The main focus of this dissertation is a discussion of how an artist uses her dance
bodily knowledge to develop in a static art form a more bodily sense of movement. For
this purpose this dissertation examines four clay sculptures by contemporary artist Mary
Frank. The analysis suggests that the uncharacteristic sense of movement displayed in
these works derives from her experiential knowledge of dance. This sense of movement
is achieved through the considered assemblage and inextricable relationship between
Frank’s dance bodily knowledge (body knowledge a dancer acquires through years of
dance practice) and the manipulation of clay, the plastic medium she uses to create these
forms. The study reveals that Frank’s ceramic assemblages of organic shapes resembling
a figure could be related to somatic awareness of arms, legs, torso, hips, and head that
dancers experience while dancing. Similarly, the fluid quality of her ceramic assemblages
and their seamless coexistence with the environment can be correlated to the proprioceptic sensibilities (the reception of stimuli produced within the organism by
movement or tension) that a dancer’s body senses as it navigates through the air and
across the ground managing the pull of gravity. These findings are developed through a
discussion of the philosophic theories on bodily knowledge (knowing in and through the
body) by Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Michael Polanyi, Edward Casey, Pierre Bourdieu, and
Richard Shusterman, as well as the philosophic theories on dance bodily knowledge (my
own term) developed by Barbara Mettler, Maxine Sheets-Johnstone, and Jaana
Parviainen. In addition, Mary’s sculptures are compared to traditionally built sculptures
to illustrate the bodily sensory quality of the sense of movement of her structures.
Although the scope of this study is limited to the application of dance bodily
knowledge onto sculpture, perceived through the clay sculptures of Mary Frank, this
research adds to the debate on the interrelationships between dance education and the
arts, the body and institutions of learning, and the body and society. It suggests that dance
practice and introspection of one’s body movement affects how one perceives the world
around us and therefore how one reacts and expresses oneself on to the world. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_13443 |
| Contributors | Feliciano, Nazare (author), McConnell, Brian E. (Thesis advisor), Florida Atlantic University (Degree grantor), Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Visual Arts and Art History |
| Publisher | Florida Atlantic University |
| Source Sets | Florida Atlantic University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 159 p., application/pdf |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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