Dr Claire Anscomb

Job: Lecturer in Fine Art

Faculty: Arts, Design and Humanities

School/department: School of Arts, Design and Architecture

Address: De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH

T: N/A

E: claire.anscomb@dmu.ac.uk

 

Personal profile

I am an artist and philosopher.

Through the construction of meticulous drawings, I explore themes surrounding visibility from the representation of women in public sculpture and "invisible" illnesses, to the use of algorithms in apps designed to beautify individuals. These evidently long, painstaking undertakings aim to encourage attentive and slow looking – a mode of reception which is often at odds with the way we process the subjects of these drawings. Furthermore, by uniting traditional and advanced methods of image-making, such as AI, I aim to make intangible processes and their effects on image production and reception visible.

My philosophical work, which falls primarily in analytic philosophy of art and aesthetics is also concerned with questions that arise around the process of drawing, and its epistemic and affective qualities. Through this work, I also examine issues that arise around "automatic", or labour-saving, ways to produce images, such as photography, in addition to the nature of creativity more broadly.

Prior to joining DMU, I was the 2021-22 British Society of Aesthetics Postdoctoral Fellow in the Philosophy Department at the University of Liverpool. I also taught Foundation Art and Design at Kaplan International College London and worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the School of Arts at the University of Kent. I also co-edit the peer-reviewed journal Debates in Aesthetics.

Research group affiliations

Institute of Art and Design

Publications and outputs

Two-person Exhibitions

  • 2018 Portraits & Philosophy: A Conversation: The Gallery, Templeman Library, Canterbury
  • 2016 Visibly Abled, Invisibly Disabled: Mall Galleries, London

Group Exhibitions

  • 2023 Petro-Logic: Leicester Gallery, Leicester
  • 2023 Women in Arts: LCB Depot, Leicester
  • 2021-22 Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize: Trinity Buoy Wharf, London; Drawing Projects UK, Trowbridge; Cooper Gallery, Dundee
  • 2021 Royal Miniature Society Annual Exhibition: Mall Galleries, London
  • 2020 ING Discerning Eye Exhibition: Online
  • 2020 Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition: Online
  • 2020 Painter-Stainers Exhibition: Online
  • 2020 Smile Inside Exhibition: Woking
  • 2019 Royal Miniature Society Annual Exhibition: Mall Galleries, London
  • 2019 Derek's Room: Studio 3, Canterbury
  • 2019 In the Studio: Mall Galleries, London
  • 2019 Awakening: Leith Hill Place, Dorking
  • 2018 Pastel Society Annual Exhibition: Mall Galleries, London
  • 2017 National Open Art Prize: The Bargehouse, London
  • 2017 Here's Looking at You: The Beaney, Canterbury
  • 2017 Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition: Mall Galleries, London
  • 2016 National Open Art Prize: Mercers Hall, London
  • 2016 Columbia Threadneedle Art Prize: Mall Galleries, London; Palazzo Strozzi, Florence
  • 2015 Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition: Mall Galleries, London
  • 2014 The Threadneedle Art Prize: Mall Galleries, London
  • 2014 The Derwent Art Prize: Mall Galleries, London
  • 2014 A Sustainable World: Atelier Tammam, London
  • 2014 The Student Show: The Spring Arts and Heritage Centre, Havant
  • 2014 Tabula Rasa: Winchester School of Art, Winchester; The Bargehouse, London
  • 2014 Signature Art Prize Winner's Exhibition: Degree Art Vyner Street, London
  • 2014 Signature Art Prize: Spitalfields, London
  • 2013-14 Jerwood Drawing Prize: Jerwood Space, London; Hatton Gallery, Newcastle; The Gallery, Plymouth; Sidney Cooper Gallery, Canterbury

