This thesis will aim to investigate the extent to which Tracey Rose's Ciao Bella can be said to allegorically perform a dialectical enfolding of the dichotomous categories of meaning/nonmeaning; image/text; past/present and original/translation. The dual concepts of performance and performativity will be utilized as a means to explore the notion of interpretation as a meaning-making process and as an engagement between artist, artwork and viewer that is necessarily open-ended and in a state of constant change and flux. Rose's performance of Ciao Bella will be read as one that questions the illusion of unmediated representation by parodying and creatively misreading a multiplicity of visual, textual and musical representations so as to foreground the politics of representation. The representational figure of allegory, as one that defines itself in opposition to the Romantic conception of the unified symbol, will be put to work so as to reveal the ways in which Rose's performance works to critically undermine various positivistic attitudes toward self-identity, gender, race, politics, history, authorial intention and interpretation.

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Fine Art (Painting), Technikon Natal / The financial assistance of the Centre for Science Development (HSRC, South Africa) towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the Centre for Science Development. / M

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Fine Arts, 2018 / This project consists of two parts: a selection of newly commissioned interviews with South African artists, titled Intent and Material: South African art in conversation, and a theoretical reflection on the significance of the artist interview in our local context, titled A Hermeneutics of Empathy: The artist interview in South Africa. Intent and Material contains interviews with Nicholas Hlobo, Zander Blom, Jody Maria Brand, Mikhael Subotzky, Bogosi Sekhukhuni and Ernest Cole. The accompanying thesis proposes the notion of a ‘hermeneutics of empathy’ as a way of thinking about artist interviews. This is a theoretical model, a wonderful phrase that draws together the work of N. Chabani Manganyi and Rita Felski, and suggests why the artist interview might be of interest in South Africa in 2018. At its best, an artist interview, through the push and pull between the two participants, reaches a level of thought about artistic practice that is rarely achieved in art criticism with a single author. The final, edited transcript has the potential to become an autonomous text that aides our understanding of an artist and the world they inhabit. Based on my reading of Manganyi and Felski, as well as Ronald Christ, Stacy Hardy and Ernest Mancoba, a new anthology of interviews with South African artists would be a meaningful contribution to local art criticism. It could achieve two separate but equally valuable goals: serve as an introduction to the local scene for curators and art historians from elsewhere, and contribute to a local literature on art that is of interest to non-specialists. / XL2018

This study examines the means by which four South African woman artists, namely Penny Siopis, Jo Ractliffe, Lien Botha and Tania Kühl use memory and history as themes to represent social and political events in South Africa. The foundation of this investigation is a critical study of the meaning of history and memory within the context of the candidate’s contemporary social and political milieu. This investigation is facilitated by a number of published and unpublished works by various authors relating to the issues in visual arts; particularly social and political history as applied to personal memory and history. Chapter one explores these terms particularly in relation to the visual arts. Chapter one identifies terms that are vital to the dissertation and some of the literature and methodologies used in the research. These are divided into the subheadings of: terms; women, politics and art; art and documentary photography; literature review; methodology and conclusion.. Examples of each artist’s work are selected for a comprehensive analysis in chapter two. These examples are methodically studied by media and techniques used to produce the artworks and include a critical analysis of the subject matter of the artwork. The examples were selected primarily for their content in connection with the candidate’s own productions of practical work towards the MAFA degree. Chapter two is divided into four main sections, one dedicated to each artist: Penny Siopis, Jo Ractliffe, Lien Botha and Tania Kühl. These four sections are divided into three subsections: medium and techniques; subject matter and conclusion. Chapter three points out similarities and differences in the work of the four selected artists in order to conclude the candidate’s findings during the dissertation. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

