Considered under the theme 'The Floating World', the aim of this research project was to create a written exegesis and a series of artworks, primarily in the form of digital animation and illustration, which investigate decorative and illustrative art practices and their historical lineages. Particular emphasis was given to investigating the links between contemporary decorative/illustrative art practice and the aesthetics and psychology of the Edo period in Japan (C17th - C19th), in which the term 'The Floating World' was used to describe the city of Edo (old Tokyo). The writing concerned with The Floating World is comprised of the following chapters: history; concepts; aesthetics; contemporary adaptations of Ukiyo-e; and gothic romance and associated genres. The outcomes of my Masters program represent a sustained exploration of decorative and illustrative art practice and theory, and incorporate experimentation with associated genres such as magic realism, gothic romance, the uncanny, iconography, surrealism and other metaphorical and abstract representational practices. More broadly, my Masters project is an investigation, both theoretical and practical, into the way drawing and illustration have been a process through which to (literally) give shape to hopes and fears, and to describe understandings of self and the world. I am particularly interested in exploring how, through the act of abstraction and the use of metaphor and decoration, a capacity to 'speak the unspeakable' and 'know the unknowable' are somehow enabled. For example, when contemporary Japanese artist Takashi Murakami decorates Edo-inspired screens with a colourful arrangement of morphing cartoon mushrooms, he conjures up a startling and complex poetic space that juxtaposes traditional Japanese aesthetics and philosophy with the hyper-consumerist characters and ethos of Disneyland, as well as disquieting references to the mushroom bombs that dropped down on Hiroshima and Nagasaki from US planes. A similarly complex space is enacted by contemporary US artist Inka Essenhigh: her oversized canvases seem like sublime Japanese-inspired screens but a closer inspection reveals that the decorative motifs are actually dismembered body parts morphed together to create a savage and compelling metaphor for contemporary America that is all the more disarming for being perf ormed in a seemingly innocuous illustrative style. My research will draw on these examples but will endeavour to create a series of artworks that are particular to an Australian context. This interests me particularly in a time when, as a nation, we appear to be confounded about what it means to be Australian: as a contemporary artist I am interested in how we represent ourselves as a nation, and in exploring the motifs and attributes that we consider to be ours.

The bulk of research in digital 3D animation is focused on problem solving and the development of new techniques and innovations for the 3D animation software of the future. However, little consideration is given for the underlying reasons why problems arise from a psychological perspective, and if 3D animation is to establish itself as a discipline in academia, strides must be taken to strengthen its foundations with existing academic disciplines.This undergraduate thesis examines the possible causes of joint deformation problems inherent to digital human character rigs in Autodesk Maya using cognitive psychology, specifically theories of perception, with additional considerations for the roles of the Uncanny Valley effect and suspension of disbelief. An experiment was devised to evaluate the presence of joint deformation problems on a basic human character rig and in two approaches of solution.The results supported the presented hypothesis on what causes the viewer to notice joint deformation problems, but further investigation is required for test it definitively. The study also implied that whilst joint deformation problems may be noticed by the viewer and cause distraction from the content of a digital film, other factors also strongly affect the viewer’s experience in a similar manner. The results of further studies could help digital artists better understand how the audience may respond to the presence of joint deformation problems and optimise their workflow. / Den övergripande forskningen kring digital 3D-animation är främst fokuserad på problemlösning samt utvecklingen av ny teknik och innovation för framtida programvaror utformade för 3D-animation. Dock har det sällan tagits någon hänsyn till de underliggande anledningarna om varför problemen uppstår, och inte heller genom ett psykologiskt perspektiv. Om 3D-animation ska bli mer etablerat inom den akademiska disciplinen så behöver framsteg göras för att skapa en starkare grund.Denna vetenskapliga uppsats undersöker möjliga anledningar till varför joint-deformationsproblem upplevs med riggen för digitala mänskliga karaktärer i Autodesk Maya. Detta utforskas genom att använda kognitiv psykologi, speciellt teorier kring perception, med ytterligare överväganden om att ”the Uncanny Valley” och ”Suspension of disbelief” skulle vara avgörande faktorer. Ett experiment var utformat för att utvärdera närvarandet av joint-deformationsproblem gällande en grundläggande mänsklig karaktär samt två möjliga lösningar till problemet.Den presenterade hypotesen, om vad som påverkar att en betraktare noterar joint-deformationsproblem, stärktes av undersökningens givna resultat. Dock är fortsatta forskningar kring ämnet nödvändiga för att definitivt bekräfta hypotesens reliabilitet och validitet. Undersökningen visade att problem med joint-deformationer kan noteras av betraktaren och därmed skapa en distraktion för filmens handling, men att andra faktorer kan vara mer avgörande för samma innebörd. Framtida forskningar kan resultera i att hjälpa digitala artister att underlätta deras förståelse om hur en publik kan tänkas reagera på närvarandet av joint-deformationsproblem och att effektivisera deras arbetsprocess.

