The main objective of the inquiry is to deduce the methods and techniques that were employed in the manufacture of the historically unique Shroud of Turin. By taking a more or less phenomenologically based stance, it is argued that this image could only have been produced by employing a photographically related technique. To this end, an examination is made of both the nature of the image, as well as all relevant documented evidence which supports the above stated hypothesis. In addition, practical experiments are conducted which employ the kinds of technology and apparatus known to have existed c 1250-1357 AD. The results of this investigation strongly support the notion that persons living c 1250- 1357 AD did in fact have the necessary technology to manufacture what could be termed a negative solargraphic image of a human subject. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1993.

Thesis (MA(BK))--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Technology as a formal structure has been given pride of place in many developing countries because of its association with modernity and social development. It has been grouped with Science as a force that operates beyond reproach because of its perceived rational and instrumental nature. By surveying current theories of technology, philosophy and technology development modules, I investigate the implications that modern technology and technological artifacts have beyond merely their instrumental role. I will question the current conceptions of technology as a rational, objective force by arguing that technology operates as a force that more often than not produces a variety of unintended consequences as part of its impact on society. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In menige ontwikkelende lande geniet tegnologie voorrang as ‘n formele struktuur weens die verbintenis daarvan met moderniteit en sosiale ontwikkeling. Tegnologie word saam met wetenskap gegroepeer omdat dit, weens die waarneembare rasionele en instrumentele aard daarvan, onberispelik funksioneer. Deur huidige teoriee van tegnologie, filosofie en tegnologiese ontwikkelingsmodules te bestudeer, ondersoek ek dié aanduidinge wat moderne tegnologie en tegnologiese artefakte bo en behalwe hul blote instrumentele rolle besit. Ek sal die huidige opvattings van tegnologie as ‘n rasionele, objektiewe krag bevraagteken deur te argumenteer dat tegnologie eerder ‘n verskeidenheid van onopsetlike voortvloeisels as deel van sy impak op die samelewing tot gevolg het.

Thesis (MA) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis is an enquiry into the interrelated nature of artistic production, theoretical concerns and subjectivity. It serves as an interrogation of linear and hierarchal argumentation and draws parallels between conceptions of textuality and the human body. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis is ‘n ondersoek aangaande die onderlinge verhouding tussen kunspraktyk, teoretiese belange en subjektiviteit. Dit dien as bevraagtekening van liniêre en hierargiese redenasie en trek verwantskappe tussen teks en die menslike liggaam.

This thesis is concerned with an analysis ofLudwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus LogicoPhilosophicus that centers around the dilemma in which Wittgenstein finds himself in expressing the belief that the propositions of his work, while they are nonsensical according to their own standards, remain informative. The contention is that whether the text is successful in upholding Wittgenstein's claim relies deeply on the account that it gives of relations, in particular the pictorial relation and the relations that pertain amongst objects in states of affairs. It will be argued that the Tractatus sets itself the requirement that ifits propositions are to be nonsensical yet informative, then they must display the general form of a proposition that can have 'sense.' In turn, if any proposition is to be able to have 'sense,' then the pictorial relation must serve a dual purpose in holding the situation represented in the sense of a proposition distinct from the reality it depicts, while acting as a means of comparison such that the truth or falsity of a proposition can be determined. It will then be argued that if the pictorial relation is to be able to function in this way, then propositions must be able to signify exactly which relations pertain in the situation depicted by its sense. In conclusion a case will be made that the Tractatus is unable to meet the demands that it places on itself, for the work does not give an account by which elementary propositions, to which all propositions are analyzable, can signify the specific relations which pertain in the states of affairs they represent. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

