Historically, Surrealism is defined as a literary and artistic movement which developed from Dadaism in the early twentieth century. Many artistic and literary historians assess that the lifespan of Surrealism did not persist beyond the 1960’s – that in fact, after notable surrealist such as René Magritte, Man Ray, Max Ernst and Salvador Dali challenged the limited cultural assumption of rationalism, the pursuit to explore and visualize the subconscious faded from artistic ambition. However, the purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative notion that suggests that digital interactive mediums – such as contemporary games and virtual technologies – have revitalized Surrealism, enabling game developers to build upon the initial philosophies made popular by the avant-garde movement. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This diploma thesis deals with the influence of geometric abstraction and op art on art and the use of new media in video art. Above all, it focuses on selected Czech artists of these directions and their work. The thesis is divided into two main parts, theoretical and practical. The theoretical part of the thesis deals with the beginnings of geometric abstraction and its expansion, especially in the second half of the twentieth century in Bohemia. Important names of this direction are mentioned here, namely Jan Kubíček, Hugo Demartini, Zdeněk Sýkora and Milan Grygar. Following the geometric abstraction, there are tendencies to create geometric optical illusions outlined in the chapter devoted to op art. The work of Vladislav Mirvald and Radoslav Kratina is highlighted here. In addition, it devotes itself mainly to the penetration of new media into video art and overall to the arts as such. Mr and Mrs Vasulka are mentioned as representatives of video art. They have contributed to the development of this direction, primarily through their creativity and inventiveness during their creative work. The text describes the issue not only from a global point of view, but also focuses on the development of Czech art. The practical part reflects the knowledge of the theoretical part and unifies the elements of the above-mentioned directions by creating an authorial video using mainly the principles of geometric abstraction.

