Digital Commons Network^™

North American Indigenous Collection And Curation And Its Impact On Market Arts., Adelaide Mccomb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the history of two North American Indigenous groups, those belonging to the Great Plains and the Arctic, and observes how settler-colonial influence determined the collection and curation of arts and artifacts in these areas. This art includes a mention of pre-Colombian works, but focuses predominantly on works being made after “first-contact” through the contemporary ear. The paper addresses the effect imperialist history has had on the development of Indigenous art markets, and how institutions such as museums may address them through ethical practices, and efforts to decolonize museum spaces.

Strange Fruit: Black Female Body Politics In Contemporary American Culture, Eleanor Kipping

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The African American Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s was an organized effort by and for Black American populations to receive equal treatment by law. Its legacy has much reason to be celebrated: not only for its accomplishments and successes in unifying the Black community but also in bringing issues of segregation, violence, and racial discrimination to the forefront of the public’s attention. The decade was a pivotal point in contemporary race relations, and served as an apex in attempts to bridge America’s past and what America is striving to become. Today however, the social and political climate …

Acts Of Contrition: An Exploration Of Catholic Guilt And Sensory Pleasure In Kinetic Sculpture, Wade Warman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis outlines the formulation of a research-based practice in kinetic sculpture. The primary goal is to investigate how historical and contemporary kinetic sculpture might provide a means for exploring the notion of guilt as seen through the paradigm of the Catholic Church by way of sensory pleasure using Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth as a framework. The methodological model upon which this research is based is a hybrid model that combines elements of experimental engineering methodologies (i.e. experimentation, data collection, data analysis, etc.) as well as historical research. The primary outcome is Acts of Contrition, a series of five kinetic sculptures …

Rediscovering The Interpersonal: Models Of Networked Communication In New Media Performance, Alicia Champlin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the themes of human perception and participation within the contemporary paradigm and relates the hallmarks of the major paradigm shift which occurred in the mid-20th century from a structural view of the world to a systems view. In this context, the author’s creative practice is described, outlining a methodology for working with the communication networks and interpersonal feedback loops that help to define our relationships to each other and to media since that paradigm shift. This research is framed within a larger field of inquiry into the impact of contemporary New Media Art as we experience it. …

Safe Haven, Korey Burns

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Safe Haven is a body of work that reflects my interest in different cultures that have similarities to my personal background. Recreating familiar symbols, colors, textures, and finishes, I create wearable sculptures that communicate memories based upon historic imagery from areas that have impacted my life. By being able to clasp a necklace or pin a brooch on, the viewer physically engages with the work. This interaction resembles my own experiences within the areas I traveled and artists that I have met. With the combination of different metalworking techniques and personal experiences, I am able to developed work that adorns …

A Shift In Silence, Bailey Idom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A Shift in Silence is a body of work that emerged because of a key shift in my life. Using the formal components of line, shape, and value, I create a space representing an intimate moment in time. Physically, the medium can be any material, but I process all of this as an expression of line. Each piece shares the commonality of lines and lineage, while the layering embodies the record of my relationships from the past that directly affect the present. The abstraction and unpredictability within my own relationships require openness and vulnerability. This honest dialogue sustains and informs …

Undesirable Forms, Maria Risner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Master of Fine Arts exhibition, Undesirable Forms, presents a collection of paintings and sculptures that focus on the repulsion and discomfort a woman can experience within her mind and body. These works were exhibited at the Tipton gallery, in downtown Johnson City. The pieces included in this exhibition consist of encaustic paintings on panel, and sculptures created from plaster life-casts.

The ideas discussed in this paper are influenced by Julia Kristeva and Sigmund Freud’s work relating to the abject/grotesque female body. This paper also discusses inspiration from other artists, such as Natalie Frank and Helen Chadwick, who work …

Hearing Through Walls, Bradley Marshall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The photographer discusses work in “Hearing Through Walls”, a Masters of Fine Arts thesis exhibit held at downtown Tipton Gallery from February 19th through March 2nd, 2018. The exhibition consists of 15 archival inkjet prints and one two-channel video piece, representing the artists three-year exploration into narrative forms in image making. Using non-traditional approaches to photographic portraiture and experimental exhibition layout, the artist forms questions around themes of domesticity, lost youth, and American masculinity. Among these themes is an investigation into photographic issues, including the cultural role that photographs play in perpetuating, miming, and disrupting the facades of everyday life. …

Title., Douglas Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Title is a series of drawings that explores the aspects of failed projects and the complications of representation within literary and visual practices. This series is informed by preliminary drawings, marginalia, and written notations that are inherent in the formulation processes of both visual and literary compositions. Through an investigation of the 19th Century Russian author Nikolai Gogol’s unfinished novel Dead Souls, I situate this series of drawings as a means to conflate literary theories with visual representation. In this way, the Title series presents fragmentary images, texts, and digressive narratives that demonstrate intermediaries between propositional states and reconciled …

