The Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands constitute an interesting case for studying the function and symbolism of matrimony. This period marked an active time of change in the Low Countries: there was ongoing antagonism between the dukes of Burgundy and their Dutch subjects; shifts in the mercantile industry caused economic flux; the Reformation sparked religious tension; and the rapid expansion of the art market created a Europe-wide demand for Netherlandish fine and decorative art. In the face of upheaval, the act of marriage and the ideology surrounding it remained relatively consistent. Betrothal and marriage ceremonies in the Low Countries were quite formal compared to those in southern Europe; the quintessential northern ceremony customarily involved a priest, witnesses, and symbolic hand gestures. The images discussed in this thesis overwhelmingly reflect the importance of ritualistic behaviour in the late medieval Netherlands; the majority of them depict proper in facie ecclesiae unions, meaning “in the face of the Church.” These images of ideal marriage rituals were most commonly commissioned by members of the court or Church, and were used primarily to display wealth and power, to enhance the pageantry of court life, to draw connections with the mythic or biblical past, to promote canon law, and to reinforce cultural values. The fifty-three images studied in this thesis not only relate to discourses on medieval marriage and art history; they also fit into the larger narratives surrounding civic authority, religious tension, economic change, and social mores. In this thesis, I use an interdisciplinary approach to reveal the main functions of matrimonial ceremonies in Early Netherlandish art, and to examine the gap between image and reality. This thesis contributes to a better understanding of ritual and visual expression in the Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands.

This thesis describes a computational approach for analyzing the color aesthetics of images from the perspective of color theory. Our work has been informed by the works of Johannes Itten, one of the most influential theorists of color aesthetics. To the best of our knowledge, developing computational models that are based on Itten's theories is our unique contribution to Computer Vision. We focus on three aspects of color usage in visual art, namely modulation, contrast of hue and cold-warm contrast. For modulation, we introduce the color palette, a novel 3D visualization of the chromatic information of an image in the HSL space and propose a set of simple descriptors for evaluating color modulation. For contrast of hue, we assess the spatial color composition of the homogeneous regions. For cold-warm contrast, we assess the spatial color composition of the homogeneous regions and the hue adjacencies. Further, we assess the relative warmth of the homogeneous regions and adjacent hues. We also propose a visualization, namely a 3D histogram to visualize the patterns of the contrasts in an artist's paintings. We validate our methods by comparing our results with Itten's descriptions and comments. We hope that this computational approach improves the color-based features used in the aesthetic classification of images. / Graduate / 0984

Quel est le sens donné à l’art par la minorité palestinienne d’Israël dans un contexte où l’État se définit uniquement en termes ethno-nationaux et religieux ? Les écrits sur l’art en contextes coloniaux et postcoloniaux ont tendance à considérer l’art comme une ressource de revendication identitaire face à une situation de domination. Autrement dit, l’art est souvent présenté comme un acte politique de reconnaissance à travers l’affirmation d’une contre-identité. Suite à un travail intensif de terrain ethnographique dans la région, cette recherche démontre que pour les artistes palestiniens en Israël, l’aspect politique de l’art ne vient pas de sa capacité à exprimer des revendications identitaires. À travers l’observation des pratiques et l’analyse des discours des artistes, elle remet en question la relation présumée entre l'art et l'identité. Plus concrètement, elle analyse les pratiques d’un groupe d’artistes issus d’une minorité nationale indigène dont le travail artistique constitue une interruption des régimes spatiotemporels d'identification. L’aspect politique du travail des artistes palestiniens en Israël s’exprime à travers un processus de désidentification, un refus de réduire l’art à des catégories identitaires dominantes. Les œuvres de ces artistes permettent l’expression d’une rupture esthétique, manifestant un « ayant lieu » politique qui se trouve entre l'art et le non-art. Il s’agit d’un espace qui permet la rupture de l’ordre sensible de la société israélienne à travers l’affirmation et la vérification d’une égalité qui existe déjà. / This thesis explores what it means for the Palestinian indigenous minority in Israel to produce art in a setting that has simultaneously controlled their movements and excluded them from full citizenship. It takes on the question of how Palestinian artists face discrimination within a monolithic state structure that defines itself primarily along religious and ethno-national lines. Most writing about art in colonial and postcolonial contexts tends to see art as a resource for asserting repressed ethnic, racial and indigenous identities in the face of ongoing control and domination. Art, in other words, is considered a political act of recognition through the assertion of a counter identity. The central question of this thesis concerns what happens when artists contest the colonial conditions within which they live without having recourse to identity-based claims about equality and rights. Based on intensive ethnographic fieldwork in the region, this research demonstrates that for Palestinian artists the political aspect of art is not related to claims about identity and that the relationship between art and identity is not homologous. Specifically, it explores artistic processes within a context in which spatiotemporal regimes of identification are being disrupted by an indigenous national minority. It establishes that politics in the case of Palestinian artists in Israel is a form of disidentification that is articulated through the figure of the present absentee. The central tropes found within the works of these artists can be seen as disruptive aesthetic acts, a “taking place” of politics that is between art and non-art, and outside of given identities; that is, a scene for the rupture of the “sensible order” of Israeli society through the affirmation and verification of an already existing equality.

