Historically Black colleges and universities served as primary sites of modernist artmaking. In 1920, however, no HBCU offered an art major or employed full-time fine arts faculty. This dissertation examines that swift transformation, demonstrating it not as a simple evolution, but rather as a contested site of Black thought and protest. I show this not through an institutional history or "timeline" of Black college art departments, but rather in a sustained attention towards Black colleges as nodes within a larger network of publics constituting Black modernism as sites for subjectivity. In doing so, this dissertation examines the conjuncture between two coincident forms: that of modernist art and of the same era's radical modes of racial exclusion. I ask what is at stake in art as lived experience, at a moment in which modernist aesthetics made claims as a means of producing novel ways of inhabiting being human while simultaneous modes of racial formation devalued Blackness within that conceptual category as life. Through this, I track aesthetic production as a relation and set of experiences occurring through specific sites and publics as an asymmetric arena for contestation, with an emphasis on historically Black colleges and universities. My first chapter, "Organize, Strike, Paint: Making Modern Art at Historically Black Colleges," charts that shift in a set of breaks in art-making at HBCUs, arguing for a student-driven movement away from industrial education towards a modernist visual arts, one embedded within a larger constellation of sites. My second chapter, "Aaron Douglas and a Liberatory History of the Senses," looks closely at Fisk University through the work of painter Aaron Douglas in a set of site-specific murals he made which visualize a long narrative of Black history, art, and labor. I argue that Douglas interrogated in those paintings central questions of visual modernism, placing the radical exclusion of Black subjects in slavery and its afterlives in the Jim Crow era as central to an understanding of modern vision and subjectivity. Through such works, HBCUs stand as necessary sites for theorizing a history of vision and its relation to the "human," as a rejoinder to histories of visual modernism that do not meaningfully account for racialization. In my final chapter, "Black Study in the White Cube: Racialized Subjectivities and the Museum of Modern Art, ca. 1935," I demonstrate the circulation and exclusions that structured Black audiences and art viewing. I do so through an examination of the Museum of Modern Art’s African Negro Art exhibition, which Black artists engaged with as visitors at MoMA, through mediated forms in print and photography, as well as in circulating satellite shows presented at HBCUs. In doing so, I attend to both the modes of viewership at the museum proper as well as the ways it interacted within a broader network of Black publics. Similarly, I examine the specific content of that MoMA exhibit in its primitivist imagination of an African past, one which might be used as a ground for "modern" white subjects. I track how Black artists confronted that continued legacy of anti-Blackness and addressed the immense dislocations inherent in it. Throughout, I provided sustained attention to artists including Hale Woodruff, Loïs Mailou Jones, Aaron Douglas, John Biggers, Romare Bearden, Norman Lewis, Amaza Lee Meredith, William H. Johnson, Augusta Savage, and Elizabeth Catlett.

Spanish composer María Teresa Prieto (1895-1982) belongs to a group of Spanish exiles who left their country for Mexico as a result of the Spanish Civil War. She arrived in Mexico in 1936 and developed her compositional career in there. Her first composition after her arrival in the new country was the song cycle Seis Melodías, a work that includes six songs with poetry by Ricardo de Alcázar, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Federico García Lorca, and María Teresa Prieto herself. This document analyzes each one of the songs, both musically and poetically, as well as the relationship between music and text. Seis Melodías' structural organization as a cycle is very particular, since Prieto organized the cycle in pairs—namely I and II, III and IV, and V and VI—each group with strong poetic and thematic unity. The songs belonging to this cycle, present the duality of being independent and dependent at the same time, given that each song stands by itself, but together they create a meta-narrative that progresses from hope to desolation, not as a political statement, but as a homage to, as well as a lament, for the Spanish land and freedom. The cyclical nature of this work is accomplished by Prieto through motivic unity, a clear harmonic plan, and poetic relationships between the songs.

In this thesis, I explore the careers and songs of Florence Price and Margaret Bonds—two African American female composers who were part of the Chicago Renaissance. Price and Bonds were members of extensive, often informal, networks of Black women that fostered creativity and forged paths to success for Black female musicians during this era. Building on the work of Black feminist scholar Patricia Hill Collins, I contend that these efforts reflect Black feminist principles of Black women working together to create supportive environments, uplift one another, and foster resistance. I further argue that Black women's agency enabled the careers of Price and Bonds and that elements of Black feminism are not only present in their professional relationships, but also in their songs. Initially, I discuss how the background of the Harlem and Chicago Renaissances and racial uplift ideology shaped these women's artistic environment. I then examine how Bonds and Price incorporated, updated, and expanded versions of these ideals in their music and careers. Drawing on the scholarship of Rae Linda Brown, Angela Davis, and Tammy L. Kernodle, I analyze Price's "Song to the Dark Virgin," "Sympathy," and "Don't You Tell Me No" and Bonds's "Dream Variation," "Note on Commercial Theater," and "No Good Man" through a Black feminist lens. I contend that although Price and Bonds depicted harsh realities of Black women's experiences, they also celebrated Black women's resistance in spite of intersectional oppression. Ultimately, analyzing Black feminism in these composer's careers and songs opens a path for further exploration of how Black women's agency can facilitate activism through art.

O ESPAÇO COMO OBRA: Ações, Coletivos Artísticos e Cidade é uma reflexão a respeito dos processos de criação e impacto social das ações dos coletivos artísticos Contrafilé, Frente 3 de Fevereiro e Política do Impossível de São Paulo e GAC de Buenos Aires, que começaram a atuar em meados dos anos 1990. A dissertação foi desenvolvida a partir de diversas vozes, que se complementam e entrecruzam: uma voz narrativa, que vai apresentando descobertas feitas em minha atuação como artista no espaço urbano e que surge de uma dimensão local, inclusive íntima, chegando a uma voz mais \"reflexiva e acadêmica\"; vozes da grande mídia; as vozes dos próprios trabalhos artísticos apresentados; vozes dos coletivos, quando são utilizados como referências teóricas; e, por último, vozes de pensadores que de alguma forma influenciam o meu pensamento e o do movimento cultural do qual fazem parte as práticas urbanas aqui analisadas. O intuito é compreender como as intervenções urbanas, ao mesmo tempo, resultam e geram uma rede de afetos e significados e evidenciam a emergência de uma subjetividade política contemporânea que passa, necessariamente, por discutir e concretizar políticas de representação, relação, subjetivação e modos de vida alternativos aos impostos pelo neoliberalismo. Interessa, portanto, pensar como acontece e toma corpo a potência crítica situada deste tipo de resistência, configurando formas atuais do fazer político no contexto específico e complexo da cidade como escala e espaço referencial. O estudo se desenvolve como uma investigação ativa e participante de diversos trabalhos realizados pelos coletivos e através da qual me interessa observar essas ações/intervenções em seu poder disruptivo, ou seja, em sua capacidade de presentificar acontecimentos que de alguma forma desestabilizem representações sociais e sensações prévias. E que, ao evidenciar a possibilidade de fazê-lo, trazem à tona um saber circulatório que difunde a imagem produzida em situação representação direta e a experiência do \"público\" como obra. / The Space as theWork:Actions, Art Collectives and City is a reflection on creation processes and social impact of actions carried out by art collectives Contrafilé, Frente 3 de Fevereiro and Política do Impossível dfrom São Pauloe, as well as GAC Buenos Aires. These collectives have began work in the 1990\'s. The dissertation stems from multiple voices, which cross over and complement each other: a narrative voice that unravel discoveries made in my work as an artist in the urban space, emerging from a local and also intimate dimension, arriving at a \"more reflexive and academic\" voice; voices of the mainstream media; voices of the works studied; voices of the collectives, when they are mobilised as theoretical refeb rences and, lastly, voices of the thinkers who somehow influenced my thinking and voices of the cultural movement of which the urban practices under scrutiny are part of. The aim is to understand how the urban interventions at once result from and generate a network of affects and meanings, as they render evident the emergence of a contemporary political subjectivity. This subjectivity necessarily involves discussing and carrying out a politics of representation, relation, subjectivation and modes of life alternative to those imposed by neoliberalism. Under this light, the dissertation seeks to think how the critical potency situated in this kind of resistance can be embodied and takes place at all, configuring current forms of political making, in the specific and complex context of the city as scale and as referential space. This study developed as an active and participating investigation of several works carried out by the collectives. I seek to observe the actions/interventions in their disruptive power, i.e., in their capacity to render present events that somehow destabilise social representations and previous sensations. And which, as they evidence the possibility of being carried out, they bring to the surface a circulatory knowledge that diffuses the image produced in situation direct representation and the experience of the \"public\" as work.

