Visual Studies Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.

33 Institutions 128 Full-Text Articles 106 Authors 29,918 Downloads

Recent Articles in Visual Studies

A Current Study And Comparison Of Realism And Romanticism In Europe, Shreya Thakar The College at Brockport: State University of New York

A Current Study And Comparison Of Realism And Romanticism In Europe, Shreya Thakar

Master's Level Graduate Research Conference

The following presentation is based on a comparative study of the artistic movements of Realism and Romanticism in early 19th century Europe. The object is to analyze how each movement affected politics and social hierarchy. The movements are linked to other genres; Romanticism is coupled with Classicism, and Realism is associated with Idealism. This presentation identifies how both movements faced criticism due to a conservatism of mass taste and a shock of subject matter. Despite the obstacles, the movements prevailed to be considered innovative in context and style. The most compelling arguments found within the current scholarship outlines the opposition ...


Reimagining The Silver Screen: Contemporary Film Stills, Kyle DeMartino University of Rhode Island

Reimagining The Silver Screen: Contemporary Film Stills, Kyle Demartino

Senior Honors Projects

During the late 19th century longer rolls of celluloid photographic film, and motion picture cameras were first introduced, which allowed for the capture of rapid sequences of still images at a relatively high speeds. The first films shown to audiences on a larger screen, although rudimentary, caused people to gasp or run from the cinema, as they believed the images on screen were real. As technology increased feature films progressed from only showing a simple static event to creating full stories spanning over various sets and containing multiple characters. With the advent of sound, filmmakers were given another tool ...


Arts & Letters, The Magazine Of Potter College At Western Kentucky University, David Lee, Dean, Potter College, Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University

Arts & Letters, The Magazine Of Potter College At Western Kentucky University, David Lee, Dean, Potter College, Western Kentucky University

PCAL Publications

No abstract provided.


Active, Disorienting, And Transitional: The Aesthetic Of Boredom In The Works Of Nam June Paik (1932-2006), Eugene Kwon Washington University in St. Louis

Active, Disorienting, And Transitional: The Aesthetic Of Boredom In The Works Of Nam June Paik (1932-2006), Eugene Kwon

Undergraduate Research Symposium

The term boredom has a long and complex history. Boredom has been a topic of interest for both critical theorists and artists from various disciplines since antiquity. In the sixties, the meaning of the term boredom took on new significance as several art critics employed the term “boredom” to describe contemporary artworks. One artist from this period did not hesitate to describe his artworks as boring: Nam June Paik (1932-2006), a multimedia artist known for his avant-garde installations, sculptures, videos, and films. In my study, I argue that an aesthetic of boredom underlies certain works by Paik that employ particular ...


Refresh. Create. Inspire. The Mission, Vision And Values Behind The Coca-Cola Company And The Digital Marketing Strategies Of The "Open Happiness" Campaign, Sara Svendsen Liberty University

Refresh. Create. Inspire. The Mission, Vision And Values Behind The Coca-Cola Company And The Digital Marketing Strategies Of The "Open Happiness" Campaign, Sara Svendsen

Masters Theses

Due to the influence of Coca-Cola on advertising, digital marketing, and marketing strategies, the present rhetorical analysis seeks to show the many aspects of digital media in the Company's present "Open Happiness" campaign. The study of the campaign seeks to show that the Company mission statement, Company values and the vision of The Coca-Cola Company are implemented into all of the different facets of the Open Happiness campaign, and in the context of Mood Management Theory, exude the overall theme of the campaign, happiness. The parts of the campaign that were analyzed were focused on the YouTube channels of ...


Facing Forward, Looking Back: Religion And Film Studies In The Last Decade, Joseph Kickasola, John C. Lyden, S. Brent Plate, Antonio Sison, Sheila J. Nayar, Stefanie Knauss, Rachel Wagner, Jolyon Thomas University of Nebraska Omaha

Facing Forward, Looking Back: Religion And Film Studies In The Last Decade, Joseph Kickasola, John C. Lyden, S. Brent Plate, Antonio Sison, Sheila J. Nayar, Stefanie Knauss, Rachel Wagner, Jolyon Thomas

Journal of Religion & Film

On November 17, 2012, at the American Academy of Religion’s National Meeting, the Religion, Film, and Visual Culture Group sponsored a session entitled, “Facing Forward, Looking Back: Religion and Film Studies in the Last Decade.” The session focused on four recent books in the field of Religion and Film: John Lyden’s Film as Religion: Myths, Morals and Rituals (NYU, 2003); S. Brent Plate’s Religion and Film: Cinema and the Re-Creation of the World (Wallflower Press, 2009); Antonio Sison’s World Cinema, Theology, and the Human: Humanity in Deep Focus (Routledge, 2012); and Sheila Nayar’s The Sacred ...


Virtually Heroes, Dereck Daschke University of Nebraska Omaha

Virtually Heroes, Dereck Daschke

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Virtually Heroes (2013) directed by G. J. Echternkamp.


The Important Role Played By Household Crafts In The Lives Of Nineteenth-Century Women In Britain And America, Cynthia Bornhorst-Winslow Wright State University

The Important Role Played By Household Crafts In The Lives Of Nineteenth-Century Women In Britain And America, Cynthia Bornhorst-Winslow

Master of Humanities Student Publications

No abstract provided.


