or organisation known as 'Rotor'. This group has an objective to bring contemporary art closer to the public through the Huddersfield Gallery and is very much based on a community engagement.
3. The third option is to engage with the Royal School of Art, 2017 competition, which is very useful for any type of artist to enter for future recognition.

The deadline for signing up to one of these three options was Friday, 16 December 2016. This was the same day that all other time limits for each of the modules must be completed.

With regards to the forthcoming work in the New Year, the generation of an E-portfolio will be completed and submitted by 7 May 2017.

It was suggested to look at the website www.hudcama.wix.com/Hudcama

That site holds the previous examples of students on the Master's course and their work.

Conclusions & Overall Reflections:

• During the Christmas break,  I should reflect on my personal development plan and try to work out what areas of improvement I need to speculate and executes upon. As the module in the new semester is a self-directed practice module, I need to work out carefully what it is that I will be doing. 
• The key to the next modules is good project management!
• I need to make sure that my time is managed better as a much more balanced split between theory and practice during this next term.

Further reflections with Dr Liam Devlin and discussion with Dr Rowan Bailey.

I am deeply immersed in a period of sensation awareness, but it's becoming almost like an otherworldly mess!

It has been difficult to try to engage in this mode of thought (rightly or wrongly I'm not sure) because concurrently, there is pressure on me to complete the detailed written proposal.  I need to finish that within the next weeks, which outlines my deliberated practice for my following six months commencing January 2017.

In the reflection of a conversation with Dr Devlin last Friday,  the subject of shamanism came through. The idea of liminal thought patterns where one is transfixed in an in-between state between the real world and our deep consciousness is not unlike some of the trance type states of mind that shamans and magicians of ancient cultures place themselves within.

With regards to my practice my own views of creating some kind of animated sequence, but very much displaced from what people perceive as the "normal" (whatever that is). It's important that the work itself informs the viewer of my intention and I need to keep this in mind while creating images.

Meanwhile suggested recommended reading included the work by Donna Haraway and her tentacular practices which involve flight; together with work by Tim Ingold which can be accessed through the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and their online archives will be a good way to both establish and evaluate further ideas

Research and Project Proposal, - post presentation reflections

I felt that the presentation I performed yesterday for the Research & Proposal module generally went well.  My feelings over it are positive because of the reception that I seemed to gain. However, I hope I have not miss-read this.

Over the past few weeks, I have been struggling with conceptual ideas of how to visually engage the notions of speculative realism and the method of the Peregrine in some form of delineation, and I think some of that inner struggle may have come out as anxiety, - albeit, active and enthusiastic though I hope.

It has suddenly dawned on me, almost like a "Eureka" moment in thinking about the original book, "The Peregrine" and the observations of JA Baker...

It seems obvious to me now, what I have been missing!

What I need to do, is to draw what the Peregrine sees!

e.g. to bring, through some sense of mediated discourse in DRAWING with another creature, 'the life of JA Baker', as witnessed by the Peregrine on a daily basis. To Peregrine, every day's observation of JA Baker might have been utterly insignificant to the bird himself, (the "Tercel") and what he actually sees occurring on a daily basis, may have not considered the clothed human, constantly watching him, as important.

In discussing this notion with Dr Bailey, it became evident that much of my own research will consist of making sense of other artists, who may have done similar work. I accept that there is much scope to review this and I need to carefully select appropriateness to avoid any potential rabbit holes (No pun to the Peregrine intended, although he might like that anyway)!

In analysing 'The Peregrine' text, the objective for me is to look at a perspectival shift. This change in perspective or shifting viewpoint must be considered carefully and in particular how I am going to achieve that to carry off a realistic new view and outlook from such a dimensional. It was suggested by another PhD research student that I looked at the film by Chris Pinney entitled Leviathan. This was directed by Lucian Castone-Taylor who is head of the Harvard University Sensory Ethnography Laboratory.

Conclusions:

And subsequently reviewing that film, whilst these are indeed an alternative viewpoint (and a wonderful deep engagement from a human visual point of view) all that actually seems to be happening is the camera is placed where the seagulls are placed, or where the fish are placed...

• This still makes for an anthropocentric view of the world through another creature's eyes. 
• Immersing myself in the film for its complete cycle reaffirmed my desire and anxiety to try to mediate the point of view through the act of drawing itself!  This is quite a difficult challenge because I suspect that, to many, the outcome may be very esoteric and difficult to understand. 
• Nevertheless, this, however, must not hold me back and my commitment to continue along the theme originally envisaged is growing stronger daily.

