Cat's Cradle, Kingston School of Art, 2020 by Lucy Hutchinson

Catâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cradle Kingston School of Art, 2020

Catâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cradle was a project devised by Lucy Hutchinson as part of the Stanley Picker Tutorship 2019/2020. Open to BA Fine Art students over the course of 6 weeks from January to April 2020, the project comprised of 6 sessions that explored fiction building, collage, and grant writing. All of the resulting projects which developed during this period take the form of proposals for future artworks by the participating students. The proposals consider how their work could be developed through collaboration and fit into a wider social context post graduation.

Brief p. 2 Projects End-user Agreement, Alice Driver

p. 6

UBER TRACES, Allegra Seymour

p.20

Once You See It, You Should Acknowledge It, Ben Dawson

p.24

Feed Your Clothes! Cecily Loveys Jervoise

p.28

Hare Lip, Ella Chedburn

p.34

ONPICTURES, Kyle Campbell-Pope

p.38

What You Make of It? Milly Smith The Fiction That is The Future, Tessa James

p.42 p.46

Thanks p.50

Introduction

Congratulations, you all have £10,000 and 6 weeks to create a pitch for your future artwork.

Last week, it was discovered that the UK has been subject to a nationwide communication hack. For the past 5 years communication devices that are currently being referred to as ‘Skipper’s’ have been employed by server systems and social media platforms such as Google, Facebook, and Instagram on a mass scale. The devices, which are currently still being investigated are thought to doctor the type of information users can receive through the use of filter algorithms. It is thought that these devices were created through a series of public-private partnerships between governments and corporations. Initially created to increase happiness in turbulent times by supplying agreeable personalised information to help combat the mounting divisions in society. However, research has shown that they have had the opposite effect, communication between different sectors of society is at an all-time low and we have seen a break out of rebellion and activist movements throughout the country. In order to combat these problems, the government has launched a million-pound initiative that places art-making at the centre of societal change. Due to the fantastic reputation of the Fine Art course at Kingston University, you have been chosen for the pilot project; Cat’s Cradle: Art in Society.

Outputs

-A Proposal -A Budget (detailing how you have spent up to £10,000) -A Mission Statement -Visualisations/ Plans -Collaborative Mind Map

Timeline

Session 1 - Introduction and brainstorms Session 2 - Research and writing workshops Session 3 - World building workshops Session 4 - Tutorials and independent study Session 5 - Tutorials and independent study Session 6 - Presentations of projects and crits

References

Mikhail Karikis - No Ordinary Protest

Chris Evans - Cop Talk

Emily Warner and Claire Hickey - Make/ Shift/ Space

ES Devlin - Poem Pavillion

Nick Cave - Sound Suits

Grace Wales Bonner - A Time For New Dreams

Liz Magic Laser - Primal Speech

They Are Here - People Behind The Financial System

1. Alice Driver End-User Agreements

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Only 7 years ago Edward Snowden leaked the mass surveillance and illegal use of public data in the US. This issue has still not been combatted, it is important that people are aware of how their personal online data can be used. In an age where we are becoming more reliant on technology and social media, and with the current global political climate, I think it is more relevant than ever.â&#x20AC;? End-User Agreements is a project lead by Alice Driver which seeks to provide understanding and knowledge of end-user agreements to the public. Through collaborating will lawyers, the project will dissect enduser agreements used by the social media platform Facebook to provide increased transparency and accessibility to these agreements and policies. This project responds to the privacy rights of individuals online, examining the ownership of the online data we provide through social media. I am interested in legal contracts and wish to examine end-user agreements, a form of contract that is agreed upon by so many, and yet read by so few. I am interested in how these online contracts, which are binding upon joining Facebook can be used by companies and governments without individual knowledge. The lack of transparency from companies and governments about how personal online data is being used and stored enables a number of issues, such as abuses of power, and misinformation. End-user agreements are not understood by the majority of the public, like many legal contracts. Through the project, I hope to highlight how these data policies that come with new technologies can and should be understood. By working with lawyers to understand the terminology and reasons behind Facebookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s end-user agreement, I wish to provide an informative publication that is available to the public. This publication will be available online, as well as printed. I also wish to work with lawyers to investigate loopholes in the agreement, or an opt-out solution, which even if impossible adds to displaying how binding these contracts are. The publication will explain why these agreements are important, and key things the public should be aware of before agreeing to these contracts.

