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Collaborate project spotlight: the beauty project

Collaborate project spotlight

Find out more about the partnership between Quarantine and Rox Middleton, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol

The beauty project

Research partnership:
Quarantine with Rox Middleton, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol

Research focus:
Exploring methodologies to better understand and articulate the value of beauty

This partnership was awarded a research grant in June 2022 as part of the first round of the Centre for Cultural Value’s Collaborate programme.

The fund supported innovative new partnerships between cultural sector practitioners and academics to explore under-explored questions around cultural value.

A large board has text that reads: "369. Is the world how you imagined?" In the foreground people are moving cables and working on the stage.
Quarantine, 12 Last Songs at Transform Festival, October 2021 Photo: David Lindsay

What did the project explore?

How is an audience affected by beauty? When the event is over, what remains?

Beauty can motivate audiences, and in both arts and science, beauty motivates processes of research and creation. But beauty is subjective, difficult to measure and at risk of being overlooked as a benefit and aim.

Theatre company Quarantine, alongside physicist Rox Middleton from the University of Bristol, worked with Lucy Tomlinson, a researcher in philosophy, and with performers and audiences to investigate ways to understand and articulate the value of beauty.

The partnership explored methodologies for better understanding and articulating the value of beauty, with a focus on live performance. They tested methods to evaluate intrinsic values and sought a new vocabulary for articulating the value of beauty in cultural production.

Explore The Beauty Project website

Project learning and findings

Performance of 12 last songs. Colourful confetti in the foreground obscures the image.
Quarantine's 12 Last Songs, at HOME Manchester. Photo: Chris Payne

In Arts Professional: The Beauty Project

A Beauty Project Lab book open on two pages. One page has yellow and pink circles and writing by a research participant. The other page is green with the word Beauty.
The Beauty Project. Photo by Lisa Mattocks.

Revealing the beauty of using lab books for audience research

Peformance of 12 Last Songs at Quarantine
Quarantine, 12 Last Songs at Transform Festival, October 2021 Photo: David Lindsay

How a theatre company, physicist and philosopher are exploring beauty

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Performance of 12 last songs. Colourful confetti in the foreground obscures the image.
Quarantine's 12 Last Songs, at HOME Manchester. Photo: Chris Payne

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