Activating Values in Urban Transitions: A novel approach to urban innovation in Romania , 2021
The study presented in the accompanying publication illustrates a
novel approach to urban innova... more The study presented in the accompanying publication illustrates a
novel approach to urban innovation that we call a Values-Based
Urban Living Laboratory (VBULL). It demonstrates the importance
of imagination, memory, and active power-sharing in achieving
sustainable, community-supported innovation, аnd it provides ample
evidence for the centrality of artists and artistic processes in the
work. In realizing a VBULL, artists are catalysts for imagination;
they add layers of critical remembering, and they communicate
possible pathways for sharing power.
The role that art plays in urban innovation is not just
representational. Far more than pretty pictures, the artists engaged
in this effort created the aesthetic and affective platform for
meaningful participation. They did this by creating a space for
collective imagination, or what is called civic imagination.¹ This active
imagination, shared with a community of people, serves to bind
different stakeholder groups and communities together with
common purpose.
Artistic practices of all sorts are emerging in urban innovation
settings. Urban comics and graphic narratives are growing in
popularity as well as recognition in a range of interdisciplinary
formations. A series of recent studies use it as a referential tool to
understand the representation of cities and the shaping of urban
spatialities,² as well as the reimagining and rethinking of cities'
materialities,³ in new territories or geographies.⁴
¹Henry Jenkins, Gabriel Peters-Lazaro, and Sangita Shresthova, Popular Culture
and the Civic Imagination: Case Studies of Creative Social Change (New York
University Press, 2019).
²Dominic Davies, Urban comics: Infrastructure and the global city in contemporary
graphic narratives (Routlege, 2019).
³Benjamin Franse, Visible cities, global comics: Urban images and spatial form
(University Press of Mississippi, 2019).
⁴Giada Peterle, Comics as a Research Practice: Drawing Narrative Geographies
Beyond the Frame (Routlege, 2021).
The present paper proposes an investigation of the use of comics and sequential art as a qualitat... more The present paper proposes an investigation of the use of comics and sequential art as a qualitative research method and a tool in a social innovation approach. It presents an exploratory research on the artistic practice of the ArtiViStory Collective, as a group of artists and faculty members from the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca (UAD) working in the field of urban comics that have developed a specific methodology for using comics in research processes by creating specific artworks as part of the data collection process, of the data analysis process and by using curatorial approaches for results' dissemination to different audiences. Starting by inquiring the use of documentary comics and sequential storytelling as an emerging qualitative research method, the article presents the specificity of this case study that renders a new
Journal of Media Research Vol. 15, Issue 3 (44) , 2022
The present paper proposes an investigation of the use of comics and sequential art as a qualitat... more The present paper proposes an investigation of the use of comics and sequential art as a qualitative research method and a tool in a social innovation approach. It presents an exploratory research on the artistic practice of the ArtiViStory Collective, as a group of artists and faculty members from the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca (UAD) working in the field of urban comics that have developed a specific methodology for using comics in research processes by creating specific artworks as part of the data collection process, of the data analysis process and by using curatorial approaches for results dissemination to different audiences. Starting by inquiring the use of documentary comics and sequential storytelling as an emerging qualitative research method, the article presents the specificity of this case study that renders a new approach in Romania on an urban comics-based research process by focusing on the evolution of the group as a community of practice as well as on the analysis of the specificity of their methodology and working process that act as catalyzers for engaging audiences in urban transitions.
Logos Universality Mentality Education Novelty Philosophy and Humanistic Sciences, Jun 30, 2016
The Graphic Novel obtained its cultural legitimization after a period of more than two Centuries ... more The Graphic Novel obtained its cultural legitimization after a period of more than two Centuries when the Comic Strip had been unfairly considered as entertainment culture, vulgar and childish type of reading, or an environment for the propagation of illiteracy, violence and vices, with demoralizing and anti-educative effects. All these are implied within the meaning of the very term that made the Comic Strip famous: comics. Starting with the second half of the Twentieth Century many artists have written graphic novels where they have argued with complex socio-political problems, such as war and peace, democracy and totalitarianism, the concern for the environment, racism and intolerance, unemployment, the role of the individual in the society, depicting protests and social movements. In this article we render how the Graphic Novel, as a medium for the representation of the contemporary society, has contributed to the classification of the Comic Strip as the 9th Art. We shall analyse genres and topics addressed by artists, aiming at increasing the quality of discourse and narrative image in parallel with the cultural awareness of the public. We will also follow the process for the cultural legitimization of the Comic Strip from a criticised and censored reading to a respected one, with intellectual value, resulting in the inclusion of Comics in art galleries, museums and festivals mainly intended for adult audience.
