Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T18:23:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Claudia L Passalacqua.pdf: 542023 bytes, checksum: d12f5515154be2bd94e524c3bbaa52b3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-05-04 / This paper investigates a writing tool, namely Self-Portrait, whose aim is to collect data on an individual´s psychic expression. It comprises a 35 question questionnaire, made up of open-ended directed and self directed questions. The order of the answers is random, and some questions may be answered many times while others may never be answered. This writing tool was used in a group of psychologically disturbed women, who had been referred to a state health center in the outskirts of São Paulo city. Most women belong to the low and low-middle classes, with very few years of schooling, but, in general, with working experience, in the 30-60 age bracket. They were referred to the state health center by psychiatrists and psychologists, due to chief complaints such as depression, stress, etc. The group was coordinated by the research-psychologist and by an occupational therapist. Initially, the treatment aimed to engage the group in manual tasks and provide them with some space in which they could air their problems. On presenting the questionnaire to the women, the research-psychologist read them the iinstructions, their questions, and explained the procedures as well the terms of agreement. The questionnaire was kept in the health center and apart from the subjects and the therapist, nobody else had access to them. Due to all the conditions of public service assiduity, punctuality, follow-up sessions, among others the use of the self-portrait was not constant in all the sessions and wasn´t equally used by all the women. Since the activities were decided on by the group and took place in the inicial phases of the group´s functioning, it was hard to maintain group cohesion, as some women answered the questionnaires in each session while others took longer to write. These differences were inevitable once all the women shared a common physical space. The self-potrait questions aimed at categorizing those women´s realities: routine, family and professional life, emotional, psychological and existencial aspects and world knowledge. Moreover, the written account of their life experiences served as an oulet for the free expresson of their reality The therapeutical aim of the self-portrait was to investigate the efficiency of writing as a mechanism to surface the underlying phychic information, despite the fact that this written account was produced by women of varying literacy levels. Writing differs from speech in that writing can be crystalized in time, once it can be registered permanently. Besides, writing entails a distinctive connection between conscious and uncounscious contents. It leads the individual into an introspective journey, allowing for the re-enactment of past experiences. By means of this exercise, processes and memories are brought to the consciosness mind and may be modified when experienced again. This study falls into the category of case study, once it focus on aspect´s of a specific woman´s life: someone who, upon joining the group, felt incredbly miserable and was, from the very begining, given special treatment by the research-psychologist. The same rules which applied for the self-portrait within the group were used in private consultations. Semantic networks, formed by words that were repeated along the text, were used for the analysis of the written accounts, following Jung's Model of Typology / Este trabalho investiga um instrumento de escrita, intitulado Auto-Retrato, destinado a coletar dados sobre a expressão psíquica do indivíduo. Trata-se de um questionário de trinta e cinco questões, abertas, dirigidas ou semi-dirigidas, no qual a ordem das respostas é livre, assim como o fato de que algumas questões podem vir a ser respondidas inúmeras vezes e outras, nunca serem respondidas. O instrumento foi utilizado num grupo de mulheres, encaminhadas, pela saúde mental, a um posto de saúde da periferia de São Paulo. As mulheres pertenciam a classes sócio-econômico-culturais baixa e média baixa, em sua maior parte, com poucos anos de escolaridade, mas, no, geral, com experiência de trabalho, na faixa etária de 30 a 60 anos. Chegaram ao posto de saúde via encaminhamentos de psiquiatras e psicólogos, com queixas de depressão, estresse, entre outras. O grupo era coordenado pela psicóloga-pesquisadora e por uma terapeuta ocupacional. Inicialmente, seu objetivo era realizar atividades manuais e paralelamente a elas criar um espaço para a fala e escuta das mulheres entre si e pelas terapeutas. Ao apresentar o questionário às mulheres, a psicóloga-pesquisadora leu a elas suas instruções, suas questões, explicou-lhes as formas de utilização, juntamente com o Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido.O questionário era mantido no posto de saúde e apenas cada mulher e as terapeutas tinham acesso a ele. Devido a todas as condições que envolvem um atendimento