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles

  • 2023. “Hybridized, Influenced, or Evolved? A Typology to Aid the Categorization of New and Developing Arts.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 81 (3).
  • 2023. “#filterdrop: Attending to Photographic Alterations.” The Nordic Journal of Aesthetics 65-66.
  • 2022. “Creating Art with AI.” Odradek (special issue “Creativity in the Light of AI”) 8 (1): 14-51.
  • 2022. “Look a Little (Chuck) Closer: Aesthetic Attention and the Contact Phenomenon.” British Journal of Aesthetics 62 (3): 475-492.
  • 2022. “Why Draw Pictures that Already Exist? Photo-based Drawings and the Presence Phenomenon.” TRACEY 16 (1): 15-28.
  • 2021. "Creative Agency as Executive Agency: Grounding the Artistic Significance of Automatic Images." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 79 (4): 415-427.
  • 2021. “Visibility, Creativity, and Collective Working Practices in Art and Science.” European Journal for Philosophy of Science 11 (5) [Available online from 10/20].

Book Chapters

  • In Progress. "Drawing Attention to the Place of Public Statues of Women," in Drawing as Placemaking: Environment, History and Identity (Bloomsbury) edited by Simon Woolham and Jill Journeaux.
  • Forthcoming. "Creating Images with AI," in Artificial Intelligence, Co-Creation & Creativity (Routledge) edited by Francisco Tigre Moura.
  • Forthcoming. “Imagination, Creativity, and the Visual Arts,” in Handbook of Philosophy of Imagination and Creativity (Oxford University Press) edited by Amy Kind and Julia Langkau.
  • 2023. "Beautiful Experiments in Art and Science," in The Aesthetics of Scientific Experiments (Routledge) edited by Milena Ivanova and Alice Murphy: 37-58.

Interviews, Invited Commentaries and Exhibition Reviews

  • 2023. Book Review of "Philosophy of Sculpture: Historical Problems, Contemporary Approaches." British Journal of Aesthetics.
  • 2021. “Interview with Almudena Romero.” Philosophy Photography Lab.
  • 2020. “Commentary on ‘Photography and Causation: Responding to Scruton’s Scepticism.’” British Journal of Aesthetics 60th Anniversary Virtual Issue.
  • 2020. “Antony Gormley Royal Academy of Arts 21 September – 3 December 2019." British Journal of Aesthetics 60 (1): 89-92.

Conference Proceedings

  • 2019. "Photography, Digital Technology, and Hybrid Art Forms." Proceedings of the European Society for Aesthetics 11: 43-59.
  • 2018. “The Epistemic Value of Photographs in the Age of New Theory.” Proceedings of the European Society for Aesthetics 10: 1-18.
  • 2017. “Does a Mechanistic Etiology Reduce Artistic Agency?” Proceedings of the European Society for Aesthetics 9: 1-14.

Editor’s Introductions

  • 2022. “Editor’s Introduction [with Sarah Kiernan].” Debates in Aesthetics 18 (1): 5-11.
  • 2022. “Editor’s Introduction [with Sarah Kiernan].” Debates in Aesthetics 17 (2): 5-12.
  • 2021. “Editor’s Introduction [with Sarah Kiernan].” Debates in Aesthetics 17 (1): 5-11.
  • 2021. “Editor’s Introduction [with Eleen Deprez].” Debates in Aesthetics 16 (1): 5-11.
  • 2020. “Editor’s Introduction [with Eleen Deprez].” Debates in Aesthetics 15 (2): 3-7.
  • 2020. “Editor’s Introduction [with Eleen Deprez].” Debates in Aesthetics 15 (1): 5-9

Research interests/expertise

Drawing, Photography, AI Image-making Processes, Philosophy of Art, Aesthetics, Creativity

Areas of teaching

History of Art, Studio Practice, Digital and Analogue Media, Drawing

Qualifications

  • 2016-19 PhD in History and Philosophy of Art, University of Kent
  • 2014-15 MA in History and Philosophy of Art, University of Kent
  • 2011-14 BA in Fine Art, University of Southampton

Courses taught

Investigation and Exploration, Development and Consolidation, Studio Practice Development, Contextual and Professional Studies 

