The use of conceptual costume design to express the emotional trajectory of the play sounds of South End
- Authors: Chingosho, Vimbai
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Fashion -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth Costume design -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/11449 , vital:26926
- Description: The aim of this study is to illustrate how, in the design of costumes, adopting design elements used to produce conceptual fashion can create conceptual costumes that have the ability to express emotions. The play Sounds of South End (2013) contains such qualities; therefore it has been selected to illustrate how the mood and emotional trajectory of a play can be interpreted through symbolism. The play illustrates the life before and after the forced removals during the apartheid (1960s and 1970s), of a fictional family, the Dietrichs, who live in South End, a suburb in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. A focus on the nature of emotional changes experienced by the family has been used to determine the overall mood of the play, leading to a translation of the shifting mood through a collection of conceptual costumes. The final collection was exhibited as an installation artwork that is an interpretation of the altering moods and emotions that occur in the life of the Dietrich family as the play unfolds. The conceptual costumes have been constructed to imbue the narrative of the play with deep meaning by using symbolic elements, such as colour, texture and weight, to suggest the emotional trajectory within the play. The eight costumes portray the interrelated gradual decline and resultant deterioration of human relations experienced by the Dietrichs, from a contented state of harmonious living to a wounded state of despair.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chingosho, Vimbai
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Fashion -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth Costume design -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/11449 , vital:26926
- Description: The aim of this study is to illustrate how, in the design of costumes, adopting design elements used to produce conceptual fashion can create conceptual costumes that have the ability to express emotions. The play Sounds of South End (2013) contains such qualities; therefore it has been selected to illustrate how the mood and emotional trajectory of a play can be interpreted through symbolism. The play illustrates the life before and after the forced removals during the apartheid (1960s and 1970s), of a fictional family, the Dietrichs, who live in South End, a suburb in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. A focus on the nature of emotional changes experienced by the family has been used to determine the overall mood of the play, leading to a translation of the shifting mood through a collection of conceptual costumes. The final collection was exhibited as an installation artwork that is an interpretation of the altering moods and emotions that occur in the life of the Dietrich family as the play unfolds. The conceptual costumes have been constructed to imbue the narrative of the play with deep meaning by using symbolic elements, such as colour, texture and weight, to suggest the emotional trajectory within the play. The eight costumes portray the interrelated gradual decline and resultant deterioration of human relations experienced by the Dietrichs, from a contented state of harmonious living to a wounded state of despair.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Moderat's Rusty nails and Loie Fuller's Serpentine dance : analysis cloth, the body and movement as symbolic interpretation of meaning in film
- Authors: Coates, Maran
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Fashion in motion pictures
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8498 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1015733
- Description: The main objective of the study is to explore how cloth, the body and movement are able to communicate possible symbolic meaning in Loïe Fuller’s Serpentine Dance film and Moderat’s Rusty Nails music video. The study further attempts to establish the characteristics of fashion film to include cloth, the body and movement and provide a methodology that locates fashion film as a sign system using a visual semiotic analysis framework. The films were then compared and contrasted to determine similarities and differences in their use of cloth, the body and movement. The findings from the film analysis suggest that cloth, the body and movement communicate symbolic meaning in the films based on their associated meanings that are generated both inside and outside the film context. By focussing on cloth, the body and movement as primary communicators (rather than secondary or supporting communicators) in film, new meanings can be interpreted from their interrelationship. The results inform new ways for fashion designers and fashion filmmakers to engage with cloth, the body and movement in fashion film.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Coates, Maran
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Fashion in motion pictures
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8498 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1015733
- Description: The main objective of the study is to explore how cloth, the body and movement are able to communicate possible symbolic meaning in Loïe Fuller’s Serpentine Dance film and Moderat’s Rusty Nails music video. The study further attempts to establish the characteristics of fashion film to include cloth, the body and movement and provide a methodology that locates fashion film as a sign system using a visual semiotic analysis framework. The films were then compared and contrasted to determine similarities and differences in their use of cloth, the body and movement. The findings from the film analysis suggest that cloth, the body and movement communicate symbolic meaning in the films based on their associated meanings that are generated both inside and outside the film context. By focussing on cloth, the body and movement as primary communicators (rather than secondary or supporting communicators) in film, new meanings can be interpreted from their interrelationship. The results inform new ways for fashion designers and fashion filmmakers to engage with cloth, the body and movement in fashion film.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
The influence of 1950s fashion photographers, Richard Avedon and Irving Penn, on photographers Matthew Rolston and Steven Meisel
- Authors: Cordier, Astrid
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Fashion photpgraphy , Photographers -- United States
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8496 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1008112 , Fashion photpgraphy , Photographers -- United States
- Description: Photography has been used to record and document periods in time, which Wells (2001:19) acknowledges by stating that, “…photographs are records and documents which pin down the changing world of appearance”. Richard Avedon and Irving Penn made a significant contribution to fashion photography during the 1950s but this has seldom been explored in a scholarly way. By defining the characteristics of Avedon and Penn’s work, a possible understanding of their influence on contemporary fashion photographers, Matthew Rolston and Steven Meisel may be determined and so expand on the understanding of the contribution of Avedon and Penn to contemporary fashion photography. Avedon, Penn, Rolston and Meisel’s fashion photographs will be visually analysed to show the similarities and the relevance of 1950s fashion photography to contemporary fashion photography. Paul Martin Lester’s (2003) method of visual analysis will be used as the basis for this analysis. The reason for choosing Lester’s methods of visual analysis is that it can be applied to all fields of visual art and design. Contemporary fashion photography draws on many different stylistic devices and periods in history for its re-invention, so it is important to understand what constitutes the defining characteristics of a stylistic period in history to be able to revisit it in contemporary photography.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Cordier, Astrid
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Fashion photpgraphy , Photographers -- United States
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8496 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1008112 , Fashion photpgraphy , Photographers -- United States
- Description: Photography has been used to record and document periods in time, which Wells (2001:19) acknowledges by stating that, “…photographs are records and documents which pin down the changing world of appearance”. Richard Avedon and Irving Penn made a significant contribution to fashion photography during the 1950s but this has seldom been explored in a scholarly way. By defining the characteristics of Avedon and Penn’s work, a possible understanding of their influence on contemporary fashion photographers, Matthew Rolston and Steven Meisel may be determined and so expand on the understanding of the contribution of Avedon and Penn to contemporary fashion photography. Avedon, Penn, Rolston and Meisel’s fashion photographs will be visually analysed to show the similarities and the relevance of 1950s fashion photography to contemporary fashion photography. Paul Martin Lester’s (2003) method of visual analysis will be used as the basis for this analysis. The reason for choosing Lester’s methods of visual analysis is that it can be applied to all fields of visual art and design. Contemporary fashion photography draws on many different stylistic devices and periods in history for its re-invention, so it is important to understand what constitutes the defining characteristics of a stylistic period in history to be able to revisit it in contemporary photography.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
