title: Co-WARe

authors: Soo, Chin-En Keith

abstract: Throughout history, humans have been creating receptacles in their daily activities to hold, keep, and preserve the rewards and objects they treasure. Applying the same notion, Co-WARe makes unique receptacles from covid data to express the information in an artistic form.

Co-WARe is an objectified presentation of all COVID-19 cases, deaths, geographically located data in each country, and the time of the data was generated. These data series project the different changes brought to each country since the beginning of COVID-19. It also provides more intuitive insight into the epidemic in all countries worldwide.

text: Co-WARe Throughout history, humans have been creating receptacles in their daily activities to hold, keep, and preserve the rewards and objects they treasure. Applying the same notion, Co-WARe makes unique receptacles from covid data to express the information in an artistic form.

Co-WARe is an objectified presentation of all COVID-19 cases, deaths, geographically located data in each country, and the time of the data was generated. These data series project the different changes brought to each country since the beginning of COVID-19. It also provides more intuitive insight into the epidemic in all countries worldwide.

year: 2022

title: Some observations on the population dynamics of the Australian soldier fly Inopus Rubriceps Macquart (Diptera: Stratiomyidae)

authors: Wilcocks, Colin Richard

abstract: Inopus rubriceps (Macquart) is an indigenous Australian stratiomyid, whose subterranean larval stage has been recorded as a pest of sugar cane and pastures in Queensland for some time (Saunders 1963 and Hitchcock 1970).
I. rubriceps has been known in New Zealand since the early 1940’s (Muggeridge 1944), but it was not until the late 1960’s that the N.Z. Department of Agriculture, under considerable pressure from the farming community, finally decided to initiate research work on this insect. The present writer was employed by the Department to commence work on the development of a pest management programme to be used in a pasture agro-ecosystem.
At that time, there was an almost complete lack of knowledge about any aspect of the insect’s biology and ecology under N.Z. pasture conditions. The above, together with the failure to find a suitable chemical control from several insecticidal screening trials (Hewitt 1964) precluded, at least initially, any worthwhile work on direct control methods. Clark et al (1967) have argued that in those cases where no prior hypotheses can be made about an insect, the development of life tables provides much of the background biological and ecological information needed to put the development of control measures on a rational basis.
Thus, the main aim of this work was to test the feasibility of developing life tables for the Australian soldier fly, under pasture conditions.

text: Some observations on the population dynamics of the Australian soldier fly Inopus Rubriceps Macquart (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) Inopus rubriceps (Macquart) is an indigenous Australian stratiomyid, whose subterranean larval stage has been recorded as a pest of sugar cane and pastures in Queensland for some time (Saunders 1963 and Hitchcock 1970).
I. rubriceps has been known in New Zealand since the early 1940’s (Muggeridge 1944), but it was not until the late 1960’s that the N.Z. Department of Agriculture, under considerable pressure from the farming community, finally decided to initiate research work on this insect. The present writer was employed by the Department to commence work on the development of a pest management programme to be used in a pasture agro-ecosystem.
At that time, there was an almost complete lack of knowledge about any aspect of the insect’s biology and ecology under N.Z. pasture conditions. The above, together with the failure to find a suitable chemical control from several insecticidal screening trials (Hewitt 1964) precluded, at least initially, any worthwhile work on direct control methods. Clark et al (1967) have argued that in those cases where no prior hypotheses can be made about an insect, the development of life tables provides much of the background biological and ecological information needed to put the development of control measures on a rational basis.
Thus, the main aim of this work was to test the feasibility of developing life tables for the Australian soldier fly, under pasture conditions.

