In recent years, Media Studies has become increasingly influenced by the Social Sciences. In particular, aesthetic approaches within the field have been diminishing. Humanistic research into fast food is just as scarce. This study seeks to reclaim the humanistic endeavour of aesthetic media research, and to apply it to a study of American fast food. The McDonald's hamburger is used as the prototype. The study explores the difficulty in postulating an aesthetic arena in Media Studies. A case is made for the burger as an instance of popular art, and various models of poplar art are engaged to this end. The burger does have aesthetic properties, but they are fleeting and inhibited by the technological nature of the artefact. At the same time, it also exists as an example of mass culture, as it increasingly sets the framework for popular art. An existentialist approach to fast food shows up its compulsive nature, and the autonomous role of technology emerges as a theme which both helps explain its popularity and helps to limit its artistic potential.

This thesis summarises the important ideologies and concepts of musical organicism in the late eighteenth century and applies them to motivic analysis and performance. Much has been written about the organic nature of Beethoven’s later works, but less has been written about the organic coherence found in his earlier compositions. This study involves a motivic analysis of his Op. 2 No. 3 sonata (1795), for which little or no significant research has been carried out. This musical work is used as an illustration of ways in which musical organicism, motivic analysis, and performance can interrelate. The thesis is in three parts. Part one presents a review of late eighteenth-century ideologies of unity and their musical applications. In the search for an effective means of comparing motivic development with organicism, it is then argued that Schenker’s ‘motivic parallelism’ or ‘concealed repetition’ is considerably undervalued in his analytical framework. Drawing on the insights of Richard Cohn, I endorse a more autonomous treatment of the motivic parallelism in analysis, so that it is an independent unifying tool in its own right and not only a by-product of tonal analysis. Several approaches are applied to the motivic parallelism in order to illustrate how the parallelism can be used in ways normally only associated with the surface motif. Part two of the thesis consists of a detailed motivic analysis of Beethoven’s Op. 2 No. 3 sonata. It is argued that the motivic parallelisms contained in this sonata reflect late eighteenth-century ideals of organicism. I propose that there are several motivic cells found in the opening four bars of the sonata, which recur (or are ‘paralleled’) within all structural levels and over all four movements, unifying the sonata organically as one whole. In this way, I show that the Op. 2 No. 3 sonata can be seen to foreshadow the organic treatment of motifs by later composers, who were influenced by Goethe’s complex prototype (1802) as an organic model.(1) I also offer an ‘organic narrative’ for the sonata, using motivic parallelisms as the guiding forces in the discourse. The third and final part relates the motivic parallelisms and other analytical findings to performance. Techniques of ‘performing’ motivic parallelisms are discussed and applied to the Op. 2 No. 3 sonata. The organic perspective is proposed as one avenue through which to understand and enhance a performance of a work. (1) The sonata can also be seen to foreshadow the highly seminal treatment of motifs that was to become more widely used in Beethoven’s later works (such as the Eroica Symphony).

Taking my own personal history as a starting point this paper will look at how we inherit culture and in turn shape it through the stories and objects that drive its formation. This extends into how these objects proliferate within our culture and the way in which the passing of History impacts on the way we view them and as a consequence ourselves as individuals and as a group. Identity is then passed on through generations through the act of storytelling, and this process is integral to this research paper. This is also a personal journey, taking place in varying sites, from a rusting car hulk in a back yard in North Canterbury, to a University in Wellington and another rusted car, which has gone through a strange restoration. The Morris Minor has been embraced as a narcissistic object that I have chosen to double in order to explore my individual and wider national cultural history and identity. One of the key themes of this inherited identity is largely based around Nostalgia for an ideal past. This ideal is a fiction, a layering of intended futures as well as a selective past. This works in the same way as the modern artistic preoccupation with gothic histories, but instead of a positive ideal we have the creation of a basement of horrors that lurks beneath the surface. Be it positivist idealism or Gothic inversion, one way of focusing on the way these fictions differ markedly from the reality of the objects existence, is to show the artifice of the stories told by enhancing the components of the story that are already exaggerated, for the Morris Minor this means getting as far away from its existence as a rusting hulk in the backyard as possible. The longing for a past that may or may not exist, is less important as existing in reality but instead for what these fictions supply in their retelling. The concept of the Uncanny is integral to this retelling of memory, in that through a memories reanimation it can only approximate the original event leaving gaps for circumspection and invention. This retelling necessitates a reorientation in the relationship between the teller of the tale and the listener and between the viewer and the object viewed. The research culminates in the alteration of a Morris Minor to appear as one continuous surface. The intention of which is to engage with the differing versions of the objects past through taking an active part in its reconstruction as artwork with the aim of reassessment not only of my individual approach to the object but also the viewers.