An exploration of the materiality of forged steel as medium for visual artists
- Authors: De Lange, Neil
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Blacksmithing , Art -- 21st century Art -- Sculpture
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/39425 , vital:35245
- Description: This research is an exploration into the materiality of forged steel, and is aimed at the preservation of traditional blacksmith forging techniques and methods by incorporating these methods as added skill set during the making of three dimensional visual art. An investigation into the history of traditional forging (iron works) serves as background aimed at the identification of the various techniques and methods utilized during the processes found in traditional blacksmith forging. The practice of this research consists of three parts: firstly, a textual investigation to establish the basics (note taking- visual journal); secondly, practical exercises to gain a better understanding of the behaviour of various steels by utilizing traditional methods of forging to explore the potential applications for the forge as a tool in service of the visual arts; and lastly, reflection on the process to modify and adapt processes (methods and techniques) to promote further interest in the use of a forge as tool during the making of three-dimensional visual art.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: De Lange, Neil
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Blacksmithing , Art -- 21st century Art -- Sculpture
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/39425 , vital:35245
- Description: This research is an exploration into the materiality of forged steel, and is aimed at the preservation of traditional blacksmith forging techniques and methods by incorporating these methods as added skill set during the making of three dimensional visual art. An investigation into the history of traditional forging (iron works) serves as background aimed at the identification of the various techniques and methods utilized during the processes found in traditional blacksmith forging. The practice of this research consists of three parts: firstly, a textual investigation to establish the basics (note taking- visual journal); secondly, practical exercises to gain a better understanding of the behaviour of various steels by utilizing traditional methods of forging to explore the potential applications for the forge as a tool in service of the visual arts; and lastly, reflection on the process to modify and adapt processes (methods and techniques) to promote further interest in the use of a forge as tool during the making of three-dimensional visual art.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Reviewing medium: paint as flesh
- Authors: Fuller, Michele
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Figure painting -- Exhibitions , Human figure in art -- Exhibitions , Anatomy, Artistic -- Exhibitions , Cadaver in art -- Exhibitions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8532 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1008590 , Figure painting -- Exhibitions , Human figure in art -- Exhibitions , Anatomy, Artistic -- Exhibitions , Cadaver in art -- Exhibitions
- Description: The research question explored in this exhibition and dissertation was to review the conventional notions of craftsmanship and the use of the specific medium of oil paint with reference to the art of Rembrandt and Damien Hirst. The subject matter is flesh. This study foregrounds the involvement and acknowledgment of the corporeal body, the hand of the artist, and of the organic material reality of our existence and the objects that surround us. The paintings reflect a series of interventions that resulted in abstracted images based on photographs of meat. Once a detail had emerged that emphasised the fleshiness of the selected image, it was printed by a professional printing company. These details were then translated into oil paintings. What is explored is the specific material qualities of the binding mediums traditionally associated with the use of oil painting to create expressive paintings. In the creation of the series of paintings, I prepared binding mediums consisting of wax, stand oil, damar varnish, zel-ken liquin and acrylic paste medium mixed with manufactured readymade oil paints. Consequently the choice and exploration of the material possibilities of a specific medium becomes content, using art to explore the idea of art. Paint becomes flesh-like, having congealed over the surface of the technical support. These paintings propose an internal and an external reality simultaneously referenced through the flesh-like surface, pierced and cut to reveal multiple layers created on the supporting structure (wood and canvas) with the use of a specific medium, oil paint, combined with a variety of other binding mediums. The edges of the unframed paintings play an important role assuming a specific physical presence, enabling them to define themselves as boundaries, both of the paintings particular field of forces and of the viewer’s aesthetic experience. They are no longer edges or frames in the conventional sense, but become other surfaces that are of equal significance in the reading or viewing of the work. Finally, the notion of an exhibition site being neutral or given is contested and, as a result, the contemporary artist needs to be mindful of site specificity in relation to the exhibition of the artworks. This series of paintings is intended to communicate as a body of work, reflecting an individual vision: a recurring, introspective process that is always unfolding. The body is constantly recreated by each individual viewer, and the context or site of display. The artist’s intention is to activate the viewer’s heightened awareness and response to the conscious arrangement of the collection of canvases, as each one represents a fragment or detail of a flayed carcass.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Fuller, Michele
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Figure painting -- Exhibitions , Human figure in art -- Exhibitions , Anatomy, Artistic -- Exhibitions , Cadaver in art -- Exhibitions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8532 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1008590 , Figure painting -- Exhibitions , Human figure in art -- Exhibitions , Anatomy, Artistic -- Exhibitions , Cadaver in art -- Exhibitions
- Description: The research question explored in this exhibition and dissertation was to review the conventional notions of craftsmanship and the use of the specific medium of oil paint with reference to the art of Rembrandt and Damien Hirst. The subject matter is flesh. This study foregrounds the involvement and acknowledgment of the corporeal body, the hand of the artist, and of the organic material reality of our existence and the objects that surround us. The paintings reflect a series of interventions that resulted in abstracted images based on photographs of meat. Once a detail had emerged that emphasised the fleshiness of the selected image, it was printed by a professional printing company. These details were then translated into oil paintings. What is explored is the specific material qualities of the binding mediums traditionally associated with the use of oil painting to create expressive paintings. In the creation of the series of paintings, I prepared binding mediums consisting of wax, stand oil, damar varnish, zel-ken liquin and acrylic paste medium mixed with manufactured readymade oil paints. Consequently the choice and exploration of the material possibilities of a specific medium becomes content, using art to explore the idea of art. Paint becomes flesh-like, having congealed over the surface of the technical support. These paintings propose an internal and an external reality simultaneously referenced through the flesh-like surface, pierced and cut to reveal multiple layers created on the supporting structure (wood and canvas) with the use of a specific medium, oil paint, combined with a variety of other binding mediums. The edges of the unframed paintings play an important role assuming a specific physical presence, enabling them to define themselves as boundaries, both of the paintings particular field of forces and of the viewer’s aesthetic experience. They are no longer edges or frames in the conventional sense, but become other surfaces that are of equal significance in the reading or viewing of the work. Finally, the notion of an exhibition site being neutral or given is contested and, as a result, the contemporary artist needs to be mindful of site specificity in relation to the exhibition of the artworks. This series of paintings is intended to communicate as a body of work, reflecting an individual vision: a recurring, introspective process that is always unfolding. The body is constantly recreated by each individual viewer, and the context or site of display. The artist’s intention is to activate the viewer’s heightened awareness and response to the conscious arrangement of the collection of canvases, as each one represents a fragment or detail of a flayed carcass.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
