Janis Jefferies | University of London (original) (raw)

Books by Janis Jefferies

CHAT 2025 Research Grant: Open Call CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile) is pleased to an... more CHAT 2025 Research Grant: Open Call
CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile) is pleased to announce the open call for applications for the CHAT 2025 Research Grant, which encourages researchers to illustrate fresh perspectives on the textile history of Hong Kong, the Asia Pacific region and beyond.
Applicants are requested to conduct independent research on subjects related to Hong Kong’s textile culture from transregional and/or cross-cultural perspectives that can highlight new narratives. Such examples may include:
 Spinners’ Association: Textile Industrial Families of Hong Kong
 Women and Machines: Depictions of Factory Spaces in Hong Kong Cinema
 Woven Knowledge: Hakka Weavings from Hong Kong and Southern China
 Designed and Made in Hong Kong: Small-Scale Boutique Culture of the 1980s
 Tracing Diaspora: Early Cantonese Opera Costumes from the 1920s
Please note that these are only examples of possible research subjects. Other research topics from applicants’ unique angles are welcomed.
Application Process
Applicants are required to submit a Proposal via email to heritage@mill6chat.org
with the subject title ‘CHAT Research Grant Proposal’. The Proposal should include:
I. a summary of the proposed research topic and scope (minimum 500 words), research objectives, methodology and schedule;
II. a CV (A4, maximum 2 pages);
III. significant papers published in the last 5 years; and
IV. names and contacts of two referees who are familiar with your research
Applicants are expected to view CHAT’s exhibitions, website and past publications to understand our institution and mission before submitting a Proposal. In addition, applicants should be sensitive to the unique geographic, historical and social contexts of Hong Kong and leverage them in the proposed research. The work should be original in scope and have an impact on the field of study.
The copyright belongs to the author of the paper; however, CHAT has priority in publishing the outcome of the research on its online and offline platforms.
The successful applicant (hereinafter referred to as the grantee) will receive a grant of HK$60,000 (Hong Kong Dollars Sixty Thousand) for completing a Research Paper and Presentation to CHAT’s appointed jury by the end of March 2026. The payment of the research grant will be made in two instalments: 70% at the time of award and the remaining 30% at the completion of the Research Paper and Presentation in March 2026.
The grantee will conduct research independently and, at the discretion of CHAT, be granted access to the archival documents, oral history, objects and materials in CHAT’s collection for research purposes. The grantee is expected to be self-sufficient during the course of the research.

access to the archival documents, oral history, objects and materials in CHAT’s collection for research purposes. The grantee is expected to be self-sufficient during the course of the research.
2
CHAT may assist the grantee with connecting with local external parties, such as relevant individuals, organisations and archives. However, CHAT will not be responsible for any translation required for the research.
The grantee may elect and is encouraged to host, with the support of CHAT, public programmes related to their research, including but not limited to talks, workshops, screenings and performances.
Who Should Apply:
Independent scholars, researchers, archivists, writers and postgraduate students with solid experience and research skills and are able to pursue independent study. Applicants with a record of peer-reviewed publications are preferred.
The selection panel comprises scholars, professional researchers and CHAT’s curatorial team. The decision by CHAT will be final. Candidates who have not been selected will be informed accordingly.
For projects by past grantees, please refer to:
 2021 – Dr Johanna von Pezold, University of Amsterdam: Overview | Interview | Blog
 2023 – Lionel Wong, PhD Candidate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University: Overview
Key Deliverables:
The expected deliverable is a formal Research Paper with reference images, captions, footnotes and a bibliography. The grantee should submit an electronic copy and a hard copy of the Research Paper to CHAT’s office. The paper should be written in English, between 8,000 words and 12,000 words (including footnotes and captions) and accompanied by relevant visuals and references. We recommend double-spaced text in Times New Roman 12-point font. Standard Harvard referencing should be used.
Supplementary Deliverables:
Creative endeavours in addition to the Research Paper, including but not limited to visual arts, performances and time-based media, are optional. Such pursuits will only be regarded as supplementary and secondary to the Research Paper. This research grant is not for artistic research or development.
Key Milestones:
1. Submission of Proposal – 31 January 2025, 23:59 HKT (UTC+8)
2. Panel Interview – February 2025
3. Announcement of Grant Results – March 2025
4. Submission of First Draft – 30 November 2025
5. Submission of Research Paper – 15 March 2026
6. Presentation of Research Paper to CHAT’s panel – End of May 2026
For further enquiries, please email

