Over the past several years I have been on a quest to locate a world beyond the one I’ve been presented. I am interested in the history of atomic particles - like everything that radiates off of a monument (both literally and those things that are metaphorically reified) - invisible things, and the ways in which these things insect beyond our knowledge systems. This inquiry takes many forms. Mine is a conceptually based practice linked to record keeping and time, and the ways in which these concepts find plurality within our culture; or more pointedly, the importance that we attach to “time” and “the record”, as they relate to our “legacies”, “cultures”, or “the canon”; our histories and the ahistorical, the prehistorical, fantasies, the things that never happened but could’ve, imagined futures and parallel universes.

O projeto analisa o impacto dos fluxos imateriais formados por infraestruturas de comunicação e conectividade na percepção dos lugares. A emergência de espaços informacionais nos centros urbanos vem mudando a noção do que é visível e não visível na sociedade e na arte. A abordagem considera o \"lugar\" como um campo afetado por questões socioeconômicas e tecnopolíticas, bem como por migrações semânticas, que ocorrem em função de deslocamentos culturais, operações linguísticas, licenças poéticas ou digressões teóricas. As especificidades de um espaço arquitetônico que inclui cada vez mais aspectos imateriais em sua constituição, como campos de radiofrequência (RF) e ondas eletromagnéticas (EMF) gerados por celulares, redes wi-fi, transmissões de TV, satélites e telefones sem fio são discutidas através de uma arte em constante atrito com elementos da comunicação, em relações que se intensificaram notavelmente desde o início dos anos 1990. Essas investigações buscam não apenas evidenciar o quanto o espaço pode ser de fato considerado pelo que não é visível, tendo em vista as progressivas novas apreensões do espaço diante de inovações tecnológicas, mas também discute recursos que permitem fazer ver componentes intrínsecos à sua constituição, apontando novas condições e formas da invisibilidade. Para tanto, o projeto parte inicialmente de considerações metafóricas e de conceitos que discutem o espaço informacional e os fluxos de comunicação imersos na sociedade (CASTELLS, SANTOS, VIRILIO, BEIGUELMAN, DI FELICE), com a intenção de investigar os três tópicos principais da pesquisa: a noção de lugar, carregado de informação e de aspectos imateriais (FOSTER, LIPPARD, DEUTSCHE, KWON, DIDI-HUBERMAN), incluindo a presença da infraestrutura de conectividade e sua ubiquidade (DUNNE, SAVIC, EASTERLING, GREENFIELD); as tecnologias, suas instabilidades e efeitos colaterais em formas ubíquas de modulação de subjetividade e de ideologias (AGAMBEN, FOUCAULT, ZUBOFF, BRUNO, CRARY, RANCIÈRE); as artes criadas sob novas especificidades de lugares e condições (CAUQUELAIN, FOSTER, ZANINI, MEDOSCH, Metodologicamente são abordados uma série de artistas que convergem esses conceitos em trabalhos que são tanto alusivos da ideia da suposição como um componente da arte como indutores de conscientização a respeito das invisibilidades, ideologias e políticas imersas no ambiente ao nosso redor. Em interlocução com obras próprias e de vários artistas, são discutidas formas de ativar uma percepção que considera o que não está explícito no espaço ao redor, em uma apreensão de fluxos de comunicação e campos eletromagnéticos cada vez mais ubíquos, intrusivos e determinantes de nossa participação e existência nas esferas culturais, sociais e políticas atuais. / The project analyses the impact of immaterial flows produced by the infrastructure of connectivity in the understanding of the concept of the site. The emergence of information spaces in urban centres changes the notion of what is visible and not visible in both society and in the arts. The approach taken considers the site as a field affected by socioeconomic and technopolitical issues, as well as by semantic migrations, which occur due to cultural displacements, linguistic operations, poetic licenses or theoretical digressions. The specificities of an architectural space that increasingly involves intangible aspects in its constitution, such as radiofrequency (RF) and electromagnetic fields (EMF) generated by cell phones, wi-fi networks, TV broadcasts, satellites and cordless phones are discussed through a series of art projects in constant friction with elements of communication, in relations that have intensified notably since the beginning of the 1990s. The investigations seek to inquire not only the extent to which the site can actually be constituted by nonvisible elements in view of the progressivelly new seizures of space in the face of technological innovations, but to point out political implications behind networking infrastructures. To do so, the project starts from metaphorical considerations and concepts discussing the notion of informational space and the communication flows immersed in society (CASTELLS, SANTOS, VIRILIO, BEIGUELMAN, DI FELICE), aiming to investigate three essential approaches in the research: the perception of the site, loaded with information and immaterial constituents (FOSTER, LIPPARD, DEUTSCHE, KWON, DIDI-HUBERMAN), including the presence of the infrastructure behind connectivity and its ubiquity (DUNNE, SAVIC, EASTERLING, GREENFIELD); the technologies, its instabilities and side effects on modulations of subjectivity and ideology (AGAMBEN, FOUCAULT, ZUBOFF, BRUNO, CRARY, RANCIÈRE); the arts created under new specific conditions and places (CAUQUELAIN, FOSTER, ZANINI, MEDOSCH). Concerning the methodology employed, the research comments on these theorethical concepts in relation to art projects that are both allusive to the idea of supposition as an art component as well as inductive of awareness about the invisibilities, ideologies and policies immersed in the environment. In a dialogue with artworks by several artists, including my own, the research seeks ways to activate perception in order to consider what is not explicit in the surrounding space, as an apprehension of communication flows and electromagnetic fields that are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, intrusive and determinant of our participation and existence in the current cultural, social and political spheres.