público - assiduidade, pontualidade, continuidade do atendimento, entre outras - o emprego do Auto-Retrato não ocorreu de modo constante em todas as sessões e nem foi igualmente usado por todas as mulheres. Como as atividades eram decididas pelo grupo e no início de seu funcionamento, foi difícil manter a unidade do grupo, com algumas mulheres respondendo-o em todas as sessões, até por se tratar de um espaço físico comum. As questões do Auto-Retrato tinham como objetivo caracterizar a realidade dessas mulheres: vivências cotidianas, vida familiar e profissional, aspectos emocionais, psicológicos e existenciais, conhecimento de mundo e visava ser um continente para a expressão dessa realidade por meio da escrita. .. O emprego do Auto-Retrato teve como objetivo psicoterapêutico investigar a eficácia da escrita para a manifestação de conteúdos psíquicos subjacentes, não importando a variável de a escrita ser realizada por mulheres com diferentes graus de letramento. A escrita tem natureza diferente da fala, fixando-se no tempo, sendo registrada de uma forma permanente, e evocando um compromisso diferente com conteúdos conscientes e inconscientes. Inicia um processo de interiorização no indivíduo, possibilitando uma volta aos conteúdos veiculados. Por meio de seu exercício, processos e memórias são trazidos à consciência e modificados quando revividos. Este trabalho se constituirá em um estudo de caso, na medida em que focará o Auto-Retrato de uma mulher em específico, quem, por ter chegado ao grupo sentindo-se especialmente mal, foi, desde o início, atendida paralelamente de modo individual pela psicóloga-pesquisadora. As mesmas regras estabelecidas para o uso do Auto-Retrato no grupo, foram usadas para sua aplicação na terapia individual. Para a análise do texto escrito do Auto-Retrato os modelos teóricos empregados foram as redes semânticas, formadas pelas palavras que se repetiam no texto escrito, e o referencial teórico de Jung, principalmente, no que se refere aos tipos psicológicos por ele propostos

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T18:16:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Juliana de Oliveira Rodrigues.pdf: 6928376 bytes, checksum: b4218fb43bc24c0c8306e02dfa2a4221 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-09-21 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / This present study uses the photos taken by members of the Hip Hop Movement, from the city of São Carlos (SP), which constitute a look upon themselves through the experience of living in group. Focused in the procedures of figurativization and thematization, this research is concerned with the several figures interconnected by the collection of photos, which imply in discursive strategies capable of making the different ways the group present itself to the world. As a consequence, the problematic presents itself around the visibility of the group, articulated in four scenes which, according to the hypothesis of the research, constitute distinct self-portraits. These are part of a subject-oriented universe (of figures known to the particularity of the group) and object-oriented (closer to the images conventionally associated with the Hip Hop context), bringing together the controversial matter of opinions. The objective is to analyze the mechanisms of enunciation to understand how the methods of displaying discourse about the identifying dimension of the group, through the life contexts presented in the visual text. Such study was based on the discursive semiotic of the French line developed by Algirdas Julien. Greimas and his collaborators, to manage the organization of the photographic text as a wholeness of senses and give intelligibility to its production. It's also noticeable the theoretical orientation of the Sociosemiotic proposed by Eric Landowski, the formulations of Jean-Marie Floch about the plastic semiotic and the reflexions about the self-portrait from Lauer A.N. dos Santos. In this correlation, the regimes of sense and interaction, in consonance with the regimes of displaying, as well as the identity relations which bring up the importance of the image as an object for the communication and interaction among the subjects by the act of seeing / O presente estudo toma por objeto as fotografias realizadas por integrantes do Movimento Hip Hop, da cidade de São Carlos (SP), nas quais constroem um olhar sobre si mesmo pelas experiências da vida em grupo. Centrada nos procedimentos de figurativização e tematização, esta pesquisa preocupa-se com as diversas figuras enredadas pelo conjunto fotográfico, que implicam em estratégias discursivas capazes de tornar visível os diferentes modos de o grupo se mostrar no mundo. Em decorrência disso, a problemática se apresenta em torno da visibilidade do grupo, articulada em quatro cenas que, conforme hipótese de pesquisa, constituem distintos auto-retratos. Estes fazem parte de um universo subjetal (de figuras próximas à particularidade do grupo) e objetal (próximas às imagens convencionalmente reiteradas pelo contexto Hip Hop), encadeando a questão polêmica do parecer. O objetivo