The life and works of Juan Fernandez Navarrete are integrated in a study emphasizing his career as court painter to Philip II. The discovery of Navarrete's baptismal certificate of 1540 corrects the date of his birth given in the literature. His position as a "reformed" conservative painter with a positive influence on seventeenth century Spanish painting is demonstrated. Navarrete is shown to maintain the High Renaissance models of Raphael and Titian while rejecting the preferred style of Mannerism. / The two altarpieces for the Monastery of La Estrella at Logrono are reconstructed in order to clarify his early pictorial style. The eight paintings realized for the upper cloister of the Monastery of the Escorial are seen as an embodiment of the newly formulated decrees of the Council of Trent pertaining to the use of religious images. Their placement at the corners of the upper cloister is seen as symbolizing the Augustinian aesthetic concept of correspondence. An iconographical analysis of the Martyrdom of St. James reveals an allusion to the recent battle of the Alpujarras at Granada, won by the Spaniards over the Moors. / Navarrete's pictorial style is shown to evolve rapidly during his last three years. This rapid evolution was aided by the influence of newly arrived paintings by Titian and Navarrete achieves even greater importance as Philip II's preferred painter. The pairs of apostles for the basilica of the Escorial and the corresponding $modelli$ at Valencia are seen as studies of contrasting personalities where the contrapposto motif as a stylistic and rhetorical device will serve as influence on the next generation of seventeenth century Spanish painters. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-04, Section: A, page: 1030. / Major Professor: Patricia Rose. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

The subject of this study is the experience of acting. The separation of artistic act and artwork results here not in a psychoanalytical analysis of the artwork via artist, but rather in a focus on the artistic act from the perspective of the actor. This dissertation is a theoretical work, not an empirical study. The research is drawn from a broad base of theoretical and practical texts on acting, a set of interviews with professional and student actors on the subject of the experience of acting, and an investigation into relevant phenomenological theory, particularly that of Edmund Husserl. The crucial aspect of the writing involves applied phenomenological theory and the development of an extension to or a condition of that theory to cover the suprasensory experiences of the actor. / The opening chapters establish the applicable phenomenological method as drawn from the writings of Edmond Husserl and translated into practical application to acting theory. In Chapter Two I discuss specifically Husserlian phenomenology as it relates to this analysis. By way of introductory application I then discuss the actor's perceptions of production and character early in rehearsals. Chapter Three proceeds with the actor into the performance period of production and will explore the actor's altered perceptions at this level. The next chapter discusses the actor's perceptions of self-as-character and of other characters during performance. This chapter offers some of the most specific actor impressions. Chapter Five represents a brief investigation into the aesthetic mode of perception described by so many actors. The closing chapter considers the questions raised by this study, particularly those concerning actor training and the future of stage acting. The bibliography includes phenomenological works and acting theory texts, as well as actor biographies and collected actor interviews. The appendices include edited selective interviews and the questionnaire on acting used in researching the acting process. / The focus on the actor's mental state in performance and the actor's assessment of her perceptions in this state produce a kind of catalogue of perceptual modes experienced in performance and not experienced in mundane activity. These levels of experience fall generally into three categories: (1) practical cognition of action and environment, (2) a kind of heightened performance mode of perception, and (3) an abstracted mode of perception, in which the actor seems to exist within a simultaneously perceived and created aesthetic object. The exploration of these modes of perception and the process responsible for the actor's altered mental behaviour become the key issues in this dissertation. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-01, Section: A, page: 0024. / Major Professor: Richard Hornby. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

