The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the use of alchemy within the work of Rebecca Horn, to elucidate its presence in her work, and to illuminate its purpose as a personal philosophy and as a creative tool. The use of alchemy within Horn's work occurs as a process of revelation and transformation. Alchemy is revealed as a spiritual philosophy and as an interpretative system through the changes that occur in Horn's oeuvre. Throughout Horn's career, alchemy has developed into an interpretive system, a type of spiritual and cosmic perspective, that allows the artist to study, access, and meld diverse realities (sacred and profane) and diverse social systems (religious and scientific) into a more holistic and spiritually infused reality for herself and society-at-large. The purpose of her work is to help reinvest contemporary life with a spiritual presence by offering a model and a means of bringing the sacred into the profane.

Utilizing alchemy as an allegory for the political, social, cultural history and present of the Caribbean, I discuss critical themes, approaches, methodologies their development, application and evidence in my thinking and art practice.

Student Number : 8701228T - PhD thesis - School of Literature and Language Studies - Faculty of Humanities / The argument that unfolds throughout this thesis represents the development of my own understanding of the Renaissance conception and application of alchemical theories and philosophies, especially as it applies to my appreciation of the works of two of the crucial figures of the period – Shakespeare and Ben Jonson. These men were far more than entertainers. They were committed to their art as an essential component in the shaping and maintenance of the societal conscience. As dramatist-philosophers, they not only treated issues of topical interest and debate around the individual in relation to individual, and the individual in relation to the larger worlds of nature and politics, but also provided learned and insightful comment on the possible nature and function of the individual soul/mind in relation to itself. My deepening sensitivity to and comprehension of early modern alchemical philosophies and practices as apt analogies for psychological development led me to believe that Jonson and Shakespeare, separately though similarly, externalized, or dramatized, the inner trajectory of self-knowledge. This thesis, then, represents my own exploratory expedition into Renaissance epistemological thought as embodied in various alchemical texts. The correlations between alchemy and early modern psychologies become more apparent with each chapter. In the opening chapters, the historical and intellectual context for an hypothesis of a Renaissance psychology is set out. Chapter Three focuses on Renaissance conceptions of self-knowledge. The classical dictum of nosce teipsum is explored in relation to a range of contemporary alchemical arguments about the nature of philosophy and knowledge. In Chapter Four, I present a proposal of a Renaissance ‘model’ of psychological development, which may be seen to be analogous to the alchemical process as widely understood and depicted in the literature of the time. The fifth chapter is a ‘bridge’ between the foregoing thesis and the expository analysis of Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist and Shakespeare’s The Tempest: it particularizes the foregoing argument and attempts to come to some apprehension of Jonson’s individual conception of self-knowledge and psychological development. The sixth chapter demonstrates this apprehension in relation to Jonson’s The Alchemist. Shakespeare’s The Tempest is thus seen as being in direct conversation with both Jonson’s The Alchemist, and with the philosophical and artistic trends of the period. In Chapter Seven, I explore the evidence that Shakespeare was drawing from a ‘common pool’ of intellectual material with Jonson. However, I also suggest that Shakespeare presents a differing, though in some ways complementary, view of self-knowledge. Both Shakespeare and Jonson, I propose, are drawing on alchemical language and imagery to present contrasting characterizations of human potential and evolution. In effect, the respective dramatic texts present two distinct conceptualizations of the ‘philosopher’s stone’, which, in turn, suggests two models of human perfectibility that seem to be poles apart. These two works, however, are undeniably related and mutually effective within the Renaissance crucible of alchemy.

