- Title
- The aesthetic manifestations of nothingness in contemporary visual arts practice
- Creator
- Munnick, Robyn Therése
- Subject
- Art, Modern -- 21st century
- Subject
- Aesthetics
- Subject
- Visual perception
- Subject
- Art -- Philosophy
- Date Issued
- 2019
- Date
- 2019
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MTech
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/41636
- Identifier
- vital:36550
- Description
- The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the notion of nothingness and how it [nothingness] is the conceptual and theoretical foundation for my practice. Furthermore, within this study I explicate how my art uses my mother’s battle with cancer and the subsequent void it created in me as source material for the artistic expression of nothingness. The diagnosis which followed by a physical and emotional absence of the matriarch of my family, led to an emotional trauma that triggered a feeling of nothingness within me. The overarching problem in the study is therefore how this nothingness could be expressed in my art. Nothingness, as a product of expectation, is a notion which refers to where something used to be, should be or is not anymore, and attempts to grasp what is there by not being there. In attempting to express nothingness, the research aimed to build on an exploration of the various materials and modes utilized in order to underpin the research objectives. The primary mode of delivery for my art-making process is painting. However, through strengthening the messages and meaning of the hypothesis of nothingness within my art and research, the use of further modes and materials became pivotal. This involved the use of unconventional contrasting modes within painting such as the cloth doily, thread, tubing, ceramics, food colour, spray paint, PVA, plaster, wooden boxes and fragments thereof. These materials and modes were vital in visualising and aestheticising the conceptual underpinnings of the research. As a result, this strengthened and emancipated my art from the traditional bounds of pure painting. Methods of data gathering took the form of artefacts, document analysis and field notes in the form of photographic journaling. Ultimately my body of work and research validates that the idea of nothingness can be artistically explored.
- Format
- vi, 94 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Arts
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
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NMU School of Music, Art and Design
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Robyn Therése Munnick.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |