Taking my own personal history as a starting point this paper will look at how we inherit culture and in turn shape it through the stories and objects that drive its formation. This extends into how these objects proliferate within our culture and the way in which the passing of History impacts on the way we view them and as a consequence ourselves as individuals and as a group. Identity is then passed on through generations through the act of storytelling, and this process is integral to this research paper. This is also a personal journey, taking place in varying sites, from a rusting car hulk in a back yard in North Canterbury, to a University in Wellington and another rusted car, which has gone through a strange restoration. The Morris Minor has been embraced as a narcissistic object that I have chosen to double in order to explore my individual and wider national cultural history and identity. One of the key themes of this inherited identity is largely based around Nostalgia for an ideal past. This ideal is a fiction, a layering of intended futures as well as a selective past. This works in the same way as the modern artistic preoccupation with gothic histories, but instead of a positive ideal we have the creation of a basement of horrors that lurks beneath the surface. Be it positivist idealism or Gothic inversion, one way of focusing on the way these fictions differ markedly from the reality of the objects existence, is to show the artifice of the stories told by enhancing the components of the story that are already exaggerated, for the Morris Minor this means getting as far away from its existence as a rusting hulk in the backyard as possible. The longing for a past that may or may not exist, is less important as existing in reality but instead for what these fictions supply in their retelling. The concept of the Uncanny is integral to this retelling of memory, in that through a memories reanimation it can only approximate the original event leaving gaps for circumspection and invention. This retelling necessitates a reorientation in the relationship between the teller of the tale and the listener and between the viewer and the object viewed. The research culminates in the alteration of a Morris Minor to appear as one continuous surface. The intention of which is to engage with the differing versions of the objects past through taking an active part in its reconstruction as artwork with the aim of reassessment not only of my individual approach to the object but also the viewers.

Taking my own personal history as a starting point this paper will look at how we inherit culture and in turn shape it through the stories and objects that drive its formation. This extends into how these objects proliferate within our culture and the way in which the passing of History impacts on the way we view them and as a consequence ourselves as individuals and as a group. Identity is then passed on through generations through the act of storytelling, and this process is integral to this research paper. This is also a personal journey, taking place in varying sites, from a rusting car hulk in a back yard in North Canterbury, to a University in Wellington and another rusted car, which has gone through a strange restoration. The Morris Minor has been embraced as a narcissistic object that I have chosen to double in order to explore my individual and wider national cultural history and identity. One of the key themes of this inherited identity is largely based around Nostalgia for an ideal past. This ideal is a fiction, a layering of intended futures as well as a selective past. This works in the same way as the modern artistic preoccupation with gothic histories, but instead of a positive ideal we have the creation of a basement of horrors that lurks beneath the surface. Be it positivist idealism or Gothic inversion, one way of focusing on the way these fictions differ markedly from the reality of the objects existence, is to show the artifice of the stories told by enhancing the components of the story that are already exaggerated, for the Morris Minor this means getting as far away from its existence as a rusting hulk in the backyard as possible. The longing for a past that may or may not exist, is less important as existing in reality but instead for what these fictions supply in their retelling. The concept of the Uncanny is integral to this retelling of memory, in that through a memories reanimation it can only approximate the original event leaving gaps for circumspection and invention. This retelling necessitates a reorientation in the relationship between the teller of the tale and the listener and between the viewer and the object viewed. The research culminates in the alteration of a Morris Minor to appear as one continuous surface. The intention of which is to engage with the differing versions of the objects past through taking an active part in its reconstruction as artwork with the aim of reassessment not only of my individual approach to the object but also the viewers.

In memory of cats: The camera and the ordinary moment looks at the way in which families use photographs to remember the past. Photography’s offer of memory is limited to a visual trace, so strategies of oral telling are examined to interrogate the way in which memories can be recovered from photographs. Martha Langford’s study of the similarities between structures in oral culture and the photograph album and Annette Kuhn’s strategies for reading family photographs in a broader historical context, are used to examine and recover memories from my own photographic archive. Using moving image to record those memories and then tell how that photographic evidence has shaped my present, is a process suggested by Linda Williams in her writing about how postmodern documentary can use the past to intervene in the present. Other documentary styles, performative documentary and the essay film, offer a structure for personal memories to be revisited and re-presented to public viewers. Offering a space for personal or specific memories to be understood or related to by a viewer is discussed by Lisa Saltzman, who looks at indexical forms other than the photograph, like casting and tracing. These ideas culminated in my video work, A Clowder of Cats, which explores the losses that have been a part of my history, through photographs of the cats my family has owned. The camera gives us a strategy to remember moments that may otherwise have been forgotten, and moving image provides a space for those ordinary moments to be bought back to the present.