This thesis summarises the important ideologies and concepts of musical organicism in the late eighteenth century and applies them to motivic analysis and performance. Much has been written about the organic nature of Beethoven’s later works, but less has been written about the organic coherence found in his earlier compositions. This study involves a motivic analysis of his Op. 2 No. 3 sonata (1795), for which little or no significant research has been carried out. This musical work is used as an illustration of ways in which musical organicism, motivic analysis, and performance can interrelate. The thesis is in three parts. Part one presents a review of late eighteenth-century ideologies of unity and their musical applications. In the search for an effective means of comparing motivic development with organicism, it is then argued that Schenker’s ‘motivic parallelism’ or ‘concealed repetition’ is considerably undervalued in his analytical framework. Drawing on the insights of Richard Cohn, I endorse a more autonomous treatment of the motivic parallelism in analysis, so that it is an independent unifying tool in its own right and not only a by-product of tonal analysis. Several approaches are applied to the motivic parallelism in order to illustrate how the parallelism can be used in ways normally only associated with the surface motif. Part two of the thesis consists of a detailed motivic analysis of Beethoven’s Op. 2 No. 3 sonata. It is argued that the motivic parallelisms contained in this sonata reflect late eighteenth-century ideals of organicism. I propose that there are several motivic cells found in the opening four bars of the sonata, which recur (or are ‘paralleled’) within all structural levels and over all four movements, unifying the sonata organically as one whole. In this way, I show that the Op. 2 No. 3 sonata can be seen to foreshadow the organic treatment of motifs by later composers, who were influenced by Goethe’s complex prototype (1802) as an organic model.(1) I also offer an ‘organic narrative’ for the sonata, using motivic parallelisms as the guiding forces in the discourse. The third and final part relates the motivic parallelisms and other analytical findings to performance. Techniques of ‘performing’ motivic parallelisms are discussed and applied to the Op. 2 No. 3 sonata. The organic perspective is proposed as one avenue through which to understand and enhance a performance of a work. (1) The sonata can also be seen to foreshadow the highly seminal treatment of motifs that was to become more widely used in Beethoven’s later works (such as the Eroica Symphony).

Taking my own personal history as a starting point this paper will look at how we inherit culture and in turn shape it through the stories and objects that drive its formation. This extends into how these objects proliferate within our culture and the way in which the passing of History impacts on the way we view them and as a consequence ourselves as individuals and as a group. Identity is then passed on through generations through the act of storytelling, and this process is integral to this research paper. This is also a personal journey, taking place in varying sites, from a rusting car hulk in a back yard in North Canterbury, to a University in Wellington and another rusted car, which has gone through a strange restoration. The Morris Minor has been embraced as a narcissistic object that I have chosen to double in order to explore my individual and wider national cultural history and identity. One of the key themes of this inherited identity is largely based around Nostalgia for an ideal past. This ideal is a fiction, a layering of intended futures as well as a selective past. This works in the same way as the modern artistic preoccupation with gothic histories, but instead of a positive ideal we have the creation of a basement of horrors that lurks beneath the surface. Be it positivist idealism or Gothic inversion, one way of focusing on the way these fictions differ markedly from the reality of the objects existence, is to show the artifice of the stories told by enhancing the components of the story that are already exaggerated, for the Morris Minor this means getting as far away from its existence as a rusting hulk in the backyard as possible. The longing for a past that may or may not exist, is less important as existing in reality but instead for what these fictions supply in their retelling. The concept of the Uncanny is integral to this retelling of memory, in that through a memories reanimation it can only approximate the original event leaving gaps for circumspection and invention. This retelling necessitates a reorientation in the relationship between the teller of the tale and the listener and between the viewer and the object viewed. The research culminates in the alteration of a Morris Minor to appear as one continuous surface. The intention of which is to engage with the differing versions of the objects past through taking an active part in its reconstruction as artwork with the aim of reassessment not only of my individual approach to the object but also the viewers.

The present research examines the effect of music therapy on the affect of hospitalised children. It took place on a paediatric ward of a New Zealand public hospital. This study aimed to investigate the role of music therapy in addressing patients’ psychosocial needs. Literature on the impact of hospitalisation, and on the use of music therapy in hospitals and paediatrics was reviewed. The research involved an audit of the therapist’s clinical notes from music therapy sessions over the course of seven months. The clinical notes included measurements of children’s mood from the beginning and end of sessions, using McGrath’s (1990) Affective Facial Scale. It was hypothesised that mood measures following music therapy would be higher than pre-music therapy scores. Statistical analysis of the facial scale data did not show a significant difference between ‘before’ and ‘after’ measures. These results were discussed with regard to a ceiling effect (this is, the measurements indicated patients were at the happy end of the scale before the music therapy session, so there was little room on the scale for mood to improve following music therapy). The measurement of emotion did not prove to be straightforward. The hospital environment may have influenced the patients’ responses in a number of ways. These environmental influences are discussed with reference to examples from the clinical notes. The usefulness of facial scales in this context is discussed, as well as other limitations of the research. Suggestions for future research include the use of other mood measures, and the inclusion of measurements of parental mood and how this affects the child.

