Dr Atsuhide Ito
PhD, MA, BA (Hons), FHEA
Senior Research Fellow
School of Creative Industries
Biography
Atsuhide's research concerns aeropolitics, politics and poetics of breathing, and nuclear culture, history and politics. His concerns with air pollution and ionizing radiation derive from his interest in invisible forms of violence, and art’s capacity to sense and visualise toxicity in the atmosphere and expose hidden and yet the institutionalized forms of slow violence.
Trained in fine art (BA, PhD) and social anthropology (BA, MA), his methods of research include ethnographic fieldwork and open-source creative engineering. His art practice encompasses a variety of mediums including endurance running, installation, painting, photography, video and writing.
Currently, Atsuhide is experimenting with environmental data, especially data on air pollution and ionizing radiation, for kinetic sculptures and installations. Through this low-tech approach he is exploring ways in which machines are incorporated into art installations. In parallel, he is also exploring how complex and layered mark-making in painting can convey conceptualisation of data. In his publications, Atsuhide has been writing about politics of breathing, radiant memory, and ecology of painting. He is also completing a theoretically informed science-fiction.
Research interests
Since the completion of his PhD project entitled Separate Landscape: Non-Place, Aesthetics and Landscape on the Tokaido Route, Japan in 2007, a few consistent themes have been maintained. Especially the idea of land or landscape, or more extensively ecology and imperceptible violence on the environment has been consistent in his research in recent years. The invisible form of violence has now discussed in relation to the politics of breathing and air, and ionizing radiation. On the theme of landscape, routes are consistently embedded in his methods, instead of areas of land. Pictorially his research was earlier focused on the relationship between photography and painting, but more recently his painting practice has shifted towards materialization of data in the form of painting. In his forthcoming publications, Atsuhide is proposing the notions of radiant memory as a toxic and enduring form of memory in "Radiant Memory", and also suggesting the term "Aeropolitics" as a study of historical and institutional violence through the deployment of air as an instrument. The above themes are being explored in the mediums of installation, kinetic sculpture, installation, and writing.
ORCID ID
Keywords
Art, environment, nuclear, air, machine, painting, photography
Further information
After completing his PhD in 2007, Atsuhide taught Advanced Research Methods for MPhil/PhD at University for Creative Arts.
For master's degree courses, he taught art practice at University of Teesside, critical creative practice at Southampton Solent University, and photography at London College of Communication, University of the Arts London.
For undergraduate degree courses, he taught a variety of modules in media studies at Kingston University, modules in both practice and theory in photography at London College of Communication, fine art practice at Teesside University, and a variety of practice and theory modules in fine art at Southampton Solent University.
In his early teaching career, Atsuhide also taught foundation at Byam Shaw School of Art, and led the fine art practice pathway at Central Saint Martins at University of the Arts London.
Atsuhide has supervised to one PhD completion and 2 MPhil completions, and he is currently co-supervising two PhD projects.
His teaching embraces cross-mediality and inter-disciplinarity. While his training in art was focused on painting, he is interested in psychoanalytical angles to approach trauma, and a rehabilitation through the practice of attunement and care.
Taught courses
