This studio-based project explores a method of working that assigns agency to paint and process within the medium of painting. Underpinning this exploration is the notion that process driven making could potentially pose as a per formative event. Choreographed yet contingent, the practice investigates the relationship between the potentiality inherent within media and the extent to which this is affected by temporal/ external factors in the determining of outcome. A dialogue between the intentional and the contingent is initiated through a systematic approach that involves manipulation of the constituent elements of paint and the implementation of procedure and protocols as a means to activate conditions of possibility. Central to the research concerns are issues surrounding the ability of media to articulate itself, determine its own temporality and of process and content to operate conterminously. The images produced evidence this investigation as both enquiry and consequence.

This work is all about things. It is about the role that those things play in the human experience, and what they offer to us as archaeologists, whose job is to provide a glimpse into the lives of past peoples. I discuss the things of the past from the theoretical stance of materiality, which assures us that the past is accessible despite the fragmentary nature of its physical remains. This is so because the physical world - objects, landscapes, and space - are imbued with meaning through our interactions with and experiences of them, be they overt and intentional or subconscious and in the background of our active lives. Repeated engagement with the physical world creates habits, memories, and histories and inscribes the social processes that created them upon the tangible world in ways that allow us to interpret the lives of the people with whom we have no direct interaction or accounts. I use this theory to explore the southern Illinois site of Kincaid Mounds during the latter portion of its Mississippian period occupation, with a focus on how community was constructed and maintained within and through time. I do so using evidence from the non-discursive aspects of ceramic and architectural manufacture under the assumption that the methods of producing these items are habituated and thus reveal communities of learning. I consider contextual evidence to determine what other factors may have been at play in the production of these goods. With statistical analyses, I explore the variation in the way things were made between several spatially discrete neighborhoods at Kincaid Mounds, and discuss those results in terms of the making and manipulation or maintenance of community at this pre-Columbian center, followed by a narrative history of the Middle and Late Kincaid phases. I contrast these finds with those of communities within two other Middle Mississippian regions, Greater Cahokia and the Central Illinois River Valley, in order to discuss the variable processes that led diverse and unique communities to participate in a much broader, imagined Mississippian community.

This dissertation investigates the intersection between political rhetoric and popular ideas about the Greek debt crisis and processes of identification and differentiation within a Greek diasporic community. It documents the significant role the economic crisis has assumed in local political rhetoric and explores the ways in which it has enriched previously existing discourses of identification, reshaping long-standing political debates, and engendering opportunities for transnational mobilization. The researcher's aim is to link culturally specific discursive strategies, interpretative trajectories, personal histories and wider moral economies, showcasing some of the complexities in processes of ethnic identification and intra-group differentiation. In short, this dissertation uses the advances of critical anthropological theory on place, objects, discursive and sensory practices to frame the plurality of ideas and rhetoric about the crisis within political, economic, and cultural contexts.

This essay stresses the importance of the visual and material aspects of these manuscripts. By examining her work in relation to collage practices, it highlights Dickinson's role as an avant-garde figure in both American poetry and material culture. Rather than write interlocking theses that connect each reading, I aim to demonstrate the ways in which an art historical consideration of Dickinson's envelope manuscripts complicates the already open-ended nature of her poetry through associating the texts with the cultural phenomena of the scrapbook. Additionally, I will foreground the importance of the materiality of these works through emphasizing the role of correspondence in Dickinson's life.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / A pesquisa analisa a criação de adversidade através da materialidade crua e rústica utilizada nos Bólides de Hélio Oiticica. O papel da materialidade tornou-se evidente a partir da percepção de que os ditos objetos realizam um convite àquilo que chamamos de participação adversa. Ao mesmo tempo em que eram objetos capazes de despertar a curiosidade do espectador e incitá-lo à manipulação, o faziam através do toque de substâncias ásperas e pouco suaves, como por exemplo, pedaços de madeira mal pintada, telas de nylon, conchas e pigmento em pó. O despertar de sensações contrárias ao prazer sensorial sugeriu que não apenas a materialidade estaria no cerne da questão da criação de adversidade como um dos fios condutores da obra de Oiticica, como também que a captura de objetos descartados oriundos do cotidiano seria a maneira do artista estruturar a sua noção de adversidade (da vida e da arte). Para compreender o papel estrutural dos objetos despejados do dia-a-dia, realizamos a aproximação entre o adverso e o abjeto (KRAUSS, 2000), bem como o pensamento do informe como elemento operacional da obra (YVE-ALAIN BOIS, 2000). A materialidade rude foi vista ainda como criadora de uma temporalidade de instantes para os Bólides e aqueles que os manipulavam, como organizadora de fricção com o espaço e a cultura e ainda como elemento de rebaixamento da condição matérica e do espectador / The research investigates the adversity that is created through the rough and crude materiality of Hélio Oiticicas bólides series. The role played by the materiality becomes evident with the perception that such objects are invitations to what we call adverse participation. These are curious and manipulative objects, but at the same time, they propose the spectator to touch non-smooth and coarse substances and surfaces, such as pieces of badly painted plywood, wire mesh, shells and pigment. The discovery of these sensations opposed to the sensorial pleasure suggested not only that the materiality was the core of the adversity creation but also that the use of disposed objects from everyday was the way Oiticica found to structure his notion of adversity of life and of art. To understand how everyday objects could form adversity, we made the approximation between the adverse and the abject (KRAUSS, 2000) and employed the concept of the informe as the operational element of the work of art (YVE-ALAIN BOIS, 2000). The rough materiality was also seen as the creator of moment temporalities for the bólides and for those who wanted to manipulate them, and also as the organizer of the friction between these objects and the space and culture, being hold responsible for the debasement of the spectator

