art | research | history
INTRODUCTION The following is, more or less, the dissertation submission I made for my Masters In Art History, 2018-2020 and finally awarded in early 2021. The dissertation compares two seminal Computer Art exhibitions and how they were positioned in relation to the art and the curatorial choices. The first exhibition, Cybernetic Serendipity (1968) was curated by the […]
A study of Pollock Houses’ Walled Garden to Reveal a Hidden History to the Slave Trade Pollok Estate and its financial associations with the North Atlantic slave trade. Preliminary research reveals that Scotland was complicit in the trade of goods manufactured by African slaves during the colonial period, up to Abolition 1833.[1] Many Glasgow locations and […]
This article examines in what ways and for what reasons have established approaches to the interpretation of works of art been challenged since the 1970s? The article will focus on Barnett Newman’s 1950 work, The wild, and will compare two essays, firstly by Lisa Frye Ashe, and then by Michael Schreyach. The ‘beholders involvement’ is […]
John Glassford of Dougalston (1715–1783) was one of the wealthiest merchants of his time, trading principally in tobacco.[1]Glassford also invested in tanneries, dye works, operated a chain of stores in Virginia where he sold iron and metal tools; large quantities of cotton fabrics of low to medium quality to make clothing for planation workers
‘Nothing is more natural in art history than to draw parallels between periods of culture and periods of style.’ This article will critically assess the uses and limitations of the concept of style for the practice of art history. As the quotation above suggests, style is often used to describe consistency of qualities in periods […]
In Critique of Judgement, Emmanuelle Kant argued the case for the artistic genius;[1]which is defined as a member of society with God-given talent, almost always male,[2]whose unacceptable behaviour may at times be excused, but who otherwise exhibits an extraordinary creative gift.[3] This article will reflect on two texts that discuss this concept of artistic genius in relation […]
From 1740 to 1790, Glasgow was the leading entrepôt of tobacco in the world.[1] Many locations and street names in Glasgow celebrate the magnificent wealth building of early merchants, who took Glasgow from an insignificant Scottish town of barely a dozen streets, to a global trade dominion. Often overlooked however, is the near total reliance on slave […]
This post examines the issue of Scottish national identity using a theoretical framework drawn from Cybernetics and Postcolonial theories. Specifically it focuses on the construction of the historical relationship between Scotland and England through the process of manufacturing myth. By examining the parallels between Cybernetics theory and Postcolonial theory as it is applied to Scottish […]
With the advent of Scotland’s vote on independence in 2014, a study of Scottish nationalism is both topical and timely. According to Hobsbawm, nations, at least in the modern sense, are products of the eighteenth century (Hobsbawm, 2012, p.12) and not, as Bagehot thought, ‘as old as history’ (Bagehot, Physics and Politics, p.83). Nationalism is […]
In the following statement I will demonstrate that I have used Situationism, and detournement as a qualitative research tool. In particular, I will evaluate the worthiness of Play as a method to create a work of Anti-Art, and to reflect on the Situationists International (SI) objective of instigating a re-evaluation of the relationship between art […]
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