Thesis (M.A.) (Honours) -- University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 2001. / Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts (Honours), Contemporary Art, University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 2001. Bibliography : leaves 53-54.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2010. / Prepared for: Dept. of Art History. Title from resource description page. Includes bibliographical references.

Approaching a new design project by performing preliminary visual research is a common practice in educational and studio settings, particularly in Jewellery and Fashion Design. Collecting images around a given subject or theme - for better understanding its visual traits, or for future reference - could be seen as the counterpart, in visual terms, of a literature search. However, ‘visual research’ is an expression often used rather vaguely for indicating a spectrum of unstructured methodological approaches, whose procedures and underlying assumptions tend to remain unexplained, undisclosed or unquestioned in everyday studio practice. When creative practice becomes an integral part of academic research, though, there is an increased need for rigor and explicitness regarding every aspect about it, including all the work preliminary to it. This research aims to develop and test a systematic method for conducting and documenting visual research in the preliminary stages of the design process, contributing to new knowledge in the form of a new visual method, also applicable as a design tool. A reflection on the vagueness and implicitness of the Intuitive Approach (IA) to visual research adopted in the initial stage of this PhD motivated the search for an alternative method that could make transparent and rigorous the taken-for-granted, subjective assumptions behind the research initially conducted. The iterative and data-driven nature of the IA oriented the methodological quest towards established qualitative approaches in the Social Sciences, focusing on Emergent Methods and Grounded Theory. By translating and adapting some of their procedures to suit a visual context, a new method, Grounded Visual Analysis (GVA), has been developed and tested, revealing its suitability for achieving a higher degree of explicitness and systematicity in the process of data collection and analysis, and increasing the richness of the visual patterns elicited from the data, thus their potential for stimulating reflective practice. The development of GVA is offered as the major contribution to knowledge of this research, together with its application on a practical case as the demonstration of its double functioning, either as a reflective method for conducting visual research in the preparatory phase of the design process, and as a design tool for stimulating the generation of new ideas and design briefs.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1978 P47 / Master of Science

This thesis seeks to re-establish the significance of choir stalls in Venice and northern Italy and seeks to place stalls in their artistic, liturgical and spatial context. Although now situated in remote locations in the church, stalls were once highly prized items of furniture and considered to be praiseworthy artistic structures in their own right. As the location for religious ritual, the elevated status of the choir area was reflected in the detailed and sophisticated design of its wooden furniture. Through an analysis of visual and documentary material, stalls will be brought to the fore to consider broader questions. What can documents reveal about Renaissance workshop practices and the relationship between craftsmen and patrons? How did the form of stalls reflect their use in religious ritual and the organisation of sacred space? How did choir furniture develop as an independent medium within the artistic context of the Renaissance church interior? Four main topics will be considered in the first four chapters: the visual history of stalls; the contracting procedure; the use of stalls in liturgical practices; and changes to choir placement. Chapter One reconstructs the stylistic history of north-Italian choir stalls from the fourteenth to early sixteenth centuries and contains an excursus on the development and meaning of intarsia iconography. Chapter Two focuses on choir contracts, which confirm that choir furniture was a considerable investment and a potential source of rivalry between church communities Chapter Three moves the focus away from stalls as material objects to their role in liturgical practices. An excursus on the established use of misericords in Carthusian liturgy will demonstrate the close interaction between form and function in stall design, and places Italian stalls in the context of their European counterparts. The placement of choirs in the church interior will be examined in Chapter Four using case studies of choir placement in different secular and religious houses, in particular the Franciscan Observants, Franciscan Conventuals and the Dominicans. Although changes in choir placement are often associated with liturgical reforms implemented by the Council of Trent, church renovations in fact occurred well before this period. Two Venetian case studies demonstrate the value of examining individual choir precincts in their original stylistic and spatial context. Chapter Five focuses on stalls in the Benedictine nuns’ church of San Zaccaria in Venice, completed by the Cozzi workshop in 1464. The choir precinct in the Frari in Venice is amongst the best-preserved choir precincts in Italy and is discussed in detail in Chapter Six; the circumstances of its construction are closely related to new choir furniture in the Santo in Padua. Specific terminology is explained and collated in the Glossary and an Appendix contains transcriptions and translations of significant documents.