Symbols connect our deepest thoughts with our senses. This thesis explores the Alchemical symbols, developed by mythical deity Hermes Trismegistus, whose symbols remnant of geometric shapes represent the classical elements of Earth, Water, Fire and Air. Watercolor, graphite, and gesso are my primary materials as they can be manipulated by the classical element of water. With this, I can create representations of the symbols through the language of drawing. The audience is invited to open their thoughts and all senses to the Alchemical symbols and the distinctive forms that appear from the visual mixture of the materials. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T13:49:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JERONIMO MOREIRA DE OLIVEIRA.pdf: 636181 bytes, checksum: 539d8ed2373fcf99662b7c61fb149b41 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-05-25 / This thesis is useful to religion, religiousity and archetypes. The question is:- does understanding of the real and the imaginary conducts a person to a better situation in his/her life? To answer this question one would have to know the meaning of the phrase - a better situation in his/her live . Once the religiosity according to tell of the Other, these are, considered of moral tenor and the actions are used in the conduct as a sociologic vision to determine how these actions are done to the religious comprehension. How would be the mind s alchemy in old times seem through today s symbolic systems? Exemplifying, today, we have a CAVI (Ciclo de Aprendizagem Vivencial do Imaginário Imaginary s Lively Learning) very strong/virtual the technology that became CAV (Ciclo de Aprendizagem Vivencial Lively Learning Cycle) and the ours forefathers CAVI. The interaction of archetypes in the gender (father/mother) makes us comprehend the oracle s alchemy : seek the transformation as a stimulus the symbolic system of the CAV and CAVI together form the resultant. / Esta tese é da utilidade da religião, religiosidade e arquétipos. A questão é:- a compreensão do real e imaginário direciona a pessoa para uma melhor situação em sua vida? Para responder a esta questão teria de saber qual é o significado da frase- ...uma melhor situação em sua vida . Uma vez que a religiosidade esteja de acordo com dizer/fazer do Outro, estes são, considerados de teor moral e as ações são utilizadas na conduta como uma visão sociológica para determinar como estas ações são efetuadas para a compreensão religiosa. Como seria a alquimia da mente em tempos passados vistas pelo sistema simbólico de hoje? Exemplificando, hoje temos um (CAVI) Ciclo de Aprendizagem Vivencial do Imaginário muito forte/virtuala tecnologia, que passa a ser o nosso (CAV) Ciclo de Aprendizagem Vivencial e o CAVI dos nossos antepassados. A interação dos arquétipos nos gêneros (pai/mãe) nos faz compreender a alquimia do oráculo: buscar a transformação tendo como estímulo o sistema simbólico do CAV e do CAVI que somados formam a resultante.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-03-24T11:46:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Natália Aly Menezes.pdf: 27946657 bytes, checksum: 8d1cea71afe08bfa99c2cd060e96f7be (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-24T11:46:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Natália Aly Menezes.pdf: 27946657 bytes, checksum: 8d1cea71afe08bfa99c2cd060e96f7be (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-13 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This research seeks to contextualize the experimental audiovisual practices of the present through a strong connection with the past. Thus, the thesis excavates the earliest sources of optical and acoustic investigations that have, over the years, resulted in machines and media that surround us nowadays. However, the research does not follow linearities of traditional history. The theoretical methodology of the media archaeology is used seeking to restructures the mediatic historicism. Therefore, it’s possible to make analogies between alchemical practices (methods and discoveries), and the audiovisual contemporary practices. Moreover, this research aims to approach past and present in a technical way, in the union and combination of analog and digital, proposing an analysis and the creation of fruitful hybrid structures of the experimental audiovisual / Esta pesquisa busca contextualizar as práticas audiovisuais experimentais do presente a partir de uma forte ligação com o passado. Para tanto, escava as mais antigas fontes de investigações óticas e acústicas que resultaram, ao logo dos anos, máquinas e mídias que nos cercam atualmente. No entanto, a pesquisa não segue linearidades da história tradicional. É usada a metodologia teórica da arqueologia das mídias que justamente reestrutura o historicismo midiático. Assim, é possível fazer analogias entre, por exemplo, práticas alquímicas – seus métodos e descobertas – para colocar em paralelo com os traquejos do audiovisual. Da mesma forma, esta pesquisa busca unir passado e presente de forma técnica, na união e combinação de estruturas maquínicas analógicas e o digital, propondo a criação e análise das frutíferas estruturas híbridas do audiovisual experimental

Si, dès le XVIIIe siècle le vocabulaire de la chimie s’est unifié et s’est vu apposé une certaine nomenclature destinée à faciliter sa compréhension, il n’en a jamais été de même pour le vocabulaire alchimique. Un vocabulaire est généralement un ensemble cohérent dont les significations sont établies uniformément et non pas individuellement. La particularité du vocabulaire alchimique est de ne pas refléter cet idéal d’uniformisation et de faire primer les interprétations individuelles.Jamais les adeptes de l'art d'hermès n'ont voulu apporter une codification dans l'usage de leurs termes (que ce soit pour les ustensiles ou pour les composants). Ce refus de s'aligner sur une langue technique commune a ostracisé les alchimistes du monde des sciences souvent dites « raisonnées ». Ce fait peut donc amener à appréhender l'alchimie d'une mauvaise manière. En effet, les alchimistes ne sont pas tous des travailleurs isolés, coupés du monde, reclus dans leurs propres acceptions théoriques, leur science participe aussi de cette idée de ''cosmopolis'' très prisée au XVIIIe siècle.Le problème de la compréhension de ce vocabulaire exceptionnel se pose donc de manière récurrente lorsque l’on tented’appréhender l’histoire de l’alchimie et de la replacer dans les contextes socio-culturels auxquels elle ne pouvait éviter d’appartenir.Cette thèse a donc pour but de mieux définircertains termes du vocabulaire alchimique del’époque moderne, de leur donner un sens ausein de leurs environnements littéraires etculturels. / During the XVIIIe century, chemistry has started its journey on the path of the unification, codification and normalization ofits vocabulary. The same process doesn’t apply to alchemy. The vocabulary of the hermetical arts has never managed toestablish a normalized lexical field. Considering that any vocabulary being essentially an attempt to unify ideas around asame concept, the alchemical one shows a particularity by being divided, fragmented and highly individualistic. This fact is most likely not a coincidence, it comes more from a secrecy measure wanted by the alchemists to prevent any greedy use of the powerful alchemical secrets. However, this way of secrecy and complexity has slowly but surely took alchemy away from the established sciences. This state of fact can easily bring one to mistake alchemy for a science of men disconnected from their social and cultural backgrounds, working only for themselves, which is not the case. The matter of the alchemical vocabulary understanding is therefore a reoccurring and prominent issue for whom wants to understand the implications of alchemy in the modern thinking and society. This thesis aims at giving a better understanding of several alchemical terms, concerning Modern era, both on a literary and cultural levels.

