Chris Short

PhD
e: cshort@cardiffmet.ac.uk
t: 02920 416966
w: www.chris-short.net

Specialist Subject Areas

Photographic practice and theory; German Expressionist art; Wassily Kandinsky

Qualifications

Ph.D., Art History and Theory, University of Essex
M.A. (Distinction), University of Essex
B.Ed. (2i), University of Exeter

Biography

I was born in Cardiff, educated initially in Bath, and attended universities in Exeter and Essex. After teaching for a short time at Falmouth School of Art, I came to teach at Cardiff School of Art and Design in 1993. Throughout my academic career, I have managed to combine the practice of art, the study of art’s history and theory, and a compulsion to spend whatever time I can in or on the sea. I’m currently working on a project that brings all three together, and that will include the creation of an artist’s book entitled Surf, Art and Philosophy.

Current research

There are two strands to my current research. One is photographic, the other art historical.

The photographic research relates primarily to land and seascape, and is developing as a book entitled Surf, Art and Philosophy, as well as a body of work for exhibition.

The art historical research includes organising a major conference at Tate Modern in 2011 that addresses the histories and legacies of The Blue Rider; preparation of a performance of Kandinsky’s Yellow Sound at Tate Modern in November 2011; and I am also currently preparing papers on Wassily Kandinsky for publication in 2011 – 2012.

Principal Publications and/or Exhibitions

Click here to view Dr Short’s papers and publications on Cardiff Metropolitan University’s DSpace repository.

Art

September 9th – October 8th, 2010: ‘W.A.V.E. 2010: Borders and Edges’, joint exhibition at Wimbledon Space, Wimbledon College of Art, London.

June 2006: “Coney to Easkey”; surf-art collaboration. Funded by the Arts Council of England and UWIC. Documented and photographed in Sense in Place catalogue, funded by the EU culture 2000 programme.

2000: Collaborative project between Cardiff and Temple Bar Gallery and Studios. Final outcome exhibited in “Anois”, Temple Bar Gallery and Studios. Catalogue: Anois, published with assistance of Arts Council and Habitat and Sony Island. ISBN-0-9519146 9 3.

November 9th – 13th 1999: Video installation / Performance: “Writing Art and Institutions” at the Tate Gallery, St Ives.

March 16th – 20th, 1998: Video installation / Performance: “Practising Theory”, Chapter Art Centre, Cardiff. Reviewed by Cazeaux, C., in Live Art Magazine, Issue 21, 26 May – 2 August, 1998, 15-16

Art History

The Art Theory of Wassily Kandinsky, 1909 – 1928: The Quest for Synthesis, Peter Lang Publishing Group, 2010.

“Kandinsky: recent exhibitions and publications”, in The Burlington Magazine, July 2009, Number 1276, Volume CLI, pp 472 – 475.

“Sense in Place: The Shoreline as Battleground”, in Clarkson and O’Reilly (eds.), Sense in Place. Site-ations International, Europe 2005/06, Cardiff, 2007. ISBN: 978-1-905617-53-1

“Between text and image in Kandinsky’s oeuvre: a consideration of  Klänge in relation to the synthesis of the arts,” in Tate Papers, November, 2006.

“The Place of St Ives in the Photography of Andy Hughes,” in Dominant Wave Theory, Booth Clibborn Editions, 2006, ISBN 1-86154-284-4.

Schiele, Phaidon Press, London, 1997.

“An examination of the relations of the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche to the theme of the apocalypse  in Wassily Kandinsky’s texts and images” , in Image into Text, Text into Image, Editions Rodopi, 1997.

Awards

2008: British Academy Small Research Grants (£1700)

2008: Fellowship of the Société Kandinsky (7500 Euros)

2007: UWIC Extended Research Leave scheme.

1989 – 1992: British Academy Major State Studentship.

Modules Taught

ADF 107: Towards a New Revolutionary Art

ADF 101 Introduction to Studio Practice

ADF 108 Towards Studio Practice

ADF 106 Independent Studies/Professional Practice

ADF 212 Dissertation Proposal

ADF 213 Approaches to Studio Practice 1

ADF 214 Approaches to Studio Practice 2

ADF 209 Independent Study (Research & Development)

ADF 210 Independent Study (Research & Development)

ADF 309 Dissertation

Supervision of Doctoral Research (titles or broad areas of investigation)

Current supervision:

The Ways Surface Marks And Tone May Manipulate Perception Of Three-Dimensional Ceramic Artworks

The creation of illusory depth and movement on the surface of ceramic artworks

How And To What Extent Can The Physical And Mental Demands Of Bouldering Be Represented?

The relationship between Welsh culture and film.

Completion:

The ways in which arrangements of colour interact and spatially manipulate perception of three-dimensional ceramic forms.