Title from exhibition catalog.

En tant que phénomène urbain, la flânerie apparaît une fois avec les bouleversements socio-économiques du XIXe siècle. Bien qu’associée à une déambulation gratuite et désœuvrée, elle institue cependant une approche nouvelle et fragmentaire de la ville. Le changement de perspective sur la rue entraîne aussi un changement de perspective sur l’art et la littérature. Ainsi, un Balzac ou un Baudelaire se montre particulièrement intéressé par la figure paradoxale et flottante du flâneur. Dans une possible généalogie du concept se place aussi la création hétéroclite et inclassable de Guillaume Apollinaire. La passion de l’écrivain pour la brocante et les faits divers, pour les histoires insolites et les personnages exceptionnels détermine la critique littéraire à lui appliquer l’étiquette péjorative de flâneur. En partant de ce cliché de la réception, notre thèse se propose de démontrer que la flânerie, chez Apollinaire, ne représente pas seulement un rapport à l’espace, mais aussi une manière d’être et de penser. À travers une analyse formelle, thématique et poétique de l’oeuvre théorique et littéraire de l’écrivain, nous envisageons donc de montrer que la flânerie constitue un thème, une méthode et un principe esthétique valides. Sans être négative, la flânerie se veut plutôt la métaphore d’une œuvre en perpétuelle métamorphose où le décentrement, la discontinuité et l’hétérogénéité ne représentent pas de notions dépréciatives, mais de vrais piliers esthétiques. / As urban phenomenon, “flânerie” appears together with socio-economic changes of the nineteenth century. Although associated with a factice wandering, it introduces a new and fragmented approach of the city. The change of perspective on the street also leads to a change of perspective on art and literature. Thus, a Balzac or a Baudelaire is particularly interested in the paradoxical and floating figure of the “flâneur”. In a possible genealogy of the concept, a special place is taken by the diverse and unclassifiable creation of Guillaume Apollinaire. The writer’s passion for “brocanteurs” and trivia as for unusual stories and exceptional characters determines literary criticism to apply him the pejorative label of “flâneur”. Based on this cliché of the critical reception, our thesis is to demonstrate that “flânerie”, for Apollinaire, defines not only a relation to space, but also a way of being and thinking. Through formal, thematic and poetic analysis of the writer’s literary and theoretical work, we plan to prove that “flânerie” is a theme, a method and a valid aesthetic principle. Without being negative, “flânerie” is rather the metaphor of a work in perpetual metamorphosis where collage, discontinuity and heterogeneity are not derogatory concepts, but true aesthetic pillars.

abstract: “Mierda.” was an original 50-minute solo dance and theater performance by Jordan Klitzke along with guest artist Gina Jurek that premiered from September 6-8, 2018 at Arizona State University. The creative tools of sensation, presence, and fantasy were applied in the development of an individualized movement vocabulary focused on the artist’s embodiment of contrasting ideas. That research was then further cultivated into an immersive theatrical collage that stimulated relational thinking and heightened consciousness. “Mierda.” was an example of a contemporary creative process that utilized the languages of dance and theater. The performance was a unique continuation of artistic research undertaken by pioneers in the dance and theater fields such as Danielle Agami, Lloyd Newson, Hofesh Schechter, and Anne Bogart. It was documented and created over a nine-month period including the three final performances. The form and content of “Mierda.” was not predetermined, but emerged throughout the creative process and performance of the work. The resulting narrative demonstrated the revelatory potential of this style of theatrical inquiry. Precise energy, tension and questioning formed an immersive, intimate experience for the viewers and performers and invited the audience to “fill in the blanks” as they connected with the emerging narrative. The final work was a collage of surprising juxtapositions on both the micro-level of individual movements and the macro-level of theatrical structure. Analysis of the work resulted in a critical understanding of the creative tools used along with future proposals for continued research. Not only did the research enlighten and contextualize the practices of an emerging choreographer, it also argued for a new understanding of the value of Dance as a personal practice of reflection and growth. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Dance 2018

The Afterthoughts project is composed of five photographic collages. The assemblages presented are documentations and transformations of various kinds of visual elements into compositions connected by a common aesthetic. They are shown on computer screens and animated, gently going through an array of micro-movements; a cinematic articulation of once still images. This exhibition format was chosen because it underlines the partnership between the machine, which I need, and me, as a well-trained human, that it requires. It also allows for a discourse around technology, particularly image editing software and recording devices, as technê, and as the rapport of a person in possession of such tools with the world. The images depict animal-like imaginations. Whether they are ghosts of the past or specters of the future is unclear but they are, unmistakingly, on display for an audience. Ultimately they belong to a personal mythology and are pixel proof of my search for the hidden beings cohabiting my thoughts, for the animals and the specific ontological terrain they inhabit; fading, disappearing, removed from everyday experiences, yet haunting, restless and lurking as fantasies. This work is fueled by a certain urgent need of preserving but also reconstructing nature, of embalming it representationally in the dead-alive museal looking exhibits trapped in the small confines of little dioramas. My hope is that underneath the surfaces, the flamboyancy, the modern baroque and surrealist techniques one can find deep non/organic life and allow for fascination to pulsate through.

Being First generation born Mexican American I am looking into the blend of the two cultures and the disparity between them. The border is the core of my investigation; by traveling across the border I have become conscious of the differences among both sides and duality within myself. My identity has developed from a synthesis of these two cultures, and my wok explores these two factions that cannot be one without the other. fusion is apparent in my self-portraits where I dress up with the colors from both sides of the border. But I also take a personal look into understanding the history and identity of each nation. I create a juxtaposition with these two identities that become one and explore the social, cultural, and political issues we face in the everyday. I recreate my “investigation,” by trying to dig deeper, exposing the layers, and facing my own identity crisis in the process.

