This is a composite thesis realised in a sound installation titled Blitz: Discursive bombardments in ‘the war on terror’ with a supporting exegesis. The exegesis offers a context for the project in sound art theory and practice, focussing specifically on the history of experimental ‘electrovocal’ expressive forms. It provides an account of the artist’s perspectives on the topic itself: contemporary political discourse on themes of security and danger. The exegesis also defines the scope of the project and documents the creative process undergone to realise its outcome: an installation apparatus capable of folding visitors into a heightened sense of the zeitgeist of early 21st century Australia. The genealogy of the project is described in terms of pivotal decisions and insights, technologies and techniques used, and aesthetic and ethical concerns. The nexus of voice – its material and metaphorical resonances in public discourse – and technologies for recording, manipulating and circulating sound are central to the development of this apparatus. The core body of sounds used in the installation are the voices of politicians, media presenters, members of the public and ‘experts’ and are presented in the form of short sound bites. These were sampled from many hours of recordings of news and current affairs material captured from Australian public broadcasters (radio and television, the ABC and SBS) over the pre-election months of 2004. The voices extol and debate diverse ‘angles’ on the so-called ‘war on terror’ and its physical enactments and outcomes in the war on Iraq. Other sounds offset the voices to enhance a sense of surreal ambience and introduce meanings through metaphor; children’s voices; rhythmically dripping taps; footsteps; ticking clocks; the drone of planes overhead. Various sound processing techniques are applied to samples and a sonic montage iscreated through random juxtapositions of sounds played synchronously from an assemblage of iPods. The figure of the labyrinth is central to the work on many levels, materially and metaphorically. It is used to structure movement through the installation space, a dimly lit ‘black box’ studio of ten by eight metres. Against the traditional practice of silently ‘walking the labyrinth’ as metaphor for a ‘journey within’, the Blitz labyrinth invites walkers to fold themselves into a dynamic field of allusions and aural messages and thereby to warp and shift the emerging play of meanings. The walk wends in and out of proximity to seven iPods set in small portable speakers and dispersed around the floor of the installation space. The ‘pods’ broadcast playlists of sounds bites that play randomly in ‘shuffle’ mode – against one another and against silences – to convey a sense of immersion in the discursive blitz of messages about terrorism and war from the media. The labyrinth is drawn out across the floor in dashed lines – made from small reflective rectangles that light up as visitors move around the space with torches – and is designed to suggest the feel of a road or a landing ground at night. The meandering trajectory of walking bodies around the curves of the labyrinth creates a choreography of audition, of moving and listening strategically to a barrage of sound from ever shifting perspectives. It invites walkers to listen for possibilities that may lie between and beyond the dominant narratives of western political leaders, to locate the gaps and silences. Beyond the pervasive noise of discourse normalised by politicians and the media, what is it that we might otherwise wish to hear and to speak?

