The project develops alternate forms of representation of the female body in the mediums of oil and digital print. Representations of the body are central to contemporary art practice. Yet there are cogent arguments coming from feminist cultural theory that, in general women's bodies, and particularly the nude, cannot be portrayed other than through forms of representation that expose them to the male gaze. This poses a significant problem for women artists wishing to employ imagery of the female body. The project has explored alternative ways of depicting the female body; ways, which disrupt ocular-centric forms of representation that privilege the spectator by posing the body as displayed object. The following observations provided the background for this project: within contemporary approaches to representing the female body there is a marked shift away from the figuration of the external body; its depiction occurs less frequently within two-dimensional media; and, its prepositions tend to be of a less subjective nature. The project has sought to redress these shortfalls by seeking to re-vision the female body in two-dimensional painting and print-media. It has investigated alternatives to the symbolic body, enshrined within conventional pictures of female nudes, through explorations into embodied subjectivity - the specificities of lived, female experiences. Pictorially these impressions are representational, but the tactile dimensions of imagery, suggested through material surface quality, evoke a palpable sensuality that disrupts stereotypical patterns of looking. The relationship between tactility and the sense of touch dissolves the psychological and physical distance between the viewer and the picture. Pictorially, the representational framework varied from fragmented and cropped imagery of the female torso to direct illusionistic representations of the whole body. The outcomes of the research project, in the form of digital prints produced within the final phase, were chosen for exhibition. Initial investigations required the plasticity of paint media to convey the materiality of the imagery but advances, within both digital image layering processes and printing techniques resulted in a shift towards digital prints as principal output. The exhibition is, however, inclusive of key works, both prints and paintings, illuminating major developmental points encountered in the course of the project. The written exegesis includes documentation of practical and conceptual inquiries, together with an exploration of the underlying themes of the project placed in context through discussion of both historical and contemporary art.

Though collaboration has been evident throughout the History of art, the purpose of this study was to examine the process and structures of collaborative artistic practices that have re-emerged in the contemporary art world. In framing this research various factors which have impacted on the re-emergence of collaborative artistic practices – the role of the artist, the perception of art making, and societal and cultural influences were also considered. Three case studies were utilised for this research: the Parliament House Embroidery (1984 – 1988); the Victorian Tapestry Workshop (1976 - ); and the Partnership or Perish? exhibition (2006). The extensive documentation and archival resources available affected the choice of the first two case studies, with the third being chosen due to my curatorial role in the Partnership or Perish? exhibition. All of the case studies have been publicly acknowledged as being the result of a collaborative process. Each of the case studies provided insights into the process of collaboration and the characteristics necessary for a successful and sustainable artistic collaboration. The data gained through observation, interviews, and collation as well as QSR computer software analysis from the selected case studies, when coupled with information gained from current literature on artistic collaborative practices was utilised to formulate a model for collaboration. These findings were compared and contrasted to collaborative processes operating in various sectors such as the arts, technology, the community and education. The findings present an extensive list of factors and characteristics which are essential in initiating and maintaining a collaborative process, resulting in a recommended arts model for those wishing to engage in the collaborative process.

<p>Diabetes is a prevalent disease nowadays, and it is a big challenge, especially for seniors. The biggest challenge for seniors with diabetes is that they need to prick their fingers to test their blood which is painful and horrible. Also, the current glucose meter does not make good use of the glucose data to help them better treat the diabetes. Also, seniors live alone and lag off behind the diabetes information & technology. Therefore, based on seniors’ characteristics, I want to employ new technologies, such as data visualization and AI technology, in the design to help them manage their diabetes more easily. </p> <p><br></p> <p>Through the literature review, I learned the disease information of diabetes, investigated the diabetes situation in the seniors’ group, and studied the seniors’ characteristics, which can make the designs more suitable for seniors. To better understand diabetic seniors’ conditions, needs and wishes, I took part in several diabetes events in Lafayette Indiana, volunteered in the retirement village and conducted a series of interviews in these two settings. By analyzing the peer products, daily self-measurement of my own sugar level and keeping diaries, I learned what do the similar products look like, got some inspiration from them and found problems in the current products. After drawing a bunch of sketches to explore the idea, HTA chart, wireframe, low-fidelity prototype and mockups were developed in the first design iteration. I came up with the smart product system, based on the seniors’ characteristics, combined with new technologies to help seniors with diabetes easily manage their diabetes. Then I conducted the usability testing with the prototype & physical models to refine my design. Finally, usability testing was conducted again to make sure my products provide a pleasant experience for seniors with diabetes. With this smart system, testing blood becomes a happy & relaxing experience and seniors can join the diabetes group to support each other. Moreover, Seniors with diabetes can get feedback and suggestions from the system. </p>

This study explains how expatriate South Australian woman artists established both new lives and art careers in the modern metropoles of Paris and London in the early years of the twentieth century. It also argues that relocation to the modern metropole required new representational forms in their art practices. The interior view set in domestic, rather than public space was the particular form chosen by the women of this study to represent their experience of modern urban life.