Alice Driver - End-user agreements

2. Allegra Seymour UBER TRACES

Uber Traces is a project by Allegra Seymour that creates opportunities for artists, computer scientists and members of the public to engage with the public, urban design and the built environment, using hacked and found data. Through working in collaborations with computer scientists and web designers Allegra will produce a series of new work that acts as a catalyst for exploration, debate and public understanding of the data economy. By using personal Uber data provided by mass voluntary members of the public in collaboration with computer scientists I will produce a series of artworks in the form of tangible data maps that present and trace the multiple user movements across the capital. At present, Uber possesses more collected data and information with regards to the operational dynamics and ebb and flow systems of cities, than most local governments and transit authorities. By collaborating with computer scientists the aim is to make this data publicly available and easily accessible for a larger audience, in order to have allow this knowledge to have greater impact on wider society and its networks. Through this public engagement project, the work will seek to act as an active agent that may be used as collated information on how to improve our urban systems. In addition, the beautiful visual data maps can also be exhibited and displayed within a gallery context in order to raise greater awareness and activate people’s values, as well as presenting a cultural commentary on the politics of data. London’s population has appreciated by nearly 1 million people in the last decade and is now approaching a population of nearly 9 million. These statistics demonstrate the vast extent and rapid rate to which London’s population has recently risen and will continue to increase and the impact on urban networks. As this growth occurs there is a paramount expectation upon city planners to act accordingly in order to meet the ever-increasing strains of urban growth. How can transparency and open-source networks lead to more egalitarian societies?

Allegra Seymour - Uber Traces

Allegra Seymour - Visually Mapped Uber Data, 2020

3.Ben Dawson Once You See It, You Should Acknowledge It

“The use of a hacker is a nod to a drug culture of some sort, a sleight of hand to get the video in a space to broadcast a specific message.” Once you see it, you should acknowledge it, is a project led by Ben Dawson that aims to educate the people about the heroin epidemic in the town through collaborations with drug charities and hackers. Resulting in a moving image work that responds to the heroin epidemic in Swansea, South Wales. Through working with local drug charities and recovering addicts I will explore popular discourses and conversations about casual drug use and its relationship to place and class. I will explore this by creating a moving image work that will be played on loop on a large scale monitor in Castell Gardens in Swansea town center that weaves together these conversations with empathy and scientific knowledge. Exhibited on loop in the public realm the resuting ar twork will be hacked onto the usual stream of adver tising on a large scale monitor in a pseudo amphitheater space in the city centre. Through this project, I hope to challenge the norms of the drug use that exist within the space. By playing the video on loop I hope that the repetition will create clarity, and by acknowledging this issue increase public understanding and reduce stigma. Drug abuse is a major public health problem in Swansea, with drug-related death rates at a record level in 2019. It is impor tant that this project can bring fur ther discourse and conversation around the heroin epidemic. I hope this ar twork and collaboration will affect the way Swansea council think about broadcasting the information about rehabilitation and care in a more coherent and ar ticulate way. By working with charities and using my skills as an ar tist I intend to rear ticulate personal experiences and educational information in order to increase public understanding decrease stigma around drug culture in an accessible and thought provoking way. In addition, I hope to create new collaborations between ar t and healthcare to think about new ways we can work together in the future.

Ben Dawson - Once you see it, you should acknowledge it

Ben Dawson - Once you see it, you should acknowledge it, Photo-collage 2020

4. Cecily Loveys Jervoise Feed Your Clothes!

Feed Your Clothes! is an open-source project which transforms food waste into textile dyes. Through pairing ar tists, with dying specialists and waste exper ts an archive, web platform and workshops will be developed to educate members of the public about how food waste can be used as an ar tistic material. Through developing an archive of everyday food waste, dying techniques will be adver tised through QR codes on the front of food waste bins and in the form of educational videos on social media and web channels. The project responds to the urgent environmental issue of toxic dyes in fast fashion, by using natural dyes from food waste (another environmental problem) to envisage alternatives. I aim to encourage people to increase their skill set by creatively reworking clothes and other textiles, whilst considering how their waste can be utilized to its maximum potential. Primarily, the project aims to provide an alternative use for food waste as well as envisage alternative futures to existing environmental problems which are created from textile dyes in fast fashion. I am particularily interested in how creativity can allow for alternative ways of using waste products and promote wider conscientiousness regarding consumption. The project will also give visibility to free food waste collection which is available over much of the country. In 2018 in the UK WRAP research shows that 6.6 million tonnes of household food was thrown away, with the majority of this being from households, rather than restaurants and other commercial outlets. This project offers a way to use this waste to rework fabrics and clothes, combatting the desire to buy new clothes by reworking the clothes people already own, creating new ecological methods of production. This is especially important at the current time as the environmental crisis is getting worse and the search for alternatives is on the rise through a growing public interest in eco-friendly practices. Feed Your Clothes! taps into that growing interest through educating people about food waste and fast fashion with a fun and easy process which is accessible for all ages. Now is the time for this whilst people are keen to learn about how they can reduce their carbon footprint and also start the revival of home craft.