This is a composite thesis realised in a sound installation titled Blitz: Discursive bombardments in ‘the war on terror’ with a supporting exegesis. The exegesis offers a context for the project in sound art theory and practice, focussing specifically on the history of experimental ‘electrovocal’ expressive forms. It provides an account of the artist’s perspectives on the topic itself: contemporary political discourse on themes of security and danger. The exegesis also defines the scope of the project and documents the creative process undergone to realise its outcome: an installation apparatus capable of folding visitors into a heightened sense of the zeitgeist of early 21st century Australia. The genealogy of the project is described in terms of pivotal decisions and insights, technologies and techniques used, and aesthetic and ethical concerns. The nexus of voice – its material and metaphorical resonances in public discourse – and technologies for recording, manipulating and circulating sound are central to the development of this apparatus. The core body of sounds used in the installation are the voices of politicians, media presenters, members of the public and ‘experts’ and are presented in the form of short sound bites. These were sampled from many hours of recordings of news and current affairs material captured from Australian public broadcasters (radio and television, the ABC and SBS) over the pre-election months of 2004. The voices extol and debate diverse ‘angles’ on the so-called ‘war on terror’ and its physical enactments and outcomes in the war on Iraq. Other sounds offset the voices to enhance a sense of surreal ambience and introduce meanings through metaphor; children’s voices; rhythmically dripping taps; footsteps; ticking clocks; the drone of planes overhead. Various sound processing techniques are applied to samples and a sonic montage iscreated through random juxtapositions of sounds played synchronously from an assemblage of iPods. The figure of the labyrinth is central to the work on many levels, materially and metaphorically. It is used to structure movement through the installation space, a dimly lit ‘black box’ studio of ten by eight metres. Against the traditional practice of silently ‘walking the labyrinth’ as metaphor for a ‘journey within’, the Blitz labyrinth invites walkers to fold themselves into a dynamic field of allusions and aural messages and thereby to warp and shift the emerging play of meanings. The walk wends in and out of proximity to seven iPods set in small portable speakers and dispersed around the floor of the installation space. The ‘pods’ broadcast playlists of sounds bites that play randomly in ‘shuffle’ mode – against one another and against silences – to convey a sense of immersion in the discursive blitz of messages about terrorism and war from the media. The labyrinth is drawn out across the floor in dashed lines – made from small reflective rectangles that light up as visitors move around the space with torches – and is designed to suggest the feel of a road or a landing ground at night. The meandering trajectory of walking bodies around the curves of the labyrinth creates a choreography of audition, of moving and listening strategically to a barrage of sound from ever shifting perspectives. It invites walkers to listen for possibilities that may lie between and beyond the dominant narratives of western political leaders, to locate the gaps and silences. Beyond the pervasive noise of discourse normalised by politicians and the media, what is it that we might otherwise wish to hear and to speak?

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / It is within the perception, the reality and the problematic of international air travel that this thesis is situated. It argues that a space has been created for international air travel, which is conceptually and physically demarcated from normative social space, the Transit Zone. The thesis examines four sites constituting the Transit Zone using both political and social theory and the analysis of performance and visual artworks that explore, explain or contest aspects of the sites. The first site is concerned with the construction of nation-state territory, population and legal movement. Its physical expression can be found at the border between the Transit Zone and the nation-state. However, its conceptual reach is much more extensive, appearing in immigration policy, national law, international covenants, data-sharing practices and the creation of a space external to, yet within, the nation-state system. This site creates the Transit Zone’s paradoxical position of being excluded from nation-state territory while simultaneously defining it. The second site is premised on the (in)security of civil aviation and explores the striving towards absolute security, and the unachievability of that goal. This is a reflection of the prevalence of (in)security discourses in contemporary society. The third site is created by corporate interest within the airport terminal and the aeroplane. It is the site of logistics and sales, of the passenger functioning both as an object or unit of movement and as a desiring purchasing subject. The fourth site is constructed through the imagination – it is made up of the ideas, cultural dreams and responses that have accreted around the site of the Transit Zone. These intimate and personal responses transform the Transit Zone from a site of function, profit and government control to a vehicle for the construction and realisation of fears, fantasies and rites of passage. This thesis demonstrates that many contemporary issues infuse and surround the Transit Zone. Immigration, national defence, international politics, logistics, social interaction and cultural fantasy all collide there. It explores the complexity of the Transit Zone’s paradoxical collection of sites and systems, which can not be reduced to one single reading. The Transit Zone has evolved, and continues to do so, in response to government and international demands, legal problems, technological advancements, logistical and commercial needs, and social changes. In doing so, its evolution redefines and articulates contemporary concerns. Additionally the thesis reveals an extensive artistic engagement with the Transit Zone and the contemporary concerns it articulates. Art is used as a designated imaginative space that challenges the established reality and the art works discussed change our understanding of the Transit Zone.

Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2007. / Document formatted into pages; contains x, 127 p. : ill. (some col.) Includes bibliographical references.

