Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1973. / Typescript.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1981. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 45).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Technical University of Denmark, 2001. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Feb. 20, 2009). "September 2001". Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-104).

Thesis (MTech (Design))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015. / This mini-thesis aims at exploring the process of design thinking in the transformation of a decayed found object into an artwork, with a narrative of sustainability and life, thus creating awareness around the role and function of decayed objects by repurposing them to give them new life. The scope of this study will be limited to the use of art to create awareness around repurposing found objects. However, these repurposed found objects will not become physical utility products. Rather, this study aims to discuss and explore ways in which art can be used to generate an ethos of 'redesigning' into a work of art which gives it an aesthestic value. An undertone of this study is the dilemma encountered in attempting to establish clear delineations between art and design in both pedagogic and professional practice domains. ABSTRACT This mini-thesis aims at exploring the process of design thinking in the transformation of a decayed found object into an artwork, with a narrative of sustainability and life, thus creating awareness around the role and function of decayed objects by repurposing them to give them new life. Key topics discussed in this mini-thesis are the noticing of and engagement with decayed found objects and sustainability. Other topics explored are repurposing and design for repurposing. Debates around the concept of 'design thinking' are ever current. Design thinking was employed in the study, which resulted in a process that examined the richness of my individual artistic journeys. My ontological stance is that all chosen found objects should have a life. This study is epistemologically situated within the interpretive paradigm since the study makes meaning of my experiences as I interact with found objects. The study drew on a qualitative design paradigm of embodied experience, phenomenological research and employed qualitative methodologies of reflective journaling, lived experience and a process-orientated art approach. The research method adopted a convenience or accidental sample, which is not representative of a population of found objects as the objects were presented by accident. All artworks created for the purpose of the study incorporated found objects that were selected randomly. The design analysis and findings verified the likelihood of a thematic approach by using comparisons of the choice of collected found objects. The general contribution(s) of this mini-thesis to the knowledge toward the direction design needs to take is three-fold: firstly, the study confirmed an awareness of using discarded banal found objects and giving these objects new life through design thinking; secondly, it emphasises the awareness around the critical concerns of sustainability and social responsibility; and, lastly it engages curricula development in robust dialogue that advances the sustainability agenda in a multi-disciplinary context in the Faculty of Informatics and Design, at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa. In order to initiate further dialogue, this study argues and proposes that student learning can be enhanced through using a found object as catalyst to ignite creative expression and as a result positively contribute to the sustainability agenda. Typically the study could also propose through means of arguments in literature that creative practical activities structured around found objects and design thinking will allow students to adopt a deep approach to learning. These educational arguments will exceed the objectives of this mini-thesis. They are, nevertheless, considered a worthwhile theme for further research or a doctoral thesis.

The purpose of this investigation was to develop a method of burning out expanded plastic patterns invested in ceramic shell molds. Technological information suggested that the procedure was not feasible because plastic expansion or gas combustion invariably spoiled the mold. However, burning out expanded plastic patterns would provide a practical method of using such materials in the sculptor's studio; combined with ceramic shells, the patterns would promote accurately detailed castings with ease and convenience.