é analisar os mecanismos de enunciação para compreender como os modos de mostrar discursivizam a dimensão identitária do grupo, pelos contextos de vida presentificados no texto visual. Tal estudo embasou-se na semiótica discursiva de linha francesa desenvolvida por Algirdas Julien Greimas e seus colaboradores, para dar conta da organização do texto fotográfico como uma totalidade de sentido e dar inteligibilidade aos mecanismos de sua produção. Destacam-se, ainda, as orientações teóricas da Sociossemiótica, propostos por Eric Landowski, as formulações de Jean-Marie Floch sobre semiótica plástica e as reflexões sobre auto-retrato a partir de Lauer A. N. dos Santos. Nessa correlação, enfatizam-se os regimes de sentido e de interação, em consonância com os modos de mostrar, bem como as relações identitárias que evidenciam a importância da imagem como objeto de comunicação e de interação entre os sujeitos pelo ato de ver

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T18:16:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Helga Stein.pdf: 4077442 bytes, checksum: 3998a8fd0bc906173990f9d0144b3663 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-11-30 / The goal of this project is to research how virtual communities such as orkut and flickr are molding new identity and self-presentation parameters. The present project takes as study object photographic self-portraits and its associated representation forms. In self-portraits the relation between the observer and who is observed has blurred limits, demanding a body with a special quality: a body in process. This new body of multiple identities is reconfigured intermittently assuming new behaviors facing new technologies, requiring a new configuration of world. It is expected that digital images reflects these processes by being capable of reconfiguring itself. We show through representation the world we live in. However, contemporary world faces a crisis of representation, knowledge and great complexity in matters of subjectivity production. The images that are produced and propagated throughout a historical period are indications of a specific way of thinking. In virtual communities such as orkut, multiply and flickr, the use of images (especially self-portraits) creates a dynamic process of identification and differentiation of the individual. The identity, however, is influenced by interaction processes (comments of community members, number or visitors). So, the self-portraits are redefined as by the demands of specific sociability matters (the success, in terms of numbers of visitors and content of the commentaries). The influence of new technologies in the way we understand the construction of identity will be interrogated through specific readings and through artistic projects that deals with the concepts presented in the research / O objetivo do projeto é pesquisar como as redes sociais on line estão conformando novos padrões de identidade e auto-representação, tendo como objeto de estudo os retratos e auto-retratos que circulam em comunidades virtuais e suas formas associadas de representação. Nos auto-retratos a relação entre observador e observado tem seus limites borrados, demandando um indivíduo com uma qualidade especial: um indivíduo em processo. Identidades múltiplas que reconfiguram-se intermitentemente, assumindo novo comportamento frente às novas tecnologias, exigem uma nova configuração de mundo. Espera-se que a imagem que representa esses corpos responda a esses novos processos, sendo ela mesma passível de reconfigurar-se. Parte-se aqui do pressuposto que as imagens produzidas e veiculadas ao longo de um período histórico são indícios de um modo de pensar específico. Em comunidades virtuais como orkut e flickr é notável o uso de imagens (especialmente auto-retratos) no processo dinâmico de identificação e diferenciação do indivíduo num ambiente também dinâmico como é o das redes. Essa identidade, contudo, é permeada por processos de interação (comentários, manipulação de imagens) que redefinem o auto-retrato como resposta às demandas de sociabilidade específica (o sucesso, em termos de números de visitantes e conteúdo dos comentários). Através de retratos e auto-retratos será interrogada a influência das novas tecnologias de comunicação na forma como compreendemos a construção da identidade e também através das leituras específicas, da vivência e observação das comunidades virtuais propostas, de projetos autorais e de cunho artístico que lidam com os conceitos apresentados na pesquisa. Como suporte teórico foram utilizados os seguintes autores: Rosalind Krauss, Philippe Dubois, Vilém Flusser e Arlindo Machado abordando fotografia e imagem; Jean Baudrillard e Michel Foucault abordando comunicação e representação; Giselle Beiguelman abordando Internet e arte digital; Carlos Ginsburg abordando aspectos históricos; Edmond Couchot, Oliver Grau e André Parente abordando tecnologia na comunicação; Steven Johnson, Margot Lovejoy e Rogério da Costa abordando redes e comunidades virtuais; Lucia Santaella abordando comunicação e semiótica, entre outros autores.

