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As a result of Benedict Burbridge's work on photographic practices, he was asked to co-curate the Brighton Photo Biennial 2012, entitled Agents of Change: Photography and the Politics of Space. The Biennial had an impact on viewers' understanding of photography, photographic practices and the contingent meaning of photographic images. It also affected the artistic practice of participants and influenced a number of students to see connections between art and politics. Burbridge's research shaped the Biennial's thirteen exhibitions: he invited its artists and organised the exhibition of work in unusual spaces and modes that highlighted connections between image and context by underlining the influence that setting has on meaning.
Collaboration between the Liverpool Biennial and Liverpool School of Art & Design (LSAD) has stimulated public awareness of Biennial commissioned art and enlarged its presence in the social life of the city in two ways: by extending the opportunities for local communities to participate in public art projects in the region; and by improving the opportunities to talk about and share experiences of Biennial art.
The impact comes from Ekserdjian's authentication and attribution of Renaissance paintings and the curatorship of international exhibitions, both of which have had substantial financial impact on institutions and individuals involved in the art market, in particular the auction house sector, galleries and museums. This also includes cultural impacts on the art-loving public by introducing them to newly-discovered and attributed artworks which might previously have never been exhibited publicly and by offering innovative ways of exhibiting and understanding masterpieces gathered from around the globe.
This case study focuses on three areas in relation to the social impact of art, across the categories of `cultural life' and `public discourse'.
1) Artistic collaborations with non-artistic specialists in order to generate new interdisciplinary pathways
2) Artistic collaborations with non-artists within a given community or non-artistic institutional setting in order to create new forms of artist-audience participation
3) The sharing of knowledge/skills between either non-artistic specialists or a non-specialist audience and artists in the production of a shared task or project.
4) Performance-based practice inside and outside of the gallery
The outward facing nature of this research, then, addresses the way such work tests the prevailing competences, boundaries and identities of artist and audience alike. This means researchers are involved with both artistic and non-artistic funding-bodies and agencies as the basis for work on a range of critical issues affecting the borders between the art institution and non-artistic settings and contexts.
Christopher Taylor and Craig Wood Creative Partnership is a collaborative fine art practice-based research partnership. Their research is underpinned by interactivity and participation which seeks to dissolve the boundaries in creative practice via public exhibitions, educational events and the commercialisation opportunities of practice-based fine art research. This has resulted in a series of innovative wallpaper designs, commercially produced by international wall coverings manufacturer Graham & Brown. These designs have acted as catalysts for wider public engagement with creative practice, knowledge exchange between academia and the creative business sector, and commercialisation initiatives which have contributed to innovation within the international wallpaper business sector and the economic prosperity of an international manufacturing company.
Prior to Stevenson's 2007 biography, the work of the mid-twentieth-century artist Edward Burra was neglected within and beyond the academy. Following the publication of this biography, a major reassessment of his work has taken place. This has generated cultural capital, particularly through exhibitions based on Stevenson's research, including the first exhibition of Burra's work for 25 years, and a BBC4 documentary. The rediscovery of Burra has had a material impact on the price of his paintings, generating business for auction houses which, moreover, depend on Stevenson's research (disseminated through consultation) for attribution purposes and auction catalogue entries.
In 2007, the Dutch Ministry of Education introduced the Cultural Canon of the Netherlands: 50 events, artefacts and people that every citizen should know, including the Dutch modernist movement, De Stijl. The canon was designed to guide school curricula and to create a sense of shared Dutch heritage and responsibility. In response, in 2011 the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag opened a 750m sq De Stijl display, promoted as the permanent Dutch `home' for De Stijl and definitive port of call for scholars and the public. The display's characterisation of De Stijl was heavily indebted to Michael White's De Stijl and Dutch Modernism (2003).
Plenum is an installation conceived by Simeon Nelson in 2010 as a collaborative art-music artwork. It was performed six times between 2010 and 2013 at sound and light festivals in Poland, Estonia and the UK, at the Cambridge Music Festival, and at an Australian contemporary arts venue. Audiences totalling over 240,000 saw the work, with website visitors extending its reach to over 300,000; the Durham Lumiere alone, of which Plenum formed an integral element, created an estimated £4.3 million for the local economy. Festival and arts curators have described Plenum as `thought provoking' and `inspiring'.
Furtherfield has inspired and supported new forms of collaborative practice and expression at the intersection of arts and technology cultures to co-create critical, contemporary public platforms and contexts for arts in networked society.
Furtherfield's innovative programmes have advanced practices and theories of collaboration, remix, and openness; inspiring and informing thinking in the UK Arts sector and international digital arts culture. This work has worldwide cultural and social impact. It reaches and engages new audiences through public gallery programmes, online collections, websites, and other award-winning virtual platforms, acknowledged by artists, curators and critics for their contribution to emerging digital art contexts.
UWE research has influenced UK public policy, informing the Department of Culture Media and Sport's Film Policy Review report recommendations, which shaped the British Film Institute's policy and strategic priorities. Members of the public have engaged with local cinema heritage as a result of the development of the Curzon Memories App, preserving historical memories for the benefit of the community in Clevedon, a process which has also engaged local schools. Through UWE co-creative research for the City Strata project, technology partner Calvium has increased its product portfolio to include scalable location-aware apps, and heritage partner Bristol City Council, has extended the reach of its Know Your Place platform, directly leading to a joint commission from English Heritage worth £20K.