Honours and awards

  • Irene H. Chayes New Voices Award by the American Society for Aesthetics, 2022, for the paper "Creatively Constrained? Negotiating Disability in Visual Art Production".
  • Royal Miniature Society Young Artist Award, Innovation Award runner up, Gold Bowl Honourable Mention, 2021, for the drawing "#filterlife".
  • John Fisher Memorial Prize by the American Society for Aesthetics, 2021, for the article "Creative Agency as Executive Agency: Grounding the Artistic Significance of Automatic Images".
  • Royal Miniature Society Anthony J Lester Young Artist Award, 2019, for the drawing "Slideshow".
  • Arts Club Charitable Trust [now Contemporary Art Trust] Award, 2015, for the drawing "Veil", which was exhibited at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters exhibition.
  • Signature Art Prize – Drawing and Printmaking, 2014, for the drawing "Nostalgia".

Membership of external committees

  • Executive Committee Member of the European Society for Aesthetics (since 2022).
  • Committee (non-trustee) Member of the British Society of Aesthetics (since 2017).

Membership of professional associations and societies

  • Member of the Nordic Society for Aesthetics (since 2021).
  • Associate Member of the Aesthetics Research Centre at the University of Kent (since 2019).
  • Member of the American Society for Aesthetics (since 2018).

Projects

“Selfie Esteem” – a project I am currently undertaking to practically examine the aesthetic and ethical issues related to the, often-imperceptible, use of beauty filters and editing apps on portrait photographs in social media environments. The first public workshop for this was held in November 2022 at the Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool as part of the 2022 Being Human Festival.

Conference attendance

  • 2024. Philosophy and Contemporary Art. Values, Technologies, Innovations Panel: World Congress of Philosophy (Rome, August)
  • 2024. In what ways can a repeated image reinforce or transform meaning? DRN2024: Drawing Reptition (Online, April)
  • 2023. Mimesis, Creation, Collaboration? Perspectives on AI-enhanced Aesthetics in Contemporary Art Practice Panel: International Symposium on Electronic Art (Paris/Online, May).
  • 2022 “Creatively Constrained? Negotiating Disability in Visual Art Production” American Society for Aesthetics Annual Meeting (Portland, November)
  • 2022 ““#filterdrop”: Attending to Photographic Alterations” Experiencing Visual Images: Interdisciplinary Approaches (London, November).
  • 2022 “Hybridized, Influenced, or Evolved? A Typology to Aid the Categorization of Digital Arts” TiLDA Conference (Tilburg/online, September).
  • 2022 "Beautiful Experiments in Art and Science" The Aesthetic Nature of Scientific Experiments Conference (Cambridge, September)
  • 2022 “Drawing Attention: Engaging with Sites of History in a Visually Selective Mode” Drawing Conversations: Engaging with Sites of History and Narrative (Huddersfield/Online, September)
  • 2022 “Automating Aesthetic Choices: How Does AI Affect Human Creativity?” European Society for Aesthetics (Tallinn, June).
  • 2022 "Aesthetic Diversity and AI in Image-making Practice" The Philosophy of Digital Images Conference (Liverpool, June)
  • 2021 “Creative Agency as Executive Agency: Grounding the Artistic Significance of Automatic Images” American Society for Aesthetics Annual Meeting (Montreal, November).
  • 2021 “Who Authors AI Art? (And why does it matter?)” Aesthetics and Ethics in the Digital Age Conference (Cambridge/Online, July).
  • 2021 “#filterdrop: Attending to Photographic Alterations” Nordic Society of Aesthetics Conference (Online, May).
  • 2020 “Creative Curating? Displaying Installation Art” ASA Annual Meeting (Online, November).
  • 2020 “Look a Little (Chuck) Closer: Aesthetic Attention and the Contact Phenomenon” Art and Mind Workshop (Cambridge, March).
  • 2020 “Computer Says No? Intentionality, Automaticity and Art-Making” Beyond Human: The Aesthetics of Nature and Technology Conference (Kent, February).
  • 2020 “Creatively Constrained? Negotiating Disability in Visual Art Production” Art, Aesthetics and the Medical/Health Humanities Conference (Kent, February).
  • 2019 “Photography and the Contact Phenomenon” BSA Annual Conference (Oxford, September).
  • 2019 “Photography, Digital Technology, and Hybrid Art Forms” European Society for Aesthetics Annual Conference (Warsaw, June).
  • 2019 “Creative Agency and Co-Working in Art and Science” BSA Connections Pre-Conference Workshop (Bristol, April).
  • 2019 “Automatic Image-Making Processes and Creativity in Art Production” Dubrovnik Philosophy of Art Conference (Dubrovnik, April).
  • 2018 “Hybrid Art Forms and Digital Photography” ASA Annual Meeting (Toronto, October).
  • 2018 “Creativity and Co-Working in Artistic Practice in Creativity” Art, Mind, and Science Conference (Cambridge, July).
  • 2018 “The Epistemic Value of Photographs in the Age of New Theory” ESA Annual Conference (Maribor, May).
  • 2018 “Is Artistic Agency Affected by Automaticity?” ASA Pacific Division Meeting (Pacific Grove, April).
  • 2018 “Seeing Through Walton’s Jolt” Philosophy in Progress Conference (Nottingham, January).
  • 2017 “Appreciating Hybrid Forms of Photography” BSA Annual Conference (Oxford, September).
  • 2017 “Does a Mechanistic Etiology Reduce Artistic Agency?” 10th Annual UAPA Graduate Conference (Albany, April).
  • 2017 “Does a Mechanistic Etiology Reduce Artistic Agency?” ESA Annual Conference (Berlin, May).