<p>Before the rise of the ubiquitous MOCA (museum of contemporary) there was the Mus&eacutee national du Luxembourg that since its foundation in 1818, served as the first museum anywhere dedicated to contemporary art. Yet the Luxembourg has been left to lurk in the shadows of art history. Best remembered for its mismanagement of the Caillebotte Bequest (1894-1897) that left the French state as the beneficiary of several dozen Impressionist canvases, the Luxembourg has been dismissed as epitomizing official support for an exhausted academicism. </p><p> This dissertation has sought to correct these misconceptions of the museum and the Third Republic Fine Arts administration. It provides an institutional history of the museum under the early Third Republic (1871-1914) that reconsiders how different interpretations of republicanism informed its curators' policies and practices. Information culled from archives, official publications, art criticism, and even tourist brochures, has revealed that in the 1890s and especially the 1900s, the museum's curators embraced the politics of solidarism. Applying solidarist principles such as eclecticism, tolerance, and commitment to public education, its curators defended their acquisition of both avant-garde and academic works of art. These principles further spurred curators to trace the spectrum of contemporary painterly styles to French artist tradition. In so doing, the Luxembourg's administrators implicitly upheld republicanism as a characteristically, even classically, French ideology that, in its translation into paint and institutional policies, testified to the nation's continued cultural, artistic, and political supremacy.</p> / Dissertation

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Esta dissertação enfoca uma série de trabalhos artísticos desenvolvidos antes e durante o período do mestrado, como Sumi, Infiltração e Carbono, que utilizam a fotografia, o vídeo, a instalação, o desenho, a frotagem e a escultura como meios de produção. A partir das obras desenvolveu-se uma discussão teórica acerca de algumas das relações possíveis entre a arte e a ciência, enquanto esferas produtoras de conhecimento. O embate entre o homem e a natureza, através da filosofia, da ciência e da arte, é objeto de estudo, além das especificidades do átomo Carbono, em especial suas estruturas macroscópicas os materiais e suas transformações ao longo do tempo. A instabilidade, a entropia, o fluxo, os paradigmas e as diversas concepções de Tempo são alguns dos temas tratados nesta pesquisa, que utilizou como base os escritos e as obras de artistas, cientistas, filósofos e pesquisadores da arte e da ciência / This study focuses a series of artistic works that have been developed before and during the master program period. The works Sumi, Infiltration and Carbon use the photography, the video, the installation, the drawing and the sculpture as medium of production. The artistic pieces lead to a theoretical discussion about some of the possible relations between art and science, as two domains that are knowledge producers. The battle between the human and nature is object of study, and also some characteristics of the Carbon atom, in particular its macroscopic structures the materials and its evolution over time. The instability, the entropy, the flow, the paradigms and the various conceptions of Time are some of the themes examined in this research, which used the writings and the art works of artists, scientists, philosophers and other art and science researchers

The present investigation developed in the Art and Visuality line of research of the Post Graduation Program in Visual Arts of the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, RS, had the main purpose of analyzing how the contemporary artists works approaching the motto of sexuality dialogue with Robert Mapplethorpe s work, since he was one of the most significant artists to use such theme as the basis of his creative process in art. The research had as main axis the analysis of the artist s life path in which is verified in a determinant way the presence of the sexual thematic, being possible to observe the indivisibility between his personal life and his artistic work. We have tried to establish relationships between Mapplethorpe s pieces and the contemporary artists works holding the same thematic in order to observe the way how the artist s art remains current and relevant to the artistic sphere. Parallels have been established between Mapplethorpe s pieces and the selected artists ones so that we might observe several aspects of the sexuality by different glances, discussing concepts and prejudices around the theme. The main authors used were BATAILLE (1987 and 1988) FOUCAULT (1977, 1985 and 1990), PAGLIA (1993 and 1994) and CHAUÍ (1991) that approach the theme of sexuality, its repressing, and the eroticism in a comprising way; DIDI-HUBERMAN that suggests the work s spectral capacity; BARTHES (1984), FABRIS (2004, 2006), BENJAMIN (1993), LYRA and GARCIA (2002) that discuss issues about the image, and MORRISROE (1996) that presents the sexuality as decisive matter in Mapplethorpe s biography. These authors, among others, were the ones that have contributed for the research, allowing the discussion regarding the concepts analyzed. Thus, it was possible to observe that Mapplethorpe s work remains current and in constant dialogue with contemporary pieces. In these visual productions we have noticed the established sexuality, mainly by the speech created on it as well as the antagonistic forces and powers that end up for composing it. / A presente investigação desenvolvida na linha de pesquisa em Arte e Visualidade do Programa de Pós-graduação em Artes Visuais da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria/RS teve por objetivo principal analisar de que modo obras de artistas contemporâneos que abordam o mote da sexualidade dialogam com a obra de Robert Mapplethorpe, posto que este foi um dos mais significativos artistas que utilizaram o tema em questão como base do seu processo de criação em arte. A pesquisa teve como eixo principal a análise da trajetória de vida do artista, em que verifica-se a presença do temática sexual de modo determinante, observando-se a indivisibilidade de sua vida pessoal e sua produção artística. Destarte buscou-se tecer relações entre as obras de Mapplethorpe e obras de artistas contemporâneos que se utilizam do mesmo tema a fim de observar de que modo a obra do artista em questão permanece atual e relevante para a esfera artística. Foram estabelecidos paralelos entre as obras de Mapplethorpe e dos artistas selecionados, de modo a observar inúmeros aspectos da sexualidade por meio de olhares distintos, discutindo conceitos e preconceitos que circundam o tema. Para tanto foram utilizados como principais autores BATAILLE (1987 e 1988) FOUCAULT (1977, 1985 e 1990), PAGLIA (1993 1994) e CHAUÍ (1991) que abordam o tema da sexualidade, de sua repressão e do erotismo de modo abrangente; DIDI-HUBERMAN (1998) que sugere a capacidade espectral da obra; BARTHES (1984), FABRIS (2004, 2006), BENJAMIN (1993), LYRA e GARCIA (2002) que discutem questões acerca da imagem e MORRISROE (1996) que apresenta a sexualidade como questão determinante na biografia de Mapplethorpe. Estes, entre outros autores que subsidiaram a pesquisa possibilitando a discussão acerca dos conceitos discutidos. Deste modo foi possível observar que a obra de Robert Mapplethorpe permanece atual e em constante diálogo com obras contemporâneas. Nestas produções visuais observamos a sexualidade estabelecida, sobretudo pelo discurso criado sobre ela e as forças e poderes antagônicos que acabam por constituí-la.

