Thesis (M.F.A.)--West Virginia University, 2005. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 30 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes a video file in the QuickTime format. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 30).

This study is about how a social consciousness is made visible in the paintings and drawings of two artists who have in common an urge to examine the human condition in the context of traumatic social and political circumstances. Their prime concern is with the eternal complexities between the individual and society. Pessimism, hope, anger, frustration and guilt reside in their images. This thesis explores how their social consciousness is expressed through the unique pictorial devices that each creates. It examines their biographies and the social and political milieu influencing their work; it explores their perceptions through the examination of the particular themes and devices that they developed as visual language. These influences lead to the examination of my own artistic practice, exploring the connection between my social consciousness and my pictorial language. / Master of Arts (Hons.)

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Otago Polytechnic, 2007. / Supervisors: Bridie Lonie and Clive Humphries. Thesis typescript. First produced for a website at: http://www.regan.net.nz "July 2007." Otago Polytechnic department: School of Art. Includes bibliographical references.

This practice-as-research project (a) invents, examines and self-reflects upon two techniques - 'Whirling in Pain' and 'Neurobreathing' - that the author has developed for dealing with pain in performance, (b) creates a framework for the qualitative analysis of pain retraining techniques by conducting an interdisciplinary study of the parameters that describe Somatic Practices and the psychology of Altered States of Consciousness, (c) establishes a taxonomy and classifications for describing and assessing techniques of pain management in the performing arts, (d) qualitatively assesses the training techniques of three practitioners —Antonin Artaud, Jerzy Grotowski and Marina Abramović—who have used Somatic Practices and Altered States of Consciousness in their techniques, and draws out patterns and themes in their practice, (e) distils generic principles of practice that are essential for training pain perception and could be used by other practitioners for developing their own techniques, or to better embody the techniques that the author has developed. These transferable principles are: reinforcement, exhaustion of pain-processing resources, inquisitive modes towards otherness, embodied knowledge, surrendering, Sisyphean reiteration, and music’s capacity for fascination. This dissertation considers the issue of dealing with pain in performance beyond the limited area of theatre pedagogy, suggesting an interdisciplinary approach and expanding its scope into the wider realms of theoretical discourse around culture and pain. This dissertation argues that since pain is not only a biochemical process but one that is culturally constructed, it is therefore possible to retrain or un-train the perception of pain through the facility of Somatic Practices that induce Altered States of Consciousness. Such retraining of pain perception has wider socio-political ramifications that challenge the pervading modern and neoliberal culture around pain, which understands it only through a reductively biological model and relies heavily on the use of exogenous analgesics to alleviate pain. Finally, this dissertation proposes that dealing with pain is possible not only by transcending and moving attentional focus away from pain, but also by entering a plane of immanence, achieved through working synergistically with pain in order to find the coping mechanisms and hidden reserves that lie dormant within the individual. The practical element of this submission consists of: (a) a Manual for Practitioners that describes the techniques step-by-step, and explains the principles behind them, and, (b) two performance videos that exhibit how the author has used the two techniques to create and manage pain within performances.

In this dissertation the tracing of a personal shift in consciousness is evidenced in my art production and through self-interrogation. Investigations into feminist theology proved resonant with a personal apostasy and provided a base for a feminine identity and language. The schism perpetrated by this pivotal thesis in the revisioning of women, its subsequent antithesis, motivated a search for synthesis. A scientific enlightenment in the field of quantum physics promotes the notion of a unified consciousness. Psychology investigates the realities of mysticism and exposes commonalities within eastern and western religions revealing a thread of unified metaphysical thought. The twentieth century has witnessed a radical in the art expression of the spiritual, some coincident with the revival of an interest in oriental art, and some as a manifestation of zeitgeist or collective consciousness. This past century of rapid technological change, clearly has its attendant spiritual shifting patterns. The process of creativity in art-making has proved to be a conduit for an evolving consciousness. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.