In 2013, the 55th Venice Biennale, the world's oldest bi-annual international contemporary art exhibition, opened under the title The Encyclopedic Palace, organized by Italian curator Massimiliano Gioni. The international exhibition section is always flanked by an amalgamation of distinct national spaces, a dual exhibition model that has been the hallmark of the Biennale since 1998. In 2013, the United States pavilion was devoted to American artist Sarah Sze's work Triple Point and her signature arrangement of everyday objects and materials, such as Q-tips, water bottles, painter's tape, and desk lamps. The title of Sze's multi-room installation, culled from earlier works as well as created from new materials, refers to the thermodynamic equilibrium of any given substance--specifically, a "triple point" is the temperature and pressure at which a substance is solid, liquid and gas at the same time. The quasi-scientific installations provide constantly shifting viewpoints as the viewer circumnavigates the interconnected spaces of the U.S. pavilion, moving amid, around, and through the work, but also focusing on different individual objects before pulling back to catch glimpses of the work as a whole. In this thesis, I apply a phenomenological analysis to Triple Point in order to make sense of its scientific references in conjunction with its complex form. I view Triple Point as a culmination of the ideas that Sze has sustained and explored over the course of her career--such as the investigation of everyday objects in relation to site, space, and viewer--that situates the viewer in an experience caught between empirical order and individual perception. To examine Triple Point using the idea of "embodied perception," I formally analyze the work in relation to its scientific meanings as suggested by its titles of individual works--Gleaner, Planetarium, Eclipse, Scale, Orrery, Pendulum, Observatory, and Compass. I then trace the discourse surrounding phenomenology and the rise of installation art through the writings of art historians Michael Fried, Rosalind Krauss, and Claire Bishop, before finally situating French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology as an apt theory for analyzing this work. In embracing both the scientific objectivity implied by Sze's installations without sacrificing the import of physical perception, I contend that Triple Point invites the viewer to look at--but also beyond--the array of familiar objects, emphasizing a shifting sense of the work that is never exhaustively fixed. Thus, Triple Point does not expose the classic dichotomies between art and science, natural and manufactured, image and object, but instead opens up the moment of their confluence--the paradoxical achievement of an embodied perception as described by Merleau-Ponty. Understood phenomenologically, Triple Point invites viewers to get caught-up in the dynamic experience of "between-ness" invoked by the installation's title and to engage with their everyday experiences of contemporary life in a new way.