Marta Traba (1923-1983), écrivaine et critique d’art argentino-colombienne, est principalement connue en Amérique latine pour ses écrits critiques, son engagement pour le développement de l’art moderne en Colombie, et plus largement pour sa « théorie de la résistance » qui prône dans les arts plastiques une défense des identités culturelles latino-américaines. Son œuvre littéraire, en revanche, est beaucoup moins connue. Or, elle est non seulement très riche, mais elle forme le pendant narratif à son œuvre critique, un ensemble de récits innervés, de manière plus ou moins profonde, des conceptions et de la culture trabiennes sur l’art. Il s’agit dès lors de reconsidérer ces deux pans de sa production écrite comme un tout cohérent, et de montrer les influences et les interactions entre sa critique d’art et sa littérature, mais également entre les arts plastiques qui forment sa culture artistique et ses écrits fictionnels. Il apparaît alors que Marta Traba conçoit et pratique son écriture critique comme une écriture « littérarisée » et, réciproquement et surtout, sa littérature comme une littérature « artialisée » : la valorisation constante du regard esthétique sur le monde et d’une sensorialité exacerbée dessine un idéal de contemplation tout au long de son œuvre littéraire ; les insertions continues d’une terminologie critique et de références aux œuvres d’art, sur un mode tantôt clairement didactique, tantôt subtilement ludique, invitent le lecteur à lire ses fictions et poèmes au prisme du sous-texte artistique qui enrichit leur sens ; enfin, le récit devient le lieu d’expérimentation des théories trabiennes de la « résistance », entre réaffirmation de la place de l’Amérique latine sur la carte de l’art mondial, mise à distance défensive des influences nord-américaines et réappropriation locale, par « transculturation », des modèles artistiques étrangers. L’étude de l’artialisation de la littérature trabienne est donc loin d’être l’analyse d’un simple procédé formel : elle dégage, nous semble-t-il, un véritable style trabien, miroir de l’écrivaine et de ses convictions. / Marta Traba (1923-1983), an Argentinian-Colombian writer and art critic, is most famous in Latin America for her critiques, her commitment to develop modern art in Colombia, and, more generally, for her “theory of resistance” which advocates the defence of the many cultural Latin-American identities in fine arts. Her literary work, however, is far less well-known. And yet, not only is it very rich, but it also constitutes the narrative counterpart to her critiques – a collection of tales innervated, to different degrees, with Traba’s notions on and knowledge of art. It is consequently about reconsidering these two sides of her written production as a consistent whole, and identifying the influences and interactions between her art critiques and her literary work, as well as between the fine arts which make up her artistic culture and her fictional writings.It then appears that Marta Traba devises and practices her critical writing “literarily” as she does, above all, her literary work “artistically”: the constant enhancement of the aesthetic eye on the world and of an intensified sensory experience shape an ideal of contemplation throughout her literary work; the continuous inserts of a critical terminology and of references to art works, sometimes in a clearly didactic mode, sometimes in a subtly playful manner, invite the reader to read her fiction stories and poems in the light of the artistic subtext which enriches their meaning; finally, the tale becomes the place where Traba’s theories of “resistance” are tested, at the crossroads of the re-affirmation of the place of Latin America on the map of international art, of the defensive distancing from North American influences, and of the local re-appropriation, by “transculturation”, of the foreign artistic models. The study of the artistic mutation of Traba’s literary work is therefore far from boiling down to the analysis of a mere formal process: from our point of view, it reveals an authentic style, Traba’s style, which is the mirror of the writer and her convictions.