heritage@mill6chat.org

Introduction Much has been made in European Union research programmes, and elsewhere, of the idea... more Introduction
Much has been made in European Union research programmes, and elsewhere, of the ideas of ‘the disappearing computer’, ‘ambient intelligence’, ‘territory as interface’, and indeed ‘pervasive adaptation’. The underlying idea, of course, is that it is no longer the desktop computer or the handheld device that provides the interface to the computing and network infrastructure, the entire environment is the interface. The aim of wearable computing extends this metaphor to clothing as well: all someone’s garments provide interfaces and affordances for explicit, implicit and affective interaction.

However, using garments for computing interfaces is both complicated and enriched by the fact that clothing is also a vehicle for fashion, and as such an offers an opportunity for expressions of personal identity, group identification, culture, and so on. The question then becomes, if the con- vergence of technology and fashion changes culture, and culture is a set of shared norms and values, how is society and culture affected when an individual’s behaviour and mindset are both side-affected by wearable computing, which itself is both interface and outerwear?
In fact, cultural critics know how technology is taken up in and influence broader culture, as well as how cultural background can encourage the development of certain forms of technology and utopian discourse at the expense of others. If we know cultural pressure points, then in the
development of new technology we also have the possibilities to generate new practices and critiques which can help us understand how we engage in a rich set of interactions in the everyday world. This chapter explores this argument from the perspective of wearable computing or wired garments, i.e. clothing saturated with sensors, actuators and displays

Papers by Janis Jefferies

TEXTILE

T his article introduces the TEXTILE special issue on Weaving Codes, Coding Weaves, and the proje... more T his article introduces the TEXTILE special issue on Weaving Codes, Coding Weaves, and the project of the same name, which was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council for 18 months from September 2014. We introduce the collaborators of this interdisciplinary project, spanning textiles, music, arts technology, computer science, mathematics, anthropology, media theory, and philosophy. We tell the multifaceted story of how we met and began to collaborate, following prescient activities in textiles, music performance, live art, and computer programming that have met confluence in our project. This forms an introduction to the articles produced by these collaborators, either as part of the Weaving Codes project, or in parallel with it. We conclude by looking to the future, in particular the five year ERC PENELOPE project now beginning in the Deutsches Museum in Munich.

Commenting on Marois' textile work, Groleau perceives a compatibility between medium and moti... more Commenting on Marois' textile work, Groleau perceives a compatibility between medium and motif, while Thomas-Penette discerns a silent space for the exorcism of fear (these two texts in French only). Jefferies analyses the artist's use of open narrative structures and his exploration of photography, tapestry, and drawing. Biographical notes. 89 bibl. ref