My doctoral thesis is comprised of two bodies of research: two artworks taking the form of installations (videos, audio recordings, textiles, texts), which will be exhibited for viva. Femme Fabrications, 2016, is made from research into the American artist Joseph Cornell's (1903-1972) source materials held in the Smithsonian American Art Museum alongside research on Jean Wilkinson's 1977 book Flower Fabrications. A series of textile works encased in silk lined boxes trace my step-by-step construction of a rose from organdie. The floral emblem of the white rose (dried), 'death is preferable to a loss of innocence' , becomes an editing device, which I use to consider a number of possible recipients for the rose, such as Cornell himself. Spoken word audio recordings, which ruminate on how his sexuality pertain to the criteria of the rose are edited together with home-camcorder video footage of the house that Cornell lived in for most of his life - the house he made the entirety of his artworks within. Central to The Cesspool of Rapture, 2017, are moving-image studies of zippers, stains, rips, abrasions, openings, and closings in a series of dresses made by the American couturier Charles James (1906-1978). These videos register and move through the material research, the garments, at alternating speeds. The changing speed is registered in sound by clicks synced to each individual frame. It is at times violent and at other times tentative and gentle as the uncovering of the damage to the dresses unfolds. Audio recordings of James explicating his interests in eroticism and sexuality persistently interject the footage. This work includes the installation of a series of reconstructions of James's 1932 Taxi dress. Its black linen body is reconfigured and abstracted as the splayed design makes unfinished seams and unzipped zippers visible. In each artwork I configure viewing and consuming as a mode of authorship. I show how these diverse processes of identification become authored acts. When drawn into intimate relation with the leftover material of these historical authors, my contamination proves deviant: I gain possession of the capacity to speak for them, to expose, idolise, misrepresent, and fictionalise them. My thesis is composed of this group of methodologies, which were found and developed within the production of the artworks.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T18:17:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ananda Carvalho.pdf: 1586239 bytes, checksum: b6a7e6fd0fb56c8292fa8882e6a76eaf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-10-10 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The present research castes some elements to map the specificities of the essay-documentary. The Brazilian documentary s production has grown progressively in the last two decades, however a part of it no longer limits itself to a reproduction of the reality, characteristic traditionally associated to that type of production. In order to study those new works, this Master s Dissertation broadens the documentary concept to essay-documentary , acknowledging it as a subjective reflection about the world. That perspective is an unfolding of the concept of film essay, from Arlindo Machado, which reaches the productions that overpass the limits of the documentary and do not ties to the dichotomy between fiction and non-fiction or to the concern with a truth as a mirror of the reality. About the essay, it is adopted the concept of Theodor Adorno, which refers to the construction of an experimental and not totalitarian speech. To think the documentary as audiovisual, it gets back to Jean-Claude Bernadet, which contrasted that feature in the Brazilians contemporary documental productions. It is chosen to study the construction of that writing through the montage or the conceptual editing. To understand the montage, it returns to the concepts proposed by Serguei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov, and followed by the video language according to Philippe Dubois and Arlindo Machado, until it arrives to the concept of metamedium and of montage as a spatial composition, proposed by Lev Manovich. At last, in order to consolidate the essay-documentary, it is chosen works which allowed establishing a dialogue between the theoretical perspectives approached. In this sense, it is presented an analysis divided in three sub themes: the montage of the visual speech, the montage of the sonorous speech and the symbolic montage. Each one of those sub themes is approached from a key-documentary, with the aim of realizing a reflection more deepen: Andarilho (Cao Guimarães), Sonoroscópio SP: polifonia da imigração (Kiko Goifman e Rachel Monteiro) and Nós que aqui estamos por vós esperamos (Marcelo Masagão). The selection tried to stand out production which was not restricted to the verbal as a speech composition strategy, but which adopted both images and soundtracks to build a symbolic documental writing / A presente pesquisa elenca alguns elementos para mapear as especificidades do documentário-ensaio. A produção brasileira de documentários cresceu progressivamente nas duas últimas décadas, entretanto uma parte dela não se limita mais a uma reprodução da realidade, característica tradicionalmente associada a esse tipo de produção. Para estudar essas novas obras, esta Dissertação de Mestrado amplia o conceito de documentário para documentário-ensaio , entendendo-o como uma reflexão subjetiva sobre o mundo. Essa perspectiva é um desdobramento do conceito de filme ensaio, de Arlindo Machado, que abrange as produções que ultrapassam os limites do documentário e não se prendem à dicotomia entre ficção e não-ficção ou à preocupação com uma verdade como espelho do real. Sobre o ensaio, adotamos o conceito de Theodor Adorno, que se refere à construção de um discurso experimental e não totalitário. Para pensar o documentário como um discurso audiovisual, retomamos Jean-Claude Bernadet, que constatou essa característica nas produções documentais brasileiras contemporâneas. Escolhemos estudar a construção dessa escrita através da montagem ou edição conceitual. Para entender a montagem, voltamo-nos para os conceitos propostos por Serguei Eisenstein e Dziga Vertov, e seguimos pela linguagem videográfica de acordo com Philippe Dubois e Arlindo Machado, até chegarmos aos conceitos de metamídia e da montagem como composição espacial, propostos por Lev Manovich. Por fim, para consolidar o conceito de documentário-ensaio, escolhemos obras que permitissem estabelecer um diálogo entre as perspectivas teóricas abordadas. Nesse sentido, apresentamos uma análise dividida em três subtemas: a montagem do discurso visual, a montagem do discurso sonoro e a montagem simbólica. Cada um desses subtemas é abordado a partir de um documentário-chave, com o intuito de realizar uma reflexão mais aprofundada: Andarilho (Cao Guimarães), Sonoroscópio SP: polifonia da imigração (Kiko Goifman e Rachel Monteiro) e Nós que aqui estamos por vós esperamos (Marcelo Masagão). A escolha procurou destacar produções que não fossem restritas ao verbal como estratégia de composição do discurso, mas que adotassem tanto imagens quanto trilhas sonoras para construir uma escrita documental simbólica

A collection of creative texts written concurrently with the creation of the artist’s thesis exhibition. A range of written forms coexist - poetry, prose, and dialogue - to open up the narrative and emotional space of the visual work. The text emerges from the point-of-view of different voices, describing experiences and body states that hinge upon the physical and conceptual space of the pond. Amphibiousness offers a gateway to a state of becoming and transformation. Some of the following texts appear in video works by the artist.

Latitudinaria* explores and critiques the ambivalence between current technological progress and the consequently depersonalised social structures and systems. I am using the development from mechanical Automata to mass production juxtaposed to Charlie Chaplin??s film and Jean Tinguelys kinetic art, as examples for the change of the social condition from the industrialisation to the current post-industrial era. The change of social condition I refer to as the ??depersonalisation?? or ??dehumanisation?? effect supported by my working experiences in the health system. The ??medicalisation of the life span?? and the discrepancy of creating a sustainable future less profit orientated are two indicators of how far we have been removed from our bodies. These observations are supported by the writing of Ivan Illich??s Medical Nemesis and Frank Schirrmachers?? analysis of the change of the social structure using the family configuration as an example. These conceptual ideas are visualised by a selection of kinetic art works and video installations. In the heart of this body of work is the process-orientated documentation of Zero AGL project. The project documents the journey of a discarded airplane that was re-assembled and reanimated by myself and a group of volunteers supported by local businesses. The struggle of the group of people stands as a metaphor for the current dilemma of the restricted usage of public space. Further it reflects on my own limitations dealing with the Australian outback culture and the transition of my own sculptural practice from small scale art works into the arena of life size public Art. Those experiences shaped the process and the direction of the project. The motivation for the creation of the body of kinetic sculptures and video installation is to highlight the absurdity of social constructed categories and controlling systems in a post-industrial society. The subject matter focuses on the social construction of the categories of the ??Norm?? and the limitations of failure. Latitudinaria gives the audience a lateral view on how human betterment is not always essentially connected to technological progress but on transforming ideas and enhancing it from a different point of view. * freedom from normal restraints, limitations and regulations.