The artist discusses the work for his Masters of Fine Arts exhibition, Mind under Matter, held at the Tipton Gallery in downtown Johnson City, Tennessee. Exhibition dates are from March 27th through April 5th 2017. ‘Matter under Mind’ explores the balance of control and non-control within the art-making process. This technique creates an automatic dialogue resulting in abstraction guided by the subconscious. The title ‘Matter under Mind’ is a slight play on the phrase ‘mind over matter’ emphasizing how matter/material is manipulated by the mind through the making of artwork, and within the mind’s eye or imagination. The video installation featuring the work is accompanied by a soundscape to bring the viewer deeper into the creative process. The video symbolizes the idea of ‘solve et coagula’ or, dissolve and coagulate, destroy to recreate by revealing how the process of cleaning paint off of a surface creates artwork in itself.

It became very obvious, during my research, that alchemy was much more than just aspects of practical metallurgy and much more relevant in terms of symbolic and psychic investigations into the significance of the unconscious mind, the individual and the journey to discover the 'centre.' I use the concept of alchemy as a means to explore the unknown mystery of existence, being and the inner self. 'One Square Inch Between the Eyes' is a phrase used by Taosists to describe that area of the body that contains the highest form of energy and is the centre of spiritual development and transformations. Important aspects of true alchemy appear through Taosist manifestations and is expressed by the unity of nature and humankind. It is seen as a principle of universal understanding and a means to get behind or within appearances. This thesis begins to inquire into aspects of how alchemical notions have developed, both on a practical and symbolic level and how both have impacted on our lives. In the research process, several definitions of alchemy have been identified together with how these definitions have been adopted culturally. I begin to look at areas of art and creativity, science and chemistry, medicine and illness and how people see these aspects of cultural necessities through alchemical concepts and notions. / Master of Arts (Hons) (Visual Arts)

The novel Children Of The Earth is about transformation. It uses Ovid's Metamorphoses as a metaphor for the processes which occur in the psyche of each character, and is based on Jungian insights into myth and alchemy. Archetypes that underlie the unconscious processes of all humanity are seen in the symbolism of three very different religious traditions, namely Greek mythology, the Hebrew Old Testament and Australian Aboriginal beliefs. I explore the ways in which these three great mythologies might have converged in colonial South Australia. The story deals with the troubled marriage of isolated settler couple, Hestia and Adam George, and the effects on it of three people who come into their lives. Itinerant German mineralogist Johannes Menge ( based on a real life pioneer ) is a self-taught, eccentric polymath, and a devout but unorthodox exponent of the Bible. In Jungian terms he fulfils the role of an archetypal, but flawed, ' Wise Old Man'. Menge represents nineteenth century Protestantism, albeit still trailing some arcane superstitions. His protégé, a disgraced young teacher of classics, calls himself Hermes, and represents the role of Greek mythology in European civilization. Reliving the life of the mercurial god in the antipodes, he becomes messenger, trickster and seducer. Unatildi, an Indigenous girl whom Adam finds in a burnt-out tree trunk, is an archetypal maiden. She introduces the Europeans to the mythology of their new land, as sacred for her people as the Bible is for Johannes Menge. Each of these three characters plays a part in transforming the marriage of Adam and Hestia, and each, in turn, undergoes a personal metamorphosis. Aboriginal women act as midwives at the birth of the love-child of Hestia and Hermes. Named Sophia, after the goddess of wisdom, the new child is thought to have inherited the miwi spirit of Unatildi's lost infant. On his deathbed, as Menge bequeaths his wisdom to his Australian friends, he predicts that Sophia will understand the sacredness of all spiritual life. Eventually Hestia and Adam find themselves changed by their encounters with the archetypes of myth. News of Menge's death on the goldfields gives them the courage they need to begin rebuilding an honest relationship. The novel is 107,400 words in length and is accompanied by an exegesis of 20,170 word, entitled Myth And Alchemy In Creative Writing. The exegesis describes the interactive process of researching and writing, as well as exploring the value of Jungian concepts for creative writing, and current issues of creating Indigenous characters. There is an emphasis on the Jungian approach to mythology and alchemy. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Humanities, 2006.