The role and position of the documentary street photographer is examined in the context of other forms of contemporary visual survey, including Google Street View. The Street View methodology is critically examined and related to the methodologies of other visual artists, including street photographers Peter Black and Robert Frank. Comparisons are drawn between the methodological restrictions imposed by Street View and those imposed by the photographers in the course of their practice. The issue of authorship is discussed and the lack of specific authorship of Street View is related to its inability to augment the viewer's personal sense of space. Wainuiomata, a suburb of Hutt City in Wellington, New Zealand, is introduced as a location for the author's research into how documentary photography might operate. The author's own phenomenological history is considered, and it is proposed that Wainuiomata may act as a mirror which reflects a sense of place derived from personal history, triggered by the visual landscape. The author's installation work The 1 p.m. Project is discussed and contextualised as a response to the author's research findings.

Taking my own personal history as a starting point this paper will look at how we inherit culture and in turn shape it through the stories and objects that drive its formation. This extends into how these objects proliferate within our culture and the way in which the passing of History impacts on the way we view them and as a consequence ourselves as individuals and as a group. Identity is then passed on through generations through the act of storytelling, and this process is integral to this research paper. This is also a personal journey, taking place in varying sites, from a rusting car hulk in a back yard in North Canterbury, to a University in Wellington and another rusted car, which has gone through a strange restoration. The Morris Minor has been embraced as a narcissistic object that I have chosen to double in order to explore my individual and wider national cultural history and identity. One of the key themes of this inherited identity is largely based around Nostalgia for an ideal past. This ideal is a fiction, a layering of intended futures as well as a selective past. This works in the same way as the modern artistic preoccupation with gothic histories, but instead of a positive ideal we have the creation of a basement of horrors that lurks beneath the surface. Be it positivist idealism or Gothic inversion, one way of focusing on the way these fictions differ markedly from the reality of the objects existence, is to show the artifice of the stories told by enhancing the components of the story that are already exaggerated, for the Morris Minor this means getting as far away from its existence as a rusting hulk in the backyard as possible. The longing for a past that may or may not exist, is less important as existing in reality but instead for what these fictions supply in their retelling. The concept of the Uncanny is integral to this retelling of memory, in that through a memories reanimation it can only approximate the original event leaving gaps for circumspection and invention. This retelling necessitates a reorientation in the relationship between the teller of the tale and the listener and between the viewer and the object viewed. The research culminates in the alteration of a Morris Minor to appear as one continuous surface. The intention of which is to engage with the differing versions of the objects past through taking an active part in its reconstruction as artwork with the aim of reassessment not only of my individual approach to the object but also the viewers.

Photographic technology is increasingly respondent to a desire for the production and consumption of information. The current age of photography not only possesses the ability to capture the image, but also to capture photographic metadata as supplemental information. Engaging in the premise that the photographic image exists as an incomplete medium to the transfer of information, this research identifies the acquisition of data as a means to resolve interpretation and quantify the photographic image. Inhabiting a complex territory within this structure, the photographic image manifests multiplicity and operates as source, production, and capture of information. This work challenges the perceptions of how to engage with the dialogues created between the photographic image, and the externally appended metadata.

Mass-production and consumption is causing mountains of waste, overwhelming our fragile world. Since the fast fashion industry is one of the major contributors of waste, it is vital we change the way we produce, consume and market clothing in order to address concerns such as global warming. We need to consider how we can make clothing within a closed cycle to minimise waste. The garments should either be biodegradable and become nutrients for the earth, or be able to go back into the technological cycle, i.e. to be stripped of components and reused, or else up-cycled with zero waste; a cradle-to-cradle life cycle (McDonough & Braungart, 2002). This project explores how a more sustainable relationship can be created between the designer, consumer and their community, in an attempt to slow the fashion industry down. Drawing upon sustainability theories I apply a new system of design, production and consumption that fosters relationships and active participation in the garment manufacturing process, as well as making clothing that is tailored for an individual’s lifestyle. In this project I have created bespoke clothing items for and with three people. The clothes are conceived as treasures that my clients can keep forever. Instead of simply being fashionable and of the time, the New Bespoke clothing is both timely and timeless. Through a series of consultations I develop an understanding of my clients personality and lifestyle, and through photographic explorations I develop a silhouette from their current wardrobe from which to design the garments. The transparency of this production system is aimed to educate my clients about environmental issues in the fashion industry, and to change their perception of the value of clothing.