the 5th conference, 2005

When we started planning the first Creativity & Cognition conference around thirteen years ag... more When we started planning the first Creativity & Cognition conference around thirteen years ago, we never imagined that the series would still be running in 2005. A single meeting that brought together artists, designers, cognitive scientists, computer scientists for a dialogue about creativity seemed daring enough to do once only, but it turned out that each time we held the meeting those who took part wanted more. Well, here it is: more Creativity & Cognition.Geographically, the Conference has slipped south a little, from Loughborough University in the English Midlands, to Goldsmiths College in London. Goldsmiths provides a very appropriate location for the 2005 conference. The Ben Pimlott, a new building designed by Will Alsop, houses the Centre for Cognition, Computation and Culture and the Goldsmiths Digital Studios under the guidance of Janis Jefferies and Robert Zimmer who are Conference Co-Programme Chair and Local Chair respectively. The new Centre is an innovative multi-disciplinary collaboration between several departments and draws together work in the Cognitive Neuroscience unit and the Goldsmiths Digital Studios, as well as related research areas elsewhere in the College.There are other changes too. The Programme is now organized into three streams, each with a co-chair. One stream represents the central, scientific and technology oriented work on creativity that we have always encouraged. A second expands our direct coverage of creative art practice, and includes an enhanced exhibition component. The third stream addresses history in this area and, although we have had papers, and invited presentations, on history before, this year it plays a welcome enlarged part of the proceedings. It is appropriate that the Programme team have space in this introduction to comment on the contributions that they have put so much into shaping and selecting.

Quadriscan, Sep 1, 2019

(initial testing) Jozseph Lincz (mechanical training) and Tobias Lembach (software training).

Research Grants SSHRC The Re-Enchantment of Cloth – held by Professor Barbara Layne UK collaborat... more Research Grants SSHRC The Re-Enchantment of Cloth – held by Professor Barbara Layne UK collaborator, providing the arts and humanities scholarship for creative outputs, in addition to technical advice

The emergence of new, social and creative media practices has added to a disciplinary mash up, dr... more The emergence of new, social and creative media practices has added to a disciplinary mash up, drawing participants from, amongst others, computer science, engineering, visual arts, science studies, literature, philosophy, film and media studies. The question of emergent practices is taken up in the work of Andrew Pickering. In The Mangle of Practice: Time, Agency and Science (1995), he writes about temporally emergent forms in experimental science laboratories. He makes a strong case for a re-conceptualization of research practice as a 'mangle,' an open-ended, evolutionary, and performative interplay of human and non-human agency. While Pickering's ideas originated in science and technology studies, the concept of 'mangle' captures what he describes as an entanglement between the human and the material.

The paper draws together 20 years of reflective, interdisciplinary practice, focusing on the rese... more The paper draws together 20 years of reflective, interdisciplinary practice, focusing on the research project, The Enchantment of Cloth (2014-2017), the archives and objects and the teams they work with.

With contributions from Odile Contamin, Janis Jefferies (Introduction), Keiko Kawashima, Marta Ko... more With contributions from Odile Contamin, Janis Jefferies (Introduction), Keiko Kawashima, Marta Kowalewska, Jenelle Porter and Eric Rochat. 2 editions (in French and in English), 224 pages, 200 ill.

In recent years, the study of textiles and culture has become a dynamic field of scholarship, ref... more In recent years, the study of textiles and culture has become a dynamic field of scholarship, reflecting new global, material and technological possibilities. This is the first handbook of specifically commissioned essays to provide a guide to the major strands of critical work around textiles past and present to draw upon the work of artists and designers as well as researchers in textile studies.

Wellcome Open Research, 2021

Background: Few “interventions” around suicide and stigma have reached into psychiatric instituti... more Background: Few “interventions” around suicide and stigma have reached into psychiatric institutions. Lived Lives is a science-arts approach to addressing suicide and stigma, informed by a psychobiographical and visual arts autopsy. The resulting artworks and mediated exhibition (Lived Lives), with artist, scientist and the Lived Lives families, co-curated by communities, has facilitated dialogue, response and public action around stigma-reduction, consistent with a community intervention. Recent evidence from Lived Lives moved us to consider how it may situate within a psychiatric institution, where stigma is chronically apparent. Methods: Lived Lives manifested in St. Patrick’s University Hospital (Ireland’s oldest and largest psychiatric hospital) in November 2017. The mediated exhibition was open to the public for 4 days. Audiences included service users, policy makers, health professionals, senior hospital administrators and members of the public. Opinions and feelings were co...