Seeing Living Things: Observations Of Figures From The Outside In, Forrest Deblois

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This writing accompanies the outcomes of my studio practice over the last three years, focusing on two bodies of work of paintings and drawings. In it I describe and analyze multiple influences tied to the progression and change in my studio practice. I began the process of my work with images and subjects from my home state of Florida, frequently juxtaposing the wildlife and humans, now I see this pattern as a byproduct of a studio practice functioning as a introspective reflection of what I experience, the things that I understand and the things that I don't. I deconstruct elements …

Momentum, Moment, Epiphany: The Psychological Intersection Of Motion Picture, The Still Frame, And Three-Dimensional Form, Mark Gerstein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My journey from Hollywood Film production to a Fine Arts practice has been shaped by theory from Philosophy of Mind, Cognitive Psychology, Film, and Art, leading me to a new visual vocabulary at the intersection of motion picture, the still image, and three-dimensional form. I create large mixed media collages by projecting video onto photographs and sculptural forms, breaking the boundaries of the conventional film frame and exceeding the dynamic range of typical visual experience. My work explores emotional connections and fissures within family, and hidden meanings of haunting memories and familiar places. I am searching for an elusive type …

House Vs. Home: Defining Place Through Identity, Ryan Gleason

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A house is a place of safety. A home is a place of belonging. Though different a house always desires to become a home, but it can only be so through a connection to self. It is a home that is an extension of one's identity. Through the mirror, which is the home, and through an understanding of schema theory a person's being can be understood through one's ideas, place, self, family, rituals, memories, and feelings. Each of these factors act as a layer of brick building a strong foundation or a crackling fireplace adorned with family portraits making the …

Life, Death, And Awakening: As Seen In Reflections Of Nature, Diane Parks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My objective, in undertaking this three year MFA degree has been to create and produce metaphorical paintings which communicate my deepest feelings about my personal experiences of life, death, and nature using various types of landscapes as subject matter. My goal has been to explore many processes of painting, using a range of color palettes to suggest and inspire emotional responses from viewers that are similar to my own. Ultimately my intention has been to share feelings of empathy between myself and a viewer through the art I've produced. This thesis body of work chronicles my three year journey.

Emergent Narrative: Stories Of Play, Playing With Stories, Eric Murnane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emergent narrative, a phenomenon of unexpected contextual stories arising through play, has been researched in the field of game studies since 1999. However, that discussion largely lies in the realm of theoretical stories which are generated by either the system or the player. The purpose of this dissertation is to deepen our understanding of emergent narrative by examining real-world examples of the phenomenon. Four hundred player posts were gathered from forums relating to the video game Skyrim (a large, open world fantasy roleplaying game) and analyzed using a mixed-method framework which is informed by digital ethnography, fan studies, and game …

The American Black Body: Materials,Symbols, And Representations From A Perceived African American, Christopher Santos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As a Cape Verdean American, I investigate the idea of what it means to be of the African Diaspora in America. I also consider the experiences of past generations of American black bodies and how their history has molded my world. This series of work began with Mask Drawing 1, an ink drawing inspired by my own interpretation of an African mask. Subjected to colorism, the discrimination of a person based on their skin color, my skin was not enough validation for other people to view me as black. On numerous occasions I have had to clarify my identity, nationality …

Touching The Unreal: The Definition, Narrative Strategies, And Aesthetics Of 3d Cartoon Narratives., Nathan Snow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

"Touching the Unreal" follows the structure set out by Scott McCloud in Understanding Comics to argue that understanding cartoons is serious business and requires that we define the art form, outline its basic tenets, and theorize how the mind understands it. The dissertation argues for a new definition of 3D computer generated cartoons, beginning with the most basic definition applicable to all forms of animation and taking into account new technological developments before arriving at the 3D cartoon narratives of today. The dissertation outlines the basic facets of 3D cartoon narratives in terms of narrative and aesthetics, arguing that, in …

Sillage, Brooke Alexander

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The blurry, the dark, shadoplaces hidden and dwelling amongst the certainty steal my attention. Such places can communicate a vast sense of both time and setting, can convey that which is both occurring and that which is past. I do not think those spaces can be explicitly defined. They are reflections and explorations of the figures’ minds, providing a place for both their physical bodies and their thoughts to live. The paintings that compose Sillage communicate a space that requires engagement and that is not readily understood. The painted area changes as it invites and rejects visual entry. These ambiguous …

