Codes of power are scripted into the dimensions we inhabit. Ingrained as perspectival constructs, they shape our perceptions of time and space and automate our relations within spheres of communication transfer. With this systemization, the human body relinquishes its power as a primary site of perspective. Instead, views of the world are filtered through the hegemonic codes of the physical empire. Today however, we are also witnesses to the induction of light as a new sphere of communication transfer. Here, the codes of power are concealed by their explicitness as they transpose themselves onto a new horizon of definition. Thus, the purpose of this text will be to expose the 'command lines' behind the codes by utilizing a series of perceptual inversions. The aim will be to provoke a new paradigm for understanding the codes of power as they rise with the dawn of the virtual empire.

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This study provides an examination of landscape perceptions, specifically geopiety or sacred landscape perceptions, at Mounds State Park. Through archival analysis I traced 2000 years of landscape perceptions at the park and found that geopiety has been an underlying influence in shaping perceptions. I further examine contemporary perceptions at Mounds state Park through participant observation and ethnographic interviewing and have determined that geopiety continues at the park in the form of nature-centered, historical/cultural and recreational perceptions. Finally, I examined the influence of modernity on geopiety and have determined that the level of geopiety is determined by the degree an individual is influenced by modernity. Modernity exists in varying degrees from traditional to progressive with the majority of individuals couched within the “inbetweeness” of modernity. / Department of Geography

The topic of my research project is: 'An investigation of the eroticisation of death and dying in contemporary visual art cinematic practices'. In essence it involves an investigation of what may motivate an artist in desiring to find beauty in what is most fearful. The aims of the research are: i) broadly - to contribute to critical understandings concerning the place and importance of this topic within 'alternative popular cultures' - or 'sub-cultures' - as manifested particularly within contemporary visual art practice but also in music, film, television and some forms of performance; and ii), to develop a body of creative works capable of making a strong personal contribution to contemporary visual arts culture, through video, photography, performance and installation.

Thesis (M A. (African Languages)) -- University of Limpopo, 2009 / The study evaluates the communicative aspects of the Vhavenḓa female traditional attire in the Vhembe region, Limpopo Province. Chapter one carries an introduction and background to the study, aim of the study, rationale and objectives of the study, significance of the study, literature related to the study and data analysis thereof. Chapter two carries the detailed investigation of the Vhavenḓa Traditional attire as well as the relevant times to wear that attire, where and their uses. Chapter three carries the Vhavenḓa Traditional attires that are not allowed to be worn in some occasions. Chapter four carries the findings and the recommendations of the study. Chapter five is the summary of the study.

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A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Fine Art by Dissertation. Johannesburg 2016 / Colour has always played an important role in South Africa; from the beginning of colonialism when “Africans” were converted to Christianity and baptised in white robes, to the bright colourful church garments that flood Soweto on Sundays. In the nineteenth century “Africans” began to reimagine their faith and spiritually. Seeking independence and a sense of identity, they began to fuse Western Christian ideologies with “African” spiritual beliefs and attire, which led to the origin of African Independent Churches (AIC). I aim to demonstrate how colour was not only used as a break away from colonial influences, but was also used to portray African spiritual beliefs and to create a distinctive “African” religious identity. This paper aims to study colour usage and it’s meaning within the South African context in order to show how colour use within Apostolic and Zionist movements relates to traditional African spirituality. The paper aims to show how colours used within both movements are symbolic and are thus used as spiritual codes. The paper will look at contemporary colours in order to show how Apostolic and Zionist movements continue to use colour to shape their spiritual identity.

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2016 / Since the latter part of the 20th century to the present, we have seen growing concerns about the potential collapse of socio-ecological systems due to climate change. On the other hand, palaeoenvironmentalists, archaeologists and anthropologists consistently point to evidence of how Homo-sapiens have survived within climate variability underpinned by an embodied/embedded relationship to their environments. Archaeological data shows how indigenous groups such as the Bushman have inhabited landscape features such as caves for longer than 10 000 years and thus survived through periods of climate variability. Another well researched element of Bushman life is their ritual practices. Given the low supply of livelihood resources within the contexts where such communities have survived, this study hypothesised a possible relationship between Bushman ritual practices and their long-term resilience when faced with variability. Using the Holocene habitation of the Wonderwerk Cave as the main case study, this study explored the relationship between people, place and ritual. Furthermore, the study applied phenomenology as the primary data collection method. The resultant first-person experience guided the researcher in engaging with secondary data from archaeology and ethnography. The study found that Bushman ritual practices such as trance constituted a critical adaptation tool in response to perpetually variable environments. Through such practices and their related tools such as art, space and myth, such communities managed to sustain a synchronised dialogue with place thus facilitating for ongoing dissolution of maladaptive behaviour. Another key finding is that our inability to change constitutes a key characteristic of our species today as we have been seduced into the trap of our deep psychic longing for existential continuity. The study argues for an architecture for resilience whose primary role would be to facilitate higher fluidity in our embeddedness to place and allowing for faster and trauma-free transitioning in synchronicity to our changing environments. In conclusion, the study finds that our own contemporary climate change has implications far beyond the techno-scientific understanding which has prevailed so far and is instead calling to be understood as an existential phenomenon to be primarily resolved through relevant/responsive ritual practices to facilitate our own transitioning and continued resilience. / MT2017

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