A bargain that dissolves into a poem unwritten: a critique of bargain retail practices and homemaking through critical design
- Authors: Hawley, Ami Jessica
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Stores, Retail -- Designs and plans -- South Africa , Interior decoration -- South Africa House furnishings -- South Africa -- 20th century Furniture -- South Africa Store decoration Interior architecture
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40349 , vital:36146
- Description: Although bargains commonly manifest as loud advertisements and trivial objects, as a moment of exchange they provide a basis to critique economic relations and judgements of taste. This research presents a document study of “bargains” in the context of bargain retail practices and homemaking, illustrated in the case of OK Furniture in South Africa; further situated by Julier’s study of economy and class within design culture, and Bourdieu’s fields of cultural production. The investigation builds to a discussion of the research practice, alluded to in the research project’s title, “A bargain that dissolves into a poem unwritten”. The title is an entry from this practice’s journal that conveys how the everyday experience of a bargain might find a connection to poetry when its exchange is seen as a performance; as a moment or encounter “unwritten”, capable of generating different modes of meaning and sociability. Using critical design strategies, the research practice explores the manifesting discountproduct cultures and retail practices associated with homes as a way to inhabit richer interpersonal relationships and unscripted sociability. This is discussed through four critical design proposals and 26 thought experiments, resulting in Text me when you see this, an online concept store that sells bargains, personal agreements, quality time, conversation and curio: www.textmewhenyouseethis.com. The research explores the limits to a bargain’s economic and emotional exchange by asking What if a bargain represented other forms of sociability, and How else might this mode of exchange look? These questions are used in the critique to model critical design towards both poetic expression and pragmatic embodiment of criticality in the project of reflecting on everyday life and what it might “dissolve into”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Hawley, Ami Jessica
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Stores, Retail -- Designs and plans -- South Africa , Interior decoration -- South Africa House furnishings -- South Africa -- 20th century Furniture -- South Africa Store decoration Interior architecture
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40349 , vital:36146
- Description: Although bargains commonly manifest as loud advertisements and trivial objects, as a moment of exchange they provide a basis to critique economic relations and judgements of taste. This research presents a document study of “bargains” in the context of bargain retail practices and homemaking, illustrated in the case of OK Furniture in South Africa; further situated by Julier’s study of economy and class within design culture, and Bourdieu’s fields of cultural production. The investigation builds to a discussion of the research practice, alluded to in the research project’s title, “A bargain that dissolves into a poem unwritten”. The title is an entry from this practice’s journal that conveys how the everyday experience of a bargain might find a connection to poetry when its exchange is seen as a performance; as a moment or encounter “unwritten”, capable of generating different modes of meaning and sociability. Using critical design strategies, the research practice explores the manifesting discountproduct cultures and retail practices associated with homes as a way to inhabit richer interpersonal relationships and unscripted sociability. This is discussed through four critical design proposals and 26 thought experiments, resulting in Text me when you see this, an online concept store that sells bargains, personal agreements, quality time, conversation and curio: www.textmewhenyouseethis.com. The research explores the limits to a bargain’s economic and emotional exchange by asking What if a bargain represented other forms of sociability, and How else might this mode of exchange look? These questions are used in the critique to model critical design towards both poetic expression and pragmatic embodiment of criticality in the project of reflecting on everyday life and what it might “dissolve into”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
An examination of the visual representation of young white Afrikaner women
- Authors: Jordan, Nicole
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Photography of women -- South Africa , Photography, Artistic -- South Africa Photography -- South Africa Photography, Artistic -- 21st century Women -- South Africa -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/39972 , vital:35622
- Description: The purpose of this qualitative research study is to comment on the visual representation of women between the ages of twenty and thirty within white contemporary Afrikaans culture. This will be achieved through an analysis of stereotypes evident in Afrikaner culture. Examples of this include but are not limited to the text and visuals in the Goeie Maniere en Etiket (1981) book by Emsie Schoeman and dated Afrikaans magazine issues by Huisgenoot (Issue XLII, 2 June 1961) and Sarie Marais (Issue 17/19, 30 March 1966). Interviews were conducted with five white young Afrikaner women using a collaborative approach, to gain a better understanding of the influences that cultural and visual stereotypes have on an individual. The research aims to comment on how the emerging post-apartheid generation of young Afrikaner women are responding to the cultural expectations and engaging with their Afrikaner identity in the way they choose to represent themselves through tableau portrait photography. The study is based on a practice-based research method, which encompasses two components: a written output and a practical output. These function as a unity, where the written component guides the development of the practical body of work. The written document provides the foundation and framework in which the practical work functions, creating a conceptual framework that guides the process of collaboration between the visual artist and subject to construct a contemporary visual representation that focuses on how young Afrikaner women react to traditional cultural roles and develop an understanding of self. The study makes use of Gillian Rose’s visual analysis framework as a critical analysis tool to determine the visual representation that emerges from the collaboration between the visual artist and the subject. Ultimately, the aim of this research is to facilitate the potential for the subject to critically engage with visual identity by collaborating with the visual artist. This research presents a unique approach to communicate an evolving post-apartheid identity and has contributed to an understanding of the feminine identity construction of the emerging Afrikaner generation in a democratic South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Jordan, Nicole
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Photography of women -- South Africa , Photography, Artistic -- South Africa Photography -- South Africa Photography, Artistic -- 21st century Women -- South Africa -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/39972 , vital:35622
- Description: The purpose of this qualitative research study is to comment on the visual representation of women between the ages of twenty and thirty within white contemporary Afrikaans culture. This will be achieved through an analysis of stereotypes evident in Afrikaner culture. Examples of this include but are not limited to the text and visuals in the Goeie Maniere en Etiket (1981) book by Emsie Schoeman and dated Afrikaans magazine issues by Huisgenoot (Issue XLII, 2 June 1961) and Sarie Marais (Issue 17/19, 30 March 1966). Interviews were conducted with five white young Afrikaner women using a collaborative approach, to gain a better understanding of the influences that cultural and visual stereotypes have on an individual. The research aims to comment on how the emerging post-apartheid generation of young Afrikaner women are responding to the cultural expectations and engaging with their Afrikaner identity in the way they choose to represent themselves through tableau portrait photography. The study is based on a practice-based research method, which encompasses two components: a written output and a practical output. These function as a unity, where the written component guides the development of the practical body of work. The written document provides the foundation and framework in which the practical work functions, creating a conceptual framework that guides the process of collaboration between the visual artist and subject to construct a contemporary visual representation that focuses on how young Afrikaner women react to traditional cultural roles and develop an understanding of self. The study makes use of Gillian Rose’s visual analysis framework as a critical analysis tool to determine the visual representation that emerges from the collaboration between the visual artist and the subject. Ultimately, the aim of this research is to facilitate the potential for the subject to critically engage with visual identity by collaborating with the visual artist. This research presents a unique approach to communicate an evolving post-apartheid identity and has contributed to an understanding of the feminine identity construction of the emerging Afrikaner generation in a democratic South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Decoding the notion of a constructed identity within an autobiographical picture narrative
