Thesis (M.F.A.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Visual Arts. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR19722

Thesis (MTech. degree in Fine Art) -- Tshwane University of technology, 2011. / This dissertation investigates associated themes of the Pre-Raphaelite artists Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) and William Holman Hunt (1827-1910), in context of their idealized and spiritual portrayal of the human figure. Semiotics is used to analyze the artwork of these artists in order to attain a deeper understanding of these artworks, and to investigate potential meanings that certain signs might signify. The possible symbolism of these signs are sourced from the key symbolist theorist, Juan Eduardo Cirlot (1916-1973), from his systematic study of symbolic signs. The research identifies semiotics validity as a system for interpreting signs, and seeks to show that there are deep and complex meanings, even in a painting. Semiotics is also philosophical: it suggests that reality does not exist outside of individual interpretation, but that reality is a system of signs.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2008. / Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts and Education. Invitation to exhibition titled: In the eye of the beholder, in back of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-118).

With the commitment of a nineteenth century objectivist scientist, I established a rigorous methodology in my studio practice through drawing, cutting and sorting that asserts meticulous attention to and recording of detail. This resulted in an overwhelming accumulation of components - pieces of information that no longer functioned to create the "whole." Interested in how information adds up to meaning, I am preoccupied with sorting out meaning from my accumulations. With each work, I create a map that works less to mark a destination than to structure a journey. No longer "lost" in the details, these accumulated works effect a "whole" where the inflection of my hand in each discreet decision I made adds up to marking my place. This offers the viewer the possibility that asserting one's place is meaning enough. / by Jillian Taylor. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Exegesis (MA--Art and Design) -- AUT University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. Also held in print (29 leaves : col. ill. ; 30 cm. + 1 CD) in City Campus Collection (T 701 PAR)

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of English, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF document.

The purpose of this research is to use semiotic and narrative theory to unpack the layered meanings related to postage stamps and handwritten letters and explore their similarities. The theories of Peirce on icon, index and symbol, provide a systematic framework from which to explore the parallel narratives in a personal collection of postage stamps and letters received between 1996 and 1999. Postage stamps and letters are sent as a unit, allowing their public and private narratives to arrive in parallel. Both the practical and theoretical components of this research explore these narratives, treating letters and postage stamps as both personal and impersonal objects of communication. They are archival objects of national and personal history and of an era that is slowly fading. This research does not reinforce the different modes of communication offered by postage stamps and letters, but rather unpacks and compares, from a personal perspective, their many layers of meaning. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / M.A. (Visual Arts)

M.A. / During the second half of the fifth-century B.C. there was a sudden proliferation of Attic vases depicting adornment scenes. These scenes showed groups of women making themselves desirable and for the first time women were eroticised within the context of marriage. Some scholars have argued that this sudden abundance reflected a change in the Attic attitude towards women, reflecting their increased social standing. These scholars proposed various hypotheses. It is conjectured that Perikles' Citizenship Law of 451/450 increased the social standing of Athenian daughters. The Peloponnesian War that raged from 431 to 404 BCE might also have forced women to take on more public responsibilities; to fill the gaps left by the military men's absence. This would explain why private activities of women became the subject matter of vase paintings at that time. According to this viewpoint women became the new customers of the potters. There are even scholars who maintain that these scenes contain hints of sexual liaisons between women. A competing hypothesis is that these scenes were used to impose a patriarchal ideal of femininity onto girls preparing themselves for marriage. Both these approaches imply that women were the primary viewers of these scenes. The aim of this study is to evaluate these hypotheses and to explore whether there may be other explanations. In order to investigate these issues a visual semiotic analysis was performed of thirteen painted vases representative of a variety of painters and vase shapes. This analysis was done in two parts: a structural analysis and a pragmatic analysis. The structural analysis consisted of a syntactic and semantic analysis, and helped to identify the pertinent signs and what they refer to. Artistic principles and the theory of Gestalt played an important role in identifying key signs. The pragmatic analysis delved deeper and was used to establish what message Athenian men and women might have read into these painted vases. This brought to light the master narrative prescribed by the patriarchy as well as women's acceptance thereof and how women used it to condition their daughters. A new hypothesis is proposed to explain the increase in this type of subject matter on painted vases. It is concluded that the buyers of the vases were mostly men but that the consumers of these artistic scenes were both male and female. It is also probable that after the Peloponnesian War these vases depicted a return to basic patriarchal values that may have degenerated during the war. It was also found that Perikles' Citizenship Law would have contributed more to the social standing of the male guardian, than to that of a girl of marriageable age. The eroticisation of women within the confines of marriage would thus have propagated the message of procreation within the patriarchal family structure, rather than referring to erotic encounters between women. These scenes, instead of showing the increased social standing of women, reflect a reinforcement of patriarchal values.

Religious motifs in the works of the Art Group "Die Pilger" Abstract: The topic of this Thesis is the German-Czech art group called Die Pilger which was active mainly in Prague between 1920-1923. Its main specific feature was a strong focus on religious motifs among which Bible themes prevailed. However, religious motifs were not portrayed in a historical manner but the group often used unusual modern means of expression. However, the religious focus of the group was not proclaimed anywhere, nor did it correspond to all the work produced by the members of the group. The thesis focuses on the religiously motivated creation of the group and analyses what specific themes the artists have chosen. The aim, however, is not to list the depictions and their frequency, but to interpret individual ways of processing the given motif and through it to define the relationship of the group to these motifs and the reasons for their use. Semiotics seems to be the most appropriate examination method to apply in this case which allows you to move away from the historical burden of works and focus only on their content. The second part of the thesis analyses the narrative that is associated with the group and which significantly influences the way we perceive the work of the group. In addition to the interpretation of...