Because I Am Not Here, Selected Second Life-Based Art Case Studies. Subjectivity, Autoempathy And Virtual World Aesthetics, Francisco Gerardo Toledo Ramírez Western University

Because I Am Not Here, Selected Second Life-Based Art Case Studies. Subjectivity, Autoempathy And Virtual World Aesthetics, Francisco Gerardo Toledo Ramírez

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Second Life is a virtual world accessible through the Internet in which users create objects and spaces, and interact socially through 3D avatars. Certain artists use the platform as a medium for art creation, using the aesthetic, spatial, temporal and technological features of SL as raw material. Code and scripts applied to animate and manipulate objects, avatars and spaces are important in this sense. These artists, their avatars and artwork in SL are at the centre of my research questions: what does virtual existence mean and what is its purpose when stemming from aesthetic exchange in SL?

Through a qualitative ...


1200 Miles : Life And Death On The Thai-Burma Border, Jack PICONE Lingnan University

1200 Miles : Life And Death On The Thai-Burma Border, Jack Picone

Artists-in-Residence Programme : Exhibition Catalogues

No abstract provided.


Memory Traces 2012 : Hong Kong, Department of Visual Studies, Lingnan University Lingnan University

Memory Traces 2012 : Hong Kong, Department Of Visual Studies, Lingnan University

Visual Studies Programme : Students’ Work

Memory Traces is a photography book project which comprises a collection of images created by students of Jack Picone during a studio practice class at Lingnan University. The collective body of work is an exploration of a wide array of themes based on each student's own personal interests.


The Cultural Politics Of Youth, Health And Lifestyle In The Aftermath Of The Childhood Obesity “Epidemic”, Scott Stoneman McMaster University

The Cultural Politics Of Youth, Health And Lifestyle In The Aftermath Of The Childhood Obesity “Epidemic”, Scott Stoneman

Open Access Dissertations and Theses

In this dissertation I argue that the currency of the childhood obesity “epidemic” as a health crisis is derived largely from processes of representation and reproduction through which fatness has been re-calibrated as something pathogenic. I develop the position that the “childhood obesity epidemic”—influenced as it is by neoliberal notions of what constitutes a healthy individual and a vital body politic—risks exacerbating, rather than mitigating, the vulnerability of children.

The methodology of this project uses the example of lifestyle to illustrate how consensus about the presence of an “obesity epidemic” has been built, the concept of lifestyle being ...


Visualizing Uncertainty: Opposition To Islam In The Netherlands Through The Lens Of Fitna: The Movie, Alexandra Brown McMaster University

Visualizing Uncertainty: Opposition To Islam In The Netherlands Through The Lens Of Fitna: The Movie, Alexandra Brown

Open Access Dissertations and Theses

This study explores the current socio-political context of the Netherlands through an analysis of Fitna: The Movie (2008), the online video produced by right-wing politician Geert Wilders. I frame the field of analysis as an affective economy of uncertainty in the country, manifesting in the increasing visibility of, for instance, anti-Islam sentiment, declarations of national identity crisis, and public figures claiming to speak on behalf of the “real” Dutch, in the public realm.

With photographic footage of Muslims condoning and conducting violence displayed alongside Quranic verses, and a blatant appeal to viewers to “Stop Islamization. Defend our freedom”, Fitna is ...


A Study Of Japanese Animation, Michele Gibney University of Puget Sound

A Study Of Japanese Animation, Michele Gibney

Honors Program Theses

This paper takes a sociological approach to the question of popular culture’s ability in Japan--specifically that of Japanese animation--to be reflective of the country's sociological concerns. This is not to say that all anime shows consciously reflect Japanese life, but by extrapolation of recurrent themes one can construct a model of certain sociological issues in Japan. The author split the paper up into five sections each of which tackles a different theme. These sections are: Education, Social and Class Differences, Environment, Post-Nuclear Visions, and An Emergent Feminism. The main point that the author conveys in each section is ...


Relational Viewing: Affect, Trauma And The Viewer In Contemporary Autobiographical Art, Matthew Ryan Smith Western University

Relational Viewing: Affect, Trauma And The Viewer In Contemporary Autobiographical Art, Matthew Ryan Smith

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation examines the communicative relationship between contemporary autobiographical art and the viewer. By analyzing the work of six artists, Richard Billingham, Jaret Belliveau, Larry Clark, Nan Goldin, Lisa Steele and Bas Jan Ader, I maintain that lived experience and personal history condition the way viewers respond to autobiographical art. I turn to literary theory as a critical methodology to argue that autobiographical art operates as a catalyst for identification, memory and self-discovery. I use affect and trauma theory to demonstrate how artwork produces meaning and discourse through the viewer’s feelings, emotions and bodily sensations. Consequently, I survey the ...


Package Design Vs. Customer Reviews: A Comparative Study On Influences In Fragrance Buying Decisions, Sarah Willis California Polytechnic State University

Package Design Vs. Customer Reviews: A Comparative Study On Influences In Fragrance Buying Decisions, Sarah Willis

Graphic Communication

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of customer reviews, compared to package design, on the fragrance buying decisions of women aged eighteen to twenty-five. The researcher conducted two surveys: the first asked thirty-five random women to choose between two equally priced, but differently designed, perfumes (Perfume X and Perfume Z). This first group’s preference was Perfume X, with 57.14% of participants choosing this product. The second survey asked a different group of thirty-five random women to choose between the same two perfumes, but with the addition of unequally favorable customer reviews. Group 2 participants ...


Narrative Brought To Life: The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter, Stefani Klaric Western University

Narrative Brought To Life: The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter, Stefani Klaric

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis explores The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and the motivations for creating fictive, immersive environments. These can be defined as spaces that generate new physical environments or worlds that engage our senses. The theme park is the experiential space where entertainment, fantasy, and commodity consumption come together. By including recognizable objects, narratives, characters, and the like, taken directly from the Harry Potter books and films, audiences and participants are brought into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in a way that immerses them in the space and allows them to experience the narrative by participating in a journey ...