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Peter Buwert

Biographical Statement

Personal Statement

“An image culture for a politically effective public”
What impact does the combined effect of our society’s visual culture have on the individual member of the public today, and on their ability to engage with the socio-political issues affecting their lives? How can those involved in the creation of images ensure that their work benefits society and does not harm it?

In our everyday lives we are simultaneously surrounded by a reality of social injustice and inequality, and a culture in which the image is increasingly becoming the dominant mode of public discourse, our favoured method of reception tending towards consumption rather than reflection. Research into the effect of this on the public is vitally important to understanding socio-political behaviour patterns.

My research interest is in investigating the development of methods for the creation and evaluation of a socially beneficial image culture in our society; a culture in which both the image maker and viewer are empowered to be fully aware of social realities and injustices and of their own abilities to change these.

I am investigating this through my practice, exploring methods of image creation with which to challenge the conventional forms and modes of encounter of images in public space. My aim is to achieve a defamiliarisation in the viewer, disrupting the normal delivery of the image and thus enabling the viewer to grapple for themselves with how the content relates to the form.

My goal is to be able to create a body of research which offers suggestions of practical, but not prescriptive, methods and strategies for the creation of socially beneficial images to those involved in the field of visual communications in public contexts.

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