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / A pesquisa analisa a criação de adversidade através da materialidade crua e rústica utilizada nos Bólides de Hélio Oiticica. O papel da materialidade tornou-se evidente a partir da percepção de que os ditos objetos realizam um convite àquilo que chamamos de participação adversa. Ao mesmo tempo em que eram objetos capazes de despertar a curiosidade do espectador e incitá-lo à manipulação, o faziam através do toque de substâncias ásperas e pouco suaves, como por exemplo, pedaços de madeira mal pintada, telas de nylon, conchas e pigmento em pó. O despertar de sensações contrárias ao prazer sensorial sugeriu que não apenas a materialidade estaria no cerne da questão da criação de adversidade como um dos fios condutores da obra de Oiticica, como também que a captura de objetos descartados oriundos do cotidiano seria a maneira do artista estruturar a sua noção de adversidade (da vida e da arte). Para compreender o papel estrutural dos objetos despejados do dia-a-dia, realizamos a aproximação entre o adverso e o abjeto (KRAUSS, 2000), bem como o pensamento do informe como elemento operacional da obra (YVE-ALAIN BOIS, 2000). A materialidade rude foi vista ainda como criadora de uma temporalidade de instantes para os Bólides e aqueles que os manipulavam, como organizadora de fricção com o espaço e a cultura e ainda como elemento de rebaixamento da condição matérica e do espectador / The research investigates the adversity that is created through the rough and crude materiality of Hélio Oiticicas bólides series. The role played by the materiality becomes evident with the perception that such objects are invitations to what we call adverse participation. These are curious and manipulative objects, but at the same time, they propose the spectator to touch non-smooth and coarse substances and surfaces, such as pieces of badly painted plywood, wire mesh, shells and pigment. The discovery of these sensations opposed to the sensorial pleasure suggested not only that the materiality was the core of the adversity creation but also that the use of disposed objects from everyday was the way Oiticica found to structure his notion of adversity of life and of art. To understand how everyday objects could form adversity, we made the approximation between the adverse and the abject (KRAUSS, 2000) and employed the concept of the informe as the operational element of the work of art (YVE-ALAIN BOIS, 2000). The rough materiality was also seen as the creator of moment temporalities for the bólides and for those who wanted to manipulate them, and also as the organizer of the friction between these objects and the space and culture, being hold responsible for the debasement of the spectator

This thesis contributes an original approach to the understanding of human-object relations at funerary and ceremonial sites during the period c.2200 BC - 1400 BC within Wales. A primary review of archaeological work within this region contextualises this thesis and challenges the notion that this area is materially-poor during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Drawing on existing excavation reports and archived material, a database of archaeological sites detailing context and material culture was created. Additionally a calibrated set of dates, was mapped against architectural, depositional and material practice. These data sets provided the opportunity to compare different Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age archaeological features in terms of the character and variety of associated objects and materials. Analysis of this data has illustrated key contrasts and similarities in the treatment of material culture across architecturally distinct ceremonial and funerary site types. This interpretation is framed by a discussion of materiality, arguing for a model which is located in past perspectives rather than a deconstruction of Western material values. Materiality is explored as a contextual, often learned understanding of the world, which is not restricted to the physical qualities of materials. Potential concepts of materiality were considered with particular attention given to the treatment of human remains in funerary and ceremonial contexts. The result of this thesis is an enhanced understanding of depositional practices and their role in the construction, use and perception of funerary and ceremonial sites within the Early Bronze Age of Wales.

