Transforming the Transportation Customer Experience through Contemporary Artistic Practice: A Case Study in Strategic Implementation

As a species of hunter and gatherer, we as humans are driven to collect things that we can use to sustain our lives, but once the intrinsic need of this process is met, animals of all sorts will collect objects for other purposes. To the contemporary artist, this innate sense of object envy or the desire to collect has become a driving force behind much contemporary art practice and is firmly posited in art theory. Patterns are emerging within collecting processes that have become templates for unique styles of representation, be they conceptual or practical. This research probes beneath the surface of artistic practice in relation to collected object inclusive artistic practice in the search for a model to explain the phenomena which has become more prevalent over the past century. The historical discourse of object collecting, classification and display from the Medieval Reliquary, cabinets of curiosities, early museums and the modern and contemporary museological frameworks of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries forms the basis of this research. It is hypothesized that this historic continuum of collection processes has generated culturally and socially influenced object interaction behaviours that underpin the manner in which humans collect, classify and display objects. These historically informed behaviours have, over the span of history, resulted in a set of codified practices of collecting, classification and display. These practices, which have been repeated over the course of object collecting history, appear to have been adapted and incorporated into contemporary visual arts practice in those instances where artists engage with collected objects. To investigate the resonances of characteristic practices of historic collection processes that can be observed in contemporary collected object inclusive artistic practice, a series of researcher generated theoretic paradigms titled the Butterfly Pin Constructs, has been developed. The Butterfly Pin Constructs consist of five individual constructs that represent key elements of collecting, classification and display which have persisted and evolved since the Medieval period. These theoretic representations provide a platform upon which to discuss collected object inclusive artistic practice and the impact of the legacy of collection processes upon this contemporary phenomenon. This research utilises interview data from four Australian sample artists and the visual analysis of a number of their works of art to interrogate the framework of the Butterfly Pin Constructs and the role they may fulfil within the creative process. The Butterfly Pin Constructs, as embodiments of key characteristics of historic collection processes, are the central framework upon which an understanding of the phenomena of collected object inclusive practice can be positioned. As such, the interview responses and works of art of the late Tom Risley, Donna Marcus, Patrick Hall and Glen Skien, each of whom engage in collected object inclusive artistic practice, offer a sample set of this artistic phenomenon upon which to assess the validity of this theoretic model as offering an alternate paradigm to examine collected object inclusive artistic practice.

After the sustainability of heritage buildings (HBs) has been evaluated and it is determined that rehabilitation is needed, then the life-cycle cost (LCC) of energy for HBs can be analyzed. The objective of this research was to evaluate the LCC of energy for HBs and develop a comprehensive life-cycle model that will aid in expenditure planning and budget allocation. This study was validated through the weighted sums method and two case studies—Murabba Palace (MP), Saudi Arabia; and Grey Nuns Building (GN), Canada—were evaluated. For any HB, the project life cycle includes planning, manufacturing, transportation, construction, operation, and maintenance phases. Saudi Arabian and Canadian experts completed questionnaires to attribute a percentage of importance of each of the aforementioned phases with respect to energy consumption. The findings from this study will enable facility managers to make effective rehabilitation decisions. The operation phase has the highest impact on the energy consumption, gas consumption, and cost of the building in both case studies. Moreover, the findings from this study can be used to establish cost-effective intervention strategies. Their responses were employed in the development of a life-cycle model. Excel® and Minitab® were used to calculate Cronbach’s alpha values for data reliability, and the project LCC of energy for the two case studies was studied. The operation phase appeared to be the most energy-consuming phase in both case studies, contributing the most to the cost of the building.

How can we make, unmake, and remake the world by playing through art? This is the thrust of Tim Stott’s inquiry throughout Play and Participation in Contemporary Art Practices. Echoing Luhmann’s ‘O...

"Incarnate: presence and vestige in contemporary art practice is a body of sculptural work presented as a series of human-scale physical vessels intended for installation in the gallery and other settings. In conjunction with a supporting visual and textual document I utilize these vessels to posit and explore a primary parallel between the Christian concept of The Incarnation and an art process traditionally conceived as creative experience made manifest. My central argument is that the soteriological idea of ‘God made flesh’ corresponds to fundamental artistic aspirations whereby abstract concepts and propositions are rendered as tangible material form. In this way the sculptural work seeks to reflect divine aspirations while also prefiguring mortality, death and the potential for transfiguration. Core concepts of presence, absence, body-space, and trace together with their implicit Christian resonances hold the vessels together as a coherent series of research outcomes. Throughout, the ambiguous entity of the tomb or crypt reappears to trouble the viewer with their own precarious relation to corporeality. It is in this context that Incarnation remains a pivotal paradoxical theme of the thesis: how are we to consider embodiment as a ‘containment of form’ yet also as the miraculous marker of a seemingly always-impossible ‘transcendence’? As a PhD by visual research my written text is designed to exegetically extend and articulate important concerns circulating within the visual work produced as the thesis."

