M.Tech. / In this research I offer a reading of selected work by South African artists, Joni Brenner, Berni Searle and Minnette Vári in relation to Julia Kristeva‟s conception of the abject. In examining these artists‟ use of the formal elements of tactility in representation of their corporeality, I draw analogies between their work and two Kristevian theories of heterogeneity, namely the abject and the semiotic (see Pollock 1998: 9). The primary aim of this research is to examine how the use of tactility in visual art may disrupt notions of sameness with specific reference to the assertion of a non-gendered form of embodied representation. While I am indebted to feminist investigations of corporeality and identity, and use these as a theoretical framework, I attempt to reach beyond their politically gendered paradigm. In support of this, my research draws on certain arguments put forward by Kristeva as these are situated in, and advocate, a non-gendered form of embodiment. The element of homogeneity or pervasive naturalisation is aligned with the element of „sameness‟, characteristic of the symbolic element within signification (Lechte & Margaroni 2004: 108). Consequently, following Kristevian theory, I examine ways within visual art in which the semiotic element works in a constant, antagonistic dialectic with the symbolic element. Within this context, I argue these artists suggest the borders of selfhood to be fluid in nature. Within Kristeva‟s model of selfhood, the subject in process, the abject threat of dissolution of self may be contextualised. Therefore, the threat towards one‟s identity is not so much nullified, but is rather no longer separated from the understanding of self. Following Kristeva‟s (1991: 1) thought, one may argue that the foreign „other‟ and the self are intimately related. For the purposes of this research, the pertinent facet of the abject evident in these artists‟ work is an ambiguous, dynamic, open-endedness. I align the arguably consequential abject, partial dissolution of the binary logic of self and other suggested in these artists‟ work, through the use of the formal elements of tactility, with Kristeva‟s conceptualisation of intimate revolt. This intimate revolt advocates ii a continual, questioning revision which may lead to the renewal of the interlinked notions of language and identity. Using a Post-Structuralist approach to research I engaged in textual analysis in order to explore critical positions regarding embodiment, tactility and the abject in representation. In addition, in order to generate empirical research pertaining to her artmaking practice, primary research in the form of semi-structured interviews was conducted with Brenner. In this research, having drawn on Kristeva‟s heterogeneous tools of the semiotic-driven abject, the signifiance and poetic language of the speaking subject and practice of intimate revolt I offer a non-gendered reading of tactility as a transgressive means in the disruption of sameness. Through offering non-gendered readings of the chosen artists‟ work, I have attempted to emphasise the necessity of the abject within the continual formation and renewal of the non-gendered speaking subject within processes of signification and thus of identification.

Although the human head is a common subject in art, the Eskimos have utilized this motif in a most uncommon manner. Sculptures consisting of a number of human heads, and only human heads, have been produced throughout the arctic, but never as consistently as by the Dorset and contemporary artists. In view of the unusual nature of this subject and its flourishing appearance 900 years apart in two distinct Eskimo cultures, one wonders what significance the motif had for the Eskimos themselves and what connection, if any, exists between its role in the art of two different, albeit Eskimo, cultures. Investigation of these problems is complicated by the particular circumstances of both cultures, especially the Dorset. Little has been written about the multiples of either culture. And while the contemporary Eskimos are available for interview—and were very helpful in answering the queries put to them—the Dorsets have long since been replaced by the Thule Eskimos. Our only actual evidence of the prehistoric Dorsets is archaeological. In these circumstances the actual Dorset multiples themselves are especially important—they are our major source of information as to their use and significance. Although they themselves and analogy with other Eskimo cultures may suggest certain interpretations, any tentative conclusions about the multiples created by the Dorsets cannot be definitely substantiated. Research and personal interviews in the north established that the multiples have no ulterior significance for the contemporary Eskimos. The sculpture is made for sale in the south and continued possession of it is not necessary for the Eskimo's well-being. There was no consistent interpretation of the subject. The head motif may be used simply as a design element or the heads may represent any of the following: humans—often in a family group, mythological characters, or spirits. Most artists said the idea for the multiples was from their own head or from seeing other contemporary carvings of this subject. Only a few of the contemporary Eskimos gave any indication of knowledge of the use of this subject by older Eskimos in historical times. However, multiples were made in the 1800's in such places as Alaska, the Ungava District, and at Angmassalik, Greenland. Between these few 19th century examples and the Dorset multiples of about 1000, there seems to be a complete break in the tradition of the subject. Various factors indicate that the majority of Dorset art was probably used in a religious-shamanistic context. The use of heads on other religious objects as well as the occurrence of standardized multiples, with a specific number of faces, over a large geographical area indicate that the multiple was a part of this religious art. It seems likely that the multiple was used by the shaman himself as a magic staff in ceremonies and most likely in those shamanic duties associated with retaining the well-being of his charges; particularly their health. The motif of heads suggests the possible use of the multiple in that popular Eskimo means of divination—head-lifting. In any of these life-associated capacities, the beings represented on the multiple could be: successfully cured humans, the shaman's helping spirits, or even more likely, souls; either souls to be returned to the body during illness to effect the cure, dead souls of others consulted during a illness, or souls conducted away at the death of those not successfully cured. If the Dorset multiple functioned as a religious item, and it seems most likely that it did, the contemporary sculptors have continued the tradition of the original subject but have not retained the original significance. / Arts, Faculty of / Art History, Visual Art and Theory, Department of / Graduate

