This thesis aims to map the life and artistic directions of Ludek Pesek, one of the founders of Space art (Cosmic realism). For us, Pesek is an unknown artist, because he lived and worked in Switzerland for over thirty years. Ludek Pesek (*1919, Czechoslovakia, 1999, Switzerland) was a significant painter, illustrator, writer and photographer. He graduated the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and he was a member of the Association of Czech artists, from where he was expelled in 1971 along with other artists who after the Soviet intervention in 1968 remained outside the territory of Czechoslovakia. Firstly I am going to analyze paintings from the collections of South Bohemian Gallery and also from other galleries in the Czech Republic mainly Triptycha, Mars and others. Pesek's surreal compositions will then going to follow. In conclusion Im going to create the overall stylistic characterization of Pesek art, using the analysis of Czech art and his creations in exile. At the same time I will laid down the basis that will lead to the creation of a complete biography in the future, that which will cover all stages of Pesek's career.

This thesis consists of two parts ? theoretical and practical. The theoretical part is focused on the topics of beautiful book ? i.e. bibliophilia, artist?s book, illustration, and overall literary art. The basis for the practical part of this thesis is figure and work, namely ?The Day of the Triffids? by John Wyndham, as well as meaning and place of science fiction in the world of art. The practical part consists of set of illustrations, a cover design and a typographical solution of the book ?The Day of the Triffids? The aim of this work was to create a book, which could be classified as valuable literature, not only by its contents, but by its appearance as well.

Tystnad kan användas som ett kognitivt verktyg för att påverka en filmupplevelse och för att förhöja vissa audiovisuella aspekter. Denna studie undersöker hur tystnad som berättargrepp inom genren sci-fi kan användas genom två koncept för ljudinspelning: fidelity, som är en trogen ljudinspelning av vad som visas i bild, och intelligibility, som adderar ljud för narrativ information. Koncepten lät oss som ljuddesigners analysera och kontrollera tystnadsögonblicken i varje scenario. Point of audition användes som ett adderat designverktyg för att fokusera tystnadsögonblicken i narrativet. Genom diskussion i fokusgrupper kunde vi utvärdera hur tystnaden upplevdes i varje separat klipp. Studien visade att tystnad som berättargrepp föredrogs vid en kombination av de två koncepten. / Silence can be used as a cognitive tool to influence a film experience and to elevate certain audiovisual aspects. This study examines how silence as a narrative technique in the sci-fi genre can be used through two concepts for sound recording: fidelity, which is a faithful sound recording of what is shown on screen, and intelligibility, which adds sound for narrative information. The concepts allowed us as sound designers to analyze and control the moments of silence in each scenario. Point of audition was used as an added design tool to focus the moments of silence in the narrative. Through discussions in focus groups, we were able to evaluate how the silence was experienced in each separate clip. The study showed that silence as a narrative approach was preferred in a combination of the two concepts.

Imagine one million and six hundred thousand years ago — a prehistoric character points. There in the moistened soil, the hominid Homo habilis draws a line, inscribing with her finger the first mark. At the core of my work is a meditation on this very scene as the otherwise unknowable origins of image making. And at the center of this discovery is a prehistoric woman — a previously invisible character within human evolution. My work aims to insert these characters into the origins of tool use, image making, and other supposed markers of humanness while also examining historical representations of women. Like science fiction, the field of physical anthropology allows me to reimagine our past, or even our future, with a criticality of the ways in which patriarchal and religious structures have shaped our understanding of human evolution and our representations of our past. In substituting aliens for extinct species of human ancestors and the unknown of space for the primordial earth as we will never know it, I have a vast imaginable world within which to invent and recreate narratives of origin and discovery.

Chronologically I have described the different environments that I have been exposed to in the past five years and how my interactions with the different locations have affected my work. I started writing about what I was doing a year after finishing my undergraduate degree, when I started to feel as though I needed to re-invent my work in a way that also meant trying to see the process of creating art differently. I didn't know yet how this new work would begin to generate, or what would inspire it, but I knew that I was seeking a studio practice that would be personal enough to sustain a lifetime of exploration. In the end I found the inspiration had always been all around me.