Le corps, trouvé dans un état d'oscillation structurelle et identitaire devient une matière qu'on manipule à travers des gestes routiniers, qu'on soumet aux actions invasives qui altèrent parfois de manière radicale l'apparence, allant jusqu'à la perte de toute ressemblance. L'imago, concept issu de la psychanalyse, introduit par Jung, traite la question de la construction de l'image de soi et par la suite de l'identité, dans un rapport du soi à l'autre, d'ego face à l'alter. C'est une relation qui agence des tensions, où le corps se multiplie, se fragmente, devient déchet, vieillesse, mort. Sa présence est amplifiée visuellement, mais son caractère individuel s'efface, devenant le signe d'une absence. Ayant comme point de départ ma propre pratique artistique, je mets en question la pratique de la récupération des restes pelliculaires du corps (organiques ou synthétiques) à la manière qu'on cherche, par l'accumulation d'objets personnels, à combattre l'oubli. J'interroge la capacité dont les restes (empreintes, traces, poils) issus des pratiques corporelles, ayant donc un caractère répulsif, ont de redonner un sens de la forme initiale et peut-être aussi une histoire. Reposant sur les principes de la collection, la conservation du corps traitée dans mes œuvres (installations, vidéos et objets) interpelle le regardeur en tant que conscientisation de sa propre fluctuation et dissolution formelle et identitaire, et et fait ressortir ses attitudes face à la disparition. Les notions de temps et de mémoire interviennent dans le discours, analysant les prises de position des artistes contemporains par rapport au corps, à l'objet, à l'identité et à la mémoire. / The body, existing in a state of structural and identity oscillation becomes a substance to be manipulated through routine gestures, subjected to invasive actions that may alter its appearance as radical as losing all resemblance. The imago, a concept from psychoanalysis introduced by Jung, addresses the issue of the construction of self-image and consequently of identity in the way the self exists in relationship with the other, the ego in relation to the alter. This sort of relation creates a tension, and the body is thus multiplied or fragmented, it becomes waste, it ages, it dies. Its presence is visually amplified, but its individuality is erased, becoming a sign of absence. Having as a starting point my own artistic practice, I discuss the manner in which recuperating thin layers of the body's surface (be they organic or synthetic) may act in the same way in fighting oblivion as does accumulating personal objects. I debate the capacity in which the bodily remains (such as hair, fingerprints, traces) resulted from aggressive actions towards the body, that have a repulsive appearance, can give a sense of the original shape and maybe even a history. Founded on the principals of the collection, the issue of body preservation as dealt with in my works (varying from installations, videos and objects) challenges the audience both by making it aware of its own structural and identity fluctuation, and by and emphasizing its attitudes towards disappearance. The concepts of time and memory enter this topic, analyzing the positions taken by contemporary artists in relation with the body, the object, identity and memory.

