Within fine art practice the archive is referred to and drawn on by artists in many different ways, including referencing processes of collection and accumulation to create new work and engaging with documents to create narratives that contest mainstream histories. This practice based research sheds light on the backstage of archival engagement and knowledge production processes. Following the trajectory of a single artist’s encounter with a particular institutional archive, The Baring Archive, and the onward encounters this precipitates, this thesis explores how knowledge is negotiated and archival authority sustained, at the intersection of multiple forces; by human actors coming into contact with documents under particular conditions, localities, habits, protocols, exchanges, loyalties, emotions, personalities and more. Rooted in embedded art practice, the research articulates a series of performative experiments undertaken in The Baring Archive to reveal the conventions underpinning knowledge production in this instance, focusing on the relationship between the artist (as archive user) and the archivist. The research evolves iteratively to test whether these normative roles and agencies can be reformulated to shift patterns of narrative control concerning The Baring Archive away from the archivist as a gatekeeper or privileged interpreter to other interpreters, with the aim of democratising processes of knowledge production. Through testing out different devices for keeping archival interpretation open, the research arrives at a formulation for distributed authorship, and an understanding of how positionality affects the knowledge production process. The research finally identifies how findings relating to archival dynamics can be applied to effect a redistribution of power in artistic practice more generally, in situations where artists are working with participants or audiences to create narratives at the intersection of events and documents.

This thesis investigates the impact of Superflat theory and practice of the artist and curator, Takashi Murakami. The thesis aims to analyse how contemporary transnational artistic activity functions via the work of Murakami and Superflat artists, including Chiho Aoshima and Aya Takano. From the blockbuster group exhibition, Super Flat, curated by Murakami, which debuted in the United States in 2001 at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, to the 2007-2009 ©MURAKAMI retrospective traveling from Los Angeles to Brooklyn then Frankfurt to Bilbao, the synthesis of ideas is showing the way to unprecedented directions in contemporary art. This investigation also links Murakami’s work to that of American Pop artists Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons and explores how Superflat art functions within and contributes to the already distorted area between parallel structures, such as high and low, fine art and commercial production, or East and West. When peeling back the layers of Superflat, there is a rich, beautiful and violent history. Recognising the fusion of tradition and technology, my research explores how Superflat artists are achieving international success by engaging in multiple outlets of creative expression and collaboration in the continuing context of globalisation and a consumer-driven art market. Images of anxiety and destruction are disguised as playful and marketable characters, and three-dimensional animation figures become cultural icons. Superflat explores the simulated, sensuous, colourful and obsessive “realities” that we inhabit on a global scale and captures a twenty-first century aesthetic. With reference to the representation of violence and disaster in art and popular culture, contemporary Japan’s construction of national identity and the postwar “Americanization” of Japan, this thesis examines how the layering of ideas via cross-cultural exchange produces a new form of hybrid and hyper Pop art.

Human animals have several very specific modes of relating with nonhuman animals. ANIMA, a body of work incorporating photographic and sculptural works, situates the viewer in two modes of relating: scientific and sympathetic. The photographs, which take on the mantel of the scientific, call into question the efficacy of rational, distanced and supposedly objective approaches to nonhuman animals. The very singular, interspecies creatures depicted, however, disrupt the solidity of this perspective on knowing. Three vulnerable and fantastical ‘deerhounds’ comprise the sculptural works. These absurdly plaintive creatures are embodiments of the consequences of a relating to nonhuman animals through infantilization and a dissolving of otherness. Through these works, and their relation to each other, the artist gestures to the possibility of alternate, ethical modes of relating. This thesis examines the limits of human language as a vehicle for apprehending nonhuman animals. It suggests that art, because of its often instinctive, provisional and affective relating, is a parallel and useful method to approaching animality. It proposes sustained and attentive relationships with individual animals as an avenue for moving beyond relationships of ‘massification’. Referencing writings from biologists, theorists, musicians and authors of fiction, as well as interspersing the text with short poetic vignettes, the author attempts to build an interdisciplinary approach to questioning what is ‘animal’, and why it has been defined as antithetical to ‘human’. ‘Heteroaffection’, ‘telepoiesis’, criticial anthropomorphism and sympathetic imagination are proposed as catalysts for an ethical way to be with, and to represent that being with, another animal. / October 2015

