Zugl.: Berlin, Freie Universiẗat, Diss., 2006.

Zugl.: Athen, Univ., Diss., 2005

Zugl.: Eichstätt, Ingolstadt, Univ., Diss., 2007

Zugl.: Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Kath. Universiẗat, Diss., 2007.

The making of a cultural historical exhibition usually involves the collaboration of two categories of professionals: the curator, in charge of the exhibition content, and the designer. From these positions, representing content and form, the team is in charge of cooperating towards a shared goal – the exhibition – which is the spatial expression of ideas. This MA thesis is based on my work experience as a designer of cultural historical exhibitions. By means of situations where my perspective collided with that of the museum curators’, I examine our different concepts on a number of issues: the meaning of an exhibition; the process; and the perception of what our respective roles are. Since the experiences that I am concerned with were acquired some time ago, the collisions are laid out in the thesis as a dialog between me and a partly fictional colleague. Apart from my experiences of exhibition production I also link the discussion to an analysis of two exhibitions that I visited while writing the thesis: Sápmi at Nordiska Museet in Stockholm and Everything You Can Think of is True – the dish ran away with the spoon shown at the Royal Library in Copenhagen (Det Kongelige Bibliotek). The curator and the designer often represent diverging views of the exhibition medium. In my work experience, a central aspect of these different viewpoints has been represented by the role and use of authentic artifacts in the exhibition. In the thesis I examine the use of such artifacts from the point of view of their ability to communicate to viewers and the possibilities I have as a designer to mould them into expressions in the exhibition. From this practical phenomenological design horizon and I take the museological critique of Gundula Adolfsson, Eilean Hooper-Greenhill, Camilla Mordhorst and Kitte Wagner further, and argue that the conventional use of authentic artifacts can inhibit the development of the exhibition medium. With the theoretical support of relational aesthetics in contemporary art installations I continue to discuss the concept of an exhibition as a language and a construction, and how it relates to reality. The thesis concludes with a normative section where I, with the aid of a cultural semiotic perspective, propose a process for the two perspectives of form and content to be intertwined. I further examine what the consequences of such a convergence of interests could imply for the perspectives of both curator and designer, and for the production of exhibitions.

Zugl.: München, Univ., Diss., 2006

Oil is central to our lives and is the source of many of the conveniences that we take for granted. It can bring wealth and prosperity to individuals and to nations, but is also a source of political conflict and the consequences of its impact on the environment are only now beginning to be fully recognised. The oil companies have been leaders in the development of marketing and branding and this thesis traces the history of the oil industry and analyses the different forms of print advertisements that its major companies have produced over a period of some hundred years, from the industry’s infancy until 2012. It takes a cultural semiotic perspective to investigate and reveal the ways in which the companies have adapted their advertising messages to the prevailing socio-political conditions to reflect current attitudes and to guide both public opinion and national policy. The analyses demonstrate how the companies have responded to different crises and to increasing globalisation and how they have engineered a shift from product to presence and from oil to energy to communicate a more environment-friendly image. A close reading of the advertisements produced by the companies shows how they have cast themselves in the mythical role of the indefatigable hero whose mission is the common good. Moreover, it uncovers the different heroic personalities that they have acquired and adopted over time to differentiate their products and services. / Olja är en central faktor i våra liv och en källa till många av de bekvämligheter som vi tar för givna. Den kan bringa nationer och individer rikedom och välstånd men den kan också ge upphov till politiska konflikter – och dess miljökonsekvenser börjar först nu bli helt klarlagda. Oljebolagen har varit ledande inom marknadsföring och branding. Denna avhandling följer oljeindustrins historia och analyserar de tryckta annonser som de stora oljebolagen har producerat under en period av drygt hundra år, från oljeindustrins barndom till och med 2012. Utifrån ett kultursemiotiskt perspektiv undersöks och klarläggs hur bolagen har anpassat sina reklambudskap till rådande sociopolitiska förhållanden och på så sätt sökt både spegla gängse attityder och styra opinionsbildning och politik. Analyserna visar hur bolagen, som svar på olika kriser och en ökande globalisering, har förändrat sina budskap. Dels har ett fokus på produkten ersatts av ett fokus på närvaro, dels har olja ersatts av energi, allt för att kommunicera en mer miljövänlig image. En närläsning av bolagens annonser visar hur de konstant har framställt sig själva som den oförtröttlige hjälten vars mål är det allmänna bästa samt vilka olika hjälteskepnader de har iklätt sig över tid. / <p>Images removed due to copyright.</p><p>For a complete copy contact ep@ep.liu.se or pamela.vang@liu.se</p>

The aim of this thesis is to describe and review the visual art teaching profession from a wider cultural perspective. This can lead to a better understanding of how teachers in 2000s Sweden manage change and relate to their task. This is a starting point for the formation of question areas that are of concern: the importance of their own specific interests in various visual art media for the development of their professional knowledge; what conditions different types of schools provide for the development of the subject and the strategies visual art teachers (in the study) use to develop their teaching on the theme of contemporary art. The theoretical framework is based on a socio-cultural perspective. Analysis combine cultural semiotic and frame factor models. Institutional art theory focuses on art’s audience and the art institutions which are central to contemporary art manifestations. The thesis is based on two case studies conducted by three separate teacher-training days at Bildmuseet in Umeå. 14 Visual Art teachers from four different types of schools: compulsory school, years 7-9, upper secondary school, folk high school and volountary art school (Swe. kulturskola) participated in the study. The investigations has generated data produced through interviews, observation, self-reports and images. Contemporary Art is involved in society's constant change and mix of new medias. The changes concernes the visual art educational field. The opportunities different school contexts provides for education, has an impact on how knowledge is transformed. Conformity, solid structures, formes of assessment and low legitimacy shape resistance. Teaching in visual art is highly based on teachers' own choices. A fragmented knowledge-culture with focus on manual or digital mediations leads to different knowledge-selection. This study highlights resistances that affect applying contemporary art on its own terms. Contemporary art’s starting points and new perspectives represent other paradigms than traditional art classifications. This sigifies tension between the artworld and the educational field. To reducie the tension, a dialogue and interaction between the fields on equal terms is recommended. The study identifies a lack of procedures and resources for formal continuing professional development. There is a need of developing the collective body of knowledge, covering both the theoretical and practical knowledge in the visual art teacher culture.