Allowing decorative pattern to take flight is a theme that has preoccupied my art practice ever since becoming infected by Deleuze and Guattari’s writing, A Thousand Plateaus:Capitalism and Schizophrenia, while completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in Textiles. It is evident as an underlying thread or feeling in my making processes and thinking. According to Deleuze and Guattari (1987), to think new thoughts involves ‘a wrenching of concepts away from their usual configurations, outside the systems in which they have a home and outside the structures of recognition that constrain thought to the already known’ (p276). In this project I have found myself continually challenged by the intent and consequences of ‘shaking things up’, as I believe this quote implies. A wrenching of concepts away from their usual configurations has come through drawing a comparison between the conceptual structure of decorative pattern and the orders and structures of everyday life. What has emerged is a synthesis of ideas which create a picture of the dis/order that is evident within decorative pattern and in everyday life. I have come to conclude that decorative pattern is passive aggressive. It occurs to me that I could have described decorative pattern in a more positive tone in terms of passive resistance. But, in my mind, this implies a heroic gesture of superseding dominant orders. In this project I consciously employ the term ‘passive aggressive’ as an analogy because it acknowledges human flaw as a pattern that is inherent in everyday life. It alludes to the actuality of a relation to order and subsequent disorder that is not heroic, but rather implies humanness and the everyday struggle. While my challenge has been to present a new way of thinking about decorative pattern, underlying this has been a questioning of the structures that define my practice itself. This is evident in the experimental works that I have produced. It has been an evolutionary process that has played out according to a rhythm of shattering and shoring up. I see the resolution of this exploration coming in two parts. One is as the sum of my experimental works and how these artworks inform each other and are read in relation to the text. The other comes through a final installation of work which employs the system for making that has subsequently evolved, moving according to ‘the path of least resistance’.

This exegesis details an investigation into the history and evolution of certain technologies, (binary coding, Platonic cosmology, and the linear perspective system) and the extent to which these technologies have distorted or appropriated our perceptions of reality. Special attention is paid to logical inconsistencies in apparently logical systems. The investigation focuses on the purportedly utopian applications of these technologies and the discrepancies that inevitably occurred whenever these ordered systems confronted the chaotic ‘real’ world. Information gleaned from this research then informs an analysis of methods for incorporating these concepts into the author’s installation practice. An explication of recent drawing practice and its reconciliation with installation work will account for and inform a recounting of practical experimentation dealing with form and materials.

Accompanying workbook not available in digital format / Both empirical and anecdotal evidence indicates that visual communication1 design practices implemented by designers with full colour vision often disadvantage, and sometimes endanger, colour-blind people. The thesis The Machine postulates that colour-blind people – comprising approximately 8% of males and 0.5% of females (Lewis et al., 1990) – are marginalized by such practices. It argues that this group could benefit from a design strategy that enhances the communicative potential and visibility of colour. The proposed strategy involves embedding pattern into potentially confusing colours such as red and green. The embedded pattern would function for colour-blind people as an additional clue to the identity of these colours. The thesis contends that while colour alone can be confusing for colour-blind people, patterned colour could offer a solution with a wide range of possible applications. The research aims of The Machine include: developing a system of patterned colour; creating a wordless picture book that demonstrates the effectiveness of the system; constructing a narrative around the condition of red-green colourblindness; and employing visual rhetoric2 to increase awareness of and sensitivity to colour-blindness among those with full colour vision. The design of the thesis is supported by research in a number of interrelated areas. These include the history of pattern post-1850, particularly in Western culture; precedents for patterned colour; and visual rhetoric in story-telling. The research also incorporates an analysis of the defining characteristics of ten late twentieth-century and early twenty-first-century wordless picture books. The thesis is further supported by applied research into patterned colour and visual rhetoric. The Machine aims to benefit colour-blind people, a significant minority group whose visual needs are currently inadequately met. In addition, it proposes broadening the cultural role and significance of pattern. Moreover, by incorporating informative elements usually associated with pedagogic material, it aspires to extend the boundaries of the fantasy picture book genre. 1 Visual communication (n): communication that relies on vision (Wordnet, 2006). 2 Visual rhetoric: the use of visual techniques, such as the creation of visually ‘engaging’ characters, as a means of persuading a target audience