This dissertation is comprised of a recent series of compositions, titled the Nightmare series, and this thesis. The three compositions are Nightmare for JACK (a ballet) (2013), Second Nightmare, for KIKU/2.5 Nightmares for Jessie (2014), and Child of Chimera (2015). The thesis describes the aesthetic impulse behind this series of works, and identifies sociological and technological elements in the work. The primary topic of investigation is the “Uncanny Valley,” a term used primarily in robotics and gaming in reference to empathy towards androids and digital humanoid characters. This thesis investigates the uncanny valley in film, gaming, and psychology; examines the potential of the concept for use in experimental art; and describes the methods I have used to incite the emotion in my compositions.

O Rotting Sun is a pair of long narrative poems that leap, spanning over an epic-length manuscript—175 pages of prose block, lyrical verse, and projective verse. Its chief poetic-operational modes are: inclusion, fragmentation, textual destructions, intentional omissions, intentional misspelling, large narrative leaps; all of which engage a poetics of doubt and multiplicity. O Rotting Sun is a jarring and jangly poem of resistance, intended if possible, for being read aloud and argued with: a provocation of intense meditation, reflection, and when successful, disintegration of anger & agonism—followed by a reintegration of the reader back into a community of change and hope. These poems are an invitation to that hero’s journey which is sometimes painful, sometimes beautiful, sometimes both. I wish to welcome my heroic, wonderful, deep reader into this new world of O Rotting Sun.

My argument is that documentary texts can be transformed into artworks via the processes of intertextuality and detournement, when they are exhibited as video installations. I argue that early 1920s modernist avant-garde painter-filmmakers shared with contemporary documentary video installation painter-filmmakers particular tendencies, characteristics and interests. The bodies of work in each period explore the generic properties of documentary through (primarily) abstract visual associations, rather than through a conventional linear space. Important 1920s modernist avant-garde films by Dziga Vertov, Luis Bunuel, Salvador Dali, Joris Ivens, Man Ray and others will be considered in highlighting the relationship between documentary and avant-garde cinema. I use this discussion as a basis for examining my own work: for the creative component of this thesis, I filmed and edited a three screen video installation. I interviewed 67 Australian Muslims and used these interviews to explore the use of documentary in video installation. The theoretical framework I used is based on the following: Julia Kristeva?s notion of intertextuality, derived from Mikhail Bahktin?s work on dialogism, to interpret how documentary texts take on conventions appropriate to other genres; Guy Debord?s concept of d鴯urnement to provide a theory for the reuse of pre-existing artistic elements found in documentary film; genre theory to interpret interactions between documentary texts; Ludwig Wittgenstein?s notion of ?family resemblance? to explore the indistinct boundaries of documentary; and Pascal Beausse?s analysis of how artists have hijacked documentary. I also draw on Bill Nichols?s analytical framework of documentary modes (poetic, expository, observational, participatory, performative, reflexive) to explore documentary in cinema and installation art. The documentary genre is not habitually discussed outside film, television, photography or the web. My research demonstrates that the genre has found its place in other areas of artistic practice and can also apply to medium of video installation.

Intercultural theatre is a highly contested form of theatre. Critical discussions over its position as a revitalizing force or a colonial instrument have raged on for almost thirty years. An investigation into two theatre directors who have often been in the spotlight concerning these critical discussions, French theatre director, Ariane Mnouchkine, and Japanese cult icon, Shji Terayama, will illuminate the possibility of moving beyond such oppositions. Both have employed Asian theatre techniques and aesthetics, specifically Japanese, to produce highly theatrical performance events which actively engage their spectators. However, their methods vary from elegant integration to confrontational provocation. An extensive exploration into both artists prolific theatre, and the established theories concerning the process of creating intercultural theatre postulated by a range of theorists including, Patrice Pavis, Rustom Bharucha, Jacqueline Lo and Helen Gilbert, will reveal a fresh look at interculturalism where cross-cultural theatre exists on a continuum.

Texte remanié de: th. doct.--München--Universität, 2000. / Bibliogr. p. [455]-508.

Diss.--Berlin--Univ. der Künste, 2006. / Bibliogr. p. 214-237.

Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Etudes Hispaniques : Paris8 : 2007. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr. f. 570-584. Index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, August 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 2001. / Typescript. "Publisher's no.: UMI NQ67904." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 388-421). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ67904.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 2001. Graduate Programme in Music. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 388-421). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ67904.