year: 1973

title: Site-specific performance rituals in the Anthropocene

authors: Claus, Johanna

abstract: In this creative practice PhD, I investigated site-specific performance rituals in the Anthropocene. Driven by the urge to respond to the challenges of the current time, I examined how different seasonal rituals might be expressed in specific sites in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Furthermore, including participants from diverse cultural backgrounds, and carrying an awareness of the complexities of colonialism, I analysed insights from key ritual experts to enhance my understanding of ritual practices within the specific socio-cultural and environmental context of Aotearoa. Inspired by critical posthumanist philosophies, I viewed ritual practices through a lens that considered the interconnectedness of technology, culture, and nature, moving beyond essentialist and dualistic tendencies. Inspired by (Haraway, 2007) and Braidotti (2019), I embraced a perspective of ‘staying with the trouble’ and ‘radical hope’ as a strategy to inspire commitments to safeguarding life on Earth amid increasing societal divisions, and environmental disasters.
Working at the intersection of various disciplines, I crafted a qualitative research design that embraced multiple ways of knowing through creative practice research. I gathered insights from four ritual experts grounded in mātauranga Māori or neo-Paganism through in-depth interviews, to comprehend multifaceted and culturally sensitive approaches to ritual practices in Aotearoa. Moreover, the creative investigation of four seasonal performance rituals served as the primary mode of inquiry (Niedderer & Roworth-Stokes, 2007; Skains, 2018). The methods used for these rituals included contemporary performance practices, eco-somatic movement, improvisation, site-specific dance, audience participation, and others.
The rich knowledge gained throughout these investigations is conveyed through the documentation of four seasonal rituals, presented in video works alongside this thesis. The findings are articulated in two empirical chapters, one focusing on the findings and analysis of the expert interviews and the other on the findings and analysis of four performance rituals, revealing nuanced and complex insights into the creation of site-specific performance rituals in the Anthropocene. Navigating site-specific performance practices as an immigrant necessitated continuous critical self-reflection on biases and assumptions, leading to intricate explorations of embodiment, identity, culture, nature, and the more-than-human world within a posthuman context. Operating in the liminal space of this tension alongside performer participants, ritual experts, and audience members yielded the articulation of my findings: a ritual score capable of accommodating the complexities of the Anthropocene.

text: Site-specific performance rituals in the Anthropocene In this creative practice PhD, I investigated site-specific performance rituals in the Anthropocene. Driven by the urge to respond to the challenges of the current time, I examined how different seasonal rituals might be expressed in specific sites in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Furthermore, including participants from diverse cultural backgrounds, and carrying an awareness of the complexities of colonialism, I analysed insights from key ritual experts to enhance my understanding of ritual practices within the specific socio-cultural and environmental context of Aotearoa. Inspired by critical posthumanist philosophies, I viewed ritual practices through a lens that considered the interconnectedness of technology, culture, and nature, moving beyond essentialist and dualistic tendencies. Inspired by (Haraway, 2007) and Braidotti (2019), I embraced a perspective of ‘staying with the trouble’ and ‘radical hope’ as a strategy to inspire commitments to safeguarding life on Earth amid increasing societal divisions, and environmental disasters.
Working at the intersection of various disciplines, I crafted a qualitative research design that embraced multiple ways of knowing through creative practice research. I gathered insights from four ritual experts grounded in mātauranga Māori or neo-Paganism through in-depth interviews, to comprehend multifaceted and culturally sensitive approaches to ritual practices in Aotearoa. Moreover, the creative investigation of four seasonal performance rituals served as the primary mode of inquiry (Niedderer & Roworth-Stokes, 2007; Skains, 2018). The methods used for these rituals included contemporary performance practices, eco-somatic movement, improvisation, site-specific dance, audience participation, and others.
The rich knowledge gained throughout these investigations is conveyed through the documentation of four seasonal rituals, presented in video works alongside this thesis. The findings are articulated in two empirical chapters, one focusing on the findings and analysis of the expert interviews and the other on the findings and analysis of four performance rituals, revealing nuanced and complex insights into the creation of site-specific performance rituals in the Anthropocene. Navigating site-specific performance practices as an immigrant necessitated continuous critical self-reflection on biases and assumptions, leading to intricate explorations of embodiment, identity, culture, nature, and the more-than-human world within a posthuman context. Operating in the liminal space of this tension alongside performer participants, ritual experts, and audience members yielded the articulation of my findings: a ritual score capable of accommodating the complexities of the Anthropocene.

year: 2024-05-27