Cecily Loveys Jervoise - Feed Your Clothes!

5. Ella Chedburn

Hare Lip is a publication by Ella Chedburn, made in collaboration with cleft lip/palate charities, surgeons, patients, shamans, and folklorists.

Hare Lip

The publication will take the form of a rhizomatic anthology of medical, folkloric and embodied experiences of the cleft lip/palate. It will tell the untold stories of different cultures’ approaches to clefts, as well as scientific explanations. All research will be given the same hierarchy, harmonising folklore with science rather than favouring one over the other. Worldwide, oral clefts of any form (i.e., cleft lip, cleft lip and palate, or isolated cleft palate) occur in about one in every 700 live bir ths. In some cultures, mothers reject scientific explanations and continue to believe their child’s cleft was caused by external events such as a solar eclipse. There is significant lack of communication between communities, and more rural areas’ beliefs are quickly dismissed by western science. In order to share scientific research with other cultures, we must first understand and respect their beliefs. It is also impor tant to archive all of these perspectives throughout history before these stories are lost. However, many of these practices are problematic.To this day, there are communities which still believe that children born with clefts are evidence of satanic acts by the mother. The mother and child are exiled from their communities and the child never receives surgery. Treatment is also avoided in order to celebrate the cleft; in par ts of India, children with bilateral clefts do not receive treatment because they are believed to be the reincarnation of Lord Ganesha. With more care and understanding surrounding the causations and the treatment options for clefts, these communities may develop a more holistic approach and enable children to receive the medical attention they need. The western world would also benefit from learning about the more spiritual approach of other cultures. As witchcraft finds a modern resurgence, now is a perfect time to open discourse about the full history of clefts and their association with magic. The publication will act as a star ting point for new collaborations and conversations around the subject area, acting as both an archive and educational tool to respond * Ethical Considerations Certain folklores could add to the stigma surrounding clefts, further ostracising women with cleft lip/palate children. Before disseminating the project to a wider public, a preface will be added to explain that the causation of clefts is uncertain but usually through no fault of the mother. Another consideration is using the term ‘harelip’ within the work. ‘Harelip’ is now widely considered a derogatory term for cleft lip due to its etymology: a hare is a rodent and also has associations with witchcraft. There have been public statements regarding this, reprimanding public figures for using this terminology. However, perhaps it is time to reappropriate this terminology. Ethical guidance on this will be given by given by The Cleft Lip And Palate Association, the main cleft charity in the UK.

Ella Chedburn - Hare Lip

Ella Chedburn - Hare Lip Collages, 2020

Kyle Campbell-Pope ONPICTURES

ONPICTURES is a mobile application for the streaming, funding and distribution of independent film, feature-length cinematics and expanded ar t practices. Creativity has never been needed more than it has right now. We are viewers, sifting through an over-saturated market for something of worth and significance. Film and Music have had several incredibly significant moments in development, innovation, and creation; ONPICTURES will continue to shift and influence the way we produce and consume creative content. Working alongside practicing graphic designers and illustrators, a mobile application available across iOS, Android and other compatible operating systems will house, support and fund independently crafted short and feature-length cinematics (Film and Television) alongside expansive means of digital and physical art practices. ONPICTURES is an idea of an ambitious amateur filmmaker; with the idea to focus on the craft of an independently-produced project and the desire to create a digital platform that would have the capabilities to house and distribute works of his own design, as well as financially supporting and distributing works created by his peers and like-minded artists and filmmakers. The support and opportunities environments like Education or Professional Creative Industries provide are one of a kind and provide experiences beneficial to the ongoing developments of an artist. Once moving on from these places, there is a natural feeling of doubt and lack of security, pointing to difficulties in finding an audience for oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work or even the motivation and facilities to continue working in their chosen discipline. ONPICTURES aims to help and continue to support creatives through all stages in their careers. ONPICTURES is a spiritual successor to an idea that has taken several different forms over the past years, including the digital platforms FREE THE WORK and The Black List, which support filmmakers and screenwriters with opportunities and resources. I believe that the creative climate is in need of a platform that is closer to the creators than it is the consumers, an outlet for producers to freely experiment and become connected to a wider support system of like-minded people. It has amazing potential to be the catalyst for artists currently in active practice and development, especially in defining their own visual language as creators.