The styles, techniques and iconography of two-hundred and seventeen stained glass windows in two Roman Catholic and two Protestant Episcopal churches were examined. The historical development of the West Palm Beach and Palm Beach areas indicate that periods of prosperity and depression affected the ordering and installation of the windows. The architectural styles of the church buildings were also examined. The Roman Catholic Jesuit churches used the Renaissance-Gesu plan based on the consideration of light, a factor less important in the more dimly lit Protestant Episcopal churches which used the Gothic-cruciform plan. / The glazing programs include the work of twelve studios with styles ranging from traditional Gothic Revival, used in Bethesda-by-the-Sea Protestant Episcopal Church, to the pictorial Munich School, used in the two Roman Catholic churches, to the contemporary 1980s. Holy Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church used the traditional, pictorial, and contemporary styles. This research shows that a reassessment of the negative criticism of the pictorial Munich School is needed. / The iconographic programs of the churches were also examined. The influence of the Jesuits and contemporary papal pronouncements were important factors in the selection of subjects in the Roman Catholic Jesuit churches. The choice of subjects in Bethesda-by-the-Sea was strongly influenced by its rector Tage Tiesen, while Holy Trinity's program demonstrated the influence of the congregation and clergy. The subjects in the wealthy resort parishes of St. Edward and Bethesda-by-the-Sea indicate a concern for the ceremonial and themes of royalty. The less affluent St. Ann emphasizes familial themes and Holy Trinity emphasizes baptismal and eucharistic themes. Both Bethesda-by-the-Sea and Holy Trinity stress the apostolicity of the Church. The windows reveal the twentieth-century popularity of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Anthony of Padua. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-12, Section: A, page: 3533. / Major Professor: Patricia Rose. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

The achievement of Nam June Paik, commonly known as "the father of video art," has been recognized by several one-man exhibitions and accompanying exhibition catalogues in addition to numerous articles. But there is no systematic study of his development as an artist yet; Paik scholarship remains in a critical void. This is especially true for his early period when he was less publicized. The purpose of this dissertation is to portray him in the context of the artistic milieu from which he emerged as an established artist, and to relate his activities to broader art historical discourse. / Paik was influenced by Kurt Schwitters, Marcel Duchamp, and especially by John Cage during his German period when he began his career as a performance artist associated with Fluxus artists. Cage's frontal attack on tradition and a negation of any value or taste in art were important lessons to Paik. Paik's "invention" of video art in the late sixties reflects the rise of dematerialized and process-oriented art at that time. The production of the Paik/Abe Video Synthesizer itself was an important contribution to video art history and it was aligned to his belief that video would replace painting. / Influenced by McLuhan's global village idea, Paik focused on the information and communication side of video in the early seventies. The close formal and iconographical investigations of the three tapes The Selling of New York, The Global Groove, and A Tribute to John Cage reveal his aesthetics and working principles. The Global Groove established the norms of broadcast videotape and influenced many younger video artists. The characteristics of Paik's works such as an extensive use of kitsch, appropriation and recycling, a high degree of audience-consciousness, and rapid and discontinuous break in timing are all related to the features of Postmodernism. Paik is a quintessential Postmodern artist, and his future task is how to maintain the critical edge while fully embracing the popular culture. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-12, Section: A, page: 3533. / Major Professor: Craig Adcock. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

Although historians have focused on the relationship between art and science in the past few decades, the representations of the heliocentric theory in art from 1543-1750 have not been studied thoroughly. In this dissertation, images representing the Copernican universe have been compiled and analyzed to determine the kind of artistic response to the "Copernican revolution." Art historians have interpreted the retention of traditional ideas and the lack of great numbers of examples as evidence that artists remained unaffected by the heliocentric theory except through their interest in the telescopic images. This study proves that artists during the Renaissance were cognizant of Copernican ideas and did respond to his discoveries but through traditional methods, often combining symbols of the new astronomy with astrological, alchemical and mystical imagery. Traditionally, the scientific diagram has been ignored as a legitimate art form, but the diagram was the most important vehicle for artistic expression of the Copernican universe. A stylistic analysis of the known diagrams representing the heliocentric universe is included. This analysis illustrates that while astronomers grappled with the dynamics of celestial mechanics, the artist also struggled to depict the concepts of dynamics. A chronological study of the diagrams underscores this fact. By the early eighteenth century, artists had moved from the standard format developed in the Middle Ages to conscious attempts to render the movement and flux of the heavens. With the work of Sir Isaac Newton in universal gravitation and the development of calculus in particular the bonds between the artists and scientists, once so strong in the Renaissance, began to separate. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-02, Section: A, page: 0326. / Major Professor: Francois Bucher. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