Realizada a partir de métodos e suportes diversificados, a produção de Gordon Matta-Clark desponta como um exemplo significativo no desenvolvimento da arte, sobretudo a partir da década de 1960/70 (momento caracterizado pela ampliação da atuação e direcionamento das pesquisas estéticas contemporâneas). Distante dos limites definidos pela prática artística institucional, o artista dedicou-se a investigar novas e inusuais formas de atuação, articulando processo e apropriação como estratégias de intervenção. Tensionando composição material e temporal do objeto/espaço, Matta-Clark expõe a relação entre constituição material e comportamento. Usando o edificado como matéria prima, lida com a dimensão discursiva do espaço evidenciando a imprescindível relação existente entre arquitetura, contexto e urbano. Das experimentações materiais e destaque do contexto social em Garbage Wall (1970); alteração da percepção sobre objeto arquitetônico e seu contexto em Splitting (1974); ao questionamento da limitada atuação do público frente à transformação urbana de Conical Intersect (1975); Matta-Clark opera em uma área de transição, mobilizando reflexões sobre estruturas (materiais, discursivas e simbólicas) fundamentais para a definição dos espaços e sociedade de seu tempo. Frente à atualidade e relevância de Gordon Matta-Clark, a presente dissertação propõe um estudo sobre sua a trajetória, partindo da relação entre esta e os campos da Arte e Arquitetura. / Made from diverse methods and supports, Matta-Clarks production emerges as a significant example in the development of contemporary art, especially since the 1960s and 1970s (moment characterized by the amplification of the activity and direction of contemporary aesthetic researches). Far from the limits defined by institutional artistic practice, the artist devoted himself to investigate new and unusual forms of action, articulating process and appropriation as intervention strategies. Tensioning the material and temporal composition of the object/space, Matta-Clark exposes the relation between material constitution and behavior. Using built as raw material, deals with the discursive dimension of space highlighting the essential relationship between architecture, context and the urban. From the material experiments and emphasis of the social context in Garbage Wall (1970); alteration of the perception about architectural object and its context in Splitting (1974); to the questioning of the limited action of the public in face of the urban transformation of Conical Intersect (1975); Matta- Clark operates in a transition area, mobilizing reflections about the structures (material, discursive and symbolic) fundamental for the definition of spaces and society of his time. In the view of the present and relevance of Gordon Matta- Clark, this dissertation proposes a study about his trajectory, starting from the relation between it and the fields of Art and Architecture.

Three major trends are evident in Chinese ink painting: academic reformism, modernism and neo-traditionalism. While reformists are calling for stylistic freedom and a return to humanism, modernists seek the adoption of Western modes of thought and practice to develop and reform Chinese tradition. The new literati painting which has seen a resurgence of innovative theory and technique of an indigenous Chinese painting tradition distinguishes neo-traditionalism. Many scholars believe that developments in Chinese painting represent a decline in the history of Chinese art but, in this authors’ opinion, this has been a period of transformation in aesthetic conception and expression. Chinese ink painting, which is still the dominant stream in twentieth century Chinese art and a continuation of its development, can be seen in the work of many contemporary artists. It is more than likely that the pluralism in contemporary Chinese art discussed in this thesis will continue although the forms it takes will to some extent be determined by political and economic factors. It is unlikely that contemporary Chinese art will totally reject the established cultural and aesthetic systems and establish a new one, based on the Western system. The traditions of Chinese culture remain strong, and it appears much more probable that an internal ‘re-shaping’ of both indigenous and imported elements will result in an artistic tradition that remains distinctively ‘Chinese’ as well as contemporary / Master of Arts (Hons)