萬曆四十七年（1619），會稽文人王驥德（1540-1622）刊印出版了《元人古雜劇二十種》（或稱《古雜劇》），該書彙集元代雜劇20篇，并配有精美的版畫插圖，《唐明皇秋夜梧桐雨》即為其中的第17篇。 / 作為晚明徽派版畫風格的典型例證，顧曲齋所刊《唐明皇秋夜梧桐雨》中的4幅版畫插圖，可與明代中晚期蘇州地區職業畫家的人物故事畫作品進行比勘。筆者基於比對結果，運用圖像學理論，提出徽派版畫系仇英風格人物畫在版畫中餘續的假說。不僅如此，白樸(1226-1306後)《唐明皇秋夜梧桐雨》這一劇目本身即包含著明皇故事的文學創作傳統，且與之對應的明皇题材故事畫作亦廣受歡迎。尤其在明代，明皇題材故事畫與蘇州地區的商業創作緊密相關，為版畫的創稿提供了豐富的圖像資源。 / 最後，筆者通過對顧曲齋本《唐明皇秋夜梧桐雨》圖文關係及刊刻者王驥德個人經歷的考察，證實《古雜劇》的商品屬性及刊刻者所掌握的圖像資源。最終解答版畫史上關於徽派版畫風格來源問題：版畫繪刻者深受仇英人物畫風格的影響，或直接對部份畫作進行圖像挪用。同時亦說明在晚明江南，文人積極參與商業活動為文學與藝術兩個領域所帶來的雅俗標準的變更。 / In the 47th year of Wan-li, Wang Jide (1540-1622), a literatus in Guiji County, published the anthology of Yuan comedies named Guzaju in his personal printing house Guquzhai. In this book, he compiled 20 plays written in the Yuan dynasty with beautiful book illustrations. Rain on the Phoenix Tree was the 17th play in this book. / The illustrations for Rain on the Phoenix Tree in Guzaju were good examples for “Hui School of woodblock prints. Compared these woodcuts with those in the same style and paintings existing in the same period, I argued that the “Hui School of woodblock prints actually followed the style of narrative paintings made by Qiu Ying. Moreover, the story of the Tang emperor Minghuang has become a popular theme in the field of both Chinese literature and painting. Those traditions not only contributed to the birth of Bai Pu’s (1226-1306) comedy Rain on the Phoenix Tree, but also prided fruitful paintings as patterns for the professional painters like Qiu Ying. Since Qiu’s work prevailed the painting market in Jiangnan, thousands of narrative paintings including the theme of emperor Minghuang followed Qiu’s style. These paintings acted as commercial products as well as pictorial drafts for the engravers in late Ming. / Finally, the form of Guzaju and Wang Jide’s publication activities both showed that Wang, as owner of Guquzhai, aimed to use the illustrations to cater to the market and he did conversely get the pictorial resources from the market. Besides, the booming commercial trade of paintings in Jiangnan helped us finally get the answer for the origin of “Hui School of woodblock prints as well as showing the transformation of art criteria in the late Ming dynasty. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 賴妮. / "2013年7月". / "2013 nian 7 yue". / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-95). / Abstract in Chinese and English. / Lai Ni. / 致謝 / 論文摘要 --- p.i / 緒論 --- p.1 / Chapter 第一章 --- 顧曲齋刊《古雜劇·唐明皇秋夜梧桐雨》插圖的風格來源 --- p.6 / Chapter 第一節 --- 顧曲齋刊《古雜劇·唐明皇秋夜梧桐雨》插圖的風格來源問題 --- p.7 / Chapter 第二節 --- 顧曲齋刊《古雜劇·唐明皇秋夜梧桐雨》插圖風格來源試探 --- p.10 / 小結 --- p.25 / Chapter 第二章 --- 《唐明皇秋夜梧桐雨》的圖文傳統 --- p.27 / Chapter 第一節 --- 白樸《唐明皇秋夜梧桐雨》的故事來源 --- p.27 / Chapter 第二節 --- 明皇題材繪畫作品的特點 --- p.35 / Chapter 第三節 --- 人物故事畫傳統中的明皇故事圖 --- p.40 / Chapter 第四節 --- 明皇故事畫在明代江南地區的流傳與創作 --- p.47 / 小結 --- p.50 / Chapter 第三章 --- 《古雜劇·唐明皇秋夜梧桐雨》的刊刻背景 --- p.53 / Chapter 第一節 --- 顧曲齋刊《古雜劇》的商品屬性 --- p.54 / Chapter 第二節 --- 流通的私藏·雅化的俗曲 --- p.59 / Chapter 第三節 --- “棄儒就賈與通俗文化生產 --- p.67 / 結論 --- p.74 / 附表1 --- p.77 / 附表2 --- p.82 / 附表3 --- p.83 / 附表4 --- p.85 / 參考書目 --- p.86 / 圖版目錄 --- p.95 / 圖版 --- p.105

L’œuvre de YUN Duseo (1668-1715), peintre lettré ayant vécu lors de la dernière monarchie coréenne, reflète la forte sinisation de la société de l’époque. Cette œuvre est un fruit de la civilisation du « monde chinois », et interroge les principes esthétiques et le statut de la peinture dérivés de la doctrine néo-confucéenne, doctrine elle-même ici associée à des doctrines souvent considérées comme opposées, le taoïsme et le bouddhisme. YUN Duseo invente une peinture « pré-moderne » qui met en valeur de manière nouvelle des figures humaines, les portraits en particulier, et donne une nouvelle forme à des sujets courants de la peinture chinoise, les natures mortes ou les scènes de la vie quotidienne. La peinture de YUN Duseo, influencée aussi bien par un mouvement de retour aux sources de la culture chinoise que par le contact avec la culture européenne, est étudiée principalement à travers le prisme du rapport entre peinture et écriture. / The work of YUN Duseo (1668-1715), a scholar-painter who lived during the last Korean monarchy, reflects the strong sinicization of contemporary Korean society. Indeed, such work is a product of the civilization of the ‘Chinese world’: it questions the aesthetic principles and the status of painting stemming from the Neo-Confucian doctrine, a doctrine itself associated with two often opposed doctrines, Taoism and Buddhism. YUN Duseo invented a ‘pre-modern’ painting that emphasized human figures, and particularly portraits, in a novel way and gave new form to common subjects in Chinese painting, whether still lives or scenes of everyday life.YUN Duseo’s painting, influenced by a return to the sources of Chinese culture as well as by the contact with European culture, is examined here through the prism of the relation between painting and writing.