Syfte: I denna studie undersöktes bildterapeuters berättelser om hur de arbetar med affektmedvetenhet i bildterapi. Metod: En kvalitativ studiedesign användes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra bildterapeuter. För att utvinna data valdes tematisk analys. Bearbetning av intervjuerna utgick ifrån fyra dimensioner av affektmedvetenhet enligt Monsen, Eilertsen, Melgård och Ødegård (1996): Uppmärksamma, Tolerera, Icke-verbalt uttryck samt Verbalt uttryck av känslor. Resultat: Analysen av intervjuerna resulterade i nio teman/bildterapeutiska arbetssätt för ökad affektmedvetenhet hos klienten: Lägga märke till känslor, Synliggöra omedvetna känslor, Synliggöra mer medvetna känslor, Växla mellan tanke och känsla, Reglera överväldigande känslor, Omstrukturera, Kroppsfokus, Öppna bilden och Låna bilden. Slutsats: Genom om att belysa bildterapimetoder med fokus på affektmedvetenhet tydliggörs viktiga tekniker och aspekter, såväl icke-verbala som verbala. Resultatet kan generera idéer till interventionsforskning kring bildterapeutiskt arbete med affekter. / Aims: In this study, art therapists' stories of how they work with affect awareness in art therapy were examined. Methods: A qualitative study design was used with semi-structured interviews with four art therapists. The thematic analysis was based on four dimensions of affect awareness: Affect awareness, Affect tolerance, Nonverbal and Conceptual expression of affect (Monsen, Eilertsen, Melgård & Ødegård 1996). Results: Analysis of the interviews resulted in nine themes/art therapy methods for increased affect awareness: Paying attention to affect, Highlighting unconsiousnes affects, Highlighting more aware affects, Switching between thought and affect, Regulate overwhelming affects, Restructure, Body focus, Opening the image and Borrowing the image. Conclusion: By highlighting art therapy methods focusing on affect awareness, important techniques and aspects, both non-verbal and verbal, are clarified. The result can generate ideas for intervention research on art therapy with affects.

Die Enzyklopädie der Performancekunst ist keine weitere Geschichte der Performancekunst. Der empirische und strikt materialistische Zugang zielt darauf ab, einen kompletten und systematischen Überblick zu geben über Materialien und ihren Gebrauch in der Performancekunst sowie Handlungen und ihre spezifischen Qualitäten in der Performancekunst.

This study explores the impact that traditional artmaking can have on the wellness of individuals who continue to practice their traditional crafts. Limited research has explored how culturally adapted art therapy practices and culturally relevant materials can promote wellness and alleviate emotional and acculturation challenges for multicultural populations. This research included a case study approach that invited five participants who regularly engaged in a traditional artmaking practice to continue their practice for four consecutive weeks and reflect on their sense of wellness after each traditional artmaking engagement. Over the four weeks, participants completed an initial survey to assess their baseline sense of wellness, weekly surveys that included the WHO-5 Well-being Index, and a final interview over Zoom web conferencing. Through a thematic analysis of the qualitative data, the researchers recognized two overarching themes: (1) the sense of wellness through experiencing a connection to culture, and (2) connection to heritage and present-moment awareness. The survey results revealed that environmental stressors often impacted the participant’s ability to rate wellness in connection to their artmaking practice and that their practice was a helpful distraction that positively impacted wellness. This research suggests that engaging in traditional cultural art practices can increase an individual’s sense of wellness through a deeper connection to their culture and their present-moment awareness. Further studies regarding traditional cultural artmaking practices and their impact on wellness may inspire and support art therapists in decolonizing therapeutic approaches and empowering multicultural communities and individuals.