Holograms are a newer form of digital media. Digital media is changing traditional arts. They are also shaping how people play. How holograms have influenced play and crafting is not well understood. This project used dollhouses to examine how crafting a digital dollhouse relates to crafting a tangible dollhouse. Further, the project examined how playing in both dollhouses compares. Two dollhouses were created by the author/craftsperson. She reflects on her craft practices, relating her two experiences. Adult play testers describe their play experience in the holographic dollhouse and tangible dollhouse. The author’s experience creating is analyzed through its material, social and playful aspects. She found each dollhouses had both material and immaterial qualities. She preferred playing alone in the dollhouses and found the creation process of the dollhouses was both play and work at the same time. The play testers’ experience was also examined through material, social and playful characteristics. Their responses to the survey indicated that grasping objects was difficult in both dollhouses. They reported that they would have preferred to play alone in the dollhouses and that both dollhouses felt playful. An area of potential research that was uncovered involved a question of ownership of the dollhouse and how this may have changed the results of the study.

La thèse étudie la question du rapport à la matière des artistes britanniques et de leurs critiques à différentes étapes de la fin du dix-huitième siècle au début du vingtième siècle. Au coeur de ce travail de recherche se trouve la notion de texture, pensée comme outil critique renvoyant à la fois à la surface peinte des oeuvres et à leur iconographie. La thèse démontre que la matérialité apparaît comme une dimension fondamentale de ce qui fait la spécificité de la peinture britannique. La notion de texture, conçue comme concept plastique plus qu'essentialiste, permet de rendre compte de certaines tendances persistantes qui structurent la création artistique, la pensée théorique et le débat critique en Grande Bretagne. Sur la période observée, nombreux sont les artistes qui s'attachent à faire sentir la vérité des phénomènes naturels et le vernaculaire dans leur tangibilité. Aussi, l'approche profondément concrète de la nature (humaine et végétale) par les peintres britanniques rend compte du rapport direct qui s'opère dans leur peinture entre matière observée et matière représentée. La conscience des matériaux et du matériel, telle que la révèle le discours critique, est au centre des problématiques du champ artistique en Grande Bretagne. En historicisant ce rapport à la matière, il s'agit d'inscrire la question de la texture dans un contexte épistémologique — qui lie création artistique et empirisme — et dans un rapport, excentrique, à la modernité. Cet angle d'approche permet de relier différentes périodes trop souvent perçues comme étanches et en ce sens de porter un regard nouveau sur l'art britannique / This dissertation looks at how the meaning of the painted surface engaged artists and critics in contemporary discourses at different stages between the late eighteenth century and early twentieth century. At the heart of this research project is the notion of texture, thought of as a critical tool, referring both to the painted surfaces of artworks and to their iconography.This dissertation demonstrates that the concept of materiality is a productive optic through which the history of British art can be read. The notion of texture, conceived as a plastic concept rather than an essentialist one, allows for the identification of persistent tendencies structuring artistic creation, theoretical thinking and critical debates in Great Britain. In the period under focus, there are numerous artists who consistently try to capture the truth of natural phenomena and the tangibility of the vernacular. Thus, British painter's profoundly concrete approach to nature (human or topographical) testifies to the direct links which are created in their paintings between observed and represented matter. The consciousness of materials and of materiality, as revealed by critical discourses, is at the centre of artistic debates in Great Britain. By historicizing the approach to matter, I situate the question of texture in an epistemological context linking artistic creation to empiricism. Considered in this way, texture takes on an eccentric relationship to modernity. This prism of study allows me to link different periods too often perceived as watertight and therefore to offer a new outlook on British art.

This thesis presents an inquiry into the nature of and history behind public thermal bathhouses, as well as a design proposal for a new and uniquely site-based public thermal bathhouse structure, the form of which has been developed with an eye toward typology. The research and writings of this thesis explore the topic of public thermal bathhouses, both as historic phenomena and viable places of congregation still relevant and of great importance to healthy and vital contemporary communities. An effort has been made to demonstrate that written histories, archaeological landmarks, and contemporary international urban communities throughout the world provide ample documentation in support of the notion that public thermal bath houses both served and continue to serve an integral role within healthy, vital and sustainable cultures. The physical modeling, drawings and sketches of this thesis develop ideas about form and materiality, and explore and bring together discreet architectural phenomena into a singular, formal, proposal for a prototypical public bath house typology, one whose program and form are well suited to a contemporary small town within the United States. At present, the ritual of public bathing exists within the United States, at best, far outside main stream culture as a singular, sensational event such as a hot spring or a commercial, private day spa- neither of which retain any semblance of the core principals, typological rituals, degree of sensory immersion, or whole-body therapy that define the essence of a more traditional and timeless public bathing experience. It is the intention of this thesis to present a compelling case for why a public bathhouse not only could exist on the current American landscape, but moreover why it should, and if so, what form it might take.