Master of Visual Arts / This thesis is an exploration into the ether of the digital aesthetic. It attempts to capture a segment of the continually morphing space then deconstruct and analyse it through electronic and new media art. Herein you will find a questioning of technology and control within electronic and new media art as an investigation into better understanding the current media image and visual culture that so powerfully influences the modern social construct. By nature this argument has existed for some years but only now with advancements in technology and more affordable realisation of ideas by media artists, the topic of the digital aesethetic, technology and control has become relevant for popular debate. As war lingers in our minds, terrorism hits headlines, and experiements in cloning human DNA take place, the technology that society demands can only necessarily be seen as a major contributing factor to today's strange times. However, strange or not, the questions I wish to discuss; Does technology determine contemporary society or do we determine technology? Where does the control exist?

This study explores the use of visual art therapy with traumatised adolescents. A literature review sheds light on the concepts of “visual art therapy” and “psychological trauma”, by exploring the therapeutic nature of visual art as a technique aimed at addressing the effects of trauma in the lives of adolescents. An empirical study including seven voluntary and purposefully selected participants demonstrates the efficacy of using visual art therapy with adolescents affected by trauma. Data gathered through observation, questionnaires, and interviews is qualitatively interpreted and analysed. The research findings are presented accordingly. Based on the empirical investigation, it is established that visual art can be used as a valuable therapeutic technique in the lives of adolescents affected by trauma. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Esta tese aborda os processos de significação dos conhecimentos em arte no ensino em Moçambique. O foco é a apreensão dos sentidos que circulam na prática docente das disciplinas referentes às artes visuais, visando refletir acerca das relações entre educação, arte e conhecimento no Sistema Nacional de Educação. A pesquisa foi motivada pela possibilidade de evidenciar a contribuição do aprendizado de/em arte e promover a produção artísticacultural, a percepção, a compreensão, a interpretação do meio envolvente intermediado por intervenções conscientes e transformadoras para o desenvolvimento humano; pela necessidade de refletir não só sobre a ausência de investimentos em recursos humanos, tecnológicos e materiais na área de Artes em Moçambique, como também sobre o tratamento tecnocrático dado a esta área de conhecimento. O referencial teórico-metodológico baseou-se na semiótica discursiva para analisar os textos/entrevistas dos professores formadores da Universidade Pedagógica e consubstanciar os sentidos produzidos e reproduzidos. Ressalta que a significação se constrói através da produção e apreensão dos efeitos de sentidos, na relação do sujeito com o currículo. O corpus de pesquisa foi constituído a partir de entrevistas semiestruturadas realizadas com sete professores. As análises mostraram sentidos que emergem a partir da presença do Outro, o ensino de arte na Educação Visual, que causa estranhamentos no Sistema Nacional de Educação. As significações apresentam-se dentro da circularidade entre as disciplinas de Desenho Técnico/Geométrico e Educação Visual/Artes e apontam efeitos de sentidos que focalizam a dualidade entre o inteligível e o sensível, num contexto em que a priori se deveria processar a interdisciplinaridade. As conclusões apresentam posições discursivas que espelham o ajustamento entre as competências e performances do querer fazer e do querer ser em relação à área artística e ao Outro em oposição. Por outro lado, visualizaram-se sentidos que destacam o ensino de Artes como importante para o desenvolvimento humano, mas pouco valorizado e considerado sem complexidade. Revelam ainda o desenho geométrico como área caracterizada pela inflexibilidade dentro do Sistema Nacional de Educação. / This thesis addresses the meaning processes from knowledge in art in education in Mozambique. The center of attention is the meaning apprehension that surrounds teaching practice in the disciplines related to visual art, aiming to reflect about the relation among education, art and knowledge in the National Education System. The research was motivated by two reasons: the possibility to evidence the contribution of learning of/with art by promoting artistic and cultural production, the perception, comprehension, interpretation of the context intermediated by conscious and transforming interventions to the human development; and, by the necessity of reflecting not only about the absence of investment in human resources, technology and materials in art domain in Mozambique, but also about the technocratic treatment that is given to the knowledge field. The theoretical and methodological referential is based on discursive semiotic in order to analyze the texts/interviews from teachers trainers from the Pedagogical University and consubstantiate the produced and reproduced meaning. Based on this perspective, it is emphasized that meaning is produced through production and apprehension of meaning effects, which results from the relation between the subject and the curriculum. The research corpus was established by semi-structured interviews made with seven teachers. The analysis showed meanings that emerged from the presence of the Other, teaching art in Visual Education, that causes estrangement in the National Education System. The meanings are visible inside the circularity of the disciplines of Geometric/Technical Drawing and Visual/Art Education and they indicate meaning effects that focus on the duality between sensible and intelligible, in a context that a priori should manage the interdisciplinarity. The conclusions reveal discursive positions that mirror the adjustment between competencies and performances of wanting to do and wanting to be in relation to the artistic domain and to the Other in opposition. On the other hand, meanings that highlight art teaching as something import to human development, but underestimate and considered without complexity are identified. It also discloses the geometric drawing as a discipline characterized by the inflexibility inside the National Education System.