- Authors: Joubert, Nina
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Narrative art , Autobiography , Semiotics
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8497 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1015685
- Description: This study presents an investigation into the process of constructing an autobiographical self within the genre of the autobiographical picture narrative, and explores this process both in terms of a theoretical study of this concept as well as an interpretation of a number of photographs. The interpretation entails a reading of selected autobiographical picture narratives by the artist-photographers Maggie Taylor and Lori Nix by means of a method derived from visual social semiotics. Specifically, the semiotic reading focuses on Taylor and Nix’s photographs Twilight swim (2004) and Ice Storm (1999), respectively, after which the researcher’s own autobiographical photograph entitled Fennel and coriander is read by means of the same methodological approach. The semiotic reading is guided by five salient characteristics of the autobiographical picture narrative, namely fabrication and reality, autobiographical memory, socio-cultural relevance, commonalities in female narration and narrative function. Harrison’s (2003) visual social semiotic framework (which reflects the work of social semioticians Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2002) was augmented in light of the five salient characteristics in order to construct an appropriate methodological framework. A comparative reading of the works by Taylor, Nix and the researcher reveals that although each of the artistphotographers followed a peculiar and unique approach in constructing the autobiographical picture narrative, parallels can be established in terms of various central concepts, as is evident from the semiotic reading. In particular, the role of memory and the interpretation of autobiographical elements emerged as common denominators. The process of constructing an autobiographical memory therefore provides the narrator-photographer with the options of escaping into and not from memory, thus allowing for unique possibilities in terms of interpretation, fantasy and construction.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Joubert, Nina
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Narrative art , Autobiography , Semiotics
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8497 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1015685
- Description: This study presents an investigation into the process of constructing an autobiographical self within the genre of the autobiographical picture narrative, and explores this process both in terms of a theoretical study of this concept as well as an interpretation of a number of photographs. The interpretation entails a reading of selected autobiographical picture narratives by the artist-photographers Maggie Taylor and Lori Nix by means of a method derived from visual social semiotics. Specifically, the semiotic reading focuses on Taylor and Nix’s photographs Twilight swim (2004) and Ice Storm (1999), respectively, after which the researcher’s own autobiographical photograph entitled Fennel and coriander is read by means of the same methodological approach. The semiotic reading is guided by five salient characteristics of the autobiographical picture narrative, namely fabrication and reality, autobiographical memory, socio-cultural relevance, commonalities in female narration and narrative function. Harrison’s (2003) visual social semiotic framework (which reflects the work of social semioticians Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2002) was augmented in light of the five salient characteristics in order to construct an appropriate methodological framework. A comparative reading of the works by Taylor, Nix and the researcher reveals that although each of the artistphotographers followed a peculiar and unique approach in constructing the autobiographical picture narrative, parallels can be established in terms of various central concepts, as is evident from the semiotic reading. In particular, the role of memory and the interpretation of autobiographical elements emerged as common denominators. The process of constructing an autobiographical memory therefore provides the narrator-photographer with the options of escaping into and not from memory, thus allowing for unique possibilities in terms of interpretation, fantasy and construction.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Critical design within the practice of graphic design
- Authors: Kuhn, Simon
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Graphic arts , Product design
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8494 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1007843 , Graphic arts , Product design
- Description: Critical Design is a specific type of design activity that has emerged from within the field of product design. Based on the supposition that design is an ideological activity, it can either be critical or affirmative of the status quo and categorised as Critical Design or Affirmative Design. The intention of this study is to create Critical Design within the practice of graphic design. Critical Design was defined by identifying its key characteristics and then visualised into a diagram that maps the pathways, processes and consequences which distinguish Critical Design from Affirmative Design. The characteristics were used to generate criteria of Critical Design, which were then used to analyse case studies. The findings from this analysis suggested that both case study projects could be defined as Critical Design and served as a way of testing the appropriateness of the criteria. The practical component of this study used the characteristics of Critical Design to create a range of graphic design artefacts and then analysed them in relation to the criteria of Critical Design. The findings from this analysis determined the practical component as Critical [Graphic] Design and suggested that graphic design can be an appropriate medium for critique of its own role within society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Kuhn, Simon
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Graphic arts , Product design
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8494 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1007843 , Graphic arts , Product design
- Description: Critical Design is a specific type of design activity that has emerged from within the field of product design. Based on the supposition that design is an ideological activity, it can either be critical or affirmative of the status quo and categorised as Critical Design or Affirmative Design. The intention of this study is to create Critical Design within the practice of graphic design. Critical Design was defined by identifying its key characteristics and then visualised into a diagram that maps the pathways, processes and consequences which distinguish Critical Design from Affirmative Design. The characteristics were used to generate criteria of Critical Design, which were then used to analyse case studies. The findings from this analysis suggested that both case study projects could be defined as Critical Design and served as a way of testing the appropriateness of the criteria. The practical component of this study used the characteristics of Critical Design to create a range of graphic design artefacts and then analysed them in relation to the criteria of Critical Design. The findings from this analysis determined the practical component as Critical [Graphic] Design and suggested that graphic design can be an appropriate medium for critique of its own role within society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
A comparative analysis of the environmental impact of selected low-income housing developments in the Eastern Cape Province
- Authors: Kumm, Simon