What is satire, what can it do and what not, and why should we care about it? Since its introduction as a classification of artworks in Roman times, these fundamental questions about satire have been continually addressed by satirists themselves, their fans, their detractors, political and moral authorities, art-critics, and, not in the least, scholars. These longstanding debates about the fundamental issues of satire have often been fruitful and enlightening. Still, the fundamental questions about satire's nature, its function and its significance have remained unanswered. In this thesis, I aim to resolve these issues by engaging with satire throughout the ages in various media, with a specific focus on contemporary moving images. While satire was traditionally a literary phenomenon, it is nowadays most widespread on the screen, especially due to commercial success on American television (Gray, Jones and Thompson 2009, 19). For this reason, although I do not ignore debates in literary studies and other disciplines, I primarily engage with recent scholarship in film, television and media studies (e.g. Day 2012; McClennen 2011; Jones 2010; Baym 2010). Apart from moving images, I also discuss a variety of comics, because I argue that satire is characterised by similar storytelling techniques as cartoons and caricatures. My investigation aims to clarify fundamental, general and abstract questions about the nature, function and significance of satire. In order to realise these aims, I introduce and develop methodological frameworks from analytic aesthetics and philosophy. I draw mostly on methodologies in philosophy of art to address my research questions and clarify closely related concepts to satire, including irony (Wilson and Sperber 2012), humour (Carroll 2014), fiction (Friend 2012), genre (Abell 2014), aesthetic experiences (Stecker 2010), entertainment (Shusterman 2003) and narrative interpretation (Currie 2004). I also engage with scholarship which has sought to appraise the nature, function and significance of satire by comparing it to philosophy (Gray 2005; Higgie 2014). On the one hand, such comparisons are problematically vague and, under scrutiny, the differences between satire and philosophy quickly become apparent (see Diehl 2013). On the other hand, these comparisons are valuable because they rightfully highlight that satirists and philosophers share a moral concern for truth, which situates them in a similar existential framework. Still, concepts like 'truth' and 'ethics' have remained problematically vague in recent debates about satire, especially in the wake of postmodernism. In order to redress this situation and introduce greater clarity to the debates, I develop a meta-ethical investigation rooted in the quasi-realism of Simon Blackburn (1998). In the first chapter, I challenge the idea that satire is a spirit or mode which can only be characterised by a cluster account (Condren 2012). Instead, I define satire as a genre with the purpose to critique and entertain. This definition highlights a fundamental tension in satire between a broadly moral purpose to critique and a broadly aesthetic purpose to entertain, which explains the ambiguous reception of satire: hailed for its truthful moral interventions (Gray 2005), enjoyed for its aesthetic pleasures (Griffin 1994), but also dismissed as frivolous pastime that cultivates cynicism (Webber 2011). In the second chapter, I frame the significance of satire's definitive tension as corresponding to a fundamental conflict in ethical life between the demands of critique and its limits. Although I acknowledge that satire's purpose to entertain limits its political impact as critique (Holbert 2013), I revalue entertainment in satire as therapy to cope with the limits of critique. In the third chapter, I investigate the cognitive contributions of satire as critique, even if they are moderate. Acknowledging that fictions are epistemically risky (Currie and Levinson 2017), I acknowledge that satire can deceive, but I also defend that good satire can teach non-trivial truths, including moral truths. Nonetheless, I advocate a careful cognitivism which acknowledges that satire's cognitive contributions need to be complemented with further inquiry. In the fourth chapter, I explain that satirists often cultivate a humorous irony to cope with the limits of critique. In dialogue with psychological research on the therapeutic function of narratives (Roberts and Holmes 1999) and the correlation between humour and wellbeing (Martin 2007; Ruch and Heintz 2016), I conceptually clarify the therapeutic dimension of humorous irony in satire as a narrative strategy to cope with the absurd gap between the demands of critique and its limits. I conclude that further research about satire should focus less on proving that satire changes the world and more on how it copes with it.

