Research Interests
My academic research was grounded primarily in the study of visual art practice approached through a combination of psychological enquiry and information-based analysis. This approach is now more focused on the sonic arts. In general, I am interested in the following subjects and in the links between them:
- Aesthetics: visual and auditory complexity in art and nature; how and why things (natural and artificial) are perceived to be interesting and beautiful; how perceived complexity relates to aesthetic judgements and creative processes. The psychology of aesthetic perception – visual, auditory and temporal. The aesthetics of generative art and computer art
- Complexity and Complex Systems Theory: models of complexity (especially cellular automata); algorithmic information theory; data compression as a measure of aesthetic complexity.
- Music: traditional instrumentation (guitar, bass, piano, pipe organ, church bells); digital synthesis; generative composition and systems/process music; musical analysis and sonic representation.
- Nature: evolutionary processes; natural patterns; acoustic ecology.
- Science: Biology (ecology, evolutionary theory, microbiology);
Professional work is currently in the area of social research, specializing in education, skills and employment. At CFE Research, I’ve worked on projects including:
- Department for Education – Teacher Workload Survey
- Arts Council England / Creative & Cultural Skills – Arts Subjects at Key Stage 4: Review of current GCSE provision
- Higher Education Council for England – Evaluation of the National Scholarship Programme
- University of the Arts London – Fit for purpose: Can the A-level Art & Design be Improved? (article in The Guardian : http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/apr/23/arts-and-design-a-level-fails-to-prepare-students)
- Higher Education Academy / National Union of Students – Behavioural Approaches to Understanding Student Choice.
Aesthetic Complexity 