Cette étude a pour objectif final la réalisation d'un ancrage de hauban plat en composite. La technique du collage structural est choisie pour celle-ci et une majeure partie du document s'attache donc à comprendre et décrire le transfert des e

Les collages sont de plus en plus employés dans l'industrie. Le manque d'outils numériques fiables et efficaces pour la prédiction de la capacité de charge de ce type d'assemblage limite encore leur application. La rupture d'un joint collé est le résultat de l'évolution et de l'interaction de plusieurs process complexes de dégradation dans la couche de colle. Le modèle d'interface endommageable propos ́e dans cette thèse permet la mod élisation de la dégradation du collage pendant toute la phase de chargement. Ce modèle, issu de ceux employés pour la modélisation de la dégradation interlaminaire dans les composites, a été implanté dans le code de calcul industriel CAST3M. Cette implantation a été validée par comparaison avec des approches de type Mécanique Linéaire de la Rupture et avec d'autres types de modèles d'interface endommageable. La difficulté, en utilisant ce type de modèle, est justement l'identification des paramètres mécanique de l'interface. Ces paramètres sont valables uniquement pour la colle, le matériau des substrats et les traitements de surface pour lesquels ils ont été identifiés. Les essais sur les structures collées sont donc pour l'instant indispensables. L'un des objectifs du travail réalisé est l'identification des paramètres. Cette identification est basée sur des mesures acoustiques non destructives des caract ́eristiques initiales du collage (raideurs) et sur des mesures mécaniques destructives (énergies critiques). L'objectif final de cette ́etude est d'avoir un outil numérique capable d'apporter la fiabilité et l'efficacité dont l'industrie a besoin pour développer davantage l'utilisation du collage comme méthode d'assemblage structural.

Cette thèse s'est déroulée dans le contexte de l'évaluation non destructive du collage de patches composites employés pour la réparation de structures aéronautiques. Le besoin a été exprimé par la DGA Techniques Aéronautiques (Toulouse). Le travail effectué a consisté en l'exploitation des ondes guidées, de type SH puis Lamb, pour mesurer des caractéristiques mécaniques d'un joint de colle et tenter d'évaluer, de manière non destructive, la qualité du collage. Dans un premier temps, les propriétés viscoélastiques des matériaux assemblés sont déterminées. Elles servent alors de données d'entrée à des modèles, basés sur la méthode SAFE (Semi Analytical Finite Element method), permettant d'obtenir les courbes de dispersion ainsi que les champs des différents modes guidés se propageant le long de l'assemblage collé. Ces simulations numériques permettent alors d'évaluer le potentiel des ondes guidées à caractériser un adhésif. Des mesures expérimentales sont ensuite menées pour confirmer les prédictions numériques. Finalement la résolution d'un problème inverse, qui consiste à évaluer les modules de rigidité de la couche de colle se situant entre une plaque d'aluminium et un patch, est proposée pour établir des pistes d'évaluation non destructive d'un collage répondant au besoin industriel. Cette étude a été financée par la DGA, France.

Collection understanding shifts the traditional focus of retrieval in large collections from locating specific artifacts to gaining a comprehensive view of the collection. Visualization tools are critical to the process of efficient collection understanding. By presenting simple visual interfaces and intuitive methods of interacting with a collection, users come to understand the essence of the collection by focusing on the artifacts. This thesis discusses a practical approach for enhancing collection understanding in image collections.

This thesis works towards a theory of creative appropriation as critical praxis. Defining ‘appropriation’ as the re-use of already-authored cultural matter, I investigate how the ubiquity of aesthetically and commercially motivated appropriative practices has impacted concepts of creativity, originality, authorship and ownership. Throughout this thesis, appropriation is understood as bridging the artistic, political, economic, and scientific realms. As such, it strongly affects cultural and socio-political landscapes, and has become an ideal vehicle for effectively criticizing and, perhaps, radically changing dominant aesthetic, legal and ethical discourses regarding the (re)production, ownership and circulation of knowledge, artifacts, skills, resources, and cultural matter in general. Critical appropriation is thus posited as a political strategy that can draw together the different causes motivating appropriative processes across the globe, and organize them for the benefit of a multitude which values concepts of reusing, sharing and collectivity over concepts of the individually authored and the privately owned. My arguments regarding this critical potentiality are based on concrete practices emanating from several media (textual – visual – sonic – digital). The corpus includes Berlin Dadaist collage, ‘found footage’ filmmaking, audio sampling, and digital media art. It is critically contextualized in the fields of philosophy, law, and aesthetics, and paired with relevant examples from extra-aesthetic arenas (economics, industrial production and science). Following a trajectory from the analog to the digital, my thesis traces the emergence and tactical employment of critical appropriative practices in the context of different historical, philosophical, technological and economic circumstances. Focussing on conceptual and practical shifts from the analog to the digital furthermore enables me to draw connections between analytic perspectives founded in dialectic materialism and contemporary theories foregrounding issues of immaterial labor. The important qualitative changes that practices and perceptions of appropriation have undergone are argue to significantly amplify the critical potential of all appropriative practices. Ultimately, my comparative analyses thus establish appropriation as an ideal site for effectively challenging – both in terms of form and content – the ingrained, restrictive notions of original genius and naturalized authorship-qua-ownership on which present cultures and technologies of global capitalism are so heavily based.