Much star studies theory, following key theorist Richard Dyer (1998/1979; 1986), continues a focus on 'the star' in isolation. This thesis, however, places stars within the context of other stars. Specifically, I analyse three popular star couples from Hollywood's Studio Era. Star couples played an important part in Hollywood production and reception, with many films employing a male and a female star involved in a romantic plot. My case studies of Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor (partnered in films from 1927-1934), William Powell and Myrna Loy (1934-1947), and Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson (1941-1953) focus on their representation in fan magazines. Fan magazines are rich and complex sites of star and audience interaction, with these publications misleadingly implying that they provide access to the 'real' star. In fact, as Dyer has commented, we are only ever offered a carefully constructed media text - a 'star image' - comprised of promotion, publicity, films, and criticism and commentary. Fan magazines have recently become increasingly available to researchers via digital platforms, making my advancing of a rigorous, yet flexible, methodology especially relevant. Expanding on recent work on tropes in fan magazine coverage, I analyse themes occurring in these stars' screen and star images. Comparison within and between these star couples affords insights into what found favour with audiences at different times, especially in relation to romance. The thesis also sheds light on the intricate ways Hollywood negotiated its presentation of screen and star images within the framework of myriad stars.

Please note: creative writing theses are permanently embargoed in OpenBU. No public access is forecasted for these. To request private access, please click on the locked Download file link and fill out the appropriate web form. / Collection of poetry / 2031-01-01T00:00:00Z / 2031-01-01

<p> Artists throughout the centuries have infused art their art with their ideological outlook in order to persuade, educate or shock target audiences. Typically, these ideologies, revolve around religious and political systems. However, they can also encompass unpopular and revolting subject matter that many people choose to avoid. I embrace this tactic in my art and cast myself in the role of social critic and propagandist.</p><p> I create art with the intent to shed light on the effects of greed, because it serves as a disastrous catalyst for numerous problems within our society. These problems are addressed in my sculptures and prints by focusing on issues relating to agribusiness and the use of animals in industry.</p><p> The general public is not exposed to sufficient information regarding these negative aspects. They include the annual abuse of billions of animals for human consumption, as well as for clothing and product testing. Environmental damage caused by feedlots and pesticides should be a major concern, but is often overlooked. People need information in order to make knowledgeable decisions concerning what they eat and what they feed their children.</p><p> Therefore, by avoiding the abstract and the esoteric, and by creating visually appealing and potentially educational art, it is my intent to interest and inform my audience. This kind of easily-readable, propagandistic art can shed light on these subjects and is one step toward reform. Art holds an extraordinary power when it comes to influencing the masses and can be used as an educational tool to ignite positive social change. Like an artistic Pied Piper, this body of work is intended to lead an audience down the road to moral and culinary enlightenment.</p><p>

<p> There comes a time in any culture where the introduction of new technologies affect the role of known traditional systems of making or producing. The act of producing cloth is among one of many traditions affected by new technologies. </p><p> It is apparent that since the advent of the Industrial Revolution, technologies have gone through many changes. All traditional methods of manufacturing goods and objects have been mechanized and become mass-produced. This has had a profound impact not only on American culture, but global culture and economies. As an artist who has discovered a passion for the process of making itself, and esteems the value of the handmade object, I have become increasingly aware that the handmade tradition is quickly being eliminated from our lives. Therefore, in my work I address these issues. I depict the impact of technology on tradition and consider the role of craft by combining digitally produced and manufactured cloth pieces with handmade elements. This is done using the tools and materials for the production of cloth as the subject matter of this body of work to discuss the loss of the tradition of the handmade in our culture.</p><p> In this body of work I bring to the forefront of our attention the fact that the tradition of the handmade, in this instance the hand-woven object, is disappearing through the technical advances seen in digitally designed and manufactured cloth.</p><p>