Fine Arts Commons^™

Meet Everyone With Art At Location And Time; M.E.A.L.T. Phase 1, Michael Louis Leblanc

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As an artist who participates in socially engaged arts, it is paramount in my practice to cultivate the balanced power relationship between the audience and artist by providing an ongoing safe environment, accessible subject matter and venue location, and a mechanism that not only calls for participation from the audience but empowers them through direct action. Meet Everyone with Art at Location and Time or M. E. A. L. T. Phase 1 is a mobilizable art exhibition with the long-term goal to meet the audience where they are and to offer an alternative to traditional person-to-person interaction and socializing.

M. …

Mending Art Classrooms: An Exploration Of The Benefits Of Collaborative Artmaking For Underinvested Black Youth In Richmond, Virginia, Jazmine M. Beatty

Theses and Dissertations

This arts-informed research study explored the experiences of local community artists and educators working to radically transform and heal the experiences of underinvested Black students in Richmond through collaborative arts engagement. Through a series of seven one-on-one interviews with Black teaching artists in the Richmond community, I was able to uncover how collaboration has and can continue to improve the well-being and livelihoods of Black students in Richmond. Also, by tapping into the local Mending Walls mural project, I was able to make a tangible connection between the Richmond community, art, and collaboration. An analysis of the interviews led to …

Reclamation, Laura Day Webb

MA Projects

This exhibition will take the form of a group show of African artists who weave
cultural heritage with the contemporary, to challenge Western perceptions of African art and culture. Artists Wole Langunju (Nigeria), Prudence Chimutuwah (Zimbabwe), Lincoln Mwangi (Kenya), Moira Bushkimani (Kenya), and Angèle Etoundi Essamba (Cameroon) are confirmed to participate. In addition to the contemporary works by these artists on display, two Nigerian Gèlèdé masks have been generously loaned from the private collection of Olusanya Ojikutu, one from the early 20th century and, the other, whose dating is undetermined. In showcasing these works in tandem, the exhibition creates a …

Pasado, Presente, Futuro: A Story Of Immigration, Constanza Galindo Acosta

MA Projects

Oftentimes when speaking about immigration the conversation centers
around specific political agendas, economic impact, or labor. However important
these topics may be, they fail to understand the humanity of immigration, leaving
behind the most essential part of the conversation: the voice of the actual
immigrants. How can a more individualistic approach towards the experience of
the immigrant give us a better understanding of the nuances of immigration as a
whole? Pasado, Presente, Futuro takes as inspiration the personal experiences of
nine Latinx artists that currently live in the United States as a way to tell the past,
present, and future …

Home Grown: Joys And Sorrows Of Domestic Life, Helena Black

MA Projects

Home Grown: Joys and Sorrows of Domestic Life highlights the work of contemporary female photographers who focus their practice on the depiction of domestic scenes. There is a long history of women drawing inspiration from the domestic sphere. For much of history, the exclusion of women from public life outside of the home influenced much of their work. Perhaps the most obvious example of this thematic focus can be seen in the work of female Impressionists. The Impressionist period is defined by the freedom of mobility allowed by new premixed paint tubes. Male artists, for whom it was socially acceptable …

Artsino: Art Exhibition In An Immersive Casino Setting, Jiajie Jade Wu

MA Projects

In large cities such as NYC, there are a great number of individuals have good tastes in art. Many of them, such as wall-street bankers and traders, also like to seek risks. They are smart enough not to gamble too much although they still feel excited in the uncertainties. This venture provides an opportunity for artists to showcase their casino theme artworks in an immersive AR casino theme experience. The audiences have an opportunity to view and collect art in a setting that feels like casino, with drinking services, music, and various casino games using playing chips. Potential revenue generation …

Za'a Demi-Fine Jewelry: Cultural Representation Through The Use Of Wearable Crafts, Maria Canedo Gomez Ortigoza

MA Projects

Za'a is an e-commerce demi-fine jewelry brand that gives its wearer the ability to explore, connect and give back to indigenous Latin American cultures. Za'a pieces are made with 14k gold, sterling silver, vermeil (solid gold electroplated silver), and semi-precious gemstones while incorporating traditional craftsmanship; incorporating elements such as woodcarving, embroidery, and painting. What makes Za'a's products unique is that they are designed and fabricated in conjunction with the communities, ensuring fair and ethical practices. This close collaboration turns the pieces into a cultural bridge of communication, an exchange of ideas, and an appreciation between consumers and the indigenous communities. …

Anti-Art In Postwar Korea And Japan, Emma Patterson

MA Projects

Emerging from the traumatic devastation of World War II and the economic upheaval that followed, artists in Japan and South Korea adopted similar creative strategies and addressed parallel themes in their artistic responses to the postwar period. Anti-Art in Postwar Korea and Japan brings together artists from the two nations—which share a complex socio-political history—to introduce a new lens through which to understand contemporary East Asian art. Seung-taek Lee, Ha Chong-Hyun, Kim Tschang-Yeul, Lee Ufan, and Nobuo Sekine were few of a number of Korean and Japanese artists who developed comparable practices across the media of painting, sculpture, installation, and …

The Social Art Club, Beatrice Giuli

MA Projects

The Social Art Club will be a creative hotspot where leisure, art, culture and work come together in one place. The goal of this club is to expand on the idea behind the traditional social club concept. While members will still have access to use the space in whichever ways they prefer, this social club goes beyond. The Club will be a center for art exhibitions, food discovery, music pleasure, and culture renaissance while promoting a multi-sensorial experience and a long lasting communal atmosphere. Recreating the social aspirations of international and luxury clubs such as Soho House, the Social Art …