Réfléchir sur le terme espace signifie, d’abord, être conscient des multiples usages sémantiques et des diversités linguistiques dont il est porteur. Son rapport avec les concepts d’œuvre et d’exposition a été modifié au fur et à mesure des changements statutaires respectifs. En ce sens, cette thèse vise à interroger le statut de l’espace d’exposition face aux propositions artistiques contemporaines. Elle se développe autour des concepts d’espace et de lieu de monstration dans leur relation avec les notions principales d’architecture muséale, d’œuvre et d’exposition, à partir des années 1960 et jusqu’à nos jours. Grâce à une étude évolutive et multidisciplinaire, et sans oublier la généalogie des concepts principaux, cette thèse se nourrit de cas concrets et contemporains pour offrir un panorama des espaces d’exposition, singuliers et alternatifs. Il s’agit d’un travail d’analyse qui a décomposé, étudié et restructuré la notion d’espace d’exposition à partir de ses paramètres fondamentaux et de périodes spécifiques ; cela a permis d’insister sur la présence d’un processus évolutif en chaine (sorte de syllogisme) où, d’abord, l’œuvre se fait exposition, ensuite, l’espace se fait œuvre et, enfin, l’espace se fait exposition. Ainsi, derrière un espace façonnable qui évolue par rapport à l’art qu’il accueille, apparait aussi un espace multifonctionnel (un « hyperespace ») qui réclame un art spécifique et de nouvelles exigences expographiques. / First, reflect on the space term means be aware of its multiple semantic uses and of its linguistic diversity. His relationship with the concept of artwork and of exhibition has changed in relation to the respective statutory changes. In this sense, this thesis aims to examine the status of the exhibition space in relation to contemporary artistic proposals. In particular, this thesis is developed around the concepts of Space and Place of the exhibition, in their relationship with the main notions of museum architecture, artwork and exhibition, since 1960 until today. With an evolutionary and multidisciplinary study, and not forgetting the genealogy of main concepts, this thesis is also enriched with concrete and contemporary cases offering a particular view on the exhibition spaces, unique and alternative. It is an analysis that tried to decompose, to study and restructure the concept of exhibition space, from its basic parameters, and in relation to specific historical periods. This allowed to insist on the presence of an evolutionary process (type of syllogism), for which, in the first place, the artwork becomes an exhibition, secondly, the space becomes an artwork and, finally, the space becomes an exhibition. Thus, behind a modular space that evolves in relation to the artwork that contains, it appears also a multifunctional space (a "hyperspace") that claims a specific art and new display requirements.

Esta dissertação realiza uma pesquisa em artes visuais, na área de poéticas visuais e, como tal, a produção artística da autora é o ponto de partida. Os procedimentos empregados na construção dos trabalhos são revisitados, procurando compreender o processo de trabalho, as referências mais recorrentes (como documentos de trabalho) e suas implicações conceituais. O objeto de estudo desta pesquisa refere-se a espessura, física e conceitual, de imagens instauradas a partir da acumulação e sobreposição de fragmentos capturados. A pesquisa desencadeou reflexões acerca da apropriação e a conseqüente formação de uma coleção; a reordenação de fragmentos, a sobreposição e o apagamento como conceitos operatórios; e a imagem construída em camadas. / This dissertation performs a research in visual arts, in the area of visual poetics, as such, the artistic production of the author is the starting point. The procedures used in the construction of the works are revisited, seeking to understand the work process, the most recurring references (such as working documents) and its conceptual implications. The object of this research refers to the thickness, physical and conceptual, of images produced from the accumulation and overlapping of captured fragments. The research triggered discussions about appropriation and the consequent formation of a collection; the reordering of fragments, overlapping and erasure as operational concept; and the image built in layers.