Kyle Campbell-Pope - ONPICTURES

Kyle Campbell-Pope - ONPICTURES logo, 2020

Milly Smith What You Make of It?

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Working together makes any idea stronger and more of a reward.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; What you make of it? is a series of workshops lead by Milly Smith at Kingston University to investigate possible futures of universities through cross-disciplinary workshops and experimental pedagogies. I will run 2 workshops that pair 5 ar t students and 5 science students who are currently studying at Kingston University to collaborate and share methodologies whilst responding to the question - what is the future of universities? I am frustrated by the lack of communication between different sectors in the university. The workshops intend to build on social aspects of communities - encouraging a more open approach to other peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disciplines, whilst investigating what can be learned by working together. Currently, there is a lack of collaboration between ar t and science subjects, especially in universities. This promotes singular viewpoints, that often negate other kinds of intelligence. Through the workshops I will orchestrate an environment where ar t and science students have to respond to various problems - through using their way of working to create speculative scenarios for the University of the future. Resulting in new directions, approaches and challenges for the subject matter. Both sets of students will have very different ideas regarding space, budgets, methodologies, and ways of working but will have to work together to produce one mutual outcome. I will experiment with different learning and teaching approaches and materials to get both groups out of their comfor t zone. By the end of the workshops the groups will have to use a range of approaches to create a successful outcome. This is an impor tant time for this project due to a lack of collaboration between different faculties, not only at Kingston University but across the university board. How can different forms of intelligence and problem-solving work together to increase our understanding of the world?

Milly Smith - What You Make of It

Milly Smith, What You Make Of It? (promotional image) 2020

Tessa James

Can creative writing mobilise socio-political and physical change?

The Fiction that is The Future

The Fiction that is The Future is a series of workshops led by Tessa James in collaboration with high school students and English teachers in secondary schools in the borough of Kingston-Upon-Thames that explores future building through creative writing and ar tmaking. According to the Reading Agency, 46% of people aged 16-24 do not read in their spare time, and adults with lower literacy levels are more likely to believe they have little power over political processes. I believe this creates cynicism, and disillusionment in the government, which can lead to a lack of engagement in modern society. The English literature curriculum is ill-equipped to combat these pressing issues, giving examples of old-fashioned British authors whom young people find difficult to relate to â&#x20AC;&#x201C; equal representation is key in creating a culture in which people are ambitious and driven. How can focus on authors such as Malorie Blackman and Kazuo Ishiguro be used a star ting point to discuss alternative realities to offer criticism on our current reality, and therefore play a crucial role in the evolution of society? Following the creation of small book clubs in schools, I will produce a series of interactive workshops with young people. Groups of 1015 will read and discuss books from contemporary authors, both Young Adult fiction and Adult fiction genres. After these groups have been set up, I, (the ar tist), will run up to 3 interactive creative writing workshops with a focus on world-creation (rather than narrative). These will be 2 hours each, with optional take-away assignments. They will take place over 3 weeks. The first will explore recreating a place in real life that you know very well. The second will focus on describing a completely new and imaginary space. The third will have a focus on how places can be both familiar and strange, with a final oppor tunity to write about a third space. We are at a critical time ecologically, politically and socially. Encouraging reading and writing not only develop our interpersonal skills but can also help us envisaging new futures and alternative realities, which in turn could help to shape society and even encourage engagement in politics or social change?

Tessa James - The Fiction that is The Future

Tessa James - The time my feet snuck up on me, Charcoal on paper, 2019

THANKS Many thanks to all the students who participated in

the project, especially those who are featured in this publication, who managed to completed their projects in the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak. I would also like to thank Kingston School of Art for making space for the project; Especially, Andrea Stokes and Mark Harris who offered their support and advice in facilitating the sessions.