This article analyzes the phenomenon of “participatory art” widely used today in different contemporary art-practices around the world. In the last decade of the twentieth century, the collapse of the Soviet bloc led to the loss of the socialism as an alternative model of social development, the establishment of the hegemony of neo-liberalism, and the emergence of the “end of history” concept. Altogether these factors created a demand of a social turn in the art and led to the widespread dissemination of the “socially-engaged art”. This kind of art sought to mend these gaps in existing social connections and provoke social change. This article offers a detailed examination of two approaches to the “socially-engaged art”: the French theorist Nicolas Bourriaud’s concept of “relational aesthetics” and the American researcher Claire Bishop’s notion of “participatory art”. The final part of the article gives a critical second thought to the both of the abovementioned approaches to the “socially-engaged art” in relation to the phenomenon of art-activism, which became widely known around the world at the beginning of the twenty-first century. In conclusion, the post-participatory art is advancing as an alternative model, which better accounts for these most recent artistic practices.

The construction and expression of collective memory is the eternal theme of Anselm Kiefer's contemporary art practice. Kiefer's multiple identities as a World War II veteran, a Catholic, and a Germanic ethnicity have made him instinctively inclined to portray collective memories such as national culture, religion, and war, and the symbolic expression and spatial turn of contemporary art have also had a significant impact on the formal construction and expression of meaning in Kiefer's artistic practice. This paper interprets the multiple directions of collective memory construction in Kiefer's works, including historical reflection, cultural tracing and human insight, and at the same time analyses the overall influence of symbolic embedding, spatial activation and translation mechanism on Anselm Kiefer's collective memory expression, and proposes a basic path for understanding the expression of the forms and connotations of collective memories in Kiefer's works from a methodological point of view: the spatial translation of symbols.

Energy saving and environment protection solution for the submarine pipelines based on deep learning technology

Regardless of potential benefits of design for safety (DFS) concept for lifecycle safety management in construction industry, DFS adoption as an early intervention has been slower than expected. While existing research mainly con­centrates on construction and operation phases, the role of design phase in construction safety management is always ignored. To validate the influence of DFS concept on lifecycle safety performance, this research conducted an incident case analysis (ICA) based on 442 cases collected from lifecycle subway projects, and a subway design-incident classification model (SDICM) was developed to help identify their relationship to DFS concept. Network theory was applied to study the interdependence of 22 subsystems obtained from China’s code for metro design in lifecycle safety performance. Research findings show 236 out of 442 accidents are linked to DFS. Compared with construction phase, operation phase is more susceptible to design work. Station Building (SB), Section Construction (SC), Platform Screen Doors (PSD), Vehicle Systems (VES) and Power Supply Systems (PSS) are identified as having the highest number of accidents. The results of network analysis are consistent with ICA and demonstrate the safety interdependence of subsystems. This research can help improve the cognizance of DFS, and the identified subsystems should be given priority in the design phase.

This synthesis explores the use of higher capacity (HC) public transit buses in trunk, express, long-distance commuter, Bus Rapid Transit, and special (e.g., sports and special events) services in North America. For purposes of this study, HC buses included articulated, double-deck, 45-ft, and other buses that have a significant increase in passenger capacity compared with conventional 40-ft buses. This study examined where and how HC buses were being deployed in regular and flexible public transit services and experiences with these buses. It drew on available technical information from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA), HC bus manufacturers, and the Altoona (PA) Bus Testing Center in comparing HC buses with conventional buses with respect to a wide range of planning, operational, and maintenance issues. This synthesis is intended for an audience of transit agency general managers, their operations, planning, maintenance, and procurement staffs, as well as other transit professionals working with them in the deployment of HC buses. This synthesis contains information derived from survey data collected from selected transit agencies operating distinct HC bus fleets throughout the United States that provided information by e-mail, through telephone interviews, and by assisting in site visits. In addition, this synthesis contains a literature review and, in documenting transit agency surveys, it identifies a number of applications of HC buses. Ad hoc conversations with transit agency staff and experts on specific aspects of the synthesis are also reported, as are more specific findings in three U.S. and Canadian transit agency case studies.

The purpose of this paper is to present an Integrated Life Cycle Bridge Information Modeling that can be used throughout different phases of the bridge life cycle including: design, construction, and operation and maintenance phases. Bridge Information Modeling (BrIM) has become an effective tool in bridge engineering and construction. It has been used in obtaining accurate shop drawings, cost estimation, and visualization. In this paper, BrIM is used as an integrated tool for bridges life cycle information modeling. In the design phase, BrIM model can be used in obtaining optimum construction methods and performing structural advanced analysis. During construction phase, the model selects the appropriate locations for mobile cranes, monitors the status of precast components, and controls documents. Whereas, it acts as a tool for bridge management system in operation and maintenance phase. The paper provides a detailed description for each use of BrIM model in design, construction, and operation and maintenance phases of bridges. It is proven that BrIM is an effective tool for bridge management systems throughout their life phases.

Carbon footprint of drinking water over treatment plant life span (2025–2075) is probably dominated by construction phase

Counter-scripting the body in pain, an artistic interrogation into pain as practice, site and subversive force conceptualises and enacts forms of resistance to the human tendency to negate pain, drawing on methods and sensibilities specific to artistic knowledge and practice. Through a series of text-based artworks, this project offers alternative modes for probing, perceiving, and understanding chronic pain, challenging dominant socio-cultural attitudes that regard pain as something to avoid or resist. The tripartite series: 'May and the Potentiality of Pain' (2014-2015); 'It's Always Three O'clock in the Morning' (2016); and 'Gibraltar, A Walk with Disturbance' (2017) are at the centre of an exploration into the motifs pain as practice, site, and subversive force. The artworks were created in tandem with an ethical strategy for art pursued through an experimental art-writing strategy I have labelled counter-scripting. Elaborating and engineering affect through performance, the art texts of the three artworks challenge dominant individual and cultural tendencies to explain, suppress, and ultimately annihilate pain. Looking at the body in long-term pain, it becomes particularly important to regard physical and mental processes as coextensive, intertwined attributes instead of relying solely on linguistic acts to address and understand out sensory and corporeal experiences. Contemporary arts practice has proven particularly effective in mediating embodied experience and knowledge, through its ability to extend beyond the conventional uses of accepted representational motifs to address inter-embodied life. Considering relations of pain as its material, this study directs attention to the significance of contemporary arts practice for reconceptualising common perceptions of the presumed meaninglessness of chronic pain. A change of perspective of long-term pain must be adopted, the study insists, not only by those who themselves suffer but also by societies within which all embodied beings are immersed and whose reality said beings share.

This study aims to examine how traditional carpet art is transformed and re-signified within contemporary art practices within the framework of Jacques Derrida's theory of deconstruction. While traditional carpets historically functioned as carriers of cultural memory and established aesthetic norms, artists of the digital age generate new ontological discussions by disrupting these forms. In this study, utilizing qualitative research methods, specifically document review and visual analysis techniques, selected works of Faig Ahmed, Jan Kath, Rudolf Stingel, and Şakir Gökçebağ were analyzed through purposive sampling. The data were interpreted based on Panofsky’s iconographic analysis method and Derrida’s concept of différance. The findings indicated that these artists employed strategies of "motif deformation," "material contrasts," and "spatial intervention" to eradicate the functional value of the carpet. It was determined that Faig Ahmed liquefied tradition through digital "glitch" aesthetics, Jan Kath erased memory via industrial interventions, Rudolf Stingel transformed the carpet into a spatial surface, and Şakir Gökçebağ reconstructed the form through a ready-made approach. In conclusion, deconstruction in carpet art does not merely create a formal distortion but produces a pluralistic and critical field of meaning that transcends the binaries of East-West, craft-art, and digital-analog.

: Today, the United States has approximately 148,000 service members deployed or forward stationed in nearly 150 countries to support our nation s strategic political / military objectives. U.S. response to emerging megatrends of the 21st Century along with budgetary constraints suggests significant changes to this status quo. Consequently, U.S. force structure and training strategies must be nested with Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental and Multinational (JIIM) partners to achieve unity of effort throughout all phases of military operations to include efforts to shape and prevent likely irregular conflicts ahead. We must eliminate training gaps and exploit efficiencies gained through the last decade of war through utilization of lessons learned, Joint Doctrine, professional leadership development, and training efforts designed to achieve U.S. national goals and objectives. U.S. military forces must retain the capability to prevent, shape, and win our country s wars, but also must be prepared to execute stability operations through all phases of operations and be capable of transition into a supporting role to other USG agencies or multinational organizations.

This essay examines how minerals can become a source of artistic provocation and reflection within contemporary art practice. The essay begins by setting the philosophical and artistic context for this renewed interest. It then focuses on the work of the Swedish/Irish artist, Niamh Schmidtke during the Earth Water Sky environmental arts and science research and production residency funded by Fondation Primat and carried out at the Technical University (TU) of Berlin as part of the Science Gallery International Network. The author was the curator and producer of the programme, working closely with the artist. Niamh’s work explores the hidden histories of minerals, their different forms of expression and material presence, inspired by the philosophy of vital materialism and the understanding of deep time. Niamh's work is particularly exciting in the way in which they integrate, problematise and reveal tensions and conflicts in depicting mineral-worlds within different forms of scenographic storytelling. The connection between the exhibited minerals (their varied forms, stories and vibrancy) alongside unsettling connections of violence in extraction and exploitation are also revealed. The reference to Germany's colonial past with Namibia also reveals brutal histories and conflicts that have traditionally been overlooked. Overall, the essay concludes that Niamh’s work exhibits a new ‘tentacular’ approach to contemporary practice, where myriads of connections, media, methods, and approaches reflect a more Nature-centred approach in art, than hitherto.