The purpose of “The Digital Puppetmaster” is to provide a means of awareness and a suggestion of mindset for members of the digital age. The digital medium has come to define society and establish its existence as an increasingly omnipresent one. Fundamentally, the digital medium is a sandbox for creating worlds that transcend the limitations of real life. Given the unlimited potential of the digital medium, it becomes apparent that it is easy to show what people want to see and hide what they do not. I aim to bring to light and uncover the realities of the digital medium and how the larger powers that control it take advantage of society. Society at large perpetuates a dangerous mentality of blindly trusting technology and believing that it has their best intentions in mind. I make the case that the ones who control the digital world are the ones who created ground zero for this way of thinking.

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Brief mentions by three writers on synthetic painting media first intrigued my interest in a' new technique of making transparent acrylic paintings on glass or plexiglas supports, some of which were said to I I simulate stained-glass windows. In writing this paper on acrylic polymer transparencies my problem was three-told: first. to determine whether any major recognized works of art have been produced by this, method; second, to experiment with the technique and materials in order to explore their possibilities for my own work; and third, to determine whether both materials and methods would be suitable for use in a classroom. Pursuant to these objectives I reviewed art journals of the past decade to determine whether any major works in acrylic polymer transparencies have received national recognition. At the same time I consulted every available book on acrylic painting methods, to obtain all possible information as to how to proceed. Following this, I experimented, over a period of approximately eight months, with a great many materials and methods. During the course of this experimentation, I produced a number of transparencies, using. various colorants, media, supports and dikes, also exploring many methods of applying these materials to obtain a variety of effects. As a result of my research and experimentation, I have reached the following conclusions: First: So far as can be determined, no major works in acrylic polymer transparencies using these specific methods have yet received national recognition. However, a great many works in closely related art forms are being produced, and are receiving recognition. Second: After several months of experimentation, I agree with Jensen, Woody and Chavatel that this medium has great possibilities, and that when these possibilities are realized in the future, by artists of skill and imagination, major works of great beauty may well be created. Third: It is believed that acrylic polymer transparencies would I be a most suitable project for use in many classrooms. The materials are non-toxic and perfectly safe and easy to use; both the emulsion and the colors are water-soluble, making for ease of cleanup; both materials and technique are new, and therefore challenging to young people; .and finally, the beauty of the jewel-like colors when viewed by transmitted light furnish a great incentive to the student to create in this medium.

Myths, misinformation, and sensationalism. These are common enemies that directly inhibit the public understanding of science. In particular, the media is often responsible for mishandling or otherwise misrepresenting scientific information, historically and presently speaking. Many sources can combat the public understanding of science through pseudoscientific means. This includes but is not limited to religion, the media, politics, or just simple hearsay. For example, Young Earth creationism is deeply rooted in Christian theology, but the beliefs hold no scientific basis. Yet, almost half of Americans still believe in Young Earth creationism. Another such example is anti-vaccination campaigns due to fears of autism-spectrum related disorders. In this case, falsified claims were given illegitimate credibility through the media, and the claims are widely and erroneously contentious to this day. The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between an individual's ability to dictate science from pseudoscience and their exposure to sensationalized media. Through means of surveying the university level population, relationships were drawn between how many pseudoscientific beliefs an individual may have versus how they interact with science and the media. The results of the survey showed a general lack of interest or care for science with more pseudoscientific beliefs, yet failed to draw a relationship between pseudoscientific beliefs and a sensationalized media.

This thesis examines the element of translation of language and cultural memory in the work of contemporary artist Zineb Sedira, whose documentary-style video and photography installations are informed by her complex identity and geographical history, as the French-born daughter of Algerian immigrants who is now based in London. This project analyzes two of her early works, Mother Tongue and Mother, Father and I, to show how the role of translation and mediation in the transmission of memory and the representation of marginalized histories can be used to challenge a unidimensional, reductionist conception of identity rooted in geographic singularity. Through the translation of the “irrepresentable” nature of uprooted identities, Sedira's work questions such assumptions that influence our relation to space, origin, and history, undermining a mentality of exclusion that that contributes to the marginalization of migrant identities.

