Vegyna is a students club with option of vegan eating. An integral function of the club is also the possibility of informal meetings, hanging out, thinking, organizing workshopes, lectures, screenings, etc.

This thesis is an attempt to draw conclusions about consistencies and discrepancies in my studio work of the past two years. I analyze my process and ideas relative to artistic and theoretical discourse with an emphasis on the transgression of standards and values taught in the university setting. The work develops from overt ideological critique into corporeally engaging pieces designed to elicit conceptual narratives that challenge formalist ideals of perception and expression. Quotes from artists, authors, philosophers and popular music formative in my thought process serve as context for the writing and the work.

No description available.

This thesis is an overview of the source material, methodologies, artistic influences, and conceptual decisions that inform my artwork and characterize my art practice. Utilizing participation (audience, community, viewer), I engineer experiences and encounters for the general public. Whether through directed physical interaction or implicit reaction, I create open-ended situations or environments that I may influence, but not fully control. The democratic cede of authorial control, as well as the heightened risk and unpredictably in my work, instigates a more positive, non-hierarchical social model in which every viewer is an “author,” who produces content and communication signals, and has a voice and a presence in society.

The road to becoming an artist is paved with much confusion as we try to mold our brains into understanding abstract concepts and ideas. I became fascinated with how people perceive art, in particular, southern males that have no previous knowledge of art history or desire to learn. I contemplated long and hard about this and asked myself the question, “What if they did want to understand art?” The only difference between my brethren and I is this desire to pursue this seemingly foreign world. By creating an imaginary world and culture based on my own southern upbringing I have created a series of figurative paintings exploring various contemporary art themes in an effort to clarify my own understanding of the two worlds I am closest to and how they may or may not be related.

Interactive digital art installations are fundamentally enabled by hardware and software. Through a combination of these elements an interactive experience is con- structed. The first half of this thesis discusses the technical complexity associated with design and implementation of digital interactive installation. A system, dreamIO, is proposed for mediating this complexity through providing wireless building blocks for creating interactive installations. The technical details–both hardware and software– of this system are outlined. Measurements of the system are presented followed by analysis and discussion of the real world impact of this data. Finally, a discussion of future improvements is presented. The second half of this thesis examines an example interactive installation, Trans- code, which uses the proposed system as the building block for the piece. The piece is presented as evidence for the value of the proposed system and as a work of art in it’s own right. The use of the dreamIO system is detailed followed by a discussion of the interactivity and aesthetic form of the work. The purposes of these specific design choices are then presented. Finally, the work is analyzed through a combination of Relational Aesthetics and Cybernetics. / Graduate

A presente pesquisa propõe um olhar reflexivo sobre os papéis exercidos pela experiência direta e pela mediação cultural na relação entre a arte contemporânea e o seu público. Buscando, para isso, apoio em teorias e proposições que primem pela participação, e apresentando um recorte das investigações artísticas de Jorge Menna Barreto como terreno fértil para o florescimento de experiências que estimulem o pensamento sensível e reflexivo. Alicerçado por uma abordagem crítica dos pressupostos de John Dewey e Nicolas Bourriaud, o conceito de experiência será delimitado com base na interação atenta entre sujeitos, obras e contextos. Por seu turno, a ideia de mediação será expandida a fim de posicionar-se como um esforço educacional não diretivo, mas provocativo e vinculado à noção de experiência aqui defendida. / This research proposes a reflexive view on the role of direct experience and cultural mediation exerted on the relation between contemporary art and its public. Searching support in theories and propositions that prioritizes participation, and presenting a clipping of the artistic investigations of Jorge Menna Barreto as a fertile field to flourish experiences which stimulate sensitive and reflexive thinking. Supported by a critical approach of the assumptions of John Dewey and Nicolas Bourriaud, the concept of experience will be delimitated based on the concerned interaction among subjects, works and contexts. The idea of mediation, in turn, will be expanded in order to be placed as an educational and non directed effort, but provocative and linked to the notion of experience defended here.

A presente pesquisa propõe um olhar reflexivo sobre os papéis exercidos pela experiência direta e pela mediação cultural na relação entre a arte contemporânea e o seu público. Buscando, para isso, apoio em teorias e proposições que primem pela participação, e apresentando um recorte das investigações artísticas de Jorge Menna Barreto como terreno fértil para o florescimento de experiências que estimulem o pensamento sensível e reflexivo. Alicerçado por uma abordagem crítica dos pressupostos de John Dewey e Nicolas Bourriaud, o conceito de experiência será delimitado com base na interação atenta entre sujeitos, obras e contextos. Por seu turno, a ideia de mediação será expandida a fim de posicionar-se como um esforço educacional não diretivo, mas provocativo e vinculado à noção de experiência aqui defendida. / This research proposes a reflexive view on the role of direct experience and cultural mediation exerted on the relation between contemporary art and its public. Searching support in theories and propositions that prioritizes participation, and presenting a clipping of the artistic investigations of Jorge Menna Barreto as a fertile field to flourish experiences which stimulate sensitive and reflexive thinking. Supported by a critical approach of the assumptions of John Dewey and Nicolas Bourriaud, the concept of experience will be delimitated based on the concerned interaction among subjects, works and contexts. The idea of mediation, in turn, will be expanded in order to be placed as an educational and non directed effort, but provocative and linked to the notion of experience defended here.

No description available.

This thesis examines the work of three Korean contemporary art practitioners: Lee Ufan (b. 1936), Lee Bul (b.1964) and the collective flyingCity (formed 2001). Lee Ufan is a senior Korean sculptor, painter and writer, who, during a long and productive career, has been based in Tokyo and Paris, and is now recognised in Korea, as well as internationally. Both Lee Bul and flyingCity have participated in projects at the Govett-Brewster Gallery for Contemporary Art in New Plymouth, New Zealand. These three art practices demonstrate a trend during the last fifty years from the individual artist working in a studio (Lee Ufan), to the artist moving from city to city making and showing artworks (Lee Bul), to artist collectives, working with community groups in the mode of relational aesthetics (flyingCity).