This is a composite thesis realised in a sound installation titled Blitz: Discursive bombardments in ‘the war on terror’ with a supporting exegesis. The exegesis offers a context for the project in sound art theory and practice, focussing specifically on the history of experimental ‘electrovocal’ expressive forms. It provides an account of the artist’s perspectives on the topic itself: contemporary political discourse on themes of security and danger. The exegesis also defines the scope of the project and documents the creative process undergone to realise its outcome: an installation apparatus capable of folding visitors into a heightened sense of the zeitgeist of early 21st century Australia. The genealogy of the project is described in terms of pivotal decisions and insights, technologies and techniques used, and aesthetic and ethical concerns. The nexus of voice – its material and metaphorical resonances in public discourse – and technologies for recording, manipulating and circulating sound are central to the development of this apparatus. The core body of sounds used in the installation are the voices of politicians, media presenters, members of the public and ‘experts’ and are presented in the form of short sound bites. These were sampled from many hours of recordings of news and current affairs material captured from Australian public broadcasters (radio and television, the ABC and SBS) over the pre-election months of 2004. The voices extol and debate diverse ‘angles’ on the so-called ‘war on terror’ and its physical enactments and outcomes in the war on Iraq. Other sounds offset the voices to enhance a sense of surreal ambience and introduce meanings through metaphor; children’s voices; rhythmically dripping taps; footsteps; ticking clocks; the drone of planes overhead. Various sound processing techniques are applied to samples and a sonic montage iscreated through random juxtapositions of sounds played synchronously from an assemblage of iPods. The figure of the labyrinth is central to the work on many levels, materially and metaphorically. It is used to structure movement through the installation space, a dimly lit ‘black box’ studio of ten by eight metres. Against the traditional practice of silently ‘walking the labyrinth’ as metaphor for a ‘journey within’, the Blitz labyrinth invites walkers to fold themselves into a dynamic field of allusions and aural messages and thereby to warp and shift the emerging play of meanings. The walk wends in and out of proximity to seven iPods set in small portable speakers and dispersed around the floor of the installation space. The ‘pods’ broadcast playlists of sounds bites that play randomly in ‘shuffle’ mode – against one another and against silences – to convey a sense of immersion in the discursive blitz of messages about terrorism and war from the media. The labyrinth is drawn out across the floor in dashed lines – made from small reflective rectangles that light up as visitors move around the space with torches – and is designed to suggest the feel of a road or a landing ground at night. The meandering trajectory of walking bodies around the curves of the labyrinth creates a choreography of audition, of moving and listening strategically to a barrage of sound from ever shifting perspectives. It invites walkers to listen for possibilities that may lie between and beyond the dominant narratives of western political leaders, to locate the gaps and silences. Beyond the pervasive noise of discourse normalised by politicians and the media, what is it that we might otherwise wish to hear and to speak?

By the 1990's many modes of artwork incorporated the constructs of the museum. Art forms including, 'ethnographic art', 'museum interventions', 'museum fictions' and 'artist museums' were considered to be located in similar realms to each other. These investigations into this emerging 'genre' of collection-art have primarily focussed upon the critique of the public museum and its grand-narratives. This thesis will attempt to recognise that the critique of institutional hierarchical systems is now considered integral to much collection art and extends this enquiry to incorporate private collections which examine the narratives of everyday existence. This paper adopts an interdisciplinary approach to material culture and art criticism in examining everyday objects within contemporary collection-art. In this context, this paper argues that: the investigation of collection motivations (fetish, souvenir and system) as metaphor, process and imagery in conjunction with the mimicking of museology methodologies (classification, order and display) is an effective model for interpreting everyday objects within contemporary collection-art. In formulating this argument, this paper examines the ways in which artists emulate museology methodologies in order to convey cultural significance for everyday objects. This is explored in conjunction with the employment of collection motivations by artists as a device to understand elements of human/object relations. In doing so, it contemplates the convergence between the practices of museums and collection-artists. These issues are explored through the visual and analytic investigations of key artist case studies including: Damien Hirst, Sylvie Fleury, Mike Kelley, Christian Boltanski, On Kawara, Luke Roberts, Jason Rhoades, Karsten Bott and Elizabeth Gower. In doing so, this paper argues that the everyday objects of collection-art can represent a broad range of socio/cultural concerns, so delineating a closer relationship between collection-art and material culture.