In a traditional Middle Eastern society, men and women have been confined within society’s gender definitions. Those imposed social constructs condition men differently from women by dictating expected behaviors, establishing a hierarchy of gender positioning and enforcing definitions that limit abilities and potential. Based on postmodernist philosopher, feminist and social theorist, Simone de Beauvoir and postmodernist American philosopher and gender theorist Judith Butler, gender is not an inborn role, but rather created through stylized repetition of acts informed by society, named performative acts. For de Beauvoir and Butler, gender can never be a stable identity (Butler 1988). Informed by Butler’s phenomenological nature of gender constitution, this research explores the possibility of empowering Arab women in the workplace. Via an online platform called Kooni, the design aims to help women rethink the nature of gender and gender roles in the workplace and introduces the concept of performative acts as a role playing mechanism to induce change.

I use video and material fragments to investigate the collapse of virtual and physical spaces as memories, lived environments, and digital interfaces become overlaid and interchangeable. I am interested in the capacity for technology to propose alternative strategies in which to engage with the world as we continue to extend ourselves in new and enduring methods. Seemingly unremarkable fragments offer new potentials in questioning meaning, worth, and care within spaces of downtime, boredom, and play. This document accompanies my thesis exhibition a window the color of her sunburn. It provides background information on selected fragments and residues from my own life alongside philosophical and art historical research, which informs my exhibition.

An exploration of introversion and creativity through collage, digital assemblage, and curation

This dissertation examines fifteen films produced in seven political eras from 1926 thru 2008 in Soviet / Post-Soviet Russia. Its aim is to determine if the cinematic presence of Bakhtin’s ten signifiers of the carnivalesque (parody, death, grotesque display, satirical humor, billingsgate, metaphor, fearlessness, madness, the mask, and the interior infinite) increase in their significance with the historical progression from a totalitarian State (e.g., USSR under Stalin) to a federal semi-residential constitutional republic (e.g., The Russian Federation under Yeltsin - Putin). In this study, the carnivalesque signifiers act as a gauge of dialogism, the presence of which is indicative of some cinematic freedom of expression. The implication being, that in totalitarian States, a progressive relaxation of censorship in cinema (and conversely, an increase in cinematic freedom of expression) is indicative of a move towards a more representative form of governance, (e.g., the collapse of the totalitarian State). The fifteen films analyzed in this study include: Battleship Potemkin (1925), End of St. Petersburg (1927), Chapaev (1934), Ivan the Terrible, Part II (1946, released in 1958), Spring on Zarechnaya Street (1956), The Cranes are Flying (1957), Stalker (1979), Siberiade (1979), The Legend of Suram Fortress (1984), Repentance (1984, released in 1987), Cold Summer of 1953 (1987), Little Vera (1988), Burnt by the Sun (1994), House of Fools (2002) and Russian Ark (2002). All fifteen films were produced in the Soviet/Post-Soviet space and directed by Russian filmmakers; hence, the films portray a distinctly Russian perspective on reality. These films emphasize various carnivalesque features including the reversal of conventional hierarchies, usually promoting the disprivileged masses to the top, thus turning them into heroes at the expense of traditional power structures.

Images of nature and family comprise the gestural and abstracted interpretations of my life events. I use my photographs as inspiration for my work. I fuse layers of color, light, and line into glass and onto wood to suspend a personal memory. I want to capture those moments that flit by in life and envelop them in the media. In my fused glass work, I manipulate color, light, and line. In these pieces, I layer frits and sheets of glass onto an abstract sculpted relief of fiberglass and fuse them into one thick slab. The sculpted relief creates a textured deflection of light. In each layer of glass, I encapsulate simple line drawings of my family, elements of the landscape, and organic shapes. In my works on wood, I pour and layer transparent color using acrylic and a water-based polyurethane mixture. I do not fully cover the natural grain of the wood but allow it to contribute to the imagery. I repeat linear marks and create layers of texture using a palette knife, and attach mud and caulk to the natural surface. I further manipulate the surfaces by sanding and carving to express my emotions and memories. The layered media symbolically references layers of time in my personal journey.