O objeto desta dissertação de Mestrado é composto pela série Auto-Retrato Coletivo de Nardo Germano. Organizada artisticamente como repositório crítico de uma identidade coletiva seu tema central , a série constitui-se de auto-retratos híbridos entre o Indivíduo e o Coletivo, questionando a construção identitária marcada por estigmas sociais. As obras que compõem a série são: 1)Auto-Objeto; 2)Sujeitos; 3)Auto-Retrato por Metro Quadrado; 4)Cabeça Defronte; 5)Auto-Retr_Ato_Coletivo; 6)Especulares #7; 7)Corpo Coletivo; 8)AlterEgo; 9)ANDROMAQUIA on-line; e 10)Doe Seu Rosto/Give Me Your Face. A atual pesquisa artística dá continuidade a Auto-Objeto(1987), uma obra composta por painéis de auto-retratos sem negativo obtidos em cabine Fotomática, e articula-se a partir da digitalização de um conjunto imanente da obra Sujeitos(1987), colagens realizadas com auto-retratos acéfalos, recortes de textos, imagens e manchetes de jornal. Com o objetivo de, nesta fase, estabelecer novos contrapontos ao discurso monológico identitário oficial bem como ao conceito de uma autoridade do artista como autor que controla os sentidos da obra, a criação partiu da hipótese de que o investimento nos graus de abertura à recepção podem promover o dialogismo e polifonia almejados, com a inclusão da alteridade, das expressões e dos pontos de vista dos espectadores na noção de identidade coletiva veiculada nas obras, considerando os conceitos de obra aberta de Umberto Eco bem como de dialogismo e polifonia de Mikhail Bakhtin. A presente dissertação discorre sobre aquelas obras originais como paradigmas internos da criação e sobre as obras produzidas durante esta pesquisa artística, focando nas proposições dialógicas de poéticas abertas, bem como nas estratégias de participação e interatividade então implementadas, realizadas em ambiente real e/ou através dos meios tecnológicos. O texto explicita e reflete sobre as poéticas de abertura envolvidas na recepção, comprovando por fim a hipótese de trabalho. Em suma, no que tange aos resultados sobre o tema proposto, conclui-se que Auto-Retrato Coletivo promove um movimento contínuo de construção e desconstrução identitária possibilitado pela abertura poética aos espectadores que, convertidos em participantes e/ou interatores, cumulativamente renovam, expandem e problematizam a identidade coletiva, inscrevendo-a na dimensão Utópica de Identidades Abertas. / The object of this dissertation of Master\'s degree is composed by Nardo Germano\'s series Collective Self-Portrait. Organized artistically as critical repository of a collective identity its central theme , the series is constituted of hybrid self-portraits between the Individual and the Collectivity, discussing the construction of identities characterized by social stigmata. The works that compose the series are: 1)Auto-Objeto; 2)Sujeitos; 3)Auto- Retrato por Metro Quadrado; 4)Cabeça Defronte; 5)Auto-Retr_Ato_Coletivo; 6)Especulares #7; 7)Corpo Coletivo; 8)AlterEgo; 9)ANDROMAQUIA on-line; e 10)Doe Seu Rosto/Give Me Your Face. The current artistic research gives continuity the Auto-Objeto(1987), an art-work composed by panels of self-portraits without negative obtained at Photomaton Cabin, and organized through a process of scanning an immanent group of the art-work Sujeitos(1987), collages accomplished with acephalous self-portraits, cuttings of texts, images and newspaper headlines. With the objective of, in this phase, to establish new counterpoints to the monologic official speech about identity as well as to the concept of an authority of the artist as author that controls the meanings of the art-work, the creation worked with the hypothesis that the investment in the opening degrees to the reception can promote the necessary dialogism and polyphony, with the inclusion of the spectators\' alterity, expressions and points of view in the notion of collective identity in the art-works, considering the concepts of Umberto Ecos open work and Mikhail Bakhtins dialogism and polyphony. The present dissertation describes those original art-works as internal paradigms of the creation and the art-works produced during this artistic research, focusing in the dialogical propositions of open poetics, as well as in the strategies of participation and interactivity implemented, in real ambience and/or through the technological media. The text explicits and reflects the poetics of opening to the spectator involved in the reception, proving finally the work hypothesis. In short, with respect to the results on the proposed theme, the conclusion is that Collective Self-Portrait promotes a continuous movement of construction and deconstruction of identities, possible by the poetical openness to the spectators who, converted in participants and/or interactors, cumulatively renew, expand and problematize the collective identity, enrolling it in the Utopian dimension of Open Identities.

