In this art-based study I will examine the construction of identity creating three life size figures utilizing metaphor and symbolism. I recorded and analyzed the process through reflections. The artist/teacher/researcher will provide conclusions based on art production and self-reflection.

In this art-based study I will examine the construction of identity creating three life size figures utilizing metaphor and symbolism. I recorded and analyzed the process through reflections. The artist/teacher/researcher will provide conclusions based on art production and self-reflection.

Over the past two decades a body of scholarship on the Global South has begun to present new ways to conceptualize African cities and their spatio-temporal specificity. Despite this, the city of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia is moving towards the reestablishment of its faded glory through means of aspatial modernization. The city’s aspirations for distinction and visibility can be seen as responses to the variable scales of contemporary urban systems. As ‘place’ is arguably no longer a singular concept, cities are rooted in relational networks rather than in ‘place’ alone. ‘Locality’ thus extends beyond the physical site to include linkages with a network of places around the world. Using an art-based research methodology, this research contributes to the discourse of urban development in the Global South generally, and Addis Ababa specifically. Findings are juxtaposed through documentation that includes theoretical essays, reportage, survey-informed graphics, interviews, and excerpts from a short film series and an existing plan for the Megenegna area. Potentials and challenges of place-based conceptions of urbanism are discussed, linking to the legacy of the 1960s mechanical and social paradigms. The insitutional role of UN-Habitat in the global collective supports is discussed for potential to supports existing resources and demographics for improved mobility and accessibility.

The purpose of this dissertation is to enact and poetically story the nonlinear emergence of an a/r/tographic practice called gathering—a situated art practice of storying, doing, and making as researching and thinking—in multiple contexts, including early childhood teacher education and imperial and settler colonialism in Canada. Over two years, I sustained a ritual of gathering where I (re)read texts (e.g., Indigenous theories, Chicana feminisms, antiracist theories, postcolonial theories, and subaltern theories) and (re)walked the neighbourhood of my apartment on the stolen territories of the Lkwungen people, who are one of the Coast Salish peoples, on southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. While I walked and as I read, I attended to how other artists, animals, and I gathered objects and ideas, the effects of the environment and weather, and the theoretical orientations and contexts of the ideas and objects. The poetic stories in this dissertation entangle bits of the ideas and objects I gathered during my walks and readings. I also story how my personal artistic process of gathering unfolded into teaching an inclusive practice course in the Early Childhood Care and Education Department at Capilano University. I and my class of preservice early childhood educators gathered on and around the Capilano campus, located on the traditional territories of Coast Salish peoples, including the Tsleil-Watuth, Skwxwú7mesh, shíshálh, Lil’Wat, and Musqueam Nations. With this a/r/tographic research, I offer a pedagogical and aesthetic way with which to attune to the process, conditions, and situations of engaging multiple theories. I inquire into different ways of relating with and taking responsibility for others and into what kinds of partial, incomplete, and imperfect regenerations, possibilities, and futures present themselves through gathering within a context of imperial and settler colonialism in Canada. / Graduate

This paper examines the impact of learning a new medium on artistic expression and creativity. By investigating art made during the learning process of ceramic art, I clarify the influence of initial learning stages in an art medium and their influence on creative thinking and motivation. I use two qualitative research strategies, a narrative analysis of the emotional and technical changes I experienced using clay and ceramic materials, and an examination of the art produced during this process. Data is collected through journal entries and photographs of art as I progress. This paper combines previous research in art education and history, and art therapy, as I address our ability to learn aesthetic and visual skills and our motivation to produce during times of frustration. Learning a new medium provides strategies for stepping away from our own expectations of our art, examining the art we create for what it is and what we can learn from it rather than what we believe it should have been.

Name Art as a starting point in the process of a class educational program for preschool children Abstract This work in its theoretical part specifies the definition of art education, work and art techniques at kindergartens. It describes both the historical and the current ideas on changes of art creation of pre-school children. It goes into the solutions, competency, preparations and the actual creation of a class curriculum for pre-school children at contemporary kindergartens. The empirical part describes experience of my colleagues in the creation of a class curriculum with a focus on the global view, motivation and integrated programmes. The practical part illustrates the class curriculum based on a year-round project which comes out of art activities. There is a motivational theme that goes through the whole project and motivates children in other spheres of education as well. There is an offer of activities and a close relation to other subjects which are based on the art creation of children or lead to the creation by art works. The whole project culminates with a theatre performance which is made by children themselves. Key Words Art activities, pre-school age, class educational program, pre-school education, art techniques, art, kindergarten, fairy tale, educational conception,...