Experience of Antarctica is unique and overwhelming and the phenomenon of the landscape and knowledge of its history continues to inspire artists and writers. Since Antarctica's discovery and exploration both before and during the Heroic Age; explorers, expeditioners, artists and writers have attempted to record and visualise Antarctica. In1982 international Antarctic programmes started to assist artists to travel to Antarctica with the intention of providing perceptive interpretations no longer attached to science or exploration. This practice-led research is the first project where a jeweller has explored and interpreted a personal experience of Antarctica to produce souvenir and jewellery objects. These objects reveal new interpretations of Antarctica that engage with the viewer through the recognisable personal jewellery and souvenir object. This research has produced new contemporary souvenir and jewellery objects by interpreting both personal photographs and re-examining the historic stories, photographs and representations of Antarctica. The bibliographic investigations of historical jewellery and souvenirs provided specific examples of historical personal mementos that are now displayed in museums. This research analyses the meaning of historical examples of souvenirs and jewellery and examines the way in which photography has been manipulated and used on hard media. Through this analysis and examination of historical examples the research focuses on studio-based experimentation with enamelling and contemporary technologies to establish the links enamelling has had with micromosaics and miniature painting. This practice-led research investigates new and innovative ways to interpret these historical techniques and draw on the notion of the souvenir. Thinking through the processes used in this research and retelling the personal experience of Antarctica, contemporary technologies are used to reimagine historical examples of tourist jewellery and personal souvenirs presenting a further understanding of Antarctica's significance both culturally and environmentally. The research not only provides an addition to the diverse range of interpretations of Antarctica it also explores the area of enamelling in contemporary jewellery and object making by contributing to the current revival of the tradition both locally and internationally. This research offers new experiences and knowledge through the investigation, experimentation, manufacture and installation of enamelled objects.

This thesis explores the rich and provocative fields of interaction between Australian artists and museums from 1975 to 2002. Artists have investigated and engaged with museums of art, social history and natural science during this period. Despite the museum being a major source of exploration for artists, the subject has rarely been examined in the literature. This thesis redresses this gap. It identifies and examines four prevailing approaches of Australian contemporary art to museums in this period: oppositional critique, figurative representation, intervention and collaboration. / The study asserts that a general progression from oppositional critique in the seventies through to collaboration in the late nineties can be charted. It explores the work of three artists who have epitomised these approaches to the museum. Peter Cripps developed an oppositional critique of the museum and was intimately involved with the art museum politics in Melbourne during the mid-seventies. Fiona Hall figuratively represented the museum. Her approach documented and catalogued museum tropes of a bygone era. Narelle Jubelin’s work intervened with Australian museums. Her work has curatorial capacities and has had real effect within Australian museums. These differing artistic approaches to the museum have the effect of contesting history and expanding narrative within museums. / Curators collaborated with artists and used artistic methods to create exhibits in Australian museums during the 1990s. Artistic approaches are a major methodology of museums seeking to contest traditional modes of history and expand narrative in their exhibits. Contemporary art has played a vital, curatorial, role in the Hyde Park Barracks, Museum of Sydney, Melbourne Museum and Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, amongst other museums. While in earlier years artists were well known for their resistive approach to the art museum, this thesis shows that artists have increasingly participated in new forms of representation within art, social history, and natural history museums. I argue that the role of contemporary art within “new” museums is emblematic of new approaches to history, space, narrative and design within the museum. (For complete abstract open document)

<p>This study critically reviews four works of the artist Joanna Rytel with the intention to find out if and how she is provocative. In order to do that I have studied the reactions on these works, mainly through press material, which differs from letters to the editors and comments posted on discussion forums that's also been used. My conclusion is that Rytel provokes not just because of her choice of subject, but because of her concept of 'art' doesn't agree with the general public's, i.e. 'art' is supposed to be something merely beautiful. The journalists sometimes seems provoked by Rytel's ability to draw attention and have claimed that to be her main aim.</p>