This study examines how themes, conventions and concepts in Gothic discourses are remediated or developed in selected works of contemporary interactive fiction. These works, which are wholly text-based and proceed via command line input from a player, include Nevermore, by Nate Cull (2000), Anchorhead, by Michael S. Gentry (1998), Madam Spider’s Web, by Sara Dee (2006) and Slouching Towards Bedlam, by Star C. Foster and Daniel Ravipinto (2003). The interactive fictions are examined using a media-specific, in-depth analytical approach. Gothic fiction explores the threats which profoundly challenge narrative subjects, and so may be described as concerned with epistemological, ideological and ontological boundaries. In the interactive fictions these boundaries are explored dually through the player’s traversal (that is, progress through a work) and the narrative(s) produced as a result of that traversal. The first three works in this study explore the vulnerabilities related to conceptions of human subjectivity. As an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem “The Raven,” Nevermore, examined in chapter one, is a work in which self-reflexivity extends to the remediated use of the Gothic conventions of ‘the unspeakable’ and ‘live burial’ which function in Poe’s poem. In chapter two, postmodern indeterminacy, especially with regard to the tensions between spaces and subjective boundaries, is apparent in the means through which the trope of the labyrinth is redesigned in Anchorhead, a work loosely based on H. P. Lovecraft’s terror fiction. In the fragmented narratives produced via traversal of Madam Spider’s Web, considered in chapter three, the player character’s self-fragmentation, indicated by the poetics of the uncanny as well as of the Gothic-grotesque, illustrates a destabilized conception of the human subject which reveals a hidden monster within, both for the player character and the player. Finally, traversal of Slouching Towards Bedlam, analyzed in chapter four, produces a series of narratives which function in a postmodern, recursive fashion to implicate the player in the viral infection which threatens the decidedly posthuman player character. This viral entity is metaphorically linked to Bram Stoker’s vampire, Dracula. As it is the only work in the study to present a conception of posthuman subjectivity, Slouching Towards Bedlam more specifically aligns with the subgenre ‘cybergothic,’ and provides an illuminating contrast to the other three interactive fictions. In the order in which I examine them, these works exemplify a postmodern development of the Gothic which increasingly marries fictional indeterminacy to explicit formal effects, both during interaction and in the narratives produced.

Walking in the house of Daedalus – An analysis of the katabasis motif in Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves   This study analyses the depiction of the labyrinth as a symbolic landscape in regard to both subject and form in the multi-layered novel House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Using the mythological katabasis motif as a structural principle, this study discusses modern labyrinthine narratives wherein selfhood is constructed through an infernal journey between a descent and a return. This study analyses the novel with a thematic perspective from two points of view; how the labyrinth acts as central motif for the self in the novel and how the novel visually depicts the narrative through typographical choices throughout the text. The study’s main question is how the novel depicts the labyrinth in regard to its historical and cultural context and how it inscribes itself into a tradition of narratives that depicts the labyrinth as a metaphor for the mind and as a symbol for the exploration of the self.   The result shows that House of Leaves uses a complex cluster of narratives to tell a katabatic story, both through the narrative and the form. Through the symbolic landscape and through the use of a genre typical and uncanny horror story, House of Leaves tells a story about alienation, guilt and love where the characters psychological developments changes in regard to confrontations with the labyrinth and through the symbolical tests that exists throughout the katabatic journey. The characters ascends traumatized from the labyrinth, but are at the same time rewarded with personal insight

Artificiella kvinnor har porträtterats efter vissa tematiska utgångspunkter genom kulturhistorien, där Ovidius Pygmalion-myt varit en dominerande tematik. Frågan om artificiella människor är också tätt förknippad med science fiction-genren, och även där har bilden om den ensamme mannen som skapar sig en kvinna ofta återkommit. I denna uppsats jämförs tre science fiction-filmer från 2010-talet - Her (Spike Jonze, 2013), Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2014) och Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017) - för att utröna hur artificiell femininitet konstruerad av män tar sig uttryck: vilken tematik som är jämförbar med äldre porträtteringar av artificiella kvinnor, och vad dessa samtida inkarnationer kan säga om heteronormativitet inom science fiction-genren i dag och i framtiden. Denna analys görs dels mot bakgrund av nyckelverk inom litteratur och film, delvis genom begrepp som performativitet och andrafiering inom genus- och queerteori.