In this text I consider Andries Botha's work over the period 1977 to 2007. I particularly look at Botha's creative response to the period of change in which he has worked and at his own considerations of works of art as acts of creative citizenship and private creativity. The text is based largely on interviews with Botha wherein he discusses his intentions and gives insight into the character of his creative imagination. In light of the interviews I write on individual works in detail, giving attention, to a certain extent, to chronology. During the late 1970s Botha was particularly concerned with establishing a sculptural language that would be expressive of his experience as a South African creative artist in the time of turbulence in the country and of paradox in his own circumstances as liberal thinker and inheritor of a conservative Afrikaner Nationalist background. Botha's creative output has been considerable. He commenced his career in a period of waning modernity and an increasing presence of Postmodernist culture. In his works of the 1980s he makes use of conceptual means – installation, assemblage, multiples, technology and unusual materials to express, through myth and allegory, his understanding of aspects of the human condition. The many associations, aesthetic, historical and political, regarding land, in a South African and in an international context, also became his concern. He sought to look at the affects on selfhood in the wake of apartheid, considering particularly the Afrikaner male and indigenous women, with especial reference to KwaZulu- Natal. He has been particularly interested in the effects of the abuse of power in a local and in an international sphere and in the situation of subaltern peoples in the aftermath of domination. When Botha commenced studies at the (then) University of Natal, the prevailing philosophical attitude was Humanism, and his attitude to social responsibility is often markedly humanistic. His own thinking regarding his creative work coincided in many aspects with Marxist aesthetic. A development of Postmodernist thinking occurred in South Africa with the writing of Die Sestigers, who had had large contact with French philosophical writing of mid-twentieth century. Botha's challenge, as was that of Die Sestigers, was to take cognisance of international thinking and at the same time to work creatively within an experience of the South African locale. Botha's reading of Merleau-Pontys' writings on phenomenology influenced him to respond to the immediacy of experience and record that response in his work. Largeness is a distinguishing feature of his art which I discuss in connection with the character of the sublime, as perceived by Burke. The character of duende, as seen by Lorca, is also distinctive to Botha's art and is used by him creatively to effect catharsis. He shows responsibility in his creative citizenship and in his private creativity in understanding and meeting the changes of the time. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Please refer to full text for abstract

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores the performative construction and appropriations of heteronormative masculinities by heterosexual and homosexual men respectively. My interest in masculinity as a culturally constructed fantasy is extended to imply a desire for the masculine. The idea of masculine desire is further developed by indicating a possible (homo)sexual desire for the heteronormative representation of masculinity. In highlighting the artificial and material qualities of the assumed stable phallus, the impassable structure of hegemonic masculinities, such as manifested in the cowboy and bodybuilder, is turned into the penetrable penis as object of the male gaze. I will concentrate on the fetishization of heterosexual masculine signifiers in physique photography in order to demonstrate this shift in the male gaze. Masculinity as a (de)attachable component allows the de-subjectification and thus, depowering of heteronormative masculinity by the possible appropriation thereof by gay men. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsing ondersoek die performatiewe konstruksie en apropriasie van heteronormatiewe manlikhede deur onderskydelik heteroseksuele en homoseksuele mans. My belangstelling in manlikheid as ‘n kultureel gestruktureerde fantasie word uitgebrei om ‘n begeerte vir manlikheid te impliseer. Die idee van manlike begeerte word verder ontwikkel deur ‘n moontlike (homo)seksuele begeerte vir die heteronormatiewe uitbeelding van manlikheid aan te dui. Deur die artifisiële en materiële kwaliteite van die veronderstelde stabiele fallus te beklemtoon, word die ondeurdringbare hegemonie van manlike strukture, soos dit voorkom in die cowboy en liggamsbouer, verander in die penetreerbare penis as objek van die manlike (male) ‘gaze’. Ek konsentreer op die fetisering van heteroseksuele manlike tekens in ‘physique’ fotografie ten einde hierdie skuiwing in die manlike ‘gaze’ te demonstreer. Manlikheid as ‘n (ont)hegbare komponent veronderstel die de-subjektivisering, en dus ontmagtiging van heteronormatiewe manlikheid deur die moontlike appropriasie daarvan deur gay mans.