O ESPAÇO COMO OBRA: Ações, Coletivos Artísticos e Cidade é uma reflexão a respeito dos processos de criação e impacto social das ações dos coletivos artísticos Contrafilé, Frente 3 de Fevereiro e Política do Impossível de São Paulo e GAC de Buenos Aires, que começaram a atuar em meados dos anos 1990. A dissertação foi desenvolvida a partir de diversas vozes, que se complementam e entrecruzam: uma voz narrativa, que vai apresentando descobertas feitas em minha atuação como artista no espaço urbano e que surge de uma dimensão local, inclusive íntima, chegando a uma voz mais \"reflexiva e acadêmica\"; vozes da grande mídia; as vozes dos próprios trabalhos artísticos apresentados; vozes dos coletivos, quando são utilizados como referências teóricas; e, por último, vozes de pensadores que de alguma forma influenciam o meu pensamento e o do movimento cultural do qual fazem parte as práticas urbanas aqui analisadas. O intuito é compreender como as intervenções urbanas, ao mesmo tempo, resultam e geram uma rede de afetos e significados e evidenciam a emergência de uma subjetividade política contemporânea que passa, necessariamente, por discutir e concretizar políticas de representação, relação, subjetivação e modos de vida alternativos aos impostos pelo neoliberalismo. Interessa, portanto, pensar como acontece e toma corpo a potência crítica situada deste tipo de resistência, configurando formas atuais do fazer político no contexto específico e complexo da cidade como escala e espaço referencial. O estudo se desenvolve como uma investigação ativa e participante de diversos trabalhos realizados pelos coletivos e através da qual me interessa observar essas ações/intervenções em seu poder disruptivo, ou seja, em sua capacidade de presentificar acontecimentos que de alguma forma desestabilizem representações sociais e sensações prévias. E que, ao evidenciar a possibilidade de fazê-lo, trazem à tona um saber circulatório que difunde a imagem produzida em situação representação direta e a experiência do \"público\" como obra. / The Space as theWork:Actions, Art Collectives and City is a reflection on creation processes and social impact of actions carried out by art collectives Contrafilé, Frente 3 de Fevereiro and Política do Impossível dfrom São Pauloe, as well as GAC Buenos Aires. These collectives have began work in the 1990\'s. The dissertation stems from multiple voices, which cross over and complement each other: a narrative voice that unravel discoveries made in my work as an artist in the urban space, emerging from a local and also intimate dimension, arriving at a \"more reflexive and academic\" voice; voices of the mainstream media; voices of the works studied; voices of the collectives, when they are mobilised as theoretical refeb rences and, lastly, voices of the thinkers who somehow influenced my thinking and voices of the cultural movement of which the urban practices under scrutiny are part of. The aim is to understand how the urban interventions at once result from and generate a network of affects and meanings, as they render evident the emergence of a contemporary political subjectivity. This subjectivity necessarily involves discussing and carrying out a politics of representation, relation, subjectivation and modes of life alternative to those imposed by neoliberalism. Under this light, the dissertation seeks to think how the critical potency situated in this kind of resistance can be embodied and takes place at all, configuring current forms of political making, in the specific and complex context of the city as scale and as referential space. This study developed as an active and participating investigation of several works carried out by the collectives. I seek to observe the actions/interventions in their disruptive power, i.e., in their capacity to render present events that somehow destabilise social representations and previous sensations. And which, as they evidence the possibility of being carried out, they bring to the surface a circulatory knowledge that diffuses the image produced in situation direct representation and the experience of the \"public\" as work.

Christianity and Hip-Hop culture are often said to be at odds with one another. One is said to promote a lifestyle of righteousness and love, while the other is said to promote drugs, violence, and pride. As a result, the public has portrayed these two institutions as conflicting with no willingness to resolve their perceived differences. This paper will argue that there has always been a healthy conversation between Hip-Hop and Christianity since Hip-Hop’s inception. Using sources like Hip-Hop lyrics, theologians, historians, autobiographies, sermons, and articles that range from Ma$e to Tipper Gore, this paper will look at the conversation between Hip-Hop and Christianity that has been ongoing for decades. This thesis will show why that conversation is essential for the church and necessary for Hip-Hop artists to express themselves fully. This paper will show rap and Hip-Hop culture to be a complex institution with its own theology, history, and prophets – that uses its own voice to express how urban youth view not only their lives but also how God and the church are present in their lives.