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Low-income housing -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Housing policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8152 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/539 , Low-income housing -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Housing policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: South Africa has a shortage of affordable housing for its poor. In order to overcome the shortage, a large number of houses need to be built. The bulk building of these houses has an effect on the environment and it is important to note whether or not this impact will be a lasting positive one or not. Governmental policies have recognised the need to create positive, sustainable settlement environments. The degree to which settlements are sustainable and reflect a positive environment is, however, a point of concern. This dissertation analyses and compares four low-income housing developments in the Eastern Cape in order to make proposals on how future low-income developments can impact more positively on their settlement environments, reduce their impact on non-renewable resources and better implement the ideals of the Development Facilitation Act. This was done in order to meet the expectations put in place by Government policies and to correct the historical shortcomings of South Africa’s low-income settlement provision. The method used was to determine, through literature study, a set of factors that most prominently impacted on low-income settlement environments. These were then compiled into a model, which was then used to analyse and compare existing settlements. This elicited a set of conclusions based on the findings and provided strategies for future settlements to follow to meet the research’s stated ideals. The literature study revealed a myriad of important principles that fell into six main categories that impacted on settlement environments. Furthermore, it was discovered that each of these principles should be assessed in the context of their human and natural environments as well as their effect at the scale of the unit, the settlement and the city. The analysis and comparison of the settlements revealed that all six of the model’s categories performed poorly in at least two of the four settlements analysed, a strong indication that the implementation of the model’s principles was not being successfully achieved in low-income settlements. It further revealed specific areas requiring attention in future developments. The analysis also revealed positive areas of implementation from each settlement that can be used in future settlements to meet the stated ideals of creating a positive impact on their settlement environments, reducing their impact on non-renewable resources and better implementing the ideals of the Development Facilitation Act. The study recommends that future settlements avoid the negative practices identified in these settlements and implement the positive strategies proposed for the benefit of future settlement environments.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Kumm, Simon
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Low-income housing -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Housing policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8152 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/539 , Low-income housing -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Housing policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: South Africa has a shortage of affordable housing for its poor. In order to overcome the shortage, a large number of houses need to be built. The bulk building of these houses has an effect on the environment and it is important to note whether or not this impact will be a lasting positive one or not. Governmental policies have recognised the need to create positive, sustainable settlement environments. The degree to which settlements are sustainable and reflect a positive environment is, however, a point of concern. This dissertation analyses and compares four low-income housing developments in the Eastern Cape in order to make proposals on how future low-income developments can impact more positively on their settlement environments, reduce their impact on non-renewable resources and better implement the ideals of the Development Facilitation Act. This was done in order to meet the expectations put in place by Government policies and to correct the historical shortcomings of South Africa’s low-income settlement provision. The method used was to determine, through literature study, a set of factors that most prominently impacted on low-income settlement environments. These were then compiled into a model, which was then used to analyse and compare existing settlements. This elicited a set of conclusions based on the findings and provided strategies for future settlements to follow to meet the research’s stated ideals. The literature study revealed a myriad of important principles that fell into six main categories that impacted on settlement environments. Furthermore, it was discovered that each of these principles should be assessed in the context of their human and natural environments as well as their effect at the scale of the unit, the settlement and the city. The analysis and comparison of the settlements revealed that all six of the model’s categories performed poorly in at least two of the four settlements analysed, a strong indication that the implementation of the model’s principles was not being successfully achieved in low-income settlements. It further revealed specific areas requiring attention in future developments. The analysis also revealed positive areas of implementation from each settlement that can be used in future settlements to meet the stated ideals of creating a positive impact on their settlement environments, reducing their impact on non-renewable resources and better implementing the ideals of the Development Facilitation Act. The study recommends that future settlements avoid the negative practices identified in these settlements and implement the positive strategies proposed for the benefit of future settlement environments.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
A study of the competencies and skills required by senior municipal managers in the O.R. Tambo District Municipality
- Authors: Kwinana, Jimmy Thozamile
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Local government officials -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8181 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1470 , Local government officials -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: This research document addresses the study of the competencies and skills required by executive municipal managers in the O.R. Tambo District Municipality. Dissertation focuses on questions such as “What is it that executive municipal managers, manage?” What generic management processes do these executive municipal managers, apply?” “What management technique and strategies do these managers employ to deliver services?”; “Under what circumstances do executive municipal managers manage?” In order for executive municipal managers to claim proficiency (competitiveness and skills), a clear discussion of the meaning and competency and skills is provided in this. Identifying and providing a meaningful narration of the characteristics of a competent and skilful executive municipal manager as being a person who has self-respect, high level of emotional intelligence, qualitative in nature, with reasonable adaptive ability by continuously learning and developing with high ethical and professional integrity. In all his/her attempts these executive municipal managers need to be innovative in nature, undertake constant networking and always be informative by character. Such a person is productive problem solver and continuously communicates vertically and horizontally within the hierarchy of the organization. All these discussions are denoted in the diagram indicate below. This research document has undertaken an empirical research to analyze the perception of executive municipal managers in terms of the diagram below and ultimately provide a narrative analysis of the developmental government such as the O.R. Tambo District Municipality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Kwinana, Jimmy Thozamile
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Local government officials -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8181 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1470 , Local government officials -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: This research document addresses the study of the competencies and skills required by executive municipal managers in the O.R. Tambo District Municipality. Dissertation focuses on questions such as “What is it that executive municipal managers, manage?” What generic management processes do these executive municipal managers, apply?” “What management technique and strategies do these managers employ to deliver services?”; “Under what circumstances do executive municipal managers manage?” In order for executive municipal managers to claim proficiency (competitiveness and skills), a clear discussion of the meaning and competency and skills is provided in this. Identifying and providing a meaningful narration of the characteristics of a competent and skilful executive municipal manager as being a person who has self-respect, high level of emotional intelligence, qualitative in nature, with reasonable adaptive ability by continuously learning and developing with high ethical and professional integrity. In all his/her attempts these executive municipal managers need to be innovative in nature, undertake constant networking and always be informative by character. Such a person is productive problem solver and continuously communicates vertically and horizontally within the hierarchy of the organization. All these discussions are denoted in the diagram indicate below. This research document has undertaken an empirical research to analyze the perception of executive municipal managers in terms of the diagram below and ultimately provide a narrative analysis of the developmental government such as the O.R. Tambo District Municipality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
"Soliloquy: the untold story of Sleeping Beauty's dreams"; a re-vision of Charles Perrault's "The sleeping beauty in the woods."
