From lost industrial edifices to a contemporary fantasia: A practice based investigation which examines the character and form of the post industrial shopping mall environment.

The primary aim of this study is to present and investigate the hypotheses that the activity of post-industrial mass consumerism is an act of human drama that takes place within the specially created and constructed environment of the contemporary out of town or regional shopping mall. This is an artificially controlled and manipulative environment that is also a setting of fantasy. It is one that owes the nature of its internal spaces to 'rampant consumerism' and the nature of its internal appearance and architectural forms to the utilization and application of a pastiche and layering of post-modern historical references. The second aim was to develop a body of visual work through a systematic enquiry of practice based research which would together with a written commentary present both the outcomes of this research and the new knowledge generated through it. Alongside these aims, this study itself has also been a vehicle for developing and examining research processes. The initial investigation is achieved through a contextual review that forms the background against which visual research is undertaken.The visual research is carried out in two ways. Initially separate fantasies, ie: visual images made in the Meadowhall Shopping Centre and visual images made from G. B. Piranesi's Carceri d' Invenzione, are brought in to association. Subsequently they are then digitally transformed to produce new hybrid visual fantasies. This whole process has also led me to consider my personal transformation from artisan to artist and commentator and to review the impact that change has had on this study. The theses is brought to a close with an analysis of what the investigations and the processes of research have revealed, achieved, and made available to other practitioners through this study. Key concluding points are: The investigations, processes of research and visual explorations have provided a potential reference for other practitioners and a model for further practice-based research. The process of Reflective Practice is mutable and can be modified to suit different creative circumstances and artistic intentions. Reflective Practice produces defensible results which can be interrogated by peers. The study has laid the ground for my further creative work and the process of reflective practice will continue to inform my activity.