Imagine a theater. Build one in your mind. I do not care if it is the largest theater in the universe or if it is the size of a shoebox. The theater can be an elaborate construction with gilded cherubs and priceless jewels. If you would prefer the theater to be a minimal design, imagine it that way. Maybe the theater is made out of glass or crystal. You can be all alone in the theater or maybe you are seated next to an alien, a cave man, or a robot. As the curtain rises an enormous pipe organ is spewing out J.S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor. The sound is colossal. The stage is designed to look like a filthy and bleak art studio. Sculptures that look like decaying flesh hang from the ceiling. Papers and dirty painting rags are scattered all over the floor. A roach crawls towards some moldy food in the wastebasket. A piece of beef jerky sits next to a pile of paint tubes and paintbrushes. Canvases are stacked against the wall. Dried paint is splattered everywhere. A woman enters stage left. As she begins to speak, the music fades… “My most recent paintings are meant to serve as gateways between daily life and an exotic utopian fantasy. These strange psychological spaces function as portals into a new frontier inhabited with the most stupendous creatures. Active volcanoes, carnivorous plants, terrible lizards, pink Chihuahuas, flesh-eating insects, unidentified flying objects, and a host of other amazing things coexist in this cruel tropical paradise. “Everything I do is a self-portrait and a disguise. I imagine the characters in my paintings to be mutant clones. The act of painting is like looking in the mirror. I like to spend most of my time doing one or the other. I am driven by an insatiable urge to see what I truly look like. I suffer from an unfulfilled desire to meet myself. I am frustrated with impressions and reflections. These confessions reveal my work as possibly the most disgusting display of narcissism in the entire history of art. “The act of painting is an absurd and self-indulgent enterprise. I paint with the ridiculous and frivolous purpose of delighting the eye. Nevertheless, my hope is that my paintings capture an important aspect of my utopian fantasy with their sumptuous surroundings embellished with rainbows, natural disasters, butterflies, exotic grasses and bizarre costumes. “My paintings can be read on many different levels from surface to deep allegory. The finished product is the result of hours upon hours of painting, pondering, and dreaming. Below the surface lies a nauseating abyss. “My work is a delicious feast for the aesthetic consumer. I am a villainous mad scientist with a hunger for immortality. My eyes are gluttonous fools. I am a mystery and a deception. Vermillion is my opulent fetish. Lemon yellow is my nemesis.” The music grows louder again. The woman begins to cackle. She then takes a deep breath and a deeper and more dramatic bow. She exits stage right--you find that you want to applaud--but unfortunately, this story is not over. I suggest that you get yourself a snack like some popcorn, chocolate, or gummy bears before reading any further. The curtain slowly and elegantly comes down.