Fpi Art Initiative: A Romanian Perspective, Through The Looking Glass, Francesca Popescu

MA Projects

The FPI (Francesca Popescu Ife) Art Initiative is a curatorial business that focuses on creating pop-up exhibitions featuring emerging and mid-career artists from countries that are not as widely represented in New York or other major art markets. The foundation of this company is to form partnerships with real estate, hospitality, and public venues to host curated pop-up exhibitions throughout New York City and the Hamptons with future goals to expand nationally. The objective is to showcase artwork within a home environment where individuals and collectors interested in art and design can view and discover new artists exhibited within a …

A Stillness In The Desert? Engaging The Public Through An Immersive Exploration Of Southwest Soundscapes, Julian Kilker, Thomas Bjelic

Creative Collaborations

The pandemic highlighted the anthropocentric nature of soundscapes, while the recent popularity of electric cars, quadcopters, and “noise cancellation” earbuds demonstrated how consumer products can rapidly change our awareness of sound. While light pollution is already extensively addressed in scholarly research, popular works such as The End of Night, and public engagement such as The International Dark Sky Association, the complex interplay of sound, natural resources, and public engagement is still emerging, particularly in creative fields.

Two UNLV scholars and artists are collaborating on this project: Julian Kilker, who specializes in visual and emerging technology research, and Tom Bjelic, who …

Game Up (Exhibition 2022), Conor Mcgarrigle Dr.

Exhibition Catalogues

Game Up was an exhibition curated by Green On Red Gallery Dublin in Transmediale Studio, Silent Green Kulturquartier Berlin.

GAME UP seeks to get under the skin of our increasingly digital planet as a springboard to new thinking and new action through the work of artists, Alan Butler, Elaine Hoey, Conor McGarrigle, Rosa Menkman, David O'Reilly and Paper Rad/Cory Arcangel. GAME UP is a reckoning, a rear mirror view and a look at the future of our hyper-connected world.

What are the rules of engagement in this electronic superhighway and who is policing them? What …

Dregs / Lessons From The Things Around Us, Juan-Manuel Pinzon

Theses and Dissertations

The writing in Lessons From the Things Around Us is in support of the work in my MFA thesis show, dregs. I detail the progression of my making and thinking over the last two years. I expand on the material and personal relationships that have manifested themselves in the work and influenced my approach to the things that surround me. Finally, I point to a more expansive definition of Craft, rooted in its material sensibilities, and the possibilities already present in the field that this definition creates.

Misled Youth, Mark Tan

Theses and Dissertations

I’m a first-generation Canadian who was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario by Asian immigrants. I have migrated to the United States and lived here for 7 years. Through my work, I express the emotional value of preconceived notions, disconnectedness, and longing in search of finding place and acceptance within a community. Drawing from memory, personal narrative, emotion, and perception, I manipulate data into lines, forms, and materials through a subjective human experience from the lens of a non-citizen. By projecting the migration movement of my family lineage from China and the Philippines to Canada as well as my path …

Beginnings, Elizabeth Becker

Dance (MFA) Theses

Researcher Elizabeth Becker uses personal experiences of pregnancy alongside scholarly research on the developmental movement patterns of the human embryo, fetus, and newborn’s first year of life to explore the multiplicity of these movement patterns within and outside the womb. Becker explores the relationship between the fertilization, germinal, embryonic, and fetal stages in relation to a newborn and its mother. These movement patterns within the beginning stages of life are valuable to research because they simulate neurodevelopmental patterns, which help wire the central nervous system in early childhood. These movements also help lay the foundation for sensory-motor development and life-long …

Wound-Dwelling: Empowerment Through Masochistic Experiences, Nizlyn

MFA in Visual Arts Theses

The psychoanalytic concept of the Skin Ego Theory describes the skin as a passage for pain and pleasure to travel through. Remnants of external experiences as well as internal struggles affect the penetrable barrier of the somatic wrapping and leave inscriptions on the flesh. Through my work, I have been exploring the skin’s ability to protect, envelope, and inscribe meaning through my papercuts, oil paintings, and clay sculptures. I procure the marks on my body through kink and BDSM, which then influence the work. Though my bruises may fade with time, my skin becomes tougher. By recontextualizing Skin Ego Theory …

The Epic Journey Of Pepe The Frog: A Study In Post-Truth, Jaq Webb

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Abstract

The internet meme Pepe the Frog is an excellent avenue for exploring the relationship between post-truth politics, new media, and viral ideas. While memes as conceptualized by Richard Dawkins are essentially timeless components of human society, internet memes as exemplified by the hijacking of Pepe the Frog by the Alt-Right and the Trump campaign are a novel force with uniquely dark implications for liberal democracy. In this study, I attempt a leftist analysis of the best thinking about Post-Truth Trump-era politics and the communication tactics of the Alt-Right, which suggests that some of the same cultural and material forces …

Contemporary Iroquois Art Collection Available Online, Colette Lemmon

Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies

The Iroquois Museum’s contemporary art collection is online and available for browsing. The searchable database includes 2400 ethnographic and artistic objects dating from 1979 to the present. The collection includes works produced by Mohawk, Onondaga, Seneca, Oneida, Cayuga, and Tuscarora creatives accompanied by color images, dimensions, and artist bios. Together, this extensive specialized collection serves as a window into the values, traditions, and contemporary concerns of the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois people as expressed through the visual arts.

8th Grade, Charvez Leon Johnson

Senior Projects Spring 2022

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College.

Do Androids Dream Of Improvisation?, Aidan J. Samp

Senior Projects Spring 2022

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College.