A cultural evaluation of the Isle of Wight has not been addressed in relation to mainland Britain. Strategically and economically significant, it was often disregarded; however, its unique situation offers a microcosm of social and cultural development, which so far appears to have received little attention. From an island subjected to the will of outsiders, to a cultivated venue, which attracted and fostered cultural tourism, the purpose of this regional study is to trace the evolution of this vulnerable part of England and identify influential factors, which contributed towards its cultural constructions. The hypothesis considers that the construction and consumption of the island was, throughout its history, driven by external forces. This theme is developed by relating cultural and social notions to island circumstances and identifying variables which contribute towards its unique situation. An interdisciplinary approach utilizes mainland Britain as a historical matrix to illustrate cultural development; emphasizing determining circumstances, geographic, social, economic and aesthetic, to establish how the island was used, abused and ignored. Research is island focussed, though with corresponding allusion to metropolitan influence and middle-class cultural aspirations, which contributed to the island becoming a popular tourist destination. By taking a broad historical overview it is apparent that due to location, the island was always an integral part of the British Isles, more significant than other outlying islands due to its relative proximity to the capital, the short distance to the mainland and its strategic importance both militarily and territorially. The progression of a connected narrative allows for an identification of features such as changing attitudes to the countryside and the sea which indicate an increasing consciousness, realized during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in cultural tourism, landscape art and relocation. This narrative structure is critical to establish the context for the primary focus of investigation, the period 1770- 1900 enabling an evaluation of the impact of visitors as consumers, landscape artists as interpreters, and the intertwining of these concepts to give an account of the evolution of cultural tourism on the Isle of Wight. This is central for an appreciation of the ideas, tastes, and affinities expressed aesthetically in prints and paintings, physically in mansions and marine villas and conceptually in cultural conventions such as the notions of travel. It is a significant area for research, since the dynamics of cultural forces are universally relevant for an appreciation of social, historical and economic influences in the cultural domain. On a local level the cultural constructions examined within this study are areas which can be appraised to determine and develop constructive tourism and respond to future cultural needs.

<p>The dominant narrative mode in Ainu studies today stresses an activist agenda that, although worthwhile, limits the potential for new research in the field. In this thesis, I analyze historical accounts of the development of Ainu bear carvings as a case study of the characteristics of the dominant activist mode and present an alternate narrative in order to demonstrate the need for a variety of approaches to Ainu research. </p><p> The activist narrative mode is structured to engender sympathy for Ainu people and respect for their cultural heritage. Activist accounts of Ainu bear carvings often claim that the carvers were pressured by the Japanese tourist industry to violate religious taboos against producing realistic depictions of bears. In this way, the carvings serve as a symbol of oppression of Ainu people under Japanese imperialism. At the same time, activist scholars state that the Ainu bear carvings followed a linear progression from tourist souvenirs to respected works of &ldquo;fine art.&rdquo; Thus, the carvings also reinforce optimistic projections regarding the future status of Ainu culture and socioeconomic condition. </p><p> My alternate narrative focuses on the complexities and ambiguities in the field and avoids judging events in moral or sympathetic terms. I explore a broad range of contextual issues, tracing the regional production of wooden bears from the paleolithic ancestors of Ainu people, examining the role of bears and woodcarving in Ainu culture, analyzing Ainu interactions with Japan, Russia, and other neighboring empires, and investigating the commodification of bear carvings as tourist souvenirs. </p><p> Activist narratives have contributed a wealth of valuable research to the field of Ainu studies and remain a useful tool for promoting social and cultural equality for Ainu people. However, automatic conformity to the dominant activist mode perpetuates the obfuscation of certain details in Ainu history, including the diversity within Ainu and Japanese cultures and institutions, instances of political cooperation between Ainu and Japanese communities, and unanswered questions regarding the complex development of Ainu cultural practices and beliefs. Although any historical account (including this thesis) inherently simplifies its subjects, varying our narrative approach helps us to identify and fill some of the gaps. </p>

This thesis discusses the cultural contributions – artistic patronage, art theory, art satire - of four Ladies-in-Waiting employed at the early eighteenth-century century British court: Mary, Countess Cowper; Charlotte Clayton, Baroness Sundon; Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk; and Mary Hervey, Baroness Hervey of Ickworth. Through a close reading of archival manuscripts, published correspondences and art historical treatises, I explore the cultural milieu, historical legacy and historiographic reception of these individuals. I argue that their writing reveals fresh insight on the switch from Baroque to Rococo modes of portraiture in Britain, as it does critical attitudes to sex, religion and politics among aristocratic women. Through the use of satire, these courtiers comment on extramarital affairs, rape, homosexuality and divorce among their peer group. They also show an interest in issues of feminist education, literature, political and religious patronage, and contemporary news events, which they reference through allusions to painting, architecture, sculpture, engravings, ceramics, textiles and book illustrations. Many of the artists patronized by the court in this period were foreign-born, peripatetic, and stylistically unusual. Partly due to the transnational nature of these artist’s careers, and partly due to the reluctance of later historians to admit the extent of foreign socio-cultural influence, biased judgements about the quality of these émigré painters’ work continue to predominate in art historical scholarship. While little-studied themselves, these Ladies-in-waiting were at the center of political, social and cultural life in Britain. Their letters therefore have much of value in reclaiming, not only their own contributions to the development of British cultural life, but those of the French or Francophile émigré artists patronized at court. By studying the work of these artists and the lives of their patrons, I examine the intersection between biography and artistic practice at the early eighteenth-century British court. / Thesis (Ph.D, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2013-04-29 03:14:47.731