The Enigma of Appearances is an examination into the medium of three-dimensional photography, with particular focus on the technique of stereoscopy. Invented in the mid-Victorian era, stereoscopy was an attempt to simulate natural three-dimensional perception via a combination of optics, neurology, and a pair of dissimilar images. Whilst successful in producing a powerful illusion of spatial depth and tangibility, the illusion produced by stereoscopy is anything but ??natural??, when compared to three-dimensional perception observed with the naked eye. Rather, stereoscopic photography creates a strange and unnatural interpretation of three-dimensional reality, devoid of atmosphere, movement and sound, where figures appear frozen in mid-motion, like waxwork models, or embalmed creatures in a museum. However, it is precisely stereoscopic photography??s unique and enigmatic interpretation of three-dimensional reality, which gives it its strength, separating it from being a mere ??realistic?? recording of the natural world. This thesis examines the unique cultural position that stereoscopy has occupied since its invention in 1838, from its early role as a tool for the study of binocular vision, to its phenomenal popularity as a form of mass entertainment in the second half of the 19th century, to its emergence in contemporary fine art practice in the late 20th and 21stt centuries. Additionally, The Enigma of Appearances gives a detailed analysis of the theory of spatial depth perception; it discusses the dichotomy between naturalia versus artificialia in relation to stereoscopic vision; and finally, traces the development of experimental studio practice and research into stereoscopic photography, undertaken for this MFA between 2005 and 2007. The resulting work, Camera Mortuaria (Italian for ??Mortuary Room??), is a powerful and innovative series of anaglyptic portraits, based upon an experimental stereoscopic technique that enables the production of extreme close-up three-dimensional photography. Applying this technique to the reproduction of the human face in three-dimensional form, Camera Mortuaria presents a series of ??photo sculptures??, which hover between reality and illusion, pushing the boundaries of stills photography to the limit, and beyond.

Elizabeth Waltenburg es una artista contemporánea argentina. En su muestra, despierta!, las obras en óleo sobre tela representan a mujeres, niños y animales en fondos extraños y deprimidos. Ella utilize simbolismo de animales y figuras femeninas para discutir el feminismo actual. Ella trabaja en un tiempo complicado por el feminismo, el postfeminismo, la critica de ambos, y un sistema de comunicación global. Su trabajo marca una tendencia hecho por la confusión de todos estos movimientos. Esta tesis discute su trabajo en el contexto de la historia de representaciones de mujeres, de niños y de animales para llegar a una mejor comprensión de los que hace ella. English: Elizabeth Waltenburg is a contemporary Argentine artist. In her show, “Wake Up!”, the oil on canvas works represent women, children and animals on strange and depressed backgrounds. She uses the symbolism of feminine and animal figures to comment on contemporary feminism. She works in a complex era marked by feminism, post-feminism, criticism of both schools and a system of global communication. Her work incorporates elements from all the issues above. This thesis discusses her work in the context of the history of representation of women, children, and animals in order to arrive to a better comprehension of the kind of work she does.

La présente thèse étudie la production et la consommation d’images par les révolutionnaires russes avant 1917. L’auteur soutient que l’iconographie révolutionnaire russe émane d’un long processus au cours duquel les révolutionnaires se sont appropriés et ont subverti certaines images et stratégies visuelles, ainsi que leurs moyens de production, déjà disponibles au sein de la culture qu’ils avaient entrepris de transformer. Cette appropriation est comprise comme une tentative d'insuffler une cohérence idéologique à un mouvement révolutionnaire en émergence et, ce faisant, en proie à une relative désorganisation. L’auteur montre comment l’usage de portraits et de stéréotypes visuels joua un rôle important dans la construction de l’identité et de la conscience révolutionnaires, d’une part, et comment un certain imaginaire révolutionnaire fut cristallisé dans la culture visuelle contemporaine, d’autre part. / This dissertation studies the production and consumption of images by Russian revolutionaries prior to 1917. The author argues that Russian revolutionary iconography emanates from a long-term process in which revolutionaries appropriated and subverted the images, means of production and visual strategies already available in their surrounding cultural context. This cultural borrowing is analyzed as an attempt of the revolutionaries to give an ideological coherence to an emerging but still disorganized political movement. The author shows how portraits and visual stereotypes have been fundamental in the construction of the revolutionary identity and consciousness, on one hand, and how a certain revolutionary imagination have been crystallized in the contemporary visual culture, on the other hand.