M.Tech. / My research investigates whether the notion of a Goddess is still relevant as a metaphor to contemporary feminist art, both globally and within a South African context. My hypothesis is that the debate between the first and second-generation feminists regarding the relevance of the Goddess to feminism is incomplete. Using critical literary analysis I examine the issues surrounding the debate, exemplified through an analysis of artworks by Ana Mendieta and Tracey Rose. A further aim of my research is to raise critical debate as to whether a multifaceted and contradictory Goddess, such as the Hindu goddess Kālī, is more relevant to the diversity of options suggested by both postmodernism and a multicultural South Africa. Evidence and interpretation of such an ambivalent Goddess is sought in the work of South African artists Claudette Schreuders and Diane Victor. Arguments from texts relevant to the artworks are critically examined, augmented in the case of Schreuders by an interview. The presence of an ambivalent Goddess is developed in my practical work through exploratory research. Assemblages of varying materials have been created to suggest a metaphorical Goddess. Discussion of these artworks reveals that both materials and concepts are inextricably linked and are intended to invite multiple interpretations. By exploring the issue of feminism in a South African context and adding to a general body of knowledge on South African artists, my research contributes to the University of Johannesburg’s niche area Visually Embodying Identity in a Postcolonial Environment.

[From Introduction] When Robert Paul died in 1980, his daughter Colette Wiles gave her father's art materials to an artist who was very close to both Robert and his wife in their last years - Dian Wright. The materials consisted of five different pigments and brushes cut into different shapes to suit the artist. This is remarkable when one considers his proficiency in a variety of media and his accurate portrayal in the far reaching studies he executed of the Zimbabwean landscape. Yet, it is characteristic of his resourcefulness that Paul could make 'something out of nothing'. Paul welcomed the opportunity of new landscape when he arrived in Rhodesia in 1927. Against the backdrop of a chosen isolation from the British Isles, Paul developed his own personal tracks in spite of any early influence through John Piper with the English Southern Landscape idioms of the 1920s. This was a fruitful isolation where the creation of his art retained influences but were manipulated according to his needs and unleashed with a proficiency sometimes equal to his peers, who later found fame under the term 'Neo-Romantics'. Paul remained an individual in Africa. My intention in this essay is three-fold; first, to illustrate the effects and influences of 'chosen' and 'enforced ' isolation on his work. Secondly, I wish to determine the extent of the influence that Piper and the Neo-Romantics had on Paul and to illustrate mostly with anecdotes his life and life-style. He was no mean character. His life-long obsessions with art, alcohol and women were played out with a flair and dry humour which few emulated in his era. Although a strictly academic approach can be applied to the assessment of his work, his life followed thoroughly unorthodox lines. As Bradshaw noted when he wrote the forward to the Catalogue of Paul's Retrospective in 1976, he (Paul) had no historical interests in the accepted sense of the word. / ABBYY FineReader 12

Increased technological capabilities in the realm of independent audio production coupled with online trends of Social Media, e-commerce, m-commerce and user-generated content have created unique opportunities for content providers to use Web 2.0 as an innovative distribution platform for mass dissemination of content. Artists not contracted to a record company, who are able to produce low cost, high fidelity audio recordings, are able to utilise this web-platform to connect directly with consumers without reliance on record companies, who have traditionally retained control over production and distribution in the music industry. This paper presents elements of an emerging business model which aims to re-architect the traditional value chain by linking artists and consumers directly through an Internet platform. A key component of the model is utilising new technologies and integrating existing service providers through web-services to provide an aggregated value-added service package to both artists and consumers in a cost-effective manner. The model is aimed at the South African market with the assumption that proposed ICT infrastructure upgrades will enable increased broadband Internet access at substantially lower cost. The model also aims to capitalize on the high mobile phone penetration in South Africa and utilise this as an additional distribution channel, particularly in rural areas. Copyright / Dissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Music / unrestricted

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This study was designed to investigate the ability of young children to use a particular computer graphics program Colorpaint and its effects on their artwork. It was conducted in two parts : the pilot study in which five children participated and the main study which involved two children. Four predictions were made. Prediction one stated that of the total number of children's interactions with the program, more would be in the category of independent use than in the category of teacher-assisted use. The second prediction was that children would use goal-oriented behavior in aesthetic decision-making and problem-solving when using the program. Prediction three stated artwork, done with computer media would be rated higher in each of the categories of "Variety within Shapes", "Variety between Shapes", "Complexity", and "Texture" than would images made with other media. The fourth prediction was that computer-generated artwork, would be rated lower in the category of "Image Autonomy" than the artwork done in other media. For both parts of the study, anecdotal data in the form of field notes, transcribed conversations, and videotapes were kept and analysed to provide insight into the children's behavior when using the computer. During the main study the children's interactions with the computer program were recorded on a checklist indicating whether they were able to use the program independently or if they needed help. Artwork made by the subjects in the main study using the computer and other media were saved for analysis and were rated by three independent judges. The judges used five criteria derived from the literature on children's art to rate each image on a five point Likert scale. Results indicated that prediction one, which stated that more interactions with the computer would be in the category of independent use, was supported as there were more independent interactions than teacher-assisted interactions with the computer for each subject. Prediction two, which indicated that children would use goal-oriented behavior in aesthetic decision-making and problem-solving when using the computer, was supported by the descriptive data collected. Prediction three, that the computer images would be rated higher in each of the categories of Variety within Shapes, Variety between Shapes, Complexity, and Texture, was supported in the two categories Variety between Shapes and Variety within Shapes. The fourth outcome predicted was that the computer artwork would be rated lower in the category Image Autonomy than artwork done in other media. This outcome was supported by the results of the analysis of the artwork. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

It is impossible for me to discuss my paintings as something apart from my life. Painting is the only medium I have found through which I can synthesize my love of life, my criticism of it, my hopes, my humor and the truest realization of my world. It is, in fact, my whole way of life. Through paintings I can clarify my thoughts for, in essence, they are my thoughts and my feelings. Paintings do not simply intersperse my life as emotional outbursts. They are products of my life and its search for a place in the "scheme of things". That search starts with an awareness of a relation of all things in the world--a scheme of things--an order. The search of a life for its own place in the order, its relation to everything it contacts, produces the paintings. / Advisor: Edmund D. Lewandowski, Professor Directing Paper. / Typescript. / "July, 1951." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts."

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<p> Abstract: How can artists uphold their creative autonomy from the dictates of capitalism without compromising their vision for social change? Max Weber made it clear that the capitalism of to-day, which has to dominate economic life, educates and selects the economic subjects which needs through a process of economic survival of the fittest. (Weber, 1958) Eleven visual artists from the Golden Horseshoe Area and the Greater Toronto Area participated in this qualitative study and provided in-depth interviews their creative work, personal struggles and insights about the current state arts community. The data suggests connections between 'starving artists' and creative autonomy. On one hand, artists who pursued their art outside the formal art market deemed they had greater autonomy but experienced greater economic insecurity and social isolation. On the other hand, artists who practiced their art within the formal art market believed they had better freedom but needed to compromise creative autonomy and their vision for social change. On the whole, both art practices seemed to have lead artists to assume the concept of Art for 'my sake,' an assertion of their self-directed will for their own purpose, reducing artists' creative motivation to produce art society and for social change. While it may be solitary, it may also be a revolutionary strategy that enhances more control and focus on the artists' rather than pursuing society for validation and economic rewards.</p> / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

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