The rate of acceleration of the biologic and synthetic world has for a while now, been in the process of exponentially speeding up, maxing out servers and landfills, merging with each other, destroying each other. The last prehistoric relics on Earth are absorbing the same oxygen, carbon dioxide and electronic waves in our biosphere as us. A degraded .jpeg enlarged to full screen on a Samsung 4K UHD HU8550 Series Smart TV - 85” Class (84.5” diag.). Within this composite ecology, the ancient limestone of the grand canyon competes with the iMax movie of itself, the production of Mac pros, a YouTube clip from Jurassic park, and the super bowl halftime show. A search engines assistance with biographic memory helps our bodies survive new atmospheres and weigh the gravities that exist around the versions of an objects materiality. Communication has moved from our vocal chords, to swipes and taps of our thumbs on a screen that predicts the weather, accesses the hidden, invisible, and withdrawn information from the objects around us, and still ducks up what we are trying to say. This txt was written on a tablet returned to stock settings and embedded with content to mine the experience in which mediated technology creates, communicates and obscures new forms of language. Life in a new event horizon — a dimensional dualism that finds us competing for genetic and mimetic survival — we are now functioning as different types of humans.

Between 1960 and 1992, American artist George Tsutakawa (1910 – 1997) created more than sixty fountain sculptures for publicly accessible sites in the U.S., Canada, and Japan. The vast majority were made by shaping sheet bronze into geometric and organically inspired abstract forms, often arranged around a vertical axis. Though postwar modernist artistic production and the issues it raises have been widely interrogated since the 1970s, and public art has been a major area of study since about 1980, Tsutakawa's fountains present a major intervention in North America's urban fabric that is not well-documented and remains almost completely untheorized. In addition to playing a key role in Seattle's development as an internationally recognized leader in public art, my dissertation argues that these works provide early evidence of a linked concern with nature and spirituality that has come to be understood as characteristic of the Pacific Northwest. Tsutakawa was born in Seattle, but raised and educated primarily in Japan prior to training as an artist at the University of Washington, then teaching in UW's Schools of Art and Architecture. His complicated personal history, which in World War II included being drafted into the U.S. army, while family members were interned and their property confiscated, led art historian Gervais Reed to declare that Tsutakawa was aligned with neither Japan nor America – that he and his art existed somewhere in-between. There is much truth in Reed's statement; however, artistically, such dualistic assessments deny the rich interplay of cultural allusions in Tsutakawa's fountains. Major inspirations included the Cubist sculpture of Alexander Archipenko, Himalayan stone cairns, Japanese heraldic emblems, First Nations carvings, and Bauhaus theory. Focusing on the early commissions, completed during the 1960s, my study examines the artist's debts to intercultural networks of artistic exchange – between North America, Asia, and Europe – operative in the early and mid-twentieth century, and in some cases before. I argue that, with his fountain sculptures, this Japanese American artist sought to integrate and balance such binaries as nature/culture, intuition/reason, and spiritual/material, which have long served to support the construction of East and West as opposed conceptual categories. / Graduate

The City of Holyoke, Massachusetts is one of many aging, industrial cities striving to revitalize its economy based on the promise of increased digital connectivity and clean energy resources. But how do you renovate 19th century mills to meet the demands of the information age? This architectural study explores the potential impact of sensing technologies and information networks on the definition and function of buildings in the 21st century. It explores the changes that have taken place in industrial architecture since 1850 and argues for an architecture that supports local relationships and environmental awareness. The author explores the industrial history of Holyoke, appraises emerging uses of sensing technologies and presents a thorough narrative of her site analysis and conceptual design of a digital fabrication and incubation center within an existing textile mill.