The present research examines the effect of music therapy on the affect of hospitalised children. It took place on a paediatric ward of a New Zealand public hospital. This study aimed to investigate the role of music therapy in addressing patients’ psychosocial needs. Literature on the impact of hospitalisation, and on the use of music therapy in hospitals and paediatrics was reviewed. The research involved an audit of the therapist’s clinical notes from music therapy sessions over the course of seven months. The clinical notes included measurements of children’s mood from the beginning and end of sessions, using McGrath’s (1990) Affective Facial Scale. It was hypothesised that mood measures following music therapy would be higher than pre-music therapy scores. Statistical analysis of the facial scale data did not show a significant difference between ‘before’ and ‘after’ measures. These results were discussed with regard to a ceiling effect (this is, the measurements indicated patients were at the happy end of the scale before the music therapy session, so there was little room on the scale for mood to improve following music therapy). The measurement of emotion did not prove to be straightforward. The hospital environment may have influenced the patients’ responses in a number of ways. These environmental influences are discussed with reference to examples from the clinical notes. The usefulness of facial scales in this context is discussed, as well as other limitations of the research. Suggestions for future research include the use of other mood measures, and the inclusion of measurements of parental mood and how this affects the child.

Taking my own personal history as a starting point this paper will look at how we inherit culture and in turn shape it through the stories and objects that drive its formation. This extends into how these objects proliferate within our culture and the way in which the passing of History impacts on the way we view them and as a consequence ourselves as individuals and as a group. Identity is then passed on through generations through the act of storytelling, and this process is integral to this research paper. This is also a personal journey, taking place in varying sites, from a rusting car hulk in a back yard in North Canterbury, to a University in Wellington and another rusted car, which has gone through a strange restoration. The Morris Minor has been embraced as a narcissistic object that I have chosen to double in order to explore my individual and wider national cultural history and identity. One of the key themes of this inherited identity is largely based around Nostalgia for an ideal past. This ideal is a fiction, a layering of intended futures as well as a selective past. This works in the same way as the modern artistic preoccupation with gothic histories, but instead of a positive ideal we have the creation of a basement of horrors that lurks beneath the surface. Be it positivist idealism or Gothic inversion, one way of focusing on the way these fictions differ markedly from the reality of the objects existence, is to show the artifice of the stories told by enhancing the components of the story that are already exaggerated, for the Morris Minor this means getting as far away from its existence as a rusting hulk in the backyard as possible. The longing for a past that may or may not exist, is less important as existing in reality but instead for what these fictions supply in their retelling. The concept of the Uncanny is integral to this retelling of memory, in that through a memories reanimation it can only approximate the original event leaving gaps for circumspection and invention. This retelling necessitates a reorientation in the relationship between the teller of the tale and the listener and between the viewer and the object viewed. The research culminates in the alteration of a Morris Minor to appear as one continuous surface. The intention of which is to engage with the differing versions of the objects past through taking an active part in its reconstruction as artwork with the aim of reassessment not only of my individual approach to the object but also the viewers.

Uni form is an exploration into the act of getting dressed. The act of dressing or assemblage of dress is negotiated and explores how personal identity is constructed. My design research contributes to a current understanding of self, dress and social identity. I begin with an analysis of wardrobe as a personal collection and I propose that, in our everyday dress, much of what we choose to wear constitutes a uni form of one sort or another. Focusing on the shirt dress as an ‘ordinary’ everyday style of generic dress, I set out to experience the wearing of a personal uniform. What emerges from this research is a proposal that a uni form – a metaphoric garment – can meet the needs of everyday life in the postmodern urban metropolis.

Taking my own personal history as a starting point this paper will look at how we inherit culture and in turn shape it through the stories and objects that drive its formation. This extends into how these objects proliferate within our culture and the way in which the passing of History impacts on the way we view them and as a consequence ourselves as individuals and as a group. Identity is then passed on through generations through the act of storytelling, and this process is integral to this research paper. This is also a personal journey, taking place in varying sites, from a rusting car hulk in a back yard in North Canterbury, to a University in Wellington and another rusted car, which has gone through a strange restoration. The Morris Minor has been embraced as a narcissistic object that I have chosen to double in order to explore my individual and wider national cultural history and identity. One of the key themes of this inherited identity is largely based around Nostalgia for an ideal past. This ideal is a fiction, a layering of intended futures as well as a selective past. This works in the same way as the modern artistic preoccupation with gothic histories, but instead of a positive ideal we have the creation of a basement of horrors that lurks beneath the surface. Be it positivist idealism or Gothic inversion, one way of focusing on the way these fictions differ markedly from the reality of the objects existence, is to show the artifice of the stories told by enhancing the components of the story that are already exaggerated, for the Morris Minor this means getting as far away from its existence as a rusting hulk in the backyard as possible. The longing for a past that may or may not exist, is less important as existing in reality but instead for what these fictions supply in their retelling. The concept of the Uncanny is integral to this retelling of memory, in that through a memories reanimation it can only approximate the original event leaving gaps for circumspection and invention. This retelling necessitates a reorientation in the relationship between the teller of the tale and the listener and between the viewer and the object viewed. The research culminates in the alteration of a Morris Minor to appear as one continuous surface. The intention of which is to engage with the differing versions of the objects past through taking an active part in its reconstruction as artwork with the aim of reassessment not only of my individual approach to the object but also the viewers.