Submitted by Cássia Santos (cassia.bcufg@gmail.com) on 2014-10-20T12:27:08Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Rafael Mendonca Lisita Pinto - 2014.pdf: 3410801 bytes, checksum: 568a59b5ffe00961f389baa657ee1671 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Jaqueline Silva (jtas29@gmail.com) on 2014-10-20T17:34:24Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Rafael Mendonca Lisita Pinto - 2014.pdf: 3410801 bytes, checksum: 568a59b5ffe00961f389baa657ee1671 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-20T17:34:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Rafael Mendonca Lisita Pinto - 2014.pdf: 3410801 bytes, checksum: 568a59b5ffe00961f389baa657ee1671 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-04-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This dissertation results of the research developed throughout the Master’s Degree course within the Art and Visual Culture Graduate Program in FAV-UFG. It aims to investigate de representation of uncanny identities in music videos, starting out with some analysis of Lady Gaga’s videos, in order to develop my videographic discourse in my music video “Electric Guitar”. The main goal is to continue creating subversive audiovisuals, which consist in primary and complex products that contemplate several parameters of approach, exploring sensorial matters and establishing bonds with historical, sociological and cultural issues. The first chapter presents Lady Gaga and her artistic body of work which, curiously, defends minorities in spite of the singer being inserted into the star system. The second chapter introduces concept of “the uncanny”, from teoretical dialogues and, also, addresses their presence in music videos. The third chapter focuses on the study of music video as a audiovusal format, its relevance in visual culture and how they develop through media. The forth chapter reapproaches Lady Gaga’s music videos, selected according to this investigation theme, focusing on their analysis. The last chapter discusses the creative experience of “Electric Guitar” through my goal of reassuring the relevance of studying the uncanny and, also, my attempt to expand music video’s frontiers by employing new perspectives to them, without escaping the plastic aesthetics predominant in pop. / Esta dissertação é resultante do projeto de pesquisa realizado através do Programa de Pós-graduação em Arte e Cultura Visual, nível mestrado, da FAV-UFG, e visa apresentar o tema da representação de identidades estranhas em videoclipes, partindo de uma investigação no campo, acompanhada de análises dos clipes da artista Lady Gaga, para a construção do meu discurso videográfico no videoclipe “Electric Guitar”. O principal objetivo é dar continuidade aos discursos audiovisuais de formato subversivo, que consistam em produtos primários complexos os quais contemplem diversos parâmetros de abordagem audiovisual, explorando o sensorial e estabelecendo vínculos com questões de teor histórico, sociológico, cultural etc. O primeiro capítulo apresenta Lady Gaga e seu trabalho artístico que, curiosamente, defende minorias com uma postura favorável da cantora, ainda que ela esteja inserida no star system. O segundo capítulo introduz a temática dos estranhos, explica este conceito a partir de diálogos teóricos e, também, aborda a presença dos estranhos em videoclipes. Já o terceiro capítulo foca no estudo do videoclipe como formato audiovisual, trata da sua relevância na cultura visual e dos seus desdobramentos na mídia. O quarto capítulo volta a tratar dos discursos videográficos de Lady Gaga, porém, com foco na análise de alguns dos seus videoclipes, selecionados de acordo com o tema desta pesquisa. O quinto e último capítulo trata da experiência criativa do videoclipe “Electric Guitar” e do meu objetivo de reforçar as discussões sobre o “estranho” buscando expandir as fronteiras do senso comum a respeito do videoclipe por meio do emprego de novas linguagens, sem promover uma fuga da estética plástica predominante no pop.