- Authors: Ledwick, Lisa-Mari
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Perrault, Charles, 1628-1703 , Symbolism in fairy tales , Sleeping Beauty (Tale) in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3155 , vital:20405
- Description: Taken as a whole, the purpose of the practical and theoretical components of this research aims to contextualise and present a contemporary fairy tale heroine who recuperates and re-values traditional aspects of femininity within a feminist context.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Ledwick, Lisa-Mari
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Perrault, Charles, 1628-1703 , Symbolism in fairy tales , Sleeping Beauty (Tale) in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3155 , vital:20405
- Description: Taken as a whole, the purpose of the practical and theoretical components of this research aims to contextualise and present a contemporary fairy tale heroine who recuperates and re-values traditional aspects of femininity within a feminist context.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Towards the optimization of resolution and rendering issues in the context of contemporary environmental design computer modelling
- Authors: Liu, Peng
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Architecture -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa , Environmental engineering , City planning , Engineering design
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8151 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/548 , Architecture -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa , Environmental engineering , City planning , Engineering design
- Description: This dissertation sets out to find a pragmatic solution for optimizing both resolution and rendering issues in the context of contemporary environmental design computer modelling. In this regard the following issues are addressed: Firstly, determining (with reference to a limited selection of existing 3DS Max software and plugins (i.e. VRay and Mental-Ray), which specific piece of software produces the best compromise as far as visual accuracy is concerned whilst still offering the designer the best scope for further design manipulation. Secondly, establishing design techniques which can increase the speed of model making as well as reduce rendering time without having an adverse effect on issues such as resolution and image quality. Lastly, ascertaining the least number of surfaces for a typical geometrical shape (e.g. chair, table, ornament etc.) without losing visual veracity by manipulation of the design itself. The research strongly supports the notion that VRay is the best overall software to be employed as a base before applying any design solutions. In this latter regard a number of solutions became evident as a means to both save memory and cut down on rendering time, including such factors as using spotlight rather than an omni light when rendering, because omni light calculations include the generation of needless shadows. The beneficial effect of employing ‘target direct’ light and reducing the area of light in order to decrease the calculation of shadow. Eliminating objects which do not need shadows from the lighting calculation and shutting off the reverberation and refraction factors before rendering. It was also confirmed that a black and white mipmap is better than a colour mipmap as far as saving on the system’s memory.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Liu, Peng
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Architecture -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa , Environmental engineering , City planning , Engineering design
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8151 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/548 , Architecture -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa , Environmental engineering , City planning , Engineering design
- Description: This dissertation sets out to find a pragmatic solution for optimizing both resolution and rendering issues in the context of contemporary environmental design computer modelling. In this regard the following issues are addressed: Firstly, determining (with reference to a limited selection of existing 3DS Max software and plugins (i.e. VRay and Mental-Ray), which specific piece of software produces the best compromise as far as visual accuracy is concerned whilst still offering the designer the best scope for further design manipulation. Secondly, establishing design techniques which can increase the speed of model making as well as reduce rendering time without having an adverse effect on issues such as resolution and image quality. Lastly, ascertaining the least number of surfaces for a typical geometrical shape (e.g. chair, table, ornament etc.) without losing visual veracity by manipulation of the design itself. The research strongly supports the notion that VRay is the best overall software to be employed as a base before applying any design solutions. In this latter regard a number of solutions became evident as a means to both save memory and cut down on rendering time, including such factors as using spotlight rather than an omni light when rendering, because omni light calculations include the generation of needless shadows. The beneficial effect of employing ‘target direct’ light and reducing the area of light in order to decrease the calculation of shadow. Eliminating objects which do not need shadows from the lighting calculation and shutting off the reverberation and refraction factors before rendering. It was also confirmed that a black and white mipmap is better than a colour mipmap as far as saving on the system’s memory.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
Earth stewardship in prepress:a model for Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University graphic design lectures
- Authors: Lottering,John Barry
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Curriculum planning--South Africa-- Port Elizabeth Graphic arts--Study and teaching--South africa-- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/44471 , vital:37842
- Description: A lack of prepress understanding is responsible for a great deal of wasted resources in the graphic design and printing industries in Nelson Mandela Bay. As the term “prepress” extends to such a vast range of design activities, it is quite difficult to ascertain where prepress begins or ends. Asking the question “What is prepress?” is like asking “How long is a piece of string?” Defining the scope of prepress can present a formidable challenge for any graphic design lecturer hoping to equip students with the necessary prepress understanding and skills required by the graphic design industry. Also, even if the academic has a sound knowledge of prepress theory and practice, how does one guarantee that all of the required knowledge is covered during the course of the student’s graphic design education, and that it is done so in a manner that meets the needs of the graphic design industry? Added to this, educators have a responsibility to consider the environmental consequences of sending graduating designers, without industry required prepress knowledge, into the design industry, an industry that has grown accustomed to training junior designers in prepress practice through trial and error. Such trial and error equates to mistakes and wasted resources, as a result this learning curve comes at the expense of the environment. The intention of this research is to provide an accessible resource for graphic design lecturers, by way of a list of prepress best practice topics, required for inclusion in the graphic design syllabus at NMMU, such that earth stewardship and sustainable design-for-print are an implicit component. This list of topics is a product of research which drew on local industry experts in Nelson Mandela Bay.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Lottering,John Barry
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Curriculum planning--South Africa-- Port Elizabeth Graphic arts--Study and teaching--South africa-- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/44471 , vital:37842
- Description: A lack of prepress understanding is responsible for a great deal of wasted resources in the graphic design and printing industries in Nelson Mandela Bay. As the term “prepress” extends to such a vast range of design activities, it is quite difficult to ascertain where prepress begins or ends. Asking the question “What is prepress?” is like asking “How long is a piece of string?” Defining the scope of prepress can present a formidable challenge for any graphic design lecturer hoping to equip students with the necessary prepress understanding and skills required by the graphic design industry. Also, even if the academic has a sound knowledge of prepress theory and practice, how does one guarantee that all of the required knowledge is covered during the course of the student’s graphic design education, and that it is done so in a manner that meets the needs of the graphic design industry? Added to this, educators have a responsibility to consider the environmental consequences of sending graduating designers, without industry required prepress knowledge, into the design industry, an industry that has grown accustomed to training junior designers in prepress practice through trial and error. Such trial and error equates to mistakes and wasted resources, as a result this learning curve comes at the expense of the environment. The intention of this research is to provide an accessible resource for graphic design lecturers, by way of a list of prepress best practice topics, required for inclusion in the graphic design syllabus at NMMU, such that earth stewardship and sustainable design-for-print are an implicit component. This list of topics is a product of research which drew on local industry experts in Nelson Mandela Bay.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Challenging the aesthetics and functionality of metals in contemporary blacksmithing
- Authors: Lucas, Justin
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Art metal-work , Blacksmithing Ironwork
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40533 , vital:36180
