This thesis examines the relationship between art gallery postcards, subjectivities and domestic spaces. Feminist post-structuralist debates on memory, subjectivity and domestic spaces provide the theoretical framework for this research into taken-for-granted objects of the everyday. Empirical data came from interviewing nine women who buy, use and keep postcards and two New Zealand Art Gallery store managers. Some of the participants were interviewed more than once, while others extended their views by e-mail. Auto-ethnographic narrative is used to explore further the symbolic significance of an individual's postcard consumption. This research focuses attention on the production of gendered subjectivities and domestic spaces through an aesthetic artefact. There are three points to my analysis. Firstly, I argue paradoxically the under-noticed seemingly trivial gallery postcard becomes a memory holder and therefore a significant artefact of symbolic value. Memories are potent, elusive fragments that become attached to a sound, smell, touch or sight. Catching sight of a postcard can trigger a chain of memory associations, which in turn constructs a sense of self through the remembering. Secondly, I contend that subjectivity is understood as fluid and multiple, evolving out of experience and interpretation. Memories formed from experience and connections made with people, place and things become associated with gallery postcards and serve as a catalyst for personal narratives which in turn can operate as tools for constructing subjectivities. Finally I suggest that domestic spaces are a product of relations that can be understood as existing within and beyond the home. Stretched domestic space can be produced by the display of gallery postcards in office spaces. The exploration of the art gallery postcard adds to the knowledges of everyday objects and their role and significance in constructing gendered subjectivities and spaces.

The story you are about to read is one revealing how art infiltrated my home. It is an unplugged speech describing the methodology, visions. interests, and relationships behind my photographs. My photographs document my ideas of space in places personal to me. I talk about carrying the idea of space and its relationship to Jean Baudrillard’s theories of simulation and simulacra. I do not want to enforce any illusions of metaphysical importance behind my work. This work was made out of creative science. My goal was to convey a thought, and this thesis is to share the experience of doing so.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-12T19:18:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AnaVLF_TESE.pdf: 3159699 bytes, checksum: 069d5112225096e36b990570dd69a9bb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-26 / The purpose of the present study was to conduct an ethnobotanical research about the use and handling of vegetable resources, especially medicinal, in São João da Várzea s community, Mossoró-RN, emphasizing informants perception in relation to domestic spaces and conservation of these resources. The research was divided in three chapters. First chapter refers to a general introduction and a literature review about the subject. The second chapter includes the study about the use and handling of vegetable resources present in domestic spaces of 22 productive units, emphasizing medicinal plants. The third chapter, on the other hand, includes a study realized with two key informants, in order to recover the traditional knowledge of these about the use and handling of medicinal plants and their perception about phenological aspects and species conservation. The data of the last two chapters were collected using several techniques, such as: direct and participant observation, informal and semistructured interviews, free list, history of life, participative mapping and guided tour or walk-in-the-woods. The domestic spaces of productive units realized by the 22 informants have own characteristics and functions, modeled in accordance with knowledge and particularity of each family. These spaces are consisting of a large diversity of vegetable species that being used for many purposes, especially the medicinal use. The two key informants show to have a lot of knowledge about medicinal use of species found in domestic spaces and around the productive units, as well as about phenological aspects, handle and conservation of them / O objetivo do presente trabalho foi realizar um estudo etnobotânico sobre o uso e manejo de recursos vegetais, sobretudo medicinais, na comunidade São João da Várzea, Mossoró-RN, enfatizando a percepção dos informantes em relação aos espaços domésticos e à conservação destes recursos. A pesquisa foi dividida em três capítulos. O primeiro capítulo refere-se à introdução geral e uma revisão bibliográfica sobre o assunto. O segundo capítulo abrangeu o estudo sobre o uso e o manejo de recursos vegetais presentes em espaços domésticos de 22 unidades produtivas, enfatizando-se as plantas medicinais. O terceiro capítulo, por sua vez, compreendeu um estudo realizado com duas informantes-chave, visando resgatar os conhecimentos tradicionais destas sobre o uso e manejo de plantas medicinais e a percepção das mesmas sobre aspectos fenológicos e de conservação das espécies. Os dados dos dois últimos capítulos foram coletados utilizando-se várias técnicas, tais como: observação direta e participante, entrevistas informais e semiestruturadas, lista livre, história de vida, mapeamento participativo e turnê guiada ou walk-in-the-woods. Os espaços domésticos das unidades produtivas percebidos pelos 22 informantes possuem características e funções próprias, modeladas de acordo com o conhecimento e particularidades de cada família. Estes espaços são compostos por grande diversidade de espécies vegetais que são utilizadas para várias finalidades, destacando-se o uso medicinal. As duas informantes-chave demonstraram possuir grande conhecimento sobre o uso medicinal das espécies encontradas nos espaços domésticos e no entorno das unidades produtivas, bem como a respeito de aspectos fenológicos, manejo e conservação das mesmas