Reflections on the lecture of Wednesday 23rd of November 2016 with Dr Rowan Bailey.

Today's session discussed the importance of appropriate presentations for this module in developing the proposal and artistic research methods. For the next two weeks, these lectures will be replaced by our presentations towards the development of the project. In the final lecture during week commencing 11th of December, the intention is to use that session to look at next term's activities. All presentations for the next two weeks will occur in the postgraduate suite.

• The purpose of the presentation is to articulate how our work has been developing in this module TMA 1401.
• It's an opportunity to reflect on the work and research that we have already done and to help crystallise our next steps.
• It's also an opportunity to test our thoughts as to how we approach the major project in the New Year.
• Furthermore, the presentation session will create an opportunity for feedback from the tutors.

Ultimately what this presentation is, is a kind of sales pitch:

• to actively pitch and sell the idea of your proposal.
• To contextualise our ideas.
• To articulate and conceptualise the ways in which we work.
• To provide evidence of research.
• And how this research is going to be applied in practice.

How one articulates their proposal verbally would be different from a written plan simply because in a presentation and audience scenario, the verbal communication as such, cannot be self-plagiarising from the written word. This is not something that needs to be worried about!

It's important to discuss what worked well and good practice.

• Demonstrate project planning and time management so that work can be prioritised and scheduled for next year.
• And articulate the strategy of how you will achieve your each of the tasks that are identified.

The presentation will then be loaded into Turn-it-in after the verbal presentation for further review by tutors.

[see the six-point slide from Dr Bailey to provide areas of what to present. e.g.:]

1. The aims and objectives of the project – these might not be final yet, but a rough outline might help communicate the structure of the project.
2. Research and Development – to explore working strategies, processes, approaches to take.
3. To focus on the framework for your project.
4. the context proposed to work within – is there a target client/user/audience the proposed work is aimed at?
5. to reflect on the key technical skills or key areas of development needed for the project. 
6. Reflections on the project - Next steps?

It is essential to demonstrate reflective analysis which identifies strengths and weaknesses of the process and methods that have been reviewed.

Both visual analysis and text box analysis of any features such as reflections on drawings, sketches, design development and project planning should be self-explanatory.

As a strategy to develop the verbal presentation;

• start by identifying the key ingredients.
• Unpack what needs to be done as tasks and activities.
• Articulate what you have found.
• Set out the objectives to realise the actual project idea.

It is advised that one does not create a "petch-kutcha" style presentation which usually engages through just 20 seconds per slide and in this case would need to fill 15 minutes so that would require 45 slides at 20 seconds each and would probably be far too excessive.

Observations.

• Ensure that you have at least 12 texts that can be referred to, as the subject is an initial reference base. These provide information from your reading lists with relevant articles to reference.
• Remember that this is a proposal only, so start with a broad scope. That is a demonstration that if you have researched with a wide entry point and hence this is why 12 texts should be considered as a minimum starting point is references with a review of at least five other practitioners methods.
• The primary research methods must demonstrate that you have explored these other (five) methods and how you evidence these other methods is critical. As an example use the website at methods at Manchester, to help articulate other practitioners work.
• The method can be delineated through a description supported by various other references and how these might apply in your practice. The aim is to legitimise the work that you carry out yourself through your practice; verify what you do is practice, and then contextualise it to demonstrate its currency.
• As a useful example, look at the "business management" case study as contemporary phenomena would be a good place to start. Further reading can be gained from page 104 onwards for the section entitled "Methods in the book by Carol Gray and Julian Malins (Visualising Research) by Graham Malins (2004).

At this stage is also worthwhile to look at the section "critical reflection" to show some justification for the decisions that you have made as a practitioner to take your work forward.

Conclusions

• Be critical with the reading. 
• Identify what the flaws are in what I have been reading.
• Why is this important?  e.g. this reference is of importance because X, Y, Z.
• To have an excellent presentation is about selecting relevant specifics (just a few) and to have evidence such as strong peer-reviewed quotations to back up the specifics that you have drawn out.
• Demonstrate that one has a firm grounding in the subject matter that is explored.
• Use the University's library system "summons" together with appropriate filters such as the use of peer reviews, current references, and relevant evidence.
• Lastly, it is important to consider how the presentation sits within the marking system. For this module, the assessment will be divided into equal parts. Therefore as there are 30 marks split between the evaluation criteria, then the average taken for the proposal section is approximately five scores from the 30 marks total.