M.A . / The nude is generally approached as a historical and cultural product of specific societies, while a generic conception of the nude as a genre of gendered art (Gill Saunders, 1989), rather than as form (Kenneth Clark, 1956) is more vaguely perceived in underlying assumptions in texts on the nude, and the works themselves. The tradition of the nude is extremely varied, and complex. My purpose is not to unify or simplify this tradition. Any nude is never one thing alone, but is subject to interpretation. The nude, largely through recent feminist interpretations, has come to fulfil the role of trustee for alterity (Lynda Nead, 1992). By considering the main typologies in which the nude has been studied and interpreted, I hope to show the importance and significance of gender in art, aesthetics, and finally, philosophy. The significance of this thesis is to confront the antagonism between traditional and contemporary feminist issues and that of the standard patriarchal tradition. In this regard the nude is an interesting and rewarding genre of the expression of gender, as it deals with the delicate concerns of this category. The central problematic of the research is the question of gender. On an epistemological level, feminism 'introduces' the category of gender, which subverts and challenges all previous conceptions of the human subject. While I wish to bear in mind the history of oppression through the neglect and negation of the category of gender, I also recognise the vital importance of moving beyond this structure by proposing the celebration of plurality through more life-affirming readings of nudity in art. Although femeneutics may sound idiosyncratic, I propose to use the term as shorthand for feminist studies combined with a hermeneutic approach.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This study concerns the deliberate subordination in painting of thirteen art elements and principles, the primary pictorial features, and examination of the intervals between pictorial events, the pictorial interface. A written record was kept of the artist's observations and impressions during the making of ten nonobjective paintings and their later study. The artist selected five paintings as more successfully subordinating the primary pictorial features and three paintings as most successfully exhibiting the three characteristics determined for the pictorial inter face: (1) conceptual resonance, (2) ambiguity, and (3) unbiasedness. The three paintings selected as most successfully exhibiting the characteristics of the pictorial interface coincided with three of the five paintings selected as more successfully subordinating the primary pictorial features.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1965 S557 / Master of Science

I present and defend a two-category ontology of art. The basic idea of it is that singular artworks are physical objects, whereas multiple artworks are types of which there can be tokens in the form of performances, copies, or other kinds of realisations. I argue that multiple artworks, despite being abstract objects, have a temporal extension, thus they are created at a certain point of time and can also drop out of existence again under certain conditions. They can, however, not be perceived by the senses and cannot enter into causal relations. The identity of an artwork is determined by its structural properties, but also by the context in which it was made. The essential contextual properties of an artwork are those that are relevant to the meaning of the work. A realisation of a multiple artwork has to comply with the structure of the work and has to stand in the correct intentional and/or causal-historical relation to the work. Realisations that diverge too much from the structure of the work, like translations of literary works, are what I call “derivative artworks”. I argue against the thesis that all artworks are multiple. I claim that there are singular artworks, and some of them are even necessarily singular. I show why certain standard arguments against the idea that all artworks can be realised multiple times are flawed, and present my own theory about what decides whether a work is singular or multiple, namely that successful intentions of the artist determine which category an artwork belongs to. Concerning singular artworks, I also investigate what the relation between the work and the matter it is made of is, and how a work can survive a change in its parts and still remain the same work.

Danto thinks that the development of art history was over in 1964, because Andy Warhol's "Brillo Box" appeared. We can no longer make a distinction between this work of art and the real Brillo Box, which is just a commonplace object. However, the end of art does not mean we cannot make art anymore, nor does it mean that art has lost its value. It just means the concept of art is exhausted. No new style of art can emerge. There is no direction for art history to go on. Danto told us that there are two consequences of the end of art. One is we can find the essence of art and define art in terms of non-manifest properties. The other is pluralism. / Danto was influenced by Hegel's view of art history, he used "self understanding of art" to interpret the development of art, and he thought that the development of modernist art is to find out the essence of art. The end of art means that art can no longer understands itself, it should pass this mission to philosophy. Although generally speaking I agree with that the interpretation of art history given by Danto, I think the end of modernism does not necessarily mean the end of art, and also there is no need to interpret the development of modernist art only from the perspective of seeking the essence of art. Moreover, I do not accept the definition proposed by Danto. I want to argue that we can define art when there is no essence. Besides discussing the problems of the end of art and the definition of art, I have also discussed problems that are related to pluralism, such as evaluation of art and postmodernism. / 梁光耀. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2006. / 參考文獻(p. 178-182). / Adviser: Chang Yuan Liu. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-02, Section: A, page: 0599. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2006. / Can kao wen xian (p. 178-182). / Liang Guangyao.

This research aims to suggest a means of creating a closer relationship between technological artwork and its viewers through applying 'naturalising' technology in art using the theory of Yin-Yang O-Hang. The questions are raised : 1/. What are the vital factors of technological artworks? 2/. What sorts of methods can make using technology in arts more effective? 3/. How to overcome the difficulties in getting an intimate relationship between viewers and technological artworks? In order to optimise the aesthetic use of technology in art, the research is thus focused on 'naturalising' technology as a possible solution to overcome the negative aspects of technological artworks through the application of the theory of Yin-Yang O-Hang.Throughout this research, the author has discussed the fundamental concerns of the theory and its applications in Western and Eastern art. Furthermore, in investigating a number of artworks, the trends have been explored in technological art which are compatible with nature and humanity. The author has tried to find a way of applying the theory of Yin-Yang O-Hang to make technological art more intimate and accessible to viewers / Master of Arts (Hons)

Thesis (M. Tech Degree. Fine Arts) Tshwane University of Technology 2012. / The topic for this study was sparked when a colleague observed that many of my artworks expressed certain Zen philosophies. As I examined the works of artists who influenced me, the Zen principles were highlighted and thus began a process of examining these principles. The study follows the spread of Buddhism from India, where it originated, to China, where it later spread, and finally to Japan, where Zen philosophies are still practised today. Confronted by words in foreign languages and new philosophical terms, this study seeks to clarify and demystify complex Eastern traditions, rituals and practices in order to explore Zen principles, such as dualism, spontaneity, non-action, the interconnectedness of all phenomenon and beauty in its natural form. The study begins with an introduction to Buddhism and proceeds to explain the link to Daoism, highlighting the aforementioned Zen philosophies and practices like the tea ceremony and demonstrating their influence on Andy Goldsworthy, Anish Kapoor and Peter Voulkos, through an analysis of a selection of their artworks.