A dissertation presented to the Faculty of Humanities of the University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Fine Arts. Johannesburg, 2016 / Collaboration in South African printmaking studios, both between artists and printmakers, and between artists working together in print studios are examined in this study. How South African artists have used the conventions of collaborative printmaking practices to complement their own practice; and what kind of dynamics can emerge from such collaborations is the primary concern of this study. Printmaking is widely viewed as a subsidiary, or supplementary practice to artists’ primary concerns in their particular medium of practice. It is important to examine the role of collaboration in printmaking studios, and how it may benefit, or hinder artists in their creative productions. To contextualise my study, I provide a brief historical overview of collaboration in Western printmaking; and briefly examine printmaking against South Africa’s political landscape since the 1960s. Recent critical observations on collaboration in the arts are introduced to foreground various categorizations and approaches to such practices. My research focus is not on the intricacies of collectivism in collaboration but rather on how a form of ‘teamwork’ collaboration in print studios can generate agency, within the context of concerns raised in my own creative practice. As a printmaking teacher, practitioner and collaborator, I hope these findings could be used to address some of the concerns experienced in collaborations.

This study examines the graphic design industry’s call for ‘a South African design language’ in post-apartheid South Africa and how the non-commercial publication i-jusi is envisaged as a space for graphic designers to innovate a South African design language. The central premise of this research is that graphic design, as a form of cultural production, is discursive. In this respect, graphic design practice is constructed and constrained by professional discourse, which is in turn informed by social structures. However, discourse is also a site of contestation and graphic designers may challenge or negotiate professional discourse in their practice. Thus, as Wolff (1981) argues, the possibility for innovation within graphic design practice may exist at a particular historical moment, although this possibility is itself situated within social structures. In this study, the impact of professional graphic design discourse on the attempt to innovate a South African design language in i-jusi is explored. Utilising qualitative interviews and other texts selected from graphic design commentary (conference presentations and published articles), the motivations of the producers of i-jusi are examined with a view to assessing how their articulation of a South African design language is informed by professional graphic design discourse.

In South Africa, the performing arts have contributed to enhancing national identity and distinctiveness despite coming up against weak legislation, policy and infrastructure to support their growth and proliferation (Fredericks, 2005: 9). Coupled with a decline in both government and consumer support and the contradictory disparity between valuing the arts and the funding of the arts, theatre companies can no longer rely on the comfort of external subsidies and financial support. In order to be economically viable and sustainable to ensure their survival, there is an increasing demand for theatre companies to look to novel ways of increasing audience demand for theatre and improving audience attendance. However, instead of risking artistic integrity and the performance product to satisfy the market, this research suggests that promotion and development of theatre at arts festivals provides a platform to access a wider theatre-going public, which therefore facilitates a change in the market focus toward appreciation of the product (production). It explores leading arguments pertaining to the attendance of arts and cultural events, namely, Peterson and Simkus (1992), later updated by Peterson‟s (2005)„omnivore-univore‟ argument. The argument purports cultural consumption as binary in nature: either significant and diverse or limited, if not absent altogether. Supported by a number of case-studies, including Chan and Goldthorpe (2005) and Montgomery and Robinson (2008) and Snowball et al. (2009), the investigation challenges Bourdieu‟s (1984) theory on cultural distinction as well as the homology and individualisation argument. In determining the factors that influence cultural taste and consumer behaviour, including motivators and inhibitors of attendance and a predominant emphasis on audience risk and information asymmetry, the research was placed in a local context, providing an overview of the socio-economic theatre environment in South Africa. It investigated the nature, structure and impact of local festivals (as events) in changing audience demand and theatre attendance. With specific reference to the South African National Arts Festival (NAF) the research notes the effects of Hauptfleisch‟s „eventification‟ phenomenon on univore attenders and therefore expands the omnivore-univore theory to include a new breed of attender: the “Festivore”. A case study explored the “Festivore” hypothesis through empirical research, surveys and face-to-face qualitative interviews and on-seat questionnaire responses by festival attenders. Personal interviews and communication was also carried out with leading experts in the field. The data was then analysed using SPSS 13 electronic statistical analysis programme to determine the socio-demographics and the factors that affect theatre attendance of existing, as well as potential target, theatre audiences at the National Arts Festival The study concluded that South African theatre attenders are generally omnivorous consumers and that, more importantly, there seems to be a shift towards „festivorous‟ consumption. Furthermore, evidence supports the development and proliferation of festivals as a means not only to support and promote the arts in South Africa but, more importantly, to generate new theatre audiences and entrench theatre attendance into South African culture.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the academic requirements for the Master of Technology Degree: Graphic Design, Durban Institute of Technology, 2004. / This project has investigated African graphic systems, both writing systems and systems of symbolic graphics. These systems are commonly used in Graphic Design, but those of African origin have been largely ignored in both the applied discipline, and in its History and Theory. The project has attempted to explain this in historical and theoretical terms: its motivation is described in terms of countering the exclusion of African visual culture in the face of historical and ideological factors such as colonialism and globalisation. The project's research aims were to collect as much information as feasible on these systems; and to classify them according to such criteria as their language or cultural group, their location, and the functional nature of the systems. From this body of information a smaller number of representative systems were selected for further description and discussion, in order to highlight the variety of systems existing in Africa, their historical development, and techniques and materials used. These selected systems were then used as inspiration and raw material for a body of applied Graphic Design work, which is intended to provide a visual introduction to the material, and to promote and advocate the revaluation of this cultural material. Information has mainly been gathered by means of library and internet search, in order to establish approximately the extent of the literature in the public sphere. Because of the obscurity of most of this information, it has been gathered from such other disciplines as Linguistics, Anthropology, or History. The project has established the existence of a large number of graphic symbols and systems, and gathered a body of literature and references about them. Many are poorly documented, if at all, and even those for which extensive literature / M

M. Tech. Fine Arts / This dissertation will attempt to contextualise the notion of art created by individuals suffering from schizophrenia. These individuals include four non-westernised individuals. Artworks used in this dissertation were obtained, with permission, from a psychiatric facility on the East Rand. It is the aim of this dissertation to analyse the symbols that manifest in these artworks, symbols that manifest from the personal unconscious of collective unconscious. The symbols that manifest in these artworks will be analysed through the application of Jungian psychoanalytic theory as put forth by the 20th century analytical psychologist, Carl Gustav Jung. The Jungian theoretical propositions to be included in the argument include: Jung's view of the psyche (which is divided into ego, personal unconscious and the collective unconscious, which houses the main archetypes) as well as Jungian views on symbolism, and Jung's understanding of schizophrenia. This thesis attempts to show that the methodology that is used during the Jungian dream analysis can also be applied to the analysis of artworks created by schizophrenic individuals. Dream analysis, in this context, will be adapted to an analysis of visual symbols.

D. Tech. Fine and Applied Art / The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is an association between art making and the brain state known as flow, a construct defined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Links were sought between artists' perceived propensity to experience flow and quantified experimental data of the same art-making events. A predominantly psychological theoretical framework had to be created, contextual as well as conceptual, of historical and contemporary leanings that have formulated understandings of creativity and flow. These indicate that flow can trace its origins to concepts of human happiness and excellence, motivation, self-determination and peak experiences. These concepts illustrate that in pursuing intrinsic endeavours such as art making, a person is continuously engaged in reflectivity and deliberation concerning his or her actions and aims, which tend to be self-motivated or autotelic. In this study the autotelic and self-reflecting leanings of art making were found to be germane to flow. A key aspect for understanding the flow experience is Arne Dietrich's hypothesis of transient hypofrontality, described as enabling the temporary suppression of the analytical and meta-conscious capacities of the explicit system. In this study, transient hypofrontality was found to be germane to interpretations of flow and art making.

M. Tech. Drama / Obscenity in the realm of theatre is certainly not new. More recently, an explosion of provocative plays by young British writers, confront the taboo of obscenity, eminently reflected in Sarah Kane's Phaedra's Love. These plays have been aptly dubbed "In Your Face theatre". Grootboom's productions share similarities with these global trends as they are reflexive of this definition in portraying this type of theatre. With the rich history of obscenity in theatre, it should come as no surprise that in reflecting more open current trends, obscenity is perceived as increasingly more tolerable in South African theatre. Grootboom's plays have managed to edge closer to controversy visible in the local furore. The reactions to Grootboom's productions have to do with the fact that full frontal nudity is unacceptable in African culture (except of course during traditional ceremonies and protests). This study seeks to discover why Grootboom's obscene theatre is so popular amongst black South Africans though at odds with their cultural perceptions of respect, relationship boundaries, communal address and personal demeanour rather than exhibitionism. It also seeks to contribute to a clearer understanding of what theatrical content current South African audience prefers.

Consider the possibility of the remnants of our present day society being excavated and studied in centuries to come. Imagine the craftsmanship, the art, artifacts and architecture that will then be compared to those of the past centuries. Our entire culture will be labelled by the endless array of rubbish that has become an integral part of our lives. The increasing prevalence of kitsch in the society goes almost unnoticed where it should be causing concern. Few people are aware of its existence, or the permanent aesthetic scars induced by this prevalence. How has this cult of sheer awfulness come about and why has it become prevalent? It is impossible to pursue all the avenues of kitsch - so vast is it but it is the purpose of this study to try and answer some of the questions, in order to make people more aware of what has crept into our society, to help them become more discriminating, and not merely to level criticism at the perpetrators of kitsch.

A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (in Music Research). Johannesburg, March 2016 / The thesis entitled Wherefore Musician? is a critical engagement with the experiences of musicians who were involved in dramatic theatre productions at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg between 2010 and 2014. The study is a narrative inquiry, which uncovers the lived experiences of musicians from their narration of select collaborative encounters. The narratives speak to integrated cross-disciplinary models of theatre making, where various signifiers and performance texts contribute towards a cohesive production. / MT2017

M. Tech. Fine Arts / The research aim of the study was to investigate the way that Nandipha Mntambo and Mary Sibande have used the female form in their art to undermine harmful representations/myths of women from a third wave feminist and a post-colonial perspective, using semiotics. Semiotics can be used to establish how meaning is made and reality represented in signs. The impact of signs, codes, myths and ideology of society on the embodiment of the female was investigated using semiotics. Third wave feminism theories can be applied in the analysis of the artworks such as Butler's gender construction and Crash and Pruzinsky's viewpoint on the harmful and stereotypical assumptions about women in visual culture. The post-feminist viewpoints as discussed by Jones about women being portrayed either as housewives and mothers or as sex and consumer objects in visual media were highlighted. Post-colonial perspectives such as the dominant ideology of the colonial period fostering the creation of interrelated, socially constructed, controlling images of black womanhood were discussed. Racial and gender discrimination affected most black women in colonial times. Through the semiotic analysis of Nandipha Mntambo and Mary Sibande, as well as the author's own artwork, an examination of the ideology of patriarchy as well as the ideology of colonialism could be identified. The artists express pride in their heritage and traditions. The ideology of consumerism and the myth of beauty are subverted by the artists in their artwork. The myth of the maid can be observed in the artworks of Sibande and the author. All the artists subvert stereotypical representations of women in society.