Technical analysis of a Central Asian wall painting detached from a Buddhist cave temple on the northern Silk Road

A great number of Central Asian wall paintings, archeological materials, architectural fragments, and textiles, as well as painting fragments on silk and paper, make up the so called Turfan Collection at the Asian Art Museum in Berlin. The largest part of the collection comes from the Kucha region, a very important cultural center in the third to ninth centuries. Between 1902 and 1914, four German expeditions traveled along the northern Silk Road. During these expeditions, wall paintings were detached from their original settings in Buddhist cave complexes. This paper reports a technical study of a wall painting, existing in eight fragments, from the Buddhist cave no. 40 (Ritterhöhle). Its original painted surface is soot blackened and largely illegible. Grünwedel, leader of the first and third expeditions, described the almost complete destruction of the rediscovered temple complex and evidence of fire damage. The aim of this case study is to identify the materials used for the wall paintings. Furthermore, soot deposits as well as materials from conservation interventions were of interest. Non-invasive analyses were preferred but a limited number of samples were taken to provide more precise information on the painting technique. By employing optical and scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, micro X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, and Raman spectroscopy, a layer sequence of earthen render, a ground layer made of gypsum, and a paint layer containing a variety of inorganic pigments were identified.     

Cindy Sherman: A Play of Selves. A collaborative approach to conservation

In 2013, The Better Image (TBI) was contacted to examine A Play of Selves, a unique work created by artist Cindy Sherman during her graduate studies in 1975. The work is composed of 244 paper doll-like photographs of Sherman that are presented within 72 frames. During initial condition checks, it was noted that a number of individual elements had begun to show signs of chemical staining. Over the course of 2013/2014, a collaborative response was developed with the help of the artist, the artist's printer, the representing gallery, TBI staff and the owner. The main goal was to address the physical and chemical issues present and preserve this work for future exhibition and study. Determining an effective decision- making model based on a hierarchy of values was crucial before undertaking any conservation treatment, as there were several invested parties, each with a different perspective. The focus of this paper is the interplay of our responsibilities as conservators with the concerns of the artist, her gallery, her printer, and the owner to balance aesthetic vs. physical integrity of the artwork, reversibility of treatments, importance of record keeping while developing a balanced response within a world of rapidly disappearing traditional photographic papers.     

Breaking up is hard to do: the resilience of the rock group as an organizational form for creating music

Though there is a long tradition of band members quitting the group or taking a hiatus, the rock group as an organization to produce music continues to be both popular and economically viable. The research question addressed in this paper is whether or not it is a good idea to quit or take a hiatus from the group. We begin with a discussion of the framework for understanding why groups are formed and why they may be difficult to keep together. We then discuss differences between groups in the decade of the 1960s versus today. We argue that there is something unique about the output of the group even with the changes in the structure of contracts, compensation, and consumer focus on the artist that explain the resilience of the rock band as an organizational form within which to create music. We compare the charting success of bands that have members leave the group with the charting success of the members who left the group. We identified the groups in five representative years: 1965, 1975, 1985, 1995, and 2005. We then analyzed the entire Billboard Hot 100 charting careers of those groups and the artists who quit those groups. Our main finding is that when charting success is divided equally among members, going solo pays off—there is a clear economic rationale because solo acts have greater average charting success than the original bands they started in. The other ensuing side projects: duos, collaborations, and other groups are not as lucrative as the original bands. These findings are valid for members of charting groups from each of the 5 years examined. Despite the difficulties in keeping a rock band together, there are fewer band breakups today and remaining with the group generally results in a longer and more productive charting career. Thus, the rock group remains an important organization for producing contemporary music. However, there remains a compelling incentive to go solo. Superstars may benefit from solo projects, but for the average, non-superstar group member, in many circumstances it is better for the band to stay together if the income is divided equally.     

In pursuit of becoming a senior coach: the learning culture for Australian Football League coaches

Background and Purpose: Given the turbulent and highly contested environment in which professional coaches work, a prime concern to coach developers is how coaches learn their craft. Understanding the learning and development of senior coaches (SCs) and assistant coaches (ACs) in the Australian Football League (AFL – the peak organisation for Australian Rules Football) is important to better develop the next generation of performance coaches. Hence the focus of this research was to examine the learning of SC and AC in the AFL. Fundamental to this research was an understanding that the AFL and each club within the league be regarded as learning organisations and workplaces with their own learning cultures where learning takes place. The purpose of this paper was to examine the learning culture for AFL coaches.