The picture frames used by the American painter James McNeill Whistler developed stylistically throughout his career. This thesis identifies these developments, defines the characteristics indicative of each design, and contextualises their creation within Whistler’s larger body of work. First-hand examinations of over a hundred frames, in both the United Kingdom and the United States, resulted in challenging the generic understanding that a ‘Whistler frame’ is characterised only by reeded ornamentation. These physical examinations are cross-referenced with the significant amount of correspondence existing between Whistler and his contemporaries, thanks in large part to the publication of the on-line edition of The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler. This thesis argues that the stylistic developments present in Whistler’s frames are directly linked to his understanding and perception of the frame’s function. Chapter 1 outlines that a picture frame can serve one of three functions: (1) as a decorative art object linking the painting to the environment, (2) as a decorative art object dividing the painting from the environment, or (3) as an extension of the painting. This thesis also applies the additional approach that the picture frame functions as an indicator of the provenance for both the painting and frame. Chapter 2 explores this method of provenance by examining Whistler’s reframing habits. Chapter 3 explores Whistler’s friendship with Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his early designs from 1864. These frames are observed as extending the painting to become a cohesive whole. Chapter 4 documents Whistler’s earliest attempt at painted frames and their development into incised ornament. Chapter 5 explores the effect that Whistler’s interior designs (including the Peacock Room) had on his frames. Chapter 6 focuses on the frame created during the 1880s and addresses the framing of Whistler’s works on paper. Chapter 7 examines Whistler’s working relationship with Fredrick Henry Grau and the preparations made for the 1892 Goupil Gallery exhibition Nocturnes, Marines and Chevalet Pieces.

This study considers the nature and purpose of the original furnishings and decoration of Hardwick Hall. It analyses surviving artefacts, inventories, accounts and other documentation, as well as other comparative contemporary literary and visual sources. It seeks to reveal more about Bess of Hardwick's motives and processes in creating the interior of Hardwick. The Introduction includes a brief biography of Bess and a survey of existing literature on Hardwick. It also indicates the scope for new work. Chapter Two provides a context for the later chapters by considering the organisation of space within the building and its social significance. In order to understand the relationship between the two Hardwick Halls a detailed analysis of the Old Hall's whole layout is offered for the first time. Chapter Three analyses the furnishings as physical objects. It asks what Bess owned, how she acquired it, how she used it and how her practices compared with other peoples'. Discussion is based on the 1601 inventory, Bess's household accounts, surviving artefacts and other comparative material. Bess's unpublished will and earlier inventories of Chatsworth and Northaw are also included in the analysis and presented as appendices. Chapter Four analyses three iconographic themes: the assertion of identity, the government of the self, and the government of the nation. This is done by making detailed case studies and seeking to interpret the objects through contemporary ideas, sources and examples. Chapter Five summarises the chief fmdings and interprets them in the context of Bess as a patron, her resources, influences and motivation. The principal conclusions are that Bess did not invest heavily in creating Hardwick, that she did not create a palace for her royal grand-daughter and, most surprisingly, that she did not seek to build a house for the Cavendish dynasty. Instead, she created a personal monument.

This study provides an alternative framework for the interpretation of the painted and plain Athenian vase during the Late Archaic and Classical period. The primary focus is on the way in which the vase came to interact with society. As a commodity with a practical use, the vase was permitted to circulate in social spaces in Athens. As a consequence of this contact, the accumulated meaning became more symbolic than practical. For instance, due to its use within the domestic sphere, the vase became a symbol of domesticity. This development of symbolism involves a transformation in the perception of the vase as something more than a practically functioning thing. The functions that the vase performed were meaningful in themselves. For the purposes of exploring the manifestation of this transformation, this study draws upon an anthropological theory of art as well as theories which interpret the experience of viewing. Although the painted vase is discussed alongside plain vessels, its decorative component is considered as a further expression of communication between the vase and society, Athens in particular. The manifestation of this communication between the vase, context and user is isolated to three characteristics in this study; size, surface and shape. Alterations in these components reduce the practical function of the vase in favour of its symbolic qualities. These factors are discussed over five chapters. In so doing, this study offers a radically revised interpretation of the vase as an object which is entirely context dependent and came to represent the communication between commodities and society.

