Bibliography: pages 118-123. / In this project I examine curatorial processes and the experience of constructing and viewing museum exhibitions. Specifically I have been interested in the way in which certain exhibits facilitate powerful emotional responses from their viewers. I suggest that the curators of these kinds of exhibitions employ strategies which not only choreograph the displays but the viewers' bodies themselves as they move through them. As a case study of an experiential exhibition I focus on the District Six Museum where I have been part of its curatorial team since 1999. The work of curatorship that I have done at the Museum during the period of my registration for this degree constitutes part of this submission.

In his text Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino (1974) describes the fictional city of Baucis, a land suspended in the clouds, in which humans maintain a purposeful and mysterious physical detachment from the earth. Calvino’s imagining of Baucis visualises a conceptualisation of humans as divorced from nature1; a lingering residue of the post-Enlightenment obsession with reason and progress that casts nature as separate from and inferior to humans. In the context of the current ecological crisis, in which the perpetual abuse of human and natural resources threatens the sustainability of the planet and all earthly life, reconsideration of the relationship between humans and the non-human natural world becomes profoundly relevant. An overview of contemporary environmental theory, undertaken in the first section of this text, suggests that the widespread understanding of nature as an inferior realm that lacks the full degree of human rationality or culture, is giving way to conceptualisations of the relationship between humans and nature that highlight the interdependence and interrelatedness of all living organisms and systems. Sustainability scholar Stacy Alaimo ( 2010: 15-16) states: At this point in time, with global climate change proceeding even more rapidly than was projected, we hardly have the luxury of imagining any expanse of land or sea as beyond the reach of humanly-induced harm. Matters of environmental concern and wonder are always “here,” as well as “there,” simultaneously local and global, personal and political, practical and philosophical. This concept of the interrelatedness of global economic, technological, social, cultural and ecological systems, is significant in conceptualising the role that humans play in ecological degradation and exploitation.

This text is presented in conjunction with my exhibition Crossing the Ecoline and is a visual response to changing levels of ocean acidification. My art making is informed by the processes of dispersal and dissolution that occur at the point where the absorption of carbon dioxide takes place between the atmosphere and the ocean. This project is of an interdisciplinary nature and traverses art and science - both technically and through collaboration. By working in close consultation with marine scientists I hope to draw attention to the little-known issue of ocean acidification through creative means. Through the consideration of materials and processes I aim to bring attention to where billions of microorganisms called phytoplankton live. The project is concerned with the idea of the edge: boundary or border as a conceptual notion, as well as through my art making practice, its interdiscplinarity and subject matter.

. / The submission for my Master of Fine Art degree, which is devoted to the interpretation and transformation of the Italian fairy tale, Apple Girl, into performed sculpture, consists of this document as well as a photographic story-book which illustrates the sculpture component. The sculptured tableaux on wheels, conceived through the properties of carved wood and found-objects, also function as miniature puppet theatres. These are wheeled into the performance arena at relevant moments to be animated by myself, with jazz artist, Athalie Crawford, at times accompanying the performance. Thereafter, the audience is invitedto view the constellation of tableaux as an art work, fixed as an arrangement of sculptures to which the performance has given a framework for presentation and interpretation.

This document is an explication of my practical work in which I inform the reader of my conceptual and visual processes, as well as the research and considerations that led to the creation of this body of work. It is not an exhaustive document with all the related studies engaged, but rather a personal account of the relevant and inspiring knowledge that I gathered and benefited from during the process of amplifying my personal concerns. In keeping with the investigation and detective theme of my work, I will present concise descriptions of my practical component that will give further insight of my personal processes, intrigues and inspirations as the creator in the catalogue section of the work. Dimly lit elements of a miniature world show familiar signs of human activity. This is a place where the whole story is not told, but pieces of a story are displayed for the viewer to draw their own conclusions. This is where I leave you; is a body of small sculptures consisting of 15 miniature scenes all modelled out of ceramics and painted with oi ls. All the scenes are independently lit and displayed within a darkened gallery space, thus foregrounding the element of lighting as an additional component of the work. Each scene is an individual work in it's own right, however together they present the viewer with a fragment of an apparently ordinary miniature landscape or social world. In this miniature landscape, or collection of familiar scenes, the viewer will observe elements, details or visual narrative cues that suggest that something has taken place, allowing them to draw their own conclusions about what it might be. I aim to make to viewers suspicious as to what it is depicted in my work; perhaps the viewer might suspect that some sort of transgression is afoot in my miniature narratives. I have used the familiar characteristics of dollhouse interiors and the rural features of railway sets to stage details for the viewer to discover. These details, although seemingly insignificant and not explicitly evident, could suggest to the viewer that a crime of sorts has been committed.