This Dissertation is submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Fine Art, Technikon Natal, 1999. / In this research paper I will examine the Durban based 'alternative/informal' art space, the FLAT Gallery, which operated from October 1993 to January 1995. I will begin by first defining what is meant by an 'alternative space' and by looking at the historical development of such spaces both in South Africa and the United States of America. This will include an investigation into the ideological motivations and socio-political influences behind such spaces, as well as an exploration of what is meant by 'alternative practice', which I will show as being inseparable from the mission of the 'alternative space.' This will by no means be a comprehensive survey of alternative spaces in South Africa or the United States, but rather a tracing of the phenomenon with relevant examples. Here, I will explore the similarities that existed between the FLAT and other contemporary artist initiatives in South Africa and the United States, drawing comparisons between the FLAT and other similar venues. I will examine the particular circumstances that catalyzed the FLAT Gallery in the specific cultural and historical context of Durban, South Africa in 1993 and 1994. I will then construct a chronological documentation of the FLAT Gallery' s programme including interviews and extensive visual and audio archives. With this archival information and with detailed descriptions of each event, exhibition or performance, I will create a comprehensive record of the FLAT Gallery's activities. This will include an investigation into the historical influences, with specific examples of linkages to other artist-motivated projects in the past. In this way, I will both identify important precedents for many of the FLAT projects. I will conclude with those 'FLAT activities' that continued beyond the operation of the 'alternative/informal' space. It is my intention to create a document that not only offers a comprehensive study of the FLAT Gallery's programme, but also offers students, recent graduates and emerging artists useful practical information. This document is an affirmation of the possibilities for working and exhibiting once one has left the 'comforts' of faculty guidance, peer support, studio facilities and venues for showing work that the institutional environment provides. My claim is that there rests in the artist the responsibility to actively build a place where his/her development as a creative individual can flourish; that one must not wait for 'permission' or for 'someone' to offer validation of one's work. With this document I intend to demonstrate that it is indeed possible here in Durban to do Something!. / M

A dissertation presented to the Faculty of Humanities of the University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Fine Arts. Johannesburg, 2016 / Collaboration in South African printmaking studios, both between artists and printmakers, and between artists working together in print studios are examined in this study. How South African artists have used the conventions of collaborative printmaking practices to complement their own practice; and what kind of dynamics can emerge from such collaborations is the primary concern of this study. Printmaking is widely viewed as a subsidiary, or supplementary practice to artists’ primary concerns in their particular medium of practice. It is important to examine the role of collaboration in printmaking studios, and how it may benefit, or hinder artists in their creative productions. To contextualise my study, I provide a brief historical overview of collaboration in Western printmaking; and briefly examine printmaking against South Africa’s political landscape since the 1960s. Recent critical observations on collaboration in the arts are introduced to foreground various categorizations and approaches to such practices. My research focus is not on the intricacies of collectivism in collaboration but rather on how a form of ‘teamwork’ collaboration in print studios can generate agency, within the context of concerns raised in my own creative practice. As a printmaking teacher, practitioner and collaborator, I hope these findings could be used to address some of the concerns experienced in collaborations.

This dissertation is submitted to the faculty of History of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in fulfilment of the Degree of Master of Arts, Johannesburg 2017 / The dissertation take a multi-layered approach to under=standing the body in art, politics, history and space as a moving, understanding and signifying entity. as this dissertation is presented as a magazine, my deliberation starts with its design. Every chapter can be taken to address another layer to Mary Sibande's artwork Sophie: [No abstract provided. Information taken from introduction]. / XL2018

This study examines the means by which Clive van den Berg (b.1956) presents and explores the South African landscape and recent past, and in so doing examines the evolution of van den Berg's process of looking and interpretation. Seminal to such an investigation is a Critical examination of what history, memory and landscape are or might be perceived to be. Chapter.One centres on an evaluation of these terms and comprises a discussion of their perceived meanings particularfy as they relate to the visual arts, and especially in terms of South African art history. The investigation is facilitated by an examination of key works produced by van den Berg between 1983, which marks the commencement of the Views from the Oasis Series, and 1998, the year in which van den Berg produced the sculptural piece that comprises his contribution to the !Xoe Site Specific Project. In addition, it was in 1998 that van den Berg added the medium of video to his range of materials. Selected examples of van den Berg's earlier works, those executed in the1980s, are examined in Chapter Two. The works that are discussed here are: selected works from the Views from the Oasis Series (1983), the Large Oasis Series (1985) and the Sacred Site Series (1985). Reference is also made in this chapter to selected images from van den Berg's series of Invocations (1987). These images are examined primarily in terms of the challenge they present to conventional definitions of landscape and history. In subsequent v.urks of the 1980s van den Berg has presented the landscape more overtly as a symbol of self and personal experience. Central Park: Durban (1987) serves as an early example of work of this type and is. discussed here as it well illustrates a transition in terms of van den Berg's approach to the landscape. In Chapter Three selected vvorks produced by van den Berg in the 1990s are discussed. The works under review here are: the drawings that form part of van den Berg's Mine Dump Project (1994), his installation Men Loving (1996) executed for the Faultlines Project and the sculptural piece created for the !Xoe Site-Specific Project (1988). With these works van den Berg explores not only the marks left on the land by South African recent and colonial history or memory, but also those aspects of South Africa's past which remain hidden- and are unrecoverable. Van den Berg's more recent use of video is also referred to in Chapter Three as his use of, and approach to, this medium may be seen to add a further dimension to his investigations into history. Special attention is paid to the significance of the medium, or kinds of materials used in the creation of these 'HOrks, and condusions are drawn in terms of van den Berg's selection of subject and approach to medium in the period under study. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