Esta tese aborda os processos de significação dos conhecimentos em arte no ensino em Moçambique. O foco é a apreensão dos sentidos que circulam na prática docente das disciplinas referentes às artes visuais, visando refletir acerca das relações entre educação, arte e conhecimento no Sistema Nacional de Educação. A pesquisa foi motivada pela possibilidade de evidenciar a contribuição do aprendizado de/em arte e promover a produção artísticacultural, a percepção, a compreensão, a interpretação do meio envolvente intermediado por intervenções conscientes e transformadoras para o desenvolvimento humano; pela necessidade de refletir não só sobre a ausência de investimentos em recursos humanos, tecnológicos e materiais na área de Artes em Moçambique, como também sobre o tratamento tecnocrático dado a esta área de conhecimento. O referencial teórico-metodológico baseou-se na semiótica discursiva para analisar os textos/entrevistas dos professores formadores da Universidade Pedagógica e consubstanciar os sentidos produzidos e reproduzidos. Ressalta que a significação se constrói através da produção e apreensão dos efeitos de sentidos, na relação do sujeito com o currículo. O corpus de pesquisa foi constituído a partir de entrevistas semiestruturadas realizadas com sete professores. As análises mostraram sentidos que emergem a partir da presença do Outro, o ensino de arte na Educação Visual, que causa estranhamentos no Sistema Nacional de Educação. As significações apresentam-se dentro da circularidade entre as disciplinas de Desenho Técnico/Geométrico e Educação Visual/Artes e apontam efeitos de sentidos que focalizam a dualidade entre o inteligível e o sensível, num contexto em que a priori se deveria processar a interdisciplinaridade. As conclusões apresentam posições discursivas que espelham o ajustamento entre as competências e performances do querer fazer e do querer ser em relação à área artística e ao Outro em oposição. Por outro lado, visualizaram-se sentidos que destacam o ensino de Artes como importante para o desenvolvimento humano, mas pouco valorizado e considerado sem complexidade. Revelam ainda o desenho geométrico como área caracterizada pela inflexibilidade dentro do Sistema Nacional de Educação. / This thesis addresses the meaning processes from knowledge in art in education in Mozambique. The center of attention is the meaning apprehension that surrounds teaching practice in the disciplines related to visual art, aiming to reflect about the relation among education, art and knowledge in the National Education System. The research was motivated by two reasons: the possibility to evidence the contribution of learning of/with art by promoting artistic and cultural production, the perception, comprehension, interpretation of the context intermediated by conscious and transforming interventions to the human development; and, by the necessity of reflecting not only about the absence of investment in human resources, technology and materials in art domain in Mozambique, but also about the technocratic treatment that is given to the knowledge field. The theoretical and methodological referential is based on discursive semiotic in order to analyze the texts/interviews from teachers trainers from the Pedagogical University and consubstantiate the produced and reproduced meaning. Based on this perspective, it is emphasized that meaning is produced through production and apprehension of meaning effects, which results from the relation between the subject and the curriculum. The research corpus was established by semi-structured interviews made with seven teachers. The analysis showed meanings that emerged from the presence of the Other, teaching art in Visual Education, that causes estrangement in the National Education System. The meanings are visible inside the circularity of the disciplines of Geometric/Technical Drawing and Visual/Art Education and they indicate meaning effects that focus on the duality between sensible and intelligible, in a context that a priori should manage the interdisciplinarity. The conclusions reveal discursive positions that mirror the adjustment between competencies and performances of wanting to do and wanting to be in relation to the artistic domain and to the Other in opposition. On the other hand, meanings that highlight art teaching as something import to human development, but underestimate and considered without complexity are identified. It also discloses the geometric drawing as a discipline characterized by the inflexibility inside the National Education System.