Thesis (MA (VA)(Visual Arts))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / This investigation uses an object relations psychoanalytic framework to explore ways that art embodies both social and personal meaning. The relationship between the non- verbal experience of art and the pre-verbal realm of infancy is explored and linked to bodily, perceptual and inner forms of non-discursive knowledge which are of value for the subject. The study investigates how this inner experience is related through art to language and representation as aspects of external experience. The study argues that these two dimensions, the inner/bodily and the outer/linguistic, are held together in the art object which, as metaphor, is a conjoined structure that embodies the maternal and paternal realms in paradoxical and dynamic interplay. The art object, which elicits imaginary and phantasied responses from the viewer, serves both the self (through presentational symbols) and social needs (through representational symbols), thus allowing the creation and communication of new meanings.

Thesis (MA (VA)(Visual Arts))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / This thesis investigates social aspects of the production and distribution of artworks, approaching these from the context of the every-day life of the artist. Its main aim is to form a theoretical framework and personalised application of auto/ ethnography to enable the artist to study her own practice within a specific context. The thesis serves as a counterpart to the practical work that is expected of a Master of arts student at this particular university and in this department, the University of Stellenbosch, Department of Visual Arts. As such, it works in tandem with the practical component to posit an understanding of the artworks as they have been formed in a complex postmodern society. I, as the artist and writer, discuss my work by drawing from autobiographical experiences and theoretical frameworks as texts. Auto/ethnography, the chosen methodology, is informed by post-structuralism, Marxist and neo-Marxist theories and feminist discourses, among others. It calls for researchers to apply self-reflexivity in their practice and, hence, must include the situated position of the ‘I’ of the researcher, as this inevitably impacts on research findings. My writing on my art-making process becomes a form of ‘emergent’ research that studies the relationship between the self and the social. This takes place through the use of autobiographical texts and the above-mentioned theoretical frameworks, combined with relational and dialogical theories of art, and frameworks that study art production and distribution from sociological perspectives. I write myself as constituted within ideology and subject to societal structure, but also possessing agency. I write on my art as a product determined by my position in society; my intentions and aims for the artwork and considerations on how its distribution might affect me; and its function as a text that carries meanings that differ from those which I, at any given time, might ascribe to it. The framework in which I write on my art-making process also draws on complexity theory. Within this framework I approach the self as relational, society and the environment as a complex self-structuring process, and the meaning of text as created and re-created in a web of interactions, between the self (of the writer/artist and reader/viewer) and the society (as built up of different interrelating subsystems). Writing auto/ethnographically to produce an academic dissertation within this specific academic community can, I believe, serve as a means through which I can question my own objectivising claims, or claims that lie in theoretical and personal frameworks that I draw from. Implicit in this thesis is the question: how can an artist, working within the confines of an academic framework, ensure that an ethical component exists between the self and other in her working practice?