Comic strip as an art form has always been intrinsically linked to society and politics as a medi... more Comic strip as an art form has always been intrinsically linked to society and politics as a medium through which artists were involved in the social confrontations of their age. The invention of printing has contributed to the freedom of expression by the multiplication and mass dissemination of narrative images with subversive content. Critical messages supported by strong visual statements have become available and popular. The illustrations supporting the Reform in the Middle Ages, the first narrative scenes of the French journals of the nineteenth century and the satirical publications of the early twentieth century Russia * Alice Iliescu este lect. univ. dr. în cadrul Departamentului de Grafică al Universității de Artă și Design din Cluj-Napoca. Alice Iliescu, PhD, is a senior lecturer within the Graphic Arts Department of the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca. Contact: [email protected]
Activating Values in Urban Transitions: A novel approach to urban innovation in Romania , 2021
The study presented in the accompanying publication illustrates a
novel approach to urban innova... more The study presented in the accompanying publication illustrates a
novel approach to urban innovation that we call a Values-Based
Urban Living Laboratory (VBULL). It demonstrates the importance
of imagination, memory, and active power-sharing in achieving
sustainable, community-supported innovation, аnd it provides ample
evidence for the centrality of artists and artistic processes in the
work. In realizing a VBULL, artists are catalysts for imagination;
they add layers of critical remembering, and they communicate
possible pathways for sharing power.
The role that art plays in urban innovation is not just
representational. Far more than pretty pictures, the artists engaged
in this effort created the aesthetic and affective platform for
meaningful participation. They did this by creating a space for
collective imagination, or what is called civic imagination.¹ This active
imagination, shared with a community of people, serves to bind
different stakeholder groups and communities together with
common purpose.
Artistic practices of all sorts are emerging in urban innovation
settings. Urban comics and graphic narratives are growing in
popularity as well as recognition in a range of interdisciplinary
formations. A series of recent studies use it as a referential tool to
understand the representation of cities and the shaping of urban
spatialities,² as well as the reimagining and rethinking of cities'
materialities,³ in new territories or geographies.⁴
¹Henry Jenkins, Gabriel Peters-Lazaro, and Sangita Shresthova, Popular Culture
and the Civic Imagination: Case Studies of Creative Social Change (New York
University Press, 2019).
²Dominic Davies, Urban comics: Infrastructure and the global city in contemporary
graphic narratives (Routlege, 2019).
³Benjamin Franse, Visible cities, global comics: Urban images and spatial form
(University Press of Mississippi, 2019).
⁴Giada Peterle, Comics as a Research Practice: Drawing Narrative Geographies
Beyond the Frame (Routlege, 2021).
The present paper proposes an investigation of the use of comics and sequential art as a qualitat... more The present paper proposes an investigation of the use of comics and sequential art as a qualitative research method and a tool in a social innovation approach. It presents an exploratory research on the artistic practice of the ArtiViStory Collective, as a group of artists and faculty members from the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca (UAD) working in the field of urban comics that have developed a specific methodology for using comics in research processes by creating specific artworks as part of the data collection process, of the data analysis process and by using curatorial approaches for results' dissemination to different audiences. Starting by inquiring the use of documentary comics and sequential storytelling as an emerging qualitative research method, the article presents the specificity of this case study that renders a new
Journal of Media Research Vol. 15, Issue 3 (44) , 2022
The present paper proposes an investigation of the use of comics and sequential art as a qualitat... more The present paper proposes an investigation of the use of comics and sequential art as a qualitative research method and a tool in a social innovation approach. It presents an exploratory research on the artistic practice of the ArtiViStory Collective, as a group of artists and faculty members from the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca (UAD) working in the field of urban comics that have developed a specific methodology for using comics in research processes by creating specific artworks as part of the data collection process, of the data analysis process and by using curatorial approaches for results dissemination to different audiences. Starting by inquiring the use of documentary comics and sequential storytelling as an emerging qualitative research method, the article presents the specificity of this case study that renders a new approach in Romania on an urban comics-based research process by focusing on the evolution of the group as a community of practice as well as on the analysis of the specificity of their methodology and working process that act as catalyzers for engaging audiences in urban transitions.
Logos Universality Mentality Education Novelty Philosophy and Humanistic Sciences, Jun 30, 2016
The Graphic Novel obtained its cultural legitimization after a period of more than two Centuries ... more The Graphic Novel obtained its cultural legitimization after a period of more than two Centuries when the Comic Strip had been unfairly considered as entertainment culture, vulgar and childish type of reading, or an environment for the propagation of illiteracy, violence and vices, with demoralizing and anti-educative effects. All these are implied within the meaning of the very term that made the Comic Strip famous: comics. Starting with the second half of the Twentieth Century many artists have written graphic novels where they have argued with complex socio-political problems, such as war and peace, democracy and totalitarianism, the concern for the environment, racism and intolerance, unemployment, the role of the individual in the society, depicting protests and social movements. In this article we render how the Graphic Novel, as a medium for the representation of the contemporary society, has contributed to the classification of the Comic Strip as the 9th Art. We shall analyse genres and topics addressed by artists, aiming at increasing the quality of discourse and narrative image in parallel with the cultural awareness of the public. We will also follow the process for the cultural legitimization of the Comic Strip from a criticised and censored reading to a respected one, with intellectual value, resulting in the inclusion of Comics in art galleries, museums and festivals mainly intended for adult audience.