This dissertation will contextualize and analyse selected works of the South African ceramist Marietjie van der Merwe (bl935 dl992; known professionally as Marietjie, aka Mariki, Marikie) between 1960-1988. The text consists of three chapters. The first chapter will outline the life of Marietjie van der Merwe, discuss her political and religious affiliations and ends with a chronological outline of her ceramics. This introductory chapter will help the reader to gain an insight into her character and personality which influenced the work she produced. The second chapter comprises two main sections. The first deals with the ceramists who influenced Marietjie's work. In her early art training years Laura Andreson, her teacher, played a key role in inspiring and influencing Marietjie's work. The Natzlers influenced Marietjie indirectly through Laura Andreson who in turn had been taught by them. Rudolf Staffel manipulated aspects in porcelain inspired Marietjie's later works of the 1980s. The second half of this chapter deals with the influence that Marietjie had on institutions and her students. The works of Katherine Glenday, a student and later colleague, are discussed and comparisons made. Marietjie van der Merwe's contributed significantly to the modernist foundations of South African studio ceramics, was mentor and studio advisor to the ceramists of Rorke's Drift Art and Craft Centre and was a lecturer at the former Department of Fine Art and History of Art, University of Natal. Links with Nordic countries and Malin Lundbohm (now Sellmann) are drawn. Throughout this chapter the artist's work is compared and discussed with that of Marietjie's. This dissertation concludes with a documentary study of six selected pieces. Original photographs facilitate visually what is been discussed in the text. These samples are found in Iziko South African National Gallery, Tatham Art Gallery and from the private collection of Lara Du Plessis. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

M.Tech. (Fine Art) / In this research I explore performances of white South African masculinities in select works by the South African artists, Anton Kannemeyer and William Kentridge, as well as in my body of practical work. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the nature of performances of white masculinities depicted in the selected visual texts. The term 'performances', in the context of this study, refers to Judith Butler's (1990, 2004) concept of gender as performed identities, as free-floating, unconnected to an 'essence'. Within the context of gender performativity, I apply constructivist identity formation theory to examine masculine identities depicted in the visual texts. This research shows how the performances of white masculinity represented in the artists' selected works function to comment on how white South African men are reconceptualising their masculine performativities in order to adapt to the ideals of post-apartheid South Africa. The study explores a perceived existential crisis in emergent South African white masculinities, analysing how a changing post-apartheid socio-political environment cause white South African men to create new conceptions of identity which break down previously imposed preconceived identities. In this dissertation I explore Kannemeyer's, Kentridge's and my own visual texts relating them to a discourse of social commentary. A key deduction I make from my research is that the selected visual texts operate through Laurel Richardson's factors of lived reality and reflexivity in that the artists' appropriate elements from within their experiences and observations of South Africa to inform their visual narratives. Another key deduction is that the visual texts analysed are structured through heteroglot voices, voices the artist uses to differentiate between the artist as author (his author-voice); the artist as his recognisable alter-ego (his object-voice); and the voice that provides content, context and meaning, to the text (his subjectvoice). There are a number of white, male artists who grew up in apartheid South Africa and who critique performances of white masculinity. I choose Kannemeyer and Kentridge as, apart from their both growing up in apartheid South Africa and using their lived realities and observations of socio-political change to inform their art making, as do I, they also tend to focus on two-dimensional art.