Progression view of Olomouc town in the visual art Thesis is engaged in the development of Olomouc town, displaying the visual arts from past to present. It shows transformations of the significant Olomouc cultural relics, and general views of the town on the particular arts in the progress of centuries, and supplies it with a brief history. This work notices art design of individual views of the city, and uses a comparative method according to the time when these views were taken. It mentions the changes of form and conception of the view of Olomouc town, and presents the recent artist production intercepting a town panorama, sights or its parts in their works. In conclusion it judges an arts portraying Olomouc town, which are valuable to arts in the Czech and development in region as well.

La théâtralité, idée apparue avec les avant-gardes théâtrales au début du XXe siècle puis théorisée dans les années 1960, connaît un net regain d'intérêt chez nombre d'artistes contemporains : si la notion naît chez les praticiens et théoriciens du théâtre pour distinguer celui-ci de la littérature ou du cinéma et le fonder comme un art autonome, c'est dans le champ des arts visuels que sa vitalité est aujourd'hui la plus remarquable, qu'elle soit utilisée comme une référence positive au théâtre ou dans une optique "théâtrophobique". Thématiques ou structurels, ces emprunts montrent que la théâtralité ne peut plus être pensée à l'intérieur du strict champ du théâtre comme elle l'était à ses origines. Traçant tant un historique des emplois de la notion chez les théoriciens et critiques qu'un panorama de ses manifestations dans des créations actuelles, le présent travail entend examiner la façon dont une partie de l'art contemporain, c'est-à-dire des pratiques non théâtrales au sens strict, est devenue une autre scène pour le théâtre - comme si les artistes trouvaient en ce "non-art" archaïque et tout à fait particulier un paradigme ou un anti-paradigme permettant de repenser à la fois leur propre médium, les modes de représentation et la place du spectateur. Nous souhaiterions aller ainsi à l'encontre des discours proclamant la fin des spécificités artistiques et la mort (incessante) du théâtre en montrant la pérennité manifeste de celui-ci dans d'autres champs, non pas nécessairement en tant que forme pure mais parce qu'il fournit un schème solide - cette théâtralité, aussi labile qu'essentielle, qui fonderait aujourd'hui, par un intéressant jeu de va-et-vient entre les pratiques qui l'engagent, un axe fort pour penser la contemporanéité du théâtre. / The idea of theatricality appeared in the context of avant-garde theater at the beginning of the XXth century, was theorised in the 1960s, and has recently been a subject of renewed interest for numerous contemporary artists. The notion was originally created by theater practitioners and theorists to distinguish it as an autonomous art form, different from literature or film. Currently, it is in the field of visual art that theatricality is most vital, explored either as a positive reference to theater or a more negative "theatrophobic" stance. These allusions, whether thematic or structural, illustrate that theatricality can no longer be strictly confined to the field of theater. Taking into account the notion's historical applications and elaborating a panorama of its manifestations, this study examines how several non-theatrical contemporary art practices have become another stage for the theater. It is as if certain artists found in this archaic and unique "non-art" a paradigm or an anti-paradigm, stimulating new approaches vis à vis their own mediums, representational modalities and the spectator's position. This study challenges discourses that ignore each art's defining characteristics and that claim the (incessant) death of theater by illustrating the continual appearance of the later in other artistic domains. Pure theatrical form is not necessarily questioned in these works; however, theater provides a solid model. This "famous" theatricality is as mutational as it is fundamental and establishes - through an interesting play between the different practices that engage it - a key field for reflecting the contemporaneity of theater.

The purpose of this study has been to investigate visual art teachers’ experiences of using pre-exercises in art class, and to what extent they promote the students’ creativity and interest for creating. In order to limit the study, focus was directed at the introduction of new art assignments, and how the teacher presents the task. The study aims to contribute with knowledge and guidance for art teachers who seek to encourage students to work creatively, and to invoke greater interest for creating. The study has its foundation in the socio-cultural perspective on teaching and development, including its communicative processes. The method was qualitative in character. Eleven art teachers were interviewed, in order to get empirical knowledge of their experience of introduction and pre-exercise in art projects.The results showed that the teachers’ experience of working with pre-exercises had several aims and goals. One of those goals were that the exercise would provide students with tools for getting started with the creative process, and promote their creativity. A challenge mentioned was lack of time, and the teachers experienced that pre-exercises were frequently skipped because of it.