The thesis spans two volumes ... Volume two is an artist's book and although it is part of the project I have set myself, it is not being submitted with the theoretical component of the MA dissertation, but as part of the practical component.' -- Abstract. / Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The thesis investigates the contemporary practice of book art, examining in particular the manner in which it fits both into the tradition of the book and the tradition of art making. The thesis spans two volumes. Volume One discusses the phenomenon of the artist's book from three vantage points: the attempts to define it, the attempts to catalogue it and the attempts to interpret it. Volume Two is an artist's book and although it is part of the project I have set myself, it is not being submitted with the theoretical component of the MA dissertation, but as part of the practical component. (Briefly, one of the tasks it embarks upon is an examination of the phenomenon of thesis writing, as understood and endeavoured by myself in the production of the first volume - in this sense it is self-reflective. Another is an examination of some aspects of my attempts to make examples of artist's books, which includes an investigation of some of the recurrent themes and preoccupations of my work) Volume One is set out in three chapters. The first chapter pursues a definition of book art and the artist's book in order to draw some perimeters around the subject, and to build a picture of its nature. In the course of doing this, the ideas of some book artists and book art commentators are considered in an attempt to create a richer tapestry of understanding. In the next chapter some of the ways in which book art has been categorised are discussed. This is in order to more finely delineate the nature and scope of book art. It is also to bring some clarity to bear upon the different components and manifestations of a vast and sometimes confusing oeuvre. I then suggest a system of classification of my own which offers an adjacent model for investigating artists' books and the endeavour of book art. With the above model in place, I undertake a foray into the arena of interpretation. Here I suggest the suitability of adopting certain methodologies of interpretation that come from the field of contemporary literary studies in general, and the interpretation of poetry in particular. I draw comparisons between the book artist and the poet, and suggest that they occupy a similar territory of meaning making. In the course of laying out my arguments in the three chapters, I refer extensively to examples of artists' books in order to make particular points. Where I consider it apt, I draw upon my book art as a source of example. In this way, I am able to weave into the text some information and reflection about my own practice and concerns as a book artist. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Daar word in die tesis ondersoek ingestel na die hedendaagse praktyk van die boekkuns en in die besonder die wyse waarop dit aansluit by die tradisie van die boek en die tradisie van die kuns. Die tesis beslaan twee volumes. Volume Een bespreek die fenomeen van die kunstenaarsboek vanuit drie invalshoeke: pogings om dit te definieer, pogings om dit te katalogisieer en pogings om dit te interpreteer. Volume Twee is 'n kunstenaarsboek en, hoewel dit deel uitmaak van die projek wat ek ondemeem het, word dit nie voorgele saam met die teoretiese komponent van die MA- dissertasie nie maar as deel van die praktiese komponent. (Een van die take wat dit ondemeem is, kortliks, 'n ondersoek van die fenomeen tesis-skryf soos ek dit met die produksie van die eerste volume self verstaan en benader het - in die sin is dit selfreflektief. 'n Ander taak is 'n ondersoek van sekere aspekte van my pogings om kunstenaarsboeke te maak, insluitende 'n ondersoek na van die deurlopende temas en preokupasies van my werk.) Volume Een bestaan uit drie hoofstukke. Die eerste hoofstuk streef na 'n definisie van die boekkuns en die kunstenaarsboek met die doel om die onderwerp nader te ornlyn en 'n beeld daarvan op te bou. In die proses word die idees van 'n aantal boekkunstenaars en boekkuns-kommentatore oorweeg in die poging om n ryker begripstapisserie te weef. In die daaropvolgende hoofstuk word van die wyses waarop die boekkuns gekategoriseer is, bespreek, om die aard en rykwydte van die boekkuns nog nader te omlyn. Dit work ook gedoen om lig te werp op die verskillende onderdele en manifestasies van 'n omvangryke en soms verwarrende oeuvre. Ek stel vervolgens my eie klassifiseringsisteem voor, wat 'n verdere model hied vir die ondersoek van kunstenaarsboeke en die boekkunsbedryf. Aan die hand van hierdie model betree ek dan die arena van interpretasie. Ek stel voor dat sekere interpretasiemetodes ontleen aan die tydgenootlike literatuurwetenskap, en spesifiek die interpreteer van poesie, oorweeg word. Ek vergelyk die boekkunstenaar met die digter en stel voor dat hulle op soortgelyke wyses met die skep van betekenis omgaan. In die loop van die uiteensetting van my argument in drie hoofstukke, verwys ek ekstensief na voorbeelde van kunstenaarsboeke om spesifieke punte te maak. Waar ek dit as gepas beskou, verwys ek, by wyse van illustrasie, na my eie boekkuns. Op hierdie manier is dit vir my moontlik om inligting en besinning oor my eie praktyk en pre-okkupasies as boekkunstenaar met die teks te verweef.