Externally funded research grants information

“Creating Images with AI” research project 01/09/21-31/08/22: British Society of Aesthetics postdoctoral researcher mentored by Dr Vid Simoniti at the University of Liverpool Philosophy Department.

ORCID number

0000-0001-6808-6646

Invited Talks

  • 2024. Creatively Constrained? Negotiating Physical Disability in Visual Art Production: Nottingham Philosophy Research Seminar 
  • 2024. Understanding and Appreciating Uses of AI in Image-making Practice: London Aesthetics Forum (UCL, February) 
  • 2024. AI Aesthetics Panel: American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting (New Orleans, February)
  • 2023. Selfie Esteem: Appearance and the Law Discussion Group (Online, November)
  • 2023. An Imaginative Aid? Creating Images with Generative AI: University of Oxford Aesthetics Seminar (Oxford November)
  • 2023. AI: Artistic Tool or Collaborator?: Machine Discovery and Creation Workshop (Online, August)
  • 2023. AI: Artistic Tool or Collaborator?: University of Turin ART Seminar (Online, March) 
  • 2023. Women in Arts Panel: LCB Depot, (Leicester, March)
  • 2022. AI & Art-Making | A Discussion with Claire Anscomb: Philosophers Discussing Art (Online, December)
  • 2022. Comments on ‘The Aesthetic Value of Scientific Experiments’ (Milena Ivanova): Virtual Summer Aesthetics Festival (Online, June)
  • 2022. “Beauty has cognitive significance in science and aids its progress" vs. “Beauty is a systematic bias and its role in scientific reasoning is suspect” (Milena Ivanova): The Dialectic (Cambridge/Online, May)
  • 2022. AI: Artistic Tool or Collaborator?: Aesthetics Research Centre (Kent/Online, March)
  • 2021. Automating Aesthetic Choices: How Does AI Affect Human Creativity?: Scottish Aesthetics Form (Online, December)
  • 2021. Drawing Discussions: Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize (Online, November)
  • 2021. Beautiful Experiments: The Aesthetic Nature of Scientific Experiments Workshop (Online, June)
  • 2020. Photographic Phenomenology in the Digital Age: Uppsala University Aesthetics Seminar (Online, July)