Comic strip as an art form has always been intrinsically linked to society and politics as a medi... more Comic strip as an art form has always been intrinsically linked to society and politics as a medium through which artists were involved in the social confrontations of their age. The invention of printing has contributed to the freedom of expression by the multiplication and mass dissemination of narrative images with subversive content. Critical messages supported by strong visual statements have become available and popular. The illustrations supporting the Reform in the Middle Ages, the first narrative scenes of the French journals of the nineteenth century and the satirical publications of the early twentieth century Russia * Alice Iliescu este lect. univ. dr. în cadrul Departamentului de Grafică al Universității de Artă și Design din Cluj-Napoca. Alice Iliescu, PhD, is a senior lecturer within the Graphic Arts Department of the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca. Contact: [email protected]
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novel approach to urban innovation that we call a Values-Based
Urban Living Laboratory (VBULL). It demonstrates the importance
of imagination, memory, and active power-sharing in achieving
sustainable, community-supported innovation, аnd it provides ample
evidence for the centrality of artists and artistic processes in the
work. In realizing a VBULL, artists are catalysts for imagination;
they add layers of critical remembering, and they communicate
possible pathways for sharing power.
The role that art plays in urban innovation is not just
representational. Far more than pretty pictures, the artists engaged
in this effort created the aesthetic and affective platform for
meaningful participation. They did this by creating a space for
collective imagination, or what is called civic imagination.¹ This active
imagination, shared with a community of people, serves to bind
different stakeholder groups and communities together with
common purpose.
Artistic practices of all sorts are emerging in urban innovation
settings. Urban comics and graphic narratives are growing in
popularity as well as recognition in a range of interdisciplinary
formations. A series of recent studies use it as a referential tool to
understand the representation of cities and the shaping of urban
spatialities,² as well as the reimagining and rethinking of cities'
materialities,³ in new territories or geographies.⁴
¹Henry Jenkins, Gabriel Peters-Lazaro, and Sangita Shresthova, Popular Culture
and the Civic Imagination: Case Studies of Creative Social Change (New York
University Press, 2019).
²Dominic Davies, Urban comics: Infrastructure and the global city in contemporary
graphic narratives (Routlege, 2019).
³Benjamin Franse, Visible cities, global comics: Urban images and spatial form
(University Press of Mississippi, 2019).
⁴Giada Peterle, Comics as a Research Practice: Drawing Narrative Geographies
Beyond the Frame (Routlege, 2021).
novel approach to urban innovation that we call a Values-Based
Urban Living Laboratory (VBULL). It demonstrates the importance
of imagination, memory, and active power-sharing in achieving
sustainable, community-supported innovation, аnd it provides ample
evidence for the centrality of artists and artistic processes in the
work. In realizing a VBULL, artists are catalysts for imagination;
they add layers of critical remembering, and they communicate
possible pathways for sharing power.
The role that art plays in urban innovation is not just
representational. Far more than pretty pictures, the artists engaged
in this effort created the aesthetic and affective platform for
meaningful participation. They did this by creating a space for
collective imagination, or what is called civic imagination.¹ This active
imagination, shared with a community of people, serves to bind
different stakeholder groups and communities together with
common purpose.
Artistic practices of all sorts are emerging in urban innovation
settings. Urban comics and graphic narratives are growing in
popularity as well as recognition in a range of interdisciplinary
formations. A series of recent studies use it as a referential tool to
understand the representation of cities and the shaping of urban
spatialities,² as well as the reimagining and rethinking of cities'
materialities,³ in new territories or geographies.⁴
¹Henry Jenkins, Gabriel Peters-Lazaro, and Sangita Shresthova, Popular Culture
and the Civic Imagination: Case Studies of Creative Social Change (New York
University Press, 2019).
²Dominic Davies, Urban comics: Infrastructure and the global city in contemporary
graphic narratives (Routlege, 2019).
³Benjamin Franse, Visible cities, global comics: Urban images and spatial form
(University Press of Mississippi, 2019).
⁴Giada Peterle, Comics as a Research Practice: Drawing Narrative Geographies
Beyond the Frame (Routlege, 2021).