TEXTILE, 2018

A report written in 1976 for the British Council post awards for studying with Magdalena Abakanow... more A report written in 1976 for the British Council post awards for studying with Magdalena Abakanowicz at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan and a 3 month tour of other art schools and workshops in Poland. As an historical account and personal reflection, the report notes the pedagogical differences and practices between Warsaw,

Whose Book is it Anyway?, 2019

In her research, she explores the future of scholarly communication and experimental forms of kno... more In her research, she explores the future of scholarly communication and experimental forms of knowledge production, where her work incorporates processual and performative publishing, radical open access, scholarly poethics, media studies, book history, cultural studies, and critical theory. She explores these issues in depth in her various publications, but also by supporting a variety of scholar-led, not-for-profit publishing projects, including the Radical Open Access Collective, Open Humanities Press, and Post Office Press (POP). Alison Baverstock is a publisher and pioneer of publishing education and profession-orientated education within universities. She co-founded MA Publishing at Kingston University in 2006 and has researched and written widely about publishing. How to Market Books, first published in 1990 and now in its seventh edition, has been widely licensed for translation and is an international bedrock of publisher education, within both the academy and the profession. She is a champion of the widening of literacy and the value of shared-reading: Well Worth Reading won an arts and industry award and since then she has founded both www.readingforce.org.uk and The Kingston University Big Read, which won the 2017 Times Higher Award for Widening Participation. In 2007 she received the Pandora Award for a significant contribution to the industry. Michael Bhaskar is a writer and publisher based in London and Oxford. He is co-founder of Canelo, a new digital publisher, and Writer in x Whose Book is it Anyway? Residence at DeepMind, the world's leading AI research lab. Previously he has been a digital publisher, economist, agent and start-up founder amongst other things. He is author of The Content Machine (2013) and Curation: The Power of Selection in a World of Excess (2016) and is co-editor of the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Publishing (2019). He regularly speaks and writes about the future of publishing, media, culture and society. J. R. Carpenter is an artist, writer, researcher, and lecturer working across print, digital, and live performance. Her pioneering works of digital literature have been presented in journals, museums, galleries, and festivals around the world. Her recent web-based work The Gathering Cloud won the New Media Writing Prize 2016. A print book by the same name was published in 2017. Her debut poetry collection An Ocean of Static (Penned in the Margins) was highly commended for the Forward Prize 2018. John Cayley is a writer, theorist, and pioneering maker of language art in programmable media. Apart from more or less conventional poetry and translation, he has explored dynamic and ambient poetics, text generation, transliteral morphing, aestheticized vectors of reading, and transactive synthetic language. Today, he composes as much for reading in aurality as in visuality.

Wellcome open research, Jan 13, 2017

Background: Suicide is a significant public health concern, which impacts on health outcomes. Few... more Background: Suicide is a significant public health concern, which impacts on health outcomes. Few suicide research studies have been interdisciplinary. We combined a psychobiographical autopsy with a visual arts autopsy, in which families donated stories, images and objects associated with the lived life of a loved one lost to suicide. From this interdisciplinary research platform, a mediated exhibition was created (Lived Lives) with artist, scientist and families, co-curated by communities, facilitating dialogue, response and public action around suicide prevention. Indigenous ethnic minorities (IEMs) bear a significant increased risk for suicide. Irish Travellers are an IEM with social and cultural parallels with IEMs internationally, experiencing racism, discrimination, and poor health outcomes including elevated suicide rates (SMR 6.6). Methods: An adjusted Lived Lives exhibition, Lived Lives: A Pavee Perspective manifested in Pavee Point, the national Traveller and Roma Centre....