This study focused on game physics, an area of computer game design where physics is applied in interactive computer software. The purpose of the research was a fresh analysis of game physics in order to prove that its current usage is limited and requires advancement. The investigations presented in this dissertation establish constructive principles to advance game physics design. The main premise was that transdisciplinary approaches provide significant value. The resulting designs reflected combined goals of game developers, artists and physicists and provide novel ways to incorporate physics into games. The applicability and user impact of such new game physics across several target audiences was thoroughly examined. In order to explore the transdisciplinary nature of the premise, valid evidence was gathered using a broad range of theoretical and practical methodologies. The research established a clear definition of game physics within the context of historical, technological, practical, scientific, and artistic considerations. Game analysis, literature reviews and seminal surveys of game players, game developers and scientists were conducted. A heuristic categorization of game types was defined to create an extensive database of computer games and carry out a statistical analysis of game physics usage. Results were then combined to define core principles for the design of unconventional new game physics elements. Software implementations of several elements were developed to examine the practical feasibility of the proposed principles. This research prototype was exposed to practitioners (artists, game developers and scientists) in field studies, documented on video and subsequently analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the elements on the audiences. The findings from this research demonstrated that standard game physics is a common but limited design element in computer games. It was discovered that the entertainment driven design goals of game developers interfere with the needs of educators and scientists. Game reviews exemplified the exaggerated and incorrect physics present in many commercial computer games. This “pseudo physics” was shown to have potentially undesired effects on game players. Art reviews also indicated that game physics technology remains largely inaccessible to artists. The principal conclusion drawn from this study was that the proposed new game physics advances game design and creates value by expanding the choices available to game developers and designers, enabling artists to create more scientifically robust artworks, and encouraging scientists to consider games as a viable tool for education and research. The practical portion generated tangible evidence that the isolated “silos” of engineering, art and science can be bridged when game physics is designed in a transdisciplinary way. This dissertation recommends that scientific and artistic perspectives should always be considered when game physics is used in computer-based media, because significant value for a broad range of practitioners in succinctly different fields can be achieved. The study has thereby established a state of the art research into game physics, which not only offers other researchers constructive principles for future investigations, but also provides much-needed new material to address the observed discrepancies in game theory and digital media design.

The disciplinary anxiety that has emerged between art history and visual culture studies increasingly dominates academic research and institutional practice both in global and South African contexts. The research posed here explores the contested relationship between the discipline of art history and the newly-emerging field of visual culture studies. For, despite the fact that art history has already transformed itself due to ideological pressures, this transformation is evidently no longer sufficient to ward off the visual cultural onslaught. Since the disciplinary boundaries between art history and visual culture studies intersect - or, more aptly, collide - this research examines whether these two fields are complementary or antagonistic endeavours. The proliferation of multitudes of ambiguous visual images, perpetuated by the rise of new media technologies, has complicated image production and consumption. As a result, a critique of all image-making technologies - including art - has gained momentum in light of the increasing entanglement of images with human existence. In particular, this research argues that art history can no longer maintain its allegiance to hierarchical distinctions between images, nor can it rely on traditional art historical methodologies only in its analysis and interpretation of images. This research proposes that art history visual culture studies can critically analyse the ideological functions of images in our postmodern era more appropriately than traditional art history is able to do. / Dissertation (MA (Visual Arts))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Visual Arts / unrestricted