- Description: A forge allows the creation of both utilitarian craftwork and artworks. It is difficult to find blacksmiths who are willing to pass on their knowledge, particularly in South Africa where the art of blacksmithing is practised by a small number of individuals who rely on their labour for an income. This dissertation documents the building of a forge and what is needed to practise the art of blacksmithing, sourcing of the materials, and the application of blacksmithing to make pleasing artefacts. The document includes the processes of forge tool-making, providing an avenue for future students to fabricate tools and use the processes for art-making as well as list of suppliers and list of blacksmiths in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Lucas, Justin
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Art metal-work , Blacksmithing Ironwork
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40533 , vital:36180
- Description: A forge allows the creation of both utilitarian craftwork and artworks. It is difficult to find blacksmiths who are willing to pass on their knowledge, particularly in South Africa where the art of blacksmithing is practised by a small number of individuals who rely on their labour for an income. This dissertation documents the building of a forge and what is needed to practise the art of blacksmithing, sourcing of the materials, and the application of blacksmithing to make pleasing artefacts. The document includes the processes of forge tool-making, providing an avenue for future students to fabricate tools and use the processes for art-making as well as list of suppliers and list of blacksmiths in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
The development of armature based ceramics using South African raw materials
- Authors: Luyt, Michelle
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Pottery -- Research -- South Africa , Pottery craft -- South Africa -- Technique Ceramics in interior decoration -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/22618 , vital:30028
- Description: The purpose of the research was to develop a procedure by which South African ceramicists can use locally sourced ceramic materials to create armature based art forms, without having to rely on the importation of raw materials. The study also investigated the suitability of wire armatures as well as variable temperature ranges applicable to this investigation. It was found that commercial clay slip bodies purchased from South African suppliers tended to crack when coated over wire armatures during the firing process. It was shown that by substituting South African ceramic raw materials in the John W. Conrad’s C25 casting slip and Jeremy Dubber’s Ascent casting slip formulae with the addition of paper pulp and potassium feldspar, reduced the problem of the clay cracking when applied to wire armatures. The addition of paper fibres gave the clay bodies strong adhesive qualities which allowed the clay them to adhere onto the wire armatures which prevented the dry clay coatings from chipping off prior to and after firing. The addition of potassium feldspar helped with the maturing point of both the clay bodies and helped fuse the clay particles together which strengthened the clay coatings after being fired to their respective maturing temperatures. A further application of hydrochloric acid 30% or Pro Grip Key Coat ® to the three wire armature types, being galvanized binding wire, galvanized diamond mesh and Kanthal wire prior to coating with the above two formulae improved the adhesion of the clay slips to the armatures. This prevented them from the tendency to slide off the wire during the dipping and pouring process and helped eliminate any cracks that formed during the firing process. However, the glazing of the clay slips above proved to be problematic where it was sought as a further enhancement of the clay coated wire armatures. A general-purpose earthenware glaze caused the fired clay coating to crack probably due to the increased tension between the wire, clay body and the glaze. This problem was solved by developing a low firing transparent glaze. Other decorative effects were achieved by the inclusion of 0.5% cobalt oxide into the low firing transparent glaze which produced a blemish free deep blue colour. A further effect was achieved using binding copper wire over the bisque ware and then glazing with the low firing transparent glaze. A smoke firing technique as well an application of a copper oxide wash to the bisque fired ware and then re-firing to the required maturing temperature produced pleasing results.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Luyt, Michelle
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Pottery -- Research -- South Africa , Pottery craft -- South Africa -- Technique Ceramics in interior decoration -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/22618 , vital:30028
- Description: The purpose of the research was to develop a procedure by which South African ceramicists can use locally sourced ceramic materials to create armature based art forms, without having to rely on the importation of raw materials. The study also investigated the suitability of wire armatures as well as variable temperature ranges applicable to this investigation. It was found that commercial clay slip bodies purchased from South African suppliers tended to crack when coated over wire armatures during the firing process. It was shown that by substituting South African ceramic raw materials in the John W. Conrad’s C25 casting slip and Jeremy Dubber’s Ascent casting slip formulae with the addition of paper pulp and potassium feldspar, reduced the problem of the clay cracking when applied to wire armatures. The addition of paper fibres gave the clay bodies strong adhesive qualities which allowed the clay them to adhere onto the wire armatures which prevented the dry clay coatings from chipping off prior to and after firing. The addition of potassium feldspar helped with the maturing point of both the clay bodies and helped fuse the clay particles together which strengthened the clay coatings after being fired to their respective maturing temperatures. A further application of hydrochloric acid 30% or Pro Grip Key Coat ® to the three wire armature types, being galvanized binding wire, galvanized diamond mesh and Kanthal wire prior to coating with the above two formulae improved the adhesion of the clay slips to the armatures. This prevented them from the tendency to slide off the wire during the dipping and pouring process and helped eliminate any cracks that formed during the firing process. However, the glazing of the clay slips above proved to be problematic where it was sought as a further enhancement of the clay coated wire armatures. A general-purpose earthenware glaze caused the fired clay coating to crack probably due to the increased tension between the wire, clay body and the glaze. This problem was solved by developing a low firing transparent glaze. Other decorative effects were achieved by the inclusion of 0.5% cobalt oxide into the low firing transparent glaze which produced a blemish free deep blue colour. A further effect was achieved using binding copper wire over the bisque ware and then glazing with the low firing transparent glaze. A smoke firing technique as well an application of a copper oxide wash to the bisque fired ware and then re-firing to the required maturing temperature produced pleasing results.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
A study of the art object as performative
- Authors: Minkley, Emma Smith
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Arts -- Miscellanea , Art objects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12042 , vital:27022
- Description: My research project explores conventions in art-making and viewing via the notion of the performative art object. The performative (derived from J.L. Austin and Judith Butler’s formulations of the word) is here used predominantly as a term to denote a generative, experiential and iterative process (in this case outlined by art theorist Barbara Bolt) in which intuitive or playful actions of both artist and spectator dictate the route of research. The project, following an A/r/tographical cycle of theoriapraxis-poesis (or theory/research - doing/learning - art/making) as defined by Rita Irwin, thus investigates the relations inherent between artists, spectators or viewers, and objects, and how these may change according to the spaces they are conceived in; from art gallery to urban “non-art” environments. It deals with the inclusion of process or performativity within, or in relation to the art object and how this take on the traditionally static object may have the capacity to change how artworks are envisaged, and more significantly, how they are received, in terms of the effects they (in combination with the viewer) have on the world around them. Blurred in the context of performativity, the art object may become a means of documenting process and in a sense may act as a ‘prop’ for artistic research. This enquiry has involved the study of process and play, as related to creative practice, via a series of object-based events or interventions (including gallery exhibitions and other “non-art” events initiated by the artist outside of conventional art-related space) which have been documented and included in the theoretical research as a means of providing a first-hand narrative of theoretical ideas put into practice. Here Diana Taylor’s understanding of interrelated modes of storing and enacting knowledge as posed in the notion of the archive and repertoire has been utilised as a means of collecting and collating performative and ephemeral research. These events/interventions have further served as a means of gauging viewer interaction and participation, thus actively involving the viewer in the creative act. Jacques Rancière’s notion of the emancipated spectator is here utilised to activate the role of the viewer. In this regard, Martin Heidegger’s concept of handiness or handling serves as a means of “emancipating” spectators by encouraging tactile viewership. It is my intent to open up or reveal new modes of thinking or doing within the viewer when he or she enters a state of performative play within these events. Here the status of the art object is challenged and in this way has the potential to subvert or confront problematic repetitions, both in the identity of the viewer and the space occupied in each event.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Minkley, Emma Smith
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Arts -- Miscellanea , Art objects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12042 , vital:27022
