Mark Burgess

A Phenomenology of Artistic Doing: Flow as Embodied Knowing in 2D and 3D Professional Artists

Abstract This research investigates flow experiences and explores meaning construction for artistic practices that differ in haptic nature. In addition to the phenomenological analysis of interviews, videos of artistic practice and practice-based research (in which participants instruct the researcher in their primary techniques) were employed to obtain both retrospective and real-time records of the physicality of artistic practice. Drawing on authors who emphasise the automatisation of actions in flow (Dietriche, 2004; Spinelli, 2005) and heightened body awareness (Pagis, 2009) flow is reconceptualised in non-representational terms as optimal precognitive engagement with the world. In this light meaning in flow results not from bringing order to the mind as Csikszentmihalyi (2002) proposed, but through its embodied construction in activity. Analyses revealed that the sources of enjoyment and meaning, the relationship between artist, tools and artwork, and the nature and extent of self-differentiation differ between artists who work in two (2D) and three (3D) dimensions, and whose physical actions differ in the production of their artwork. 2D artists derive enjoyment from their creative process and meaning from capturing an atmosphere or place, and attribute artistic control to their artwork. 3D artists derive more enjoyment from the product of their artistic activity and meaning from the recreation of the self in material form, and do not attribute artistic control to the artwork. Consequently, embodied physicality of activity appears fundamental to similarities in flow experiences and meaning-making: accounts of flow and the meanings generated in activity differ between activities that differ in their haptic or performative nature but are similar among haptically similar activities.

‘I Am a Human Being like You’: An Identification Strategy to Maintain Continuity in a Cultural Contact Zone

In this article, we discuss a qualitative study carried out in a cultural contact zone. Irish nationals, immigrants, and asylum seekers in Cork, Ireland, were interviewed about their cultural identities and future trajectories. Cultural Continuity theory was used as a model to offer an insight into the processes and strategies of the Dialogical Self. The results suggest that the development of a cultural contact zone caused a break in cultural continuity which aroused uncertainty. Our analytical focus is on one of the strategies that enabled the individuals to alleviate that uncertainty. The suggestive preliminary results are that each participant, within each group, utilized their dialogical ‘I as a human being’ identity position to maintain continuity. The function of this strategy and the theoretical integration are discussed.

Assessing the viability of electric vehicles in daily life: A longitudinal assessment (2008–2012)

The UKs Technology Strategy Board, with central and regional government support, funded the worlds largest multi-site demonstration trial of ultra-low carbon passenger cars. 349 cars were deployed supported by the installation of approximately 500 electrical charging points. The trial has contributed to the UK Governments newly published ultra-low emission vehicle strategy. It has also helped vehicle manufacturers and energy suppliers understand how people use these cars and how they feel about them. Eight project teams comprising at least one vehicle manufacturer, an energy supplier, a local authority, infrastructure provider and a university have gained funding. The trial included two separate research activities: 1. Usage patterns - including time and duration of journeys, energy used and charging location. 2. User perception - questionnaires and interviews with users before, during and after the trail to help understand their feelings about the car and their behaviour with the car. The first 65 cars were handed over to users on 13th December 2009. By December 2011, 349 vehicles from 19 manufacturers had been deployed over a mix of private domestic, company pool or fleet vehicles. The vehicles have undertaken over 276,000 trips covering over 1,500,000 miles, and have charged over 51,000 times. The vehicle models included the plug-in electric Tata Indica, Mercedes Smart For Two, Nissan Leaf, Ford Transit Connect; BMW Mini-E, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Allied conversions of the Peugeot Tepee MPVs; the hydrogen fuelled Microcab; and performance electric sports cars including the Ecotricity conversion of the Lotus Exige. The fleet also included plug-in versions of the diesel hybrid Land Rover Range-E and the petrol hybrid Toyota Prius. This paper provides details of the programme and results of the research to date, focusing especially on vehicle usage and perception data from 12 months of usage.

Social sustainability and mental health: a threat to evidence-based practice?

The availability and use of mental health treatments are influenced by many different factors. Prominent among these are scientific evidence, cost, ethics and politics. However, the social sustainability of treatments can also have a considerable influence on their use.