An image of the body in the act of attack might be taken as an inherently episodic or narrative motif, due to the apparently transitive nature of the movement involved. Such a categorization is challenged, however, by an array of ancient Greek images that distance the attacking figure from a temporal context, as by the elision of an explicit victim; such images betray the attacking body’s “iconic” aspect, which is underlain by the efficient communication of symbolic values linked to the identity of the subject. This dissertation surveys the development of the iconic motif of the attacking body across diverse media, from its cross-cultural origins in the Bronze Age to its reformulations in the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic eras. In doing so, it tracks the codification of value-rich attacking “schemata” (recurring poses) in the representation of particular identities, including warriors, athletes, and various divinities, among others. Integrating the social-symbolic model of gesture and the body that has emerged across academic disciplines with a generally (though not exclusively) semiotic approach to the ancient imagery, the study elucidates key continuities in the significance of the motif as it appears in multiple forms and across an intriguing range of iconographic and functional contexts. Ultimately, it builds an argument that in a society in which the exertion of violence was central to the performance of status and the construction of power, the visual motif of the attacking body was critically linked to the figuration of human and divine identity: the “act as attribute.”

Thesis (M.S.V.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. VIDEOCASSETTE IN ROTCH VISUAL COLLECTIONS. / Bibliography: leaves 90-93. / by Ann Ross Marion. / M.S.V.S.

The ceramic forms in this thesis project represent a study of the sculptural and figurative qualities of the ceramic process. This study includes a search for a personal form language, development of the slab construction technique, and development of a glazed surface appropriate to the work. The subject of the work is the human torso, with the vessel-like forms focusing on the core of the body as a metaphor for the core of the human spirit.

No description available.

Thesis--Göttingen. / Includes selected texts from Tripiṭaka in Pali (romanized) and German. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 235-240) and index.

This thesis examines the notion of a 'third space'. 'Third space' is a way to examine the question of culture in a time marked by large epistemic, political and representational shifts. Recent theorization of 'third space' often locates this as a cultural 'in-between' or field of liminality, beginning with the polarities of hierarchical and binary dualisms. The body, as one half of dualistic thought and practice, remains conspicuously absent from concepts of 'third space' and its activities. A series of dynamic modes of engagement, in which embodiment figures centrally, constitutes 'third space' in this theorization of it. Rather, however, than approach the articulation of a 'third space' solely through academic and literary texts, its primary 'sources' of 'information' to date, photographic imagery is proposed as a means to access 'third space'. The photographic, through its mediation of "vision," provides visual 'clues' by which to approach the "subjects" and "objects" of 'third space'. A trialectical relation of Visuality, Embodied Inter(ob)subjectivity and Space therefore characterizes a feminist approach to, and conceptualization of, 'third space'. An interpretative analysis of the contemporary photographic practices of Genevieve Cadieux, Marlene Creates, and Sylvie Readman contributes to an understanding of the significance of a notion of 'third space'.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1994. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 36).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 27).