Method: Five SCs, 6 ACs, and 5 administrators (4 of whom were former coaches) at 11 of the 16 AFL clubs were recruited for the research project. First, demographic data were collected for each participant (e.g. age, playing and coaching experience, development and coach development activities). Second, all participants were involved in one semi-structured interview of between 45 and 90 minutes duration. An interpretative (hierarchical content) analysis of the interview data was conducted to identify key emergent themes.

Results: Learning was central to AFL coaches becoming a SC. Nevertheless, coaches reported a sense of isolation and a lack of support in developing their craft within their particular learning culture. These coaches developed a unique dynamic social network (DSN) that involved episodic contact with a number of respected confidantes often from diverse fields (used here in the Bourdieuian sense) in developing their coaching craft. Although there were some opportunities in their workplace, much of their learning was unmediated by others, underscoring the importance of their agentic engagement in limited workplace affordances.

Conclusion: The variety of people accessed for the purposes of learning (often beyond the immediate workplace) and the long time taken to establish networks of supporters meant that a new way of describing the social networks of AFL coaches was needed; DSN. However, despite the acknowledged utility of learning from others, all coaches reported some sense of isolation in their learning. The sense of isolation brought about by professional volatility in high-performance Australian Football offers an alternative view on Hodkinson, Biesta and James' attempt in overcoming dualisms in learning.     

Ideology or reality? The awareness of educational aims and activities amongst German and Norwegian participants of the first summer and winter Youth Olympic Games

This paper explores the awareness of the young German and Norwegian participants in the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) of the additional educational mission of this new event, implemented by the International Olympic Committee. Among the questions considered are whether the nature of the event contradicts its claimed intention to focus on both competition and education. Data were collected through a set of interviews with young German and Norwegian athletes at the Singapore YOG in the summer of 2010 and the Innsbruck YOG in the winter of 2012. The findings revealed (1) a focus on elite sport by athletes and their coaches, while the educational aims were considered secondary; (2) that it was problematic for the young participants to focus on education in a high-performance event. The overall conclusion was that the YOG have had only limited success in achieving the educational ambitions of the Olympic Movement.     

Eating disorder prevention initiatives for athletes: A review

A substantial amount of evidence suggests that collegiate and elite athletes involved in weight-sensitive sports are at greater risk of developing eating disorders (EDs) than the general population. With the limited effectiveness of treatment for EDs, prevention of EDs has been broadly considered in the literature. The present paper reviewed the existing literature on ED prevention programmes for athletes in order to determine the current status of prevention programmes and recommend future directions. The available literature suggests that selective, primary interventions with multiple targets and an interactive multimodal approach appear most effective. Current challenges in the field, including lack of longitudinal research, hesitation by the sport community to be involved in ED research and poor cross-field communication and collaboration, are also explored. The lack of dissemination of evidence-based prevention programmes and the simultaneous promotion of prevention programmes that have not yet been empirically examined are also discussed. Based on these observations future directions are recommended.     

How does visual manipulation affect obstacle avoidance strategies used by athletes?

Research examining our ability to avoid obstacles in our path has stressed the importance of visual input. The aim of this study was to determine if athletes playing varsity-level field sports, who rely on visual input to guide motor behaviour, are more able to guide their foot over obstacles compared to recreational individuals. While wearing kinematic markers, eight varsity athletes and eight age-matched controls (aged 18–25) walked along a walkway and stepped over stationary obstacles (180° motion arc). Visual input was manipulated using PLATO visual goggles three or two steps pre-obstacle crossing and compared to trials where vision was given throughout. A main effect between groups for peak trail toe elevation was shown with greater values generated by the controls for all crossing conditions during full vision trials only. This may be interpreted as athletes not perceiving this obstacle as an increased threat to their postural stability. Collectively, findings suggest the athletic group is able to transfer their abilities to non-specific conditions during full vision trials; however, varsity-level athletes were equally reliant on visual cues for these visually guided stepping tasks as their performance was similar to the controls when vision is removed.