The present diploma thesis maps the concepts, characteristic features and cultural-social contexts of functions of the "Do It Yourself" phenomenon. It addresses various interpretations of the phenomenon, it creates general features, and it attempts to define its position based on the experience gained from the research carried out and from the literature studied. It primarily captures the action of the phenomenon during the communist and post-communist era in the Czechoslovak and later the Czech Republic, as well as the influence of various socio-political systems on its appearance. Didactic elaboration of the topic focuses on the application of the DIY principles in teaching activity and it presents an "In & Out" artwork line integrating these ideas into the current conditions of teaching art education. The artwork part represents starting points, the process and the realization of the author's binding of the diploma thesis, which is again based on the application of DIY ideas.

This research paper is an art-based heuristic influenced study on the fear of aging and the self using an art-based modality of exploration. The researcher sought to study three questions. First, to explore the relationship between aging, beauty, youth, and social pressures. Second, to explore the fears related to aging, (losing appearances, finance, health, and death). Thirdly, to considering the implications of findings to the clinical realm. The art based methodology offered a form of investigation which, informed by heuristic steps of inquiry, augmented both personal meaning and growth. Data consisted of art made over a three-month period as well as structured journaling regarding the research questions and art making process. The imagery, journaling and observations were then collected during the illumination and explication phase, culminating in a final art response of the findings in a creative synthesis.

Mémoire en recherche-création / Il y a quelques années, j’ai presque gagné 100 000 $ dans une émission de télé-réalité appelée Big Brother Canada. Je rêvais fièrement à ma victoire quand j'ai été rapidement ramenée à la réalité en étant évincée de la maison par les quatre autres concurrent.es. restant.es. Quelques semaines après la fin de l'émission, déçue et quelque peu déstabilisée, j'ai découvert que plusieurs images de moi circulaient de façon virale en ligne. En fait, j'étais devenue un mème ! Fascinée par cette nouvelle forme de langage que les mèmes semblent avoir créé sur mes réseaux sociaux au fil des ans, l'expérience de devenir un mème a suscité une grande envie de savoir ce que d'autres personnes ayant une expérience similaire à la mienne ressentent. Ma curiosité a inspiré cette recherche exploratoire dans laquelle je cherche à mieux comprendre ma mise en mème (ou mémification) à travers l’expérience vécue d'autres mèmes. Présenté sous la forme d'une création audiovisuelle accompagnée d’un script réfléchi, et soutenu par le concept de « face » de Goffman, ainsi que par les théories sur la « visibilité » de Voirol et Jauréguiberry, ce travail explore la face cachée des mèmes, le rapport entre individu-face-mème et les effets de devenir-mème. / I once came close to winning a 100 000$ on a reality TV show called Big Brother Canada. I could almost taste the jackpot when I suddenly got evicted from the house by the four remaining houseguests. Few weeks after the show was over, disappointed, and overwhelmed, I discovered that multiple images of me went viral on social media. In fact, I had become a meme! Already fascinated by this new form of language that memes seem to have created on my social media over the years, the experience of becoming a meme ignited a thirst to know how other individuals with a similar experience to mine felt. My curiosity led to this exploratory research where I seek to better understand my transformation into a meme (or memefication) through the lenses of other memes. Presented in the form of an audio-visual creation accompanied by a commented script and supported by Goffman’s concept of “face” as well as Voirol and Jauréguiberry theories about “visibility”, this work digs into the hidden faces behind memes, the connection between individual-face-meme and the effects of becoming meme.

The dissertation thesis, Ornament in Nature, Science and Art, deals with the theme of ornaments in contemporary art, design and architecture. Individual chapters are dedicated to exploring nature and science as sources of inspiration for contemporary art. The chapter, Body and Ornament, is about ornaments for the human bodies and patterns created from the form of human bodies. Art creations by the author and her students make up an integral part of the main text. An individual chapter is dedicated to the Bodyornament project. Bodyornament is a project involving artistic, educational and research elements. Its primary body of work took place as an art performance in the Veletržní palace in Prague. Through the active participation of the students, patterns and ornaments made from their bodies were created. The process was documented by means of photography. The photographs together with the students' written reflections about the experience comprise the primary research documents. In this dissertation, these documents were analyzed and interpreted by using a combination of specific forms of qualitative research and art-based research. Our research model was based on three degree reflexive analysis according to Donald Schön. Through interpretation of the research results, thoughts of possible...