La fée, créature de synthèse sortie du fond des âges, héritière des figures de la mythologie gréco-romaine et des divinités païennes du Moyen Âge, se trouve au cœur de la création artistique chez les auteurs du XIXe siècle comme Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly (1808-1889). En effet, ce dernier met en scène d’étranges personnages féminins, dotés de grands pouvoirs et qui semblent, par leurs traits énigmatiques, s’apparenter à la fée médiévale, sœur par excellence de la Parque romaine et de la Moire grecque. Car, aussi bien dans L'Ensorcelée (1854), Un Prêtre marié (1864) que dans Une Vieille Maîtresse (1851), pour ne citer que ces trois exemples, la nature érotique des êtres féeriques paraît se combiner à leur essence prophétique et divinatoire. Ce travail,qui porte sur les aspects les plus significatifs de la fée dans les œuvres romanesques de Barbey à savoir l'érotisme et la divination, s’articule autour de trois parties : la première, intitulée peinture de la fée, dresse une typologie en se fondant sur les figures matricielles de la fée marraine et de la fée amante ; la deuxième, l'univers de la fée, se propose d’analyser l’espace ou l'univers sulfureux dans lequel se meut cet être énigmatique. Cette poétique des lieux vise à rendre perceptible l’illusion du surnaturel et du merveilleux savamment orchestrée par l’auteur, qui brouille le cadre spatio-temporel du récit en usant d’une technique polyphonique où se mêlent plusieurs points de vue ou une multitude d’instances narratives ; la dernière,la symbolique de la fée, met en exergue la finalité romanesque des avatars de la fée aussi bien dans l'imaginaire aurevillien que dans la fiction littéraire au XIXe siècle.Cette étude s’efforce de suivre une perspective qui tient compte à la fois de la richesse des procédés techniques et de la profondeur thématique de l’œuvre de Barbey. / The fairy, a hybrid creature sprung from the depths of time, from greco-roman mythology and the pagan divinities of the Middle Ages, takes center stage in the artistic creation of nineteenth-century authors such as Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly (1808-1889). Indeed, Barbey d’Aurevilly depicts unusual and powerful feminine characters, which seem, because of their enigmatic characteristics, to be related to the medieval fairy, herself a sister of the roman Parcae and greek Moirae. In L'Ensorcelée (1854), as in Un Prêtre marié (1864) and in Une Vieille Maîtresse (1851), among numerous other examples, the erotic nature of fairy-like beings combines with a prophetic and divinatory essence. This study thus addresses these two salient dimensions of the fairy in Barbey’s novels, eroticism and divination. The first section on “Depicting the fairy” establishes a typology based on the matricial figures of the fairy godmother and fairy mistress. Subsequently, the section titled « The universe of the fairy » focuses on space, or the sulfurous universe through which this enigmatic character moves. This analysis of the poetics of space attempts to elucidate Barbey’s orchestrated illusion of the supernatural and the marvelous. The writer blurs the spatio-temporal narrative frame of his novels by means of polyphony, introducing multiple points of view and narrative situations. The last section, « The symbolism of the fairy », points out the novelistic ends to which the avatars of this figure have been put, both in the aurevillian imaginary universe and more generally nineteenth-century literature. Our perspective endeavors to take into account both the wealth of aurevillian narrative technique and thematic depth of his work.

Each painting in this exhibition is a transformed documentation of a specific experience culled from my daily, ordinary life. These encounters are not monumental; however their impact is significant because of their disturbing, disgusting, puzzling and humourously entertaining qualities. The awkwardness and resulting ambiguity of my imagery is defined through connections to the uncanny, the surreal, the grotesque and the literary genre of tragicomedy. The work also acknowledges a strong relationship to historic traditions within painting and aspires to use comedy to provide an opportunity for viewers to retrieve and recreate a moment of personal history.

Each painting in this exhibition is a transformed documentation of a specific experience culled from my daily, ordinary life. These encounters are not monumental; however their impact is significant because of their disturbing, disgusting, puzzling and humourously entertaining qualities. The awkwardness and resulting ambiguity of my imagery is defined through connections to the uncanny, the surreal, the grotesque and the literary genre of tragicomedy. The work also acknowledges a strong relationship to historic traditions within painting and aspires to use comedy to provide an opportunity for viewers to retrieve and recreate a moment of personal history.

《無有鄉》(Neverwhere, 1997)原為BBC迷你影集，後經由作者尼爾‧蓋曼(Neil Gaiman)改寫成小說，書中主角理查‧馬修(Richard Mayhew)因拯救朵兒(Door)而被迫開始探索他前所未知、無從想像的倫敦空間，也就是倫敦下層(London Below)。此倫敦空間充滿暴力混亂，顛覆理查對原有倫敦的想像，也將他帶離熟悉的畛域，雖然倫敦下層的事物希奇古怪，卻又詭異的與倫敦上層互相指涉，也使理查此旅行充滿詭異怪誕(uncanny)。此論文意旨爬梳倫敦城市空間的複寫性和其造成的詭異、探討理查馬修漫遊者(flâneur)形象以及理查結尾做出的看似自由卻又充滿侷限逃逸線(line of flight)。 / In Neil Gaiman’s first novel Neverwhere, adapted from the original namesake BBC television serial, the protagonist Richard Mayhew is a forced traveler, exploring the territory of imaginary London Below, in which Richard fails to grasp the sense. The “London Below,” the buried and repressed past by the “London Above,” is full of chaos, violence. Observing the invisible cities of the multiple other which used to escape his unitary way of seeing, Richard’s vision of the familiar/homely city gets blurred, defiant. However, events in London Below always disturb but at the same time uncannily refer to those of the London Above, which makes his journey in London Below an uncanny one. This thesis is going to discuss palimpsestic London space and the role of Richard Mayhew as flâneur and Richard’s final decision as a line of flight.