TEAM
Who We Are
AMANDA RULTON
Art In Science
Amanda is a performance and mixed media visual artist with a BA in Fine Art. Over the past two years Amanda's practice has focused on mortality, understanding grief and the need for a change in dialogue surrounding death and loss. Throughout her research Amanda has focused heavily on the sustainability of common body disposal methods and she has gone on to use her MA to investigate alternatives to these. Amanda's current work addresses sustainability issues in death care and explores the ways funeral rites can be altered to accommodate environmentally friendly body disposal methods whilst still honouring the traditions and rituals that come with death.
DANNY BLUNT
Urban Design Practitioner
Danny is an Urban Design practitioner who recently spent 4 years working for Liverpool's urban regeneration company, Liverpool Vision. He now works for the Low Carbon Eco-innovatory at LJMU and works closely with the Liverpool City Region's Combined Authority, supporting their sustainable developments. Danny was drawn to this project due to his awareness that graveyards use a lot of green space (especially in urban areas where this is at a premium)Â and are mostly terrible for the environment. He want's to prove that a better alternative is possible. He is studying the Urban Design MA course (part-time).
EMMA SUMMERSCALES
Sustainable Fashion Designer
Emma's creative practice uses existing textiles, re-purposed to reduce pollution from decomposition in landfill. Her research looks at the emotional value of clothes, aimed at encouraging consumers to make more sustainable buying choices. She set up Studio Thrift L8 in 2018, where she has plans to develop her own label and teaches workshops in upcycling and visible mending. A personal curiosity about approaches to death and loss drew her to the project and she is using her knowledge and skills to support the conversation about dealing with grief and understanding sustainable burial.
TRANSDISCIPLINARITY
This research crosses the boundaries of disciplines in art, science, fashion and urban design; presented in the context of the humanities. The project engages not only the audience, collaborators and stakeholders but also the public. The result is a transdisciplinary research project that exists in a shared space, examines what it is to be human, and has the potential to influence the whole of society.
​
The desire of each practitioner involved, to change attitudes towards sustainability and death has been a strong throughline for the project. Each has explored these aspects from within their own discipline but taking a transdisciplinary approach created fluidity between discipline boundaries, allowing unity of knowledge and enriching the outcome of this stage of research.
The progress and the forward plan is demonstrated in a Gantt chart. The knowledge sharing was facilitated using Microsoft Sway, link below.
​
The Transdisciplinary Process
OUR COLLABORATIVE BLOG
View our formative ideas and explore the space in which we transcend our traditional practise boundaries.
FUTURE COLLABORATORS
We have identified a number of potential collaborators as part of the Being Human Festival proposal. These include
​
Granby Four Streets CLT https://www.granby4streetsclt.co.uk/granby-winter-garden
Death Café Liverpool https://deathcafe.com/deathcafe/10482/
​
Liverpool LASER https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/microsites/liverpool-laser