This thesis describes the practical investigation and analysis of traditional materials and processes used in the production of hand made felt. Specifically, the research examines the potential of certain British wool types that are currently undervalued (and often overlooked in the production of fine craft felt). These wools are frequently referred to as ‘waste’ wools. The research further explores aspects of the UK’s wool economy and the problematic issue of waste wool. The aim being to locate and articulate the creative potential of a selection of these wools within the field of fine felt craft practice, and in so doing raise an awareness of their potential diversity and relevance. The investigation questions felt’s marginal status within the textile hierarchy, and problematizes notions of the familial and self-conscious attributed to felt craft by some of its makers. By examining distinctions between craft and industrial felt production, the research considers both the opportunities and limitations of these relationships within the context of designer maker practice. The purpose and focus of this material-led examination is to develop inventive, progressive methods in fine felt craft and couture application seeking material currency with appropriate use of waste wools for handwork production. The practical experimentation was conducted using a practice-led research approach through which materials and sampling methods emerged within a studio-based environment. The study focuses on the use of carding, wet and dry felting and post felting manipulation of surface design using hand-pleating applications. Whilst not specifically suggesting new techniques in felt-making, the modification of existing processes has formed a central part of the contribution to new knowledge created within the work. Therefore the qualitative nature of the research methodology establishes a new perspective on both the value and integrity of British waste wools for the production of fine craft felt-making. The portfolio of fabrics produced confirmed the suitability of materials for fine craft felt-making and further suggested their appropriateness for product development and use. The fabric prototypes and exposition collection evidence new design concepts, situating the practical investigations in a cultural and critical context and in so doing reposition the material in a more valuable and original light. The sampling process identified key areas for innovation and aesthetic appeal suggesting that further research could be developed using other wools and wool blends. From this thesis emerges a vibrant platform for fresh interpretation and potential for British waste wools in fine craft felt-making, further strengthening the creative interplay between material and technique.

The Late Bronze Age in Western Asia and Egypt witnessed an explosion in the production of so-called 'vitreous materials', in particular the earliest glass. From its outset, this material appeared in an enormous variety of colours and colour combinations, the manufacture of which demanded a high degree of technological know-how. The unique properties of glass also rapidly came to the fore, most notably the potential of glass to be worked while hot. Archaeometric research into early Egyptian glass has tended to focus on chemical and isotopic analysis as a means to assign provenance to its raw ingredients. To this end, the use of a technique new to archaeology, ToF-SIMS, is developed here in order to investigate the origin of the colorant opacifiers used in glass production. But questions about manufacturing technology and stages of production are also vital to an understanding of the role and perception of glass, and the aforementioned technique is complemented by electron microprobe analysis, revealing a surprising complexity of production, primarily related to coloration. Furthermore, it has been argued that the terms used to refer to glass in epigraphic sources indicate that it was primarily produced in order to imitate, or substitute for, precious stones of value in Late Bronze Age Egypt and Mesopotamia (primarily lapis lazuli, carnelian and turquoise). Recent research into the archaeological and ethnographic understanding of colour naming and classification is applied to these sources along with an investigation of the material properties of glass itself. It is suggested that, far from being an imitation, the artificiality of glass - as a man-made material - was deliberately, sometimes spectacularly, proclaimed. Central to this is the use of colour, in particular in terms of transformation, and the aforementioned complexity of production. It is argued that only through combining the numerous approaches to the evidence taken here - scientific, linguistic-historical, and archaeological - can the perception of glass, and the motivations behind its production, be determined.