- Description: My research project explores conventions in art-making and viewing via the notion of the performative art object. The performative (derived from J.L. Austin and Judith Butler’s formulations of the word) is here used predominantly as a term to denote a generative, experiential and iterative process (in this case outlined by art theorist Barbara Bolt) in which intuitive or playful actions of both artist and spectator dictate the route of research. The project, following an A/r/tographical cycle of theoriapraxis-poesis (or theory/research - doing/learning - art/making) as defined by Rita Irwin, thus investigates the relations inherent between artists, spectators or viewers, and objects, and how these may change according to the spaces they are conceived in; from art gallery to urban “non-art” environments. It deals with the inclusion of process or performativity within, or in relation to the art object and how this take on the traditionally static object may have the capacity to change how artworks are envisaged, and more significantly, how they are received, in terms of the effects they (in combination with the viewer) have on the world around them. Blurred in the context of performativity, the art object may become a means of documenting process and in a sense may act as a ‘prop’ for artistic research. This enquiry has involved the study of process and play, as related to creative practice, via a series of object-based events or interventions (including gallery exhibitions and other “non-art” events initiated by the artist outside of conventional art-related space) which have been documented and included in the theoretical research as a means of providing a first-hand narrative of theoretical ideas put into practice. Here Diana Taylor’s understanding of interrelated modes of storing and enacting knowledge as posed in the notion of the archive and repertoire has been utilised as a means of collecting and collating performative and ephemeral research. These events/interventions have further served as a means of gauging viewer interaction and participation, thus actively involving the viewer in the creative act. Jacques Rancière’s notion of the emancipated spectator is here utilised to activate the role of the viewer. In this regard, Martin Heidegger’s concept of handiness or handling serves as a means of “emancipating” spectators by encouraging tactile viewership. It is my intent to open up or reveal new modes of thinking or doing within the viewer when he or she enters a state of performative play within these events. Here the status of the art object is challenged and in this way has the potential to subvert or confront problematic repetitions, both in the identity of the viewer and the space occupied in each event.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Photographing other selves: collecting, collections and collaborative visual identity
- Authors: Minkley, Hannah Smith
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Documentary photography -- South Africa Semiotics -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12669 , vital:27105
- Description: This study is situated in a social documentary photography context, and is concerned to explore whether the collaborative interaction between photographer, subject (as collector) and material object (as collection) might enable a practice that presents a more mutual and subject-centred visual identity emerge. In particular, photographers Jim Goldberg and Gideon Mendel have focused more on the subject themselves, using collaborative processes such as photo-voice and photo elicitation, as well as the use of peoples’ handwritten captions on photographic prints themselves. Claudia Mitchell’s overview of visual methodologies is drawn on, together with Ken Plummer’s Documents of Life 2 (2001) and Gillian Rose’s Visual Methodologies (2001) to extend on these possibilities of conducting collaborative visual research.The practical component of this study focuses on personal collections and follows a number of theorists, including Susan Pearce, and John Elsner and Roger Cardinal. It follows Pearce’s identification of three major modes of collecting, and suggests that collections are essentially narratives of the self, and reveal experiences and expressions of personal desire. By drawing on these approaches and the various ways the twelve collectors were photographed, as well as implementing collaborative research processes (handwritten text, archival photographs and the re-staging of the collections), the study confirms Pearce’s three primary modes of collecting, and acknowledges that they are often interlinked or overlap one another. The study further found that a more subject voiced visual identity did indeed become apparent through the collaborative methods applied and discussed. The collaborative research equally demonstrated that these narratives of identity are not singular, but rather narratives of multiple, personal identities of the self.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Minkley, Hannah Smith
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Documentary photography -- South Africa Semiotics -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12669 , vital:27105
- Description: This study is situated in a social documentary photography context, and is concerned to explore whether the collaborative interaction between photographer, subject (as collector) and material object (as collection) might enable a practice that presents a more mutual and subject-centred visual identity emerge. In particular, photographers Jim Goldberg and Gideon Mendel have focused more on the subject themselves, using collaborative processes such as photo-voice and photo elicitation, as well as the use of peoples’ handwritten captions on photographic prints themselves. Claudia Mitchell’s overview of visual methodologies is drawn on, together with Ken Plummer’s Documents of Life 2 (2001) and Gillian Rose’s Visual Methodologies (2001) to extend on these possibilities of conducting collaborative visual research.The practical component of this study focuses on personal collections and follows a number of theorists, including Susan Pearce, and John Elsner and Roger Cardinal. It follows Pearce’s identification of three major modes of collecting, and suggests that collections are essentially narratives of the self, and reveal experiences and expressions of personal desire. By drawing on these approaches and the various ways the twelve collectors were photographed, as well as implementing collaborative research processes (handwritten text, archival photographs and the re-staging of the collections), the study confirms Pearce’s three primary modes of collecting, and acknowledges that they are often interlinked or overlap one another. The study further found that a more subject voiced visual identity did indeed become apparent through the collaborative methods applied and discussed. The collaborative research equally demonstrated that these narratives of identity are not singular, but rather narratives of multiple, personal identities of the self.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Designing devotion: the visual mechanisms used to build a personality cult
- Authors: Muller, Ruehl
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Design -- Social aspects , Design -- Human factors Communication in design Graphic arts
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/22968 , vital:30158
- Description: This study develops a model that aims to prove that, regardless of sociopolitical system, where a cult of personality exists, the mechanisms that are used to construct it and to maintain it, from a visual communication perspective, exhibit a methodological sameness. Drawing on Collins’ (2004) theory of emotional energy and interaction rituals, and Márquez’s (2013; 2017) application of said theory as an explanation of the personality cult phenomenon, the model seeks to identify, with regard to affectiveemotional constructions, what is required from leader-based foci to initiate this process. To achieve this, artefacts (visual representations) of Kim Jongil, Ayatollah Khomeini, King Mswati III, and Saparmurat Niyazov and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow were collated from within North Korea, Iran, Swaziland and Turkmenistan respectively. Analyses of both the design and semiotic components of the artefacts were conducted and the findings used to develop the model. The model was tested through four unique case studies of personality cults not affiliated with its construction.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Muller, Ruehl
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Design -- Social aspects , Design -- Human factors Communication in design Graphic arts
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/22968 , vital:30158
- Description: This study develops a model that aims to prove that, regardless of sociopolitical system, where a cult of personality exists, the mechanisms that are used to construct it and to maintain it, from a visual communication perspective, exhibit a methodological sameness. Drawing on Collins’ (2004) theory of emotional energy and interaction rituals, and Márquez’s (2013; 2017) application of said theory as an explanation of the personality cult phenomenon, the model seeks to identify, with regard to affectiveemotional constructions, what is required from leader-based foci to initiate this process. To achieve this, artefacts (visual representations) of Kim Jongil, Ayatollah Khomeini, King Mswati III, and Saparmurat Niyazov and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow were collated from within North Korea, Iran, Swaziland and Turkmenistan respectively. Analyses of both the design and semiotic components of the artefacts were conducted and the findings used to develop the model. The model was tested through four unique case studies of personality cults not affiliated with its construction.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
The aesthetic manifestations of nothingness in contemporary visual arts practice
- Authors: Munnick, Robyn Therése
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Art -- Research
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/41625 , vital:36546
- 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.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Munnick, Robyn Therése
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Art -- Research
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/41625 , vital:36546
- 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.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019