Thought I should probably capture the direction my phd is now going here on my blog and the abstract is a good way to do it. If you are  interested in reading more, (brave soul! - it is 22,000 words) please use the contact form on this blog to email me and, if appropriate, I shall send you a locked pdf of the transfer document.

Taking control: Graphical tagging & (re)materialisation of the art object is a transfer report for Simone O’Callaghan’s art practice based PhD at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design at the University of Dundee.

In this report, the first year of research is detailed exploring how the original research proposal has changed in response to investigations which contextualise this body of work. Themes relating to this work are examined through the contextual review which focuses on conceptual themes, other artists working in similar areas, technologies this research depends on, and related research projects taking place at other institutions. Graphical tagging, which is the use of 2 dimensional barcodes which enables users, via their camera phones to link by scanning the code, to specific content delivered to their phones, is detailed and discussed in terms of what it actually is, how it works, mass market distribution and in relation to the scope it provides for artists.

Empirical research that has been undertaken over the past year is discussed and analysed in relation to the research design, methodologies, and evaluative processes. Such research has resulted in being invited as part of an exhibition at the Hannah McClure Centre at the University of Abertay, Dundee, (March – May 2008), a presentation at the Signals in the City Colloquim at the University of Abertay, Dundee (May 2008), and a paper for the International Sociological Asscociation Visual Sociology Forum in Barcelona (September 2008).

The revised research proposal highlights how over the past year, the area of research has been narrowed down to a specific point examining the emerging practice of graphical tagging using camera phones in art, where the research in underpinned by debates which took place in the 1960’s regarding dematerialisation of the art object. Two art projects are outlined which allow the researcher to collect a body of evidence exploring the revised research questions. This will be done through investigating the difference between responses people have to an ephemeral experience mediated by digital artworks which have no materiality, in comparison to an actual art object which has a material presence and has been digitally augmented.