South Africa claims the most progressive constitution on the African continent, extending protections to all citizens regardless of race, gender, ability or sexual orientation. Much has been published in recent years about the induction of LGBTIQ persons into this inclusive post-1994 human rights framework, often with a particular focus on the role of the state in instituting non-discrimination legislation and promoting equality. This document reflects my belief that South African sexuality scholarship too often presents incorporation into a unified nation-state as the only desirable outcome for queer citizens. By mapping the manner in which sexual difference has been uneasily imagined in national discourses, I argue here that the ideal South African citizen remains a heterosexual citizen presupposed as private, patriotic, familial and reproductive. I posit that when non-normative sexual identities and practices become visible in the public sphere, they risk assimilation into "acceptable" modes of representation produced in accordance with the expectations and responsibilities attending state-sanctioned national membership. In so doing, I assert, these cultural forms mandate a queerness that leaves structural inequalities intact. To look beyond this horizon I choose to explore dissident citizenship forms that intervene in dominant cultural narratives to expand the boundaries of belonging. Specifically, I concern myself with representations of queer subjects in visual culture and the multiple audiences these representations invite.

Please note: creative writing theses are permanently embargoed in OpenBU. No public access is forecasted for these. To request private access, please click on the locked Download file link and fill out the appropriate web form. / Four short stories and three novel chapters / 2031-01-01T00:00:00Z

The purpose and scope of this thesis has been to expand the concept of drawing to include ceramic materials in focusing on and clarifying notions of the human landscape. Initially traditional drawing problems of still life, figure and landscape were undertaken. The landscape problem was regarded as a good beginning point since it was free of the forceful references that could have easily overwhelmed cityscape studies before a visual understanding could be solidly established. The landscape problem was focused on and underwent a series of changes beginning with rough sketch-like studies through "realistic rendering" to limited and, finally, extreme abstraction. While the landscapes were undergoing the final steps of abstraction and compositional lessons were being gained, small cityscape studies were begun. At the same time conventional drawing was engaged to set upa kind of dialogue to help isolate and understand the concerns. The central feature of a human scale of change began to emerge and take form in wet clay pieces. A personal vision of the nature of urban existence was distilled out of concluding work and will continue to have momentum beyond this thesis. Drawing concepts have been successfully submerged in ceramic materials. Ceramic processes and materials have gained flexibility and versatility paralleling drawing or painting. Finally, specific to ceramic craft, working methods, skills and knowledge have been broadened to include a whole range of slip application techniques, methods of glaze application and treatment, overglaze techniques, firing systems and numerous other technical possibilities. In short, the borders of technical possibility have been approached and are in view.

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Extinctions and biodiversity loss in the age of the Anthropocene are closely related to speciesist attitudes and a lack of care for nonhuman species. This thesis is an examination of relational art practice and conversation as tools to encourage empathy and care for nonhuman species in urban environments, here specifically performed in the City of Tshwane/Pretoria. The thesis focus is predominately on non-reciprocal multispecies relationships between humans and wild and semi-wild species that occur in urban ecosystems. Cartesian dualism has conditioned humans to objectify and “other” nonhuman species, and in identifying this problem, this study examines representations of nonhuman species in natural history museums, where the categorical separation of human and nonhuman species is maintained through a static, hierarchical taxonomic narrative. This is demonstrated in a case study of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History in Tshwane. Whilst much scientific research has shifted towards a recognition of emerging and entangled organisms in multispecies assemblages, this study argues that the didactic method of natural history museums and other forms of public biological science deny a nuanced and horizontal relationship with nonhuman species. Through creative practice, the argument is made that an alternative mode of experience and understanding can allow for more caring and empathetic relationships with nonhuman species. The Visitor Centre was devised as a mobile hub with which to engage the public through the close consideration of constructed art objects that sparked conversations about urban nonhuman species. Assemblage and relational aesthetics were employed as creative methods that, through the phenomenological and dialogical workings of The Visitor Centre, were used to unsettle the limitations of species-specific categories by human design. By means of anthropomorphism and storytelling, the artwork brought forth considerations of nonhuman species as subjects, facilitating the emotional and empathetic responses that followed. In this research, both the impact of the conversations of the participants and the artist-researcher's multiple roles as creator, witness, listener, interlocutor and audience are made evident and are acknowledged as key strategies in the formation of this alternative space of relationship making.