This research project investigates factors contributing to what I consider to be an erosion within the contemporary culture of the imagination- crucial to the very concept of what it is to be human. It has been said that the 'civilising' of art within contemporary culture may have flogged the human imagination into retreat. If so what might be the best way for art to help us visualise more creative ways of living and being? This is the key question I have pursued in this research project, the main outcomes of which are a body of creative art works (presented for examination in the form of a site-specific installation, together with documentary archive of photographs and other interventions) and an exegesis which explores the critical context for these. In proposing site-specific installation art as a vital alternative to the over-commodification evident within much contemporary art, I also see repetition and play as being strategies with particular potential for encouraging active artist-participant dialogue on the subject of the poetico-ethical imagination- along lines suggested by thinkers such as Robert Kearney and Ken Wilbur. The artefacts and installations presented for examination are mostly devoid of textual explanation and commentary, with the aim of emphasising direct sensory experience. However, throughout the written component (exegesis) I have taken the creative liberty of including textual fragments and other visual elements as a means of suggesting that a form of disassociation, meandering or breakdown has occurred. The reader will also notice an absence of capitalisation in the titles of chapters (and certain works). In this I have sought to explore possibilities for undermining academic form through imaginative play.

This study explains how expatriate South Australian woman artists established both new lives and art careers in the modern metropoles of Paris and London in the early years of the twentieth century. It also argues that relocation to the modern metropole required new representational forms in their art practices. The interior view set in domestic, rather than public space was the particular form chosen by the women of this study to represent their experience of modern urban life.

A practical, aesthetic and philosophical examination of lookouts as found in Australian National Parks. Investigates the impact of landscape (as refering to both the actual phenomena and cultural product) on environmental values and human relationship with place. Explores the unique relationship between visitors and environments conserved for their 'wilderness' value. Discusses the management of lookouts and the mediation and potential manipulation of visual perception in the design of these facilities. Suggests lookouts subjegate immediate physical 'site' to celebrate a distant 'scene' granted greater environmental value on the basis of aesthetic principles of beauty, the sublime and the photogenic.

This research extends upon interpretations of the use of text as a visual component in contemporary studio based practices. It continues my ongoing research trajectory into the use of text in art and the development of a practice that heavily reflects, and is influenced by urban and suburban experiences.

This thesis is concerned with placing public art within the broader modernist spatialisation of social relations. The research takes place around two related enquiries. The first emerges from questions raised by the art critic Rosalyn Deutsche with regard to the proposition that public art functions as both a profession and technology that attempts to pattern space so that docile and useful bodies are created by and deployed within it. Following such questions, this thesis seeks to scrutinise the ways in which discourses on public art might operate in enabling, maintaining or disrupting everyday practices and socio-spatial relations. Secondly, as a foray into methodologies of public art research, the thesis considers Foucauldian governmentality approaches in terms of what these might have to offer an investigation of public art. The thesis undertakes the analysis of a wide range of texts connected with three South Australian urban developments for which public art was separately proposed, designed, selected and installed. Attention is given principally to the Rundle Street Mall, a pedestrianised shopping street in the city-centre of Adelaide, examined at several moments throughout the period of its development (1972-1977) and later refurbishment (1996-2001). Also discussed are the Adelaide Festival Centre Plaza (1973-1977) and the Gateway to Adelaide (1996-2000), the latter project involving the reconstruction of a major traffic intersection on the outskirts of metropolitan Adelaide. Through these examples the thesis documents key debates in the history of Australian discourses concerning public art. In addition, this study brings attention to the relations between artwork and a proliferation of individuals, agencies, and other interests, highlighting the competitions over space, authority and expertise, and the often unexamined role that public art plays in maintaining or unsettling socio-spatial relations. Knowledge about public art, it is argued, is produced, transformed and deployed across a range of discursive sites (contemporary art, urban design, planning, transport and others) and becomes tied to specific problems of governing. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2008

This thesis is concerned with placing public art within the broader modernist spatialisation of social relations. The research takes place around two related enquiries. The first emerges from questions raised by the art critic Rosalyn Deutsche with regard to the proposition that public art functions as both a profession and technology that attempts to pattern space so that docile and useful bodies are created by and deployed within it. Following such questions, this thesis seeks to scrutinise the ways in which discourses on public art might operate in enabling, maintaining or disrupting everyday practices and socio-spatial relations. Secondly, as a foray into methodologies of public art research, the thesis considers Foucauldian governmentality approaches in terms of what these might have to offer an investigation of public art. The thesis undertakes the analysis of a wide range of texts connected with three South Australian urban developments for which public art was separately proposed, designed, selected and installed. Attention is given principally to the Rundle Street Mall, a pedestrianised shopping street in the city-centre of Adelaide, examined at several moments throughout the period of its development (1972-1977) and later refurbishment (1996-2001). Also discussed are the Adelaide Festival Centre Plaza (1973-1977) and the Gateway to Adelaide (1996-2000), the latter project involving the reconstruction of a major traffic intersection on the outskirts of metropolitan Adelaide. Through these examples the thesis documents key debates in the history of Australian discourses concerning public art. In addition, this study brings attention to the relations between artwork and a proliferation of individuals, agencies, and other interests, highlighting the competitions over space, authority and expertise, and the often unexamined role that public art plays in maintaining or unsettling socio-spatial relations. Knowledge about public art, it is argued, is produced, transformed and deployed across a range of discursive sites (contemporary art, urban design, planning, transport and others) and becomes tied to specific problems of governing. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2008