The shift of educational paradigm, analyzed in the dissertation, is determined by the cultural changes, globalization and the reality of vocational training in independent Lithuania, which are inherent for the present epoch. At an institution of higher education this context is manifested by the modernization of studies, which is qualified as a strategy of educational paradigm shift and analyzed in terms of the peculiarities of vocational training theory and practice. The latter two factors are revealed by exploring the peculiarities and relations of the theory and practice of vocational training. The practical purposefulness of studies is emphasized in college training of future specialists. In the dissertation it is qualified as a strategy of the modernization of studies. The peculiarities of vocational training, teaching of art subjects and art education are analyzed with regard to the shift of educational paradigms. It appears that in the modernization of studies it is relevant to withdraw from conventional teaching, which is oriented towards narrow subject aims, and switch to profession-oriented art education. Therefore, profession-oriented art education is presented as a strategy of modernizing art subject studies. Theoretical models of a future specialist’s vocational training, traditional teaching of a subject (music) and contemporary art (music) education are presented, which cover the areas of subject studies, environment, scope of roles and activities. The... [to full text] / Disertacijoje nagrinėjamą edukacinių paradigmų virsmą lemia dabartiniam laikotarpiui būdingi kultūros pokyčiai, globalizacija ir profesinio rengimo tikrovė nepriklausomybę atkūrusioje Lietuvoje. Aukštojoje mokykloje toks kontekstas pasireiškia studijų modernizavimu, kuris disertacijoje vertinamas kaip edukacinių paradigmų virsmo strategija ir nagrinėjamas profesinio rengimo teorijos bei jos įgyvendinimo praktikos plotme. Tai atskleidžiama nagrinėjant profesinio rengimo teorijos ir praktikos ypatybes bei ryšius. Rengiant būsimus specialistus kolegijoje akcentuojamas praktinis studijų kryptingumas. Disertacijoje jis vertintas kaip studijų modernizavimo strategija. Išnagrinėtos laikotarpiui būdingos profesinio rengimo, meno dalykų mokymo ir meninio ugdymo ypatybės atsižvelgiant į edukacinių paradigmų virsmą parodė, kad modernizuojant meno dalykų studijas tikslinga atsisakyti į siaurus dalyko pažinimo tikslus orientuoto tradicinio mokymo ir jį keisti į profesiniu požiūriu orientuotą meninį ugdymą. Todėl profesiniu požiūriu kryptingas meninis ugdymas pristatytas kaip meno dalykų studijų modernizavimo strategija. Pristatyti būsimo specialisto profesinio rengimo, tradicinio dalykų (muzikos) mokymo ir šiuolaikiško meninio (muzikinio) ugdymo teoriniai modeliai, apimantys dalyko studijų, aplinkos, vaidmenų spektro ir veiklos sritis. Ištirtos galimybės ugdymo dalyviams koreguoti meno dalykų studijas ir profesiniu požiūriu aktualų veiklos kontekstą taikant šiuos modelius, o studijų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Disertacijoje nagrinėjamą edukacinių paradigmų virsmą lemia dabartiniam laikotarpiui būdingi kultūros pokyčiai, globalizacija ir profesinio rengimo tikrovė nepriklausomybę atkūrusioje Lietuvoje. Aukštojoje mokykloje toks kontekstas pasireiškia studijų modernizavimu, kuris disertacijoje vertinamas kaip edukacinių paradigmų virsmo strategija ir nagrinėjamas profesinio rengimo teorijos bei jos įgyvendinimo praktikos plotme. Tai atskleidžiama nagrinėjant profesinio rengimo teorijos ir praktikos ypatybes bei ryšius. Rengiant būsimus specialistus kolegijoje akcentuojamas praktinis studijų kryptingumas. Disertacijoje jis vertintas kaip studijų modernizavimo strategija. Išnagrinėtos laikotarpiui būdingos profesinio rengimo, meno dalykų mokymo ir meninio ugdymo ypatybės atsižvelgiant į edukacinių paradigmų virsmą parodė, kad modernizuojant meno dalykų studijas tikslinga atsisakyti į siaurus dalyko pažinimo tikslus orientuoto tradicinio mokymo ir jį keisti į profesiniu požiūriu orientuotą meninį ugdymą. Todėl profesiniu požiūriu kryptingas meninis ugdymas pristatytas kaip meno dalykų studijų modernizavimo strategija. Pristatyti būsimo specialisto profesinio rengimo, tradicinio dalykų (muzikos) mokymo ir šiuolaikiško meninio (muzikinio) ugdymo teoriniai modeliai, apimantys dalyko studijų, aplinkos, vaidmenų spektro ir veiklos sritis. Ištirtos galimybės ugdymo dalyviams koreguoti meno dalykų studijas ir profesiniu požiūriu aktualų veiklos kontekstą taikant šiuos modelius, o studijų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The shift of educational paradigm, analyzed in the dissertation, is determined by the cultural changes, globalization and the reality of vocational training in independent Lithuania, which are inherent for the present epoch. At an institution of higher education this context is manifested by the modernization of studies, which is qualified as a strategy of educational paradigm shift and analyzed in terms of the peculiarities of vocational training theory and practice. The latter two factors are revealed by exploring the peculiarities and relations of the theory and practice of vocational training. The practical purposefulness of studies is emphasized in college training of future specialists. In the dissertation it is qualified as a strategy of the modernization of studies. The peculiarities of vocational training, teaching of art subjects and art education are analyzed with regard to the shift of educational paradigms. It appears that in the modernization of studies it is relevant to withdraw from conventional teaching, which is oriented towards narrow subject aims, and switch to profession-oriented art education. Therefore, profession-oriented art education is presented as a strategy of modernizing art subject studies. Theoretical models of a future specialist’s vocational training, traditional teaching of a subject (music) and contemporary art (music) education are presented, which cover the areas of subject studies, environment, scope of roles and activities. The... [to full text]