Arts and Media
Staff are actively engaged in projects that connect art with real-world contexts, including initiatives like the Post Memory project, which combines augmented reality and physical installations to create interactive heritage trails that make historical narratives accessible in contemporary public spaces. Other work spans documentary and illustrative photography, multimedia installations, experimental design, and immersive technologies such as projection mapping, often contributing to public exhibitions, festivals, and collaborative research with communities and external partners.
This research is embedded directly into teaching through real-live projects, exhibitions, and industry collaborations, giving students hands-on experience in creative processes, storytelling, and emerging technologies while preparing them for professional practice in the arts and media sectors.
Bachelor of Arts and Media | Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT)(external link)
Research Staff in Arts and Media
Klaas Breukel
Sarah Arnold
Stefan Hanspach
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Jess Shirley Arts and Design tutor
Jess Shirley is a photographer whose work focuses on illustrative, landscape, and creative photography, with an interest in work that is both visually compelling and conceptually engaging. She is particularly drawn to themes that juxtapose beauty and death, exploring ideas of impermanence and reflecting aspects of society. Her work includes drone photography and collaborative research projects, such as the DOT (Delivering Optimal Weight Gain) project with Otago University, where photography is used to document social and health-related issues.
Jess uses her research to support teaching by bringing real-world projects, professional practice, and award-based work into the classroom. This gives students insight into documentary photography, visual storytelling, ethics, and collaboration with clients and researchers. Her work connects strongly to industry through competitions (NZIPP IRIS Awards), research partnerships, and community engagement, helping students understand how photography operates in both professional and research contexts.
Links to her Facebook and Instagram page:
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Mark Baskett Creative Technologies Tutor
Mark Baskett’s research explores multi-media visual art, combining digital imagery, text, objects, and sound to examine social history, identity, and place. His work investigates how art can represent real-world experiences, including themes such as community, migration, education, and national identity, often through large-scale or narrative-driven installations.
Mark’s ongoing art practice energises his teaching, allowing him to bring current creative work and critical inquiry directly into the classroom. By engaging with exhibition, publication, and research processes, he models professional artistic practice for students. His work also connects to industry and wider society through public exhibitions and cultural discussion, helping students see how art can contribute to understanding social and historical issues.
Some of his work:
https://www.mbaskett.ch/_current_works/_island_nation/island_nation_page_1.html
https://www.mbaskett.ch/_current_works/_itp_symposium/itp_symposium_page_1.html