<p>The aim of the thesis is to identify and investigate central themes in two video artworks, Poliisi and Pink Ball, by Swedish artist Annika Larsson. Moreover it is an investigation of the configurations of violence, and an enquiring whether these works have a social-minded intention.</p><p>Elements in scenery, framing and narration are analysed with the term “crystalline regime” (régim cristallin), described by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, which defines the artificial as opposed to the purely representational. Processes within the narrations of the two works are analysed as rituals, which leads to an investigation of an internal sign-system and to the question whether the rituals in these works have a function. Theory by French philosopher Georges Bataille is used to analyse the ritual with no external purpose, which aims at an intense experience of life. Bataille’s concept “intensity” is used to describe violent as much as erotic themes in the narration as well as in the way the characters are presented, regarding music, camera-angles, etc. Furthermore, the thesis refutes interpretations in which Annika Larssons works are viewed as comments on political matters, such as gender-issues.</p>

The aim of the thesis is to identify and investigate central themes in two video artworks, Poliisi and Pink Ball, by Swedish artist Annika Larsson. Moreover it is an investigation of the configurations of violence, and an enquiring whether these works have a social-minded intention. Elements in scenery, framing and narration are analysed with the term “crystalline regime” (régim cristallin), described by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, which defines the artificial as opposed to the purely representational. Processes within the narrations of the two works are analysed as rituals, which leads to an investigation of an internal sign-system and to the question whether the rituals in these works have a function. Theory by French philosopher Georges Bataille is used to analyse the ritual with no external purpose, which aims at an intense experience of life. Bataille’s concept “intensity” is used to describe violent as much as erotic themes in the narration as well as in the way the characters are presented, regarding music, camera-angles, etc. Furthermore, the thesis refutes interpretations in which Annika Larssons works are viewed as comments on political matters, such as gender-issues.

Thesis (M.A.-Res.)--University of Wollongong, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 107-115.

My research investigates the habitual, the non-monumental, the mundane, the ordinary and the everyday. I conceive of this as those moments in life that are not socially or culturally recognised as important. Traditionally, such moments have not been considered worthy of documentation and have been omitted or overlooked by mainstream media. This exegesis examines the importance of the everyday and considers how to make it conspicuous. Historically, these moments have been identified with the feminine, in that much theoretical and artistic work has emerged exploring women's experience of the everyday and testifying to its importance. Three spheres in particular have attracted critical interest: namely the body, the domestic and personal identity. For example, in 1966 Yoko Ono's 'No 4 (Bottoms)' brought the issue of the body and its banality onto centre stage by showing an endless parade of bottoms. In 1975, Chantal Akerman's film 'Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles', showed the everyday routines of a self-contained housewife. More recently, numerous artists have explored the politics of identity. Sadie Benning has made numerous videos that show the mundane and also reveal her personal identity, by exploring large and especially small scale details. / While conventionally newsreels and big budget documentaries have focused on 'big' events, one of the arenas that have investigated the everyday is experimental film and video. My exegesis gives a brief historical overview of this genre. Testimony in this media is often used as a voice to express the everyday. My journal entries (testimonies) deal with everyday experiences, and are interspersed throughout my exegesis. They are also the main threads in my videos. In my studio work, I use movement and dance to express in an abstract manner issues about the everyday, which include personal identity, more specifically issues of illness and sexuality / My research draws on a variety of sources including: 1970's feminist artists and filmmakers (Chantal Akerman and Martha Rosler). Many artists who were involved in the women's movement used their bodies in various art forms including performance art to make radical statements about domesticity and feminism. Contemporary artists' depiction of personal identity that mostly informed my work (in particular, queer identity) are: experimental queer film and media makers Sadie Benning, Marlon Riggs, Isaac Julien and William Yang. / Thesis (MVisualArts)--University of South Australia, 2006.