Thesis (MA(VA))--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis investigates adults who play. Through my investigation, I discovered that play for adults is not distraction or a waste of time as is generally accepted. It is a basic need and necessary for survival. Although there are different forms of play, such as sport matches, hobbies and gambling, I specifically focus on play where objects can be created. This type of play is inherently more creative and stimulates lateral thinking. In play there is a freedom and safe environment which is not necessarily tied to reality. At the same time it is a self-reflective discovery process which stimulates brain activity. In my practice I use plastic bags as an accessible and malleable material to design and make contemporary jewellery. It is a way to act as an active agent in the world, rather than a passive consumer. The discussion of my art pieces forms the primary research of the thesis and is supported by theoretical research. In the process of making a deeper understanding and knowledge is extracted, which can be established through ritual play. New connections are formed in the brain and contrasting ideas can be linked which would otherwise not have happened. Play has value because it does not only stay in ‘play state’. It can spill over to the confrontation, questioning and uniting of the sociological, economical, cultural and political contrasts in my immediate South African environment. Consequently play contributes to our ability to adapt, process everyday contradictions (such as social inequality) and find creative solutions. Furthermore, it possesses the potential to contribute to our social wellbeing, happiness, trust, the will to share and to live empathetically. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis handel oor volwassenes wat speel. Deur my ondersoek ontdek ek dat spel vir volwassenes nie afleiding of ʼn mors van tyd is soos algemeen aanvaar word nie. Dit is ʼn behoefte en noodsaaklik vir oorlewing. Alhoewel daar verskillende vorme van spel is, soos byvoorbeeld sportkragmetings, stokperdjies, dobbelary, fokus ek spesifiek op spel waar objekte gemaak word. Dié tipe spel is inherent kreatief en stimuleer laterale denke. In spel is daar is ʼn vryheid en veilige ruimte wat nie met die werklikheid verenig hoef te word nie, maar terselfdertyd is dit ʼn self-refleksiewe ontdekkingsproses wat breinaktiwiteite verhoog. In my praktyk maak ek gebruik van plastieksakke as toeganklike en vervormbare materiaal om kontemporêre juweliersware te ontwerp en te maak. Dit is ’n manier om as ʼn aktiewe agent in die wêreld op te tree, eerder as ’n passiewe verbruiker. Die bespreking van my kunswerke vorm die primêre navorsing van die tesis en word ondersteun deur teoretiese navorsing. In die maakproses word daar ʼn dieper begrip en kennis ontgin wat vasgelê kan word deur rituele spel. Nuwe konneksies word in die brein gevorm en kontrasterende idees kan verbind word wat nie andersins sou plaasvind nie. Spel is waardevol omdat dit nie net in die ‘spel toestand’ bly nie. Dit kan oorspoel na die konfrontasie, bevraagtekening en vereniging van sosiologiese, ekonomiese, kulturele en politiese kontraste in my onmiddellike Suid-Afrikaanse omgewing. Gevolglik dra spel by tot ons vermoë om aan te pas, alledaagse teenstrydighede (soos sosiale ongelykheid) te verwerk en kreatiewe oplossings te vind. Dit besit verder die potensiaal om by te dra tot ons sosiale welstand, gelukkigheid, vertroue, die wil om te deel en empaties te lewe.

This dissertation investigates the materiality of performative sculpture in the Americas during the long 1970s through artists Beverly Buchanan (1940-2015) and Senga Nengudi (1943). United in their disenchantment with second-wave feminism, Buchanan and Nengudi are situated art-historically in the expanded fields of (post)minimalism, conceptualism, and the Black Arts Movement. These artists realize their objects by sourcing non-traditional artmaking materials within what this dissertation conjures as a haptic imaginary—an intervening corrective to both the second-wave feminist and postmodern art imaginaries of the 1970s. Their materials expose the limitations of the visual and offer alternate models of knowing. For Buchanan’s frustulum series (1978-81), poured concrete, and later, tabby concrete, memorializes the textures of architectural sites to honor experiences of labor and displacement. Tabby concrete, a compound binding agent made of sand and lime, is a localized, inexpensive material that was often used by enslaved people in the southern United States, especially in coastal states like Georgia, which provide access to massive deposits of lime-rich oyster shells. Nengudi’s R.S.V.P. series (1977) of pliable pantyhose and sand are anthropomorphic objects originally meant to be activated; they mimic bodily expansion, endurance, and fatigue. Pantyhose, made mostly of nylon, the world’s first fully synthetic fiber, are the product of decades of scientific and economic development, whose intertwined history with World War II offers a springboard to understand the potency of Nengudi’s experiments with the garment. The artists’ materials become sites of investigation into memory, place, body, erotics, and precarity. By offering new epistemological methods of engagement that retaliate against the hegemony of the visual through their twinned interests in ruins for Buchanan, and remains for Nengudi, the artists realize a new womanist politic. Buchanan and Nengudi deploy, respectively, tabby concrete and pantyhose with sand to transmit historical and embodied knowledge. It is precisely through the activated sensorium of touch—imagined and physical—that the past is transmitted and materialized.