Det finns inte mycket forskning på ämnet förtexter, speciellt inte i film som utspelar sig i framtiden. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka förtextens form och funktion utifrån en semiotisk analys som använder sig av de begrepp semiotiken medför i tolkandet av tecken. De två frågeställningar i arbetet är “I tolkandet av förtexten utifrån semiotisk analys, vilka val och budskap går att finna i förtextens form?” och “Vilka funktioner fyller de utvalda förtexterna för filmernas narrativ?”   I urvalet av filmerna utgick jag från filmer som utspelas i framtiden, detta för att möjliggöra ett eventuellt eget och nytt uttryck för den tid då filmerna utspelar sig. Filmerna är Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979), Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985) och The Matrix (Lana och Lilly Wachowski, 1999). Dessa filmer utgår också från tre decennier. Mitt material för att göra analyserna utgick från hermeneutisk metod tillsammans med semiotisk analys. För att kunna tolka de tecken och begrepp som semiotiken medför utgick jag ifrån bl.a. texter av Gripsruds och Bignell. Detta förenat med historia och förhållningssätt till titeldesign, samt information om filmerna och deras produktioner. Uppsatsen resultat framställer att förtexternas form följer filmens funktioner i alla tre filmerna. Analyserna tydliggör att de val som gjorts i skapande ofta går att härleda direkt till filmens narrativ eller konceptuella idéer om varför titelsekvensen uppfattas som den gör utifrån de semiotiska begreppen. Samtidigt visar resultatet att förtextens design skulle vara ett tydligt sätt för att utöka filmens värld ytterligare och skapa ett sammanhängande uttryck till filmernas paketering och marknadsföring.

With shows such as Big Bang Theory and the increased mainstreaming of San Diego Comic-con, now more than ever before, it is acceptable to be a “nerd”. The question now becomes what efforts are being made to appeal to fans of color in traditional “nerd” activities, specifically comic books (this can include television shows and movies based on comic book characters), anime, and science fiction. Throughout the decades, there have been various attempts to have a discourse about the lack of diversity in nerd culture, both among its creators and characters from various properties considered beloved to nerds. Only, at the time of this writing, in recent years does there seem to be an increase among fans of color discussing these issues in the world at large, and not just in their own social group(s). This research will discover how minority fans feel about representation, or lack thereof, in the three above fandom. It will examine how minority fans feel about specific instants involving race and ethnicity in fandom from the past year. What I have discovered is that, issues of race are not discussed among the majority of fans and creators. Occasionally, when such issues are discussed there is an amount of hostility from white fans.

In Bradbury’s dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451, knowledge is illegal, and popular culture is promoted as a way to control society. Guy Montag, the central character of the book, undergoes through a journey of liberation from the oppressive system to the further achievement of the forbidden knowledge. The female characters in the book are key to his awakening and evolvement. Unfortunately during the course of the story these women perish. Using the theories of Simone De Beauvoir and Janice Radway, this essay explores the concept of “otherness” and the consumption of popular culture in a patriarchal and oppressive society. This paper also argues that the construction of the masculinity of the protagonist would not be possible without the women, and their death is a violent reaffirmation of a patriarchal order.

This thesis project builds upon one of the really big questions; are we alone in the universe?By research, references and studies I have throughout this project tried to imagine a future that with the help of architectural speculation and imagination is a bit more prepared to answer that question. The project in itself was intended as an exploration of the world of science, science fiction and conspiracies, as well as typology, in order to produce architecture that represented the very notion of the longing for an answer to that question.  I wanted to both design spaces where one would prepare for the journey of leaving earth, as well as speculate on what type of architecture would be required to welcome a potential visitor of our planet. The result is a proposed future extension to Kiruna Airport intended for interplanetary travel, some parts concrete and real, some speculative and suggestive.

// F - E- G // // F - E- G // is the title of my independent degree project, for the Master program New Performative Practices at Stockholm University of the Arts. The project was intended as a means for  presenting and understanding my artistic practice and its various aspects. It was a public presentation in the university’s theatre hall. The format chosen was a 50 minute solo performance with a 10 minute participatory section at the beginning of the show. I was the performer, as well as the music and recordings' editor, text writer, and project coordinator in collaboration with SKH's producer and staff. My aim with the project was to fit together the various themes and practices that I had been exploring during the two years of the course: a somatic sci-fi based practice, clown technique, the use of voice, the relationship of the performer to the audience, finding honesty and repeatability in performance, the use of chance and randomness in creation and performing, the use of language in guiding others toward physical and personal insights and experiences, what kind of social impact performance art can have, Nonviolent Communication (NVC) as a choice of life and, finally,  reconnecting to my ageing dancing body. I call the method chosen to explore these various interests and curiosities a personal-experiential method: the ideas were tried out physically and concretely, over a span of time that allowed for reflection and introspection. The outcome of the project was rich in personal learnings and challenges, as well as a milestone in my development as an artist and a person. I hope it served as a moment of poetry and enjoyment to those who visited and participated in the performances: that they might recognise themselves in similar situations and feelings and that they might be either relieved or comforted or somehow get the chance to witness their experience through the dramaturgy of the performance. For more on the project please find an brief expansion on this abstract in the uploaded pdf file. For a more comprehensive view of my artistic practice during the two years at SKH please visit my Research Catalogue site at https://www.researchcatalogue.net/shared/82db91825a5ca2dcf19ae6b16f28d33a (to navigate the site once exposition is open: hover cursor on the top left of the page for a menu).