It was one of 9 international projects supported within the HERA1 'Creativity' theme. Twenty mont... more It was one of 9 international projects supported within the HERA1 'Creativity' theme. Twenty months on from the official project end, this report assesses the post-project impact of CinBA. It revisits project academic and non-academic partners and collaborators to report on impact in terms of the project's effectiveness, international scope, persistence and leverage. Knowledge exchange was embedded in CinBA research from the start. Through a reflection on the 'CinBA experience', this report provides robust evidence for the value of humanities research and offers insights into how the best elements of the CinBA model of knowledge exchange (KE) may be developed and replicated elsewhere. Background to CinBA Led by Dr Joanna Sofaer at the University of Southampton, CinBA brought together academic partners from the Universities of Southampton, Cambridge and Trondheim, the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, National Museum of Denmark, the Natural History Museum of Vienna, and non-academic partners Lejre Archaeological Park (Sagnlandet) and the Crafts Council. Whereas studies of creativity frequently focus on the modern era, creativity has always been part of human history. An understanding of creative inspiration thus requires that present-day studies are complemented by others investigating the past. CinBA used the unique time-depth offered by archaeology to investigate creativity in prehistory over the long dureé at local, regional and transnational levels. Focussing on Middle and Late Bronze Age Europe (1800-800/500BC), it offered important insights into the fundamental nature of creativity by exploring a part of European history not influenced by contemporary concepts of art, looking at developments in crafts that we take for granted today: metalwork, textiles and pottery. Bronze and woollen textiles were new in the Bronze Age, while people began to work with the established material of ceramic in new ways. During the Middle and Late Bronze Age there were only modest technological changes. Changes in material culture are therefore due to development of technical skill and new ways of designing objects, exploiting the potentials of materials-in particular their surfaces and different plasticities. It is these developments-the articulation and dynamics of this creativity and innovation-that CinBA investigated and explored. In other words, CinBA has been interested in looking at what people did once the new technologies of bronze and textiles had been invented, and how they worked with ceramics in new ways, in terms of innovations such as the development of colour, patterns, texture, shapes and motifs. CinBA has focussed on objects as a means to understand local and transnational creative activities, exploring the creativity that underpinned Bronze Age objects over time and space. It tracked developments in decorative motifs and the techniques and skill used for these over more than a millennium within regions forming a northsouth axis across Europe: Scandinavia, Central Europe and the Adriatic. CinBA also worked closely with nonacademic partners, The Crafts Council in the UK and Sagnlandet Lejre in Denmark, to explore links between ancient and modern creativity through engagements with Bronze Age objects by modern contemporary craft makers /artists and the public. In particular, CinBA investigated the potential impact these objects may have as a source of inspiration and means of creative engagement by tracing the ways that contemporary creativity can be stimulated through an engagement with the Bronze Age that puts the object at the centre. Report Methodology Data was collected from CinBA academic and non-academic partners, Maker Engagement Project participants (SME's and sole traders), Live Project early career makers and their tutors, organisations using CinBA research, key figures in crafts education policy, websites, social media and exhibition venues displaying work arising from CinBA. A series of targeted electronic questionnaires were sent to academic partners, Maker Engagement participants, and Live Project early career participants and crafts tutors (Appendix). For the first of these 'For me, CinBA has served as an ideal kick to find new paths for my Bronze Age studies… And it has given a tremendous spin off, which will result in a number of publications in the years to come. Here I can just mention the analyses of the glass beads from the Danish Bronze Age, 1400-1100 BC. They are from Egypt and Mesopotamia.' Flemming Kaul Facilitating Opportunity Outside CinBA New networks developed during CinBA have not only impacted upon researchers directly involved in the project. In some cases, they have led to further unexpected opportunities for research impact that draws on CinBA expertise to facilitate opportunities for researchers elsewhere. The case study below illustrates relationships that have been established by CinBA Project Leader, Dr Joanna Sofaer beyond the structure of the project.

This collection of essays (written primarily by artists) questions the specificity of contemporar... more This collection of essays (written primarily by artists) questions the specificity of contemporary textile art. The phenomenon is notably examined in its sociohistorical and semiotic connections to writing, sexuality, language, lived experience, and the female condition. Includes summaries of untranslated texts. 52 bibl. ref.