This paper looks at the different influences behind my senior art project. Chapter I discusses the history of ceramics and the ceramic artists whose work was influential for my project, specifically, Robert Arneson and Viola Frey. Chapter II looks at the non-ceramic artists whose work influenced my project by, Andy Goldsworthy and Sally Mann. It also talks about Land Art. Chapter III moves away from my artistic influences to discuss the main idea behind my project, which is my journey of self-discovery in New Zealand. Chapter IV looks to the influence of fantasy and science fiction genres on my project.

This paper considers theories of perception, interaction, and being as a historical and philosophical foundation for themes of space and the self within art; namely, my senior installation, Interior, Concept & Clay. Beginning with a biological discussion of the eye’s perception, the paper moves on to Kant’s theories of Differentiation of Direction in Space. From there, I discuss Gaston Bachelard’s text The Poetics of Space as an investigation of personal awareness within domestic interiors. Finally, I study the vast and varied philosophical notions of selfhood and no-selfhood with the help of John Canfield’s The Looking-Glass Self: An Examination of Self-Awareness. As these influential texts are connected to one another as important accounts of the human experience, I weave in the story of Interior, Concept & Clay as an example of selfhood and space interacting in multiple, complex dimensions.

This project is a composition of the intersectionality between process, structure, and materiality, and an obsession, fixation, and fetishization of the simplistic yet repetitive ‘chain’ form. The thematic infatuation with the chain form became evident throughout my work in Spring 2014, while working with bronze, wood, and brass at the Slade School of Fine art in London, England. This fall I expanded on this concept to create my own representations of the chain form, abstracting and deterring it from any sociocultural origins, contexts, or landscapes.

Italy's post World War II art and artisan produce and her small and medium scale ceramic production between 1945 and 1958 has been characterised I by an apparent aesthetic synthesis of avant-garde ideals, craft traditions and popular culture. This thesis examines this particular occurrence through a multi and interdisciplinary approach. It has profited from the application of methodologies deriving from the different fields of history, ceramic-, art-, applied art-, design and architectural history and from information obtained from economic and naval histories and tourist guides. This has enabled on the one hand to explain this phenomenon and to situate the ceramic manufacturing sector and the objects within their socio-historical, economic and cultural framework and on the other to employ the objects themselves to challenge dominant ideas within contemporary design-, art-, craft- and ceramic history. The majority of the data that informs this work derives from the analysis of primary sources collected and researched in Italy such as the objects and works themselves, contemporary magazines, archives and interviews. Whilst the time-span has been defined by the perceived birth and decline of the synthesis phenomenon, the period studied in this thesis includes a brief introduction to the tradition and revival of Italy's post-unification ceramic culture and industry and the general aesthetic and artistic developments which have significantly influenced the post 1945 developments. This is followed by an in-depth account of the aesthetic panorama of Italian ceramics between 1945 and 1958 through the works of its protagonists and an analysis of ceramics used as an ornamental medium in architectural structures and modem interior decorating schemes and exteriors. Another part analyses the ceramic industry from a production, economical, commercial and consumption point of view and establishes its significant role not only in relation to Italy's overall economic reconstruction efforts but in the creation of the image that constituted the ideals associated with the 'Made in Italy' label. The last part examines Italian ceramic culture between 1945 and 1958 in its contemporary design, art and craft context. It will present the history of Italian material culture and design as based on an evolutionary model which is incompatible with modernist-lead design histories. In addition, this thesis challenges the under-representation of Italian ceramics within 20th century British ceramic, art, craft and design history and the British approach to ceramic writing and aims to incite further multi and interdisciplinary approach to the history of design.

The aim of this thesis is to give an alternative insight to the existing concept of individuality in visual art through an examination of the meaning of being individual for visual art practitioners, particularly for those who operate in an artists’ group setting. This research project is a critique of the seemingly unchallenged emphasis on the individuality and its strong association with creativity in the current British art schools. Cultivating individuality is one of the most important aims in both British and Japanese institutions where I have trained as an artist. Nevertheless, my group-oriented cultural background and my membership of an artists’ group studying in an individually-oriented environment raise questions challenging the meaning of being an individual itself. This thesis has no methodology set up at the beginning, which would usually be the case in a conventional academic thesis. Instead, the thesis develops thought experiments to examine what ‘individual’ means in order to arrive at methodology towards the end. Moreover, this piece of practiceled research is not about the contents of my practice but about the group feeling underlying my practice as an individual fine art practitioner. The investigation into the relational idea of the self of Zen, followed by Charles Sanders Peirce’s semiotics of the Universe of Three Categories, provide the research with a useful visual thinking tool: the triadic diagram. The investigation into the meaning of the individual develops further through an exploration of the concept of ‘groupness’. Definitions of the term are carefully unfolded until the terminology allows us to contemplate different senses of the individual: singularity- and groupness- oriented individual. As a result of the thought experiments examining different ideas of one’s individuality, there emerge several action research practice-led methodologies for the fine art practitioner working in a group situation. One methodology brings groupness into my individual practice, and another introduces groupness situations to other practitioners. The contribution of this thesis is to provide a basis for fine art practitioners like myself to revalue their individuality in harmony with their group membership.

Immersive Theater is a form of experimental theater that places spectators at the heart of the created work, by removing them from the constraint of static seats and instead encouraging them to explore an installed environment as a way of understanding the narrative. This thesis explores how Interior Design directly enhances a performance by creating spaces that challenge a spectator’s physical understanding of a narrative.

In a perfect world, teamwork just exists. People function harmoniously with each other & their environment. Although we do not live in a perfect world, people and environments can always change and adapt to better their relationships. The Pumphouse was abandoned 41 years after the project was completed because it no longer met the needs and performed the functions that it needed to perform. It no longer serves the same purpose that it once did. And while acknowledging its past, it must also address its new functions and become a piece of beautiful, usable architecture once more. This space will encourage visitors to break down the established barriers from their home or workplace environments and experience true, lasting teamwork. Through chance encounters, shared spaces, and large group gathering areas, guests are encouraged to interact with each other in more than the expected ways. In breaking down barriers and formal establishments, guests embark upon a beautiful process intended to change the way they interact with each other. This process of discovery-symbolized by the elements within this space- encourages the visitors to grow, discover and become enchanted- and not disappointed- by what they find.

This project started out as program for multi-family housing with a need for natural light, then, it changed. Through countless studies, it became evident that what started as an animal made up of bones and tissues was really just the vessel for the animal's soul. Light is the soul of design. The program represents the tissue and bones of the animal that is design.In this project two paths were taken. The first being pragmatic, the design bound by the program. Where in the second, the concept, light, beats up the program and ultimately makes for an inspiring place to live.

In redesigning the century old Scott House into a modern Class IV residence of an US Ambassador, his/her family, and staff the concepts of transparency, circulation, and materiality and the ideas of openness and design as a display of national identity are explored.

Process Art: A Dialectic Between Intention Versus AccidentThe Art Studio as an Experimental LaboratoryThe Artist's UnknownImagined ArchitectureSubterranean Architecture: Natural and Man-MadePirenesi's Carceri PrintsGaudi's Architectural ModelsSelf-Reflexion and the Subconscious in Art-MakingArt and Ecstasy