Un/Veiling, Marisa Andropolis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

David Freedberg wrote in The Power of Images that the purpose of painting portraits was to show the living reality of the sitter by representing subjects in a way they wanted to be seen or remembered. The body of work Un/Veiling challenges that idea by representing both the subject’s staged persona (their “ideal”) alongside their hidden, inner realities. To begin, I referenced photographs of myself as a vehicle to create personas that convey ideas about the fluidity of identity that I then painted using traditional processes (layered oil painting technique to imitate a studied naturalism) on less-traditional, multi-faceted canvases. Un/Veiling …

Narrative Transportation And Virtual Reality: Exploring The Immersive Qualities Of Social Justice In The Digital World, Sara Raffel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the potential applications for virtual reality (VR) stories in support of social justice causes, examining whether digital games historically been successfully leveraged for social justice purposes, and determining which components of VR technology can most encourage narrative transportation of participants in VR stories. The first chapter examines theories of simulation, virtual reality, narrative, and interactivity, as well as concepts of immersion from various disciplines and settles on narrative transportation, a theory from cognitive psychology, as the most useful in measuring the effect of VR stories on participants. The second chapter examines ethnographic practices, activist games, and modes …

Impulsion, Nicholas Meyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The nut, bolt, and thread are symbols of order in my work. They represent a memory trace of my time growing up in Iowa and my connection to working on the family farm. These objects have the potential to exhibit elements of both simplicity and complexity, expressed through patterns and harmony, and the repetition of form, line, color, space, presentation, and ultimately, their relation to you the viewer. With this body of work, I intend to create metaphors relating to connections people have to one another, as individuals, society and ultimately as a reflection of self. The act of grouping, …

Considering Perspectives, Cynthia Epps

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This body of work, Considering Perspectives, explores the ideas of perspective, not only in terms of spatial perspective in art, but also regarding how our vantage point and presumptions affect how we feel about certain subjects. The subjects of my work are spaces or objects often overlooked or considered mundane. When we approach a work of art, we typically do so with a multitude of presuppositions that influence our response. Often, we are not even aware of this. By splicing together multiple perspectives I use my work to create awareness that there may be more than one way not …

The Classical Versus The Grotesque Body In Edith Wharton's Fiction, Joshua T. Temples

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In her landmark works The House of Mirth (1905), The Custom of the Country (1913), and The Age of Innocence (1920), Edith Wharton responds to earlier depictions of the classical, pure Victorian and Edwardian woman. Wharton's "inconvenient" women overturn popular stereotypes. Subsequently, they are barred from their social groups, but they are independent, unlike the complicit and obedient women of the classical body, most of whom ascribe to the trope of the "Angel in the House." The grotesque seeks to undercut the unrealistic expectations enforced by the classical through its embodiment of progression and humanity, and Wharton is drawn to …

In Search Of Communication, Usman O. Oladeinde

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the work included in Usman Oladeinde’s MFA thesis exhibition. The goal of this thesis paper is to explore major themes such as communication, identity, change, centeredness, landscapes, and language. These paintings present Arabic letter forms transformed into illegible shapes which are painted on landscape backgrounds, often depicting an aesthetic of textual elements receding into space. All these works are inspired by the Qibla, which is represented in the abstract and painted using acrylic media. Occasionally image transfers are mounted on the painted surface.

Visual representations like mine are communicative without forcing the viewer to one specific idea. …

Mindful Escapism, Kench Weathers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the art work included in Kench Weathers’ MFA thesis exhibition. This work explores major themes such as the sacred, contemplation, optical illusion and paradox. The installations involve multiple three-dimensional geometric shapes that are formed with steel tubing (welded together). These works have various inspiration; both contemporary secular and sacred and are influenced by sacred paradox, both visual and ideological. The mixture of the two-dimensional with the three-dimensional creates multistable perception within the viewer. The work introduces visual and perceptual distortions of depth and dimensionality. These forms are nonrepresentational but act as a catalyst for the viewer. I …

Deconstructing Abject Complacency Of Ascribed Gender, Kyle M. Hooten

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My life has been dedicated to the relentless pursuit of masculinity throughout my transition from female to male. While originally focusing on the physical transition, my attention is now focused on the social aspects of transition. For me, this involved coming out, managing legal name/gender change paperwork, and understanding a newfound, cultural privilege. This is where I draw inspiration to create my work. My process and techniques are informed by Drag Kings and Queens as well as contemporary culture and art. After performing as a Drag King for a year I developed a sense of gender that differed from what …

Irrational Aggregates, Courtney N. Ryan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis paper examines the work included in my Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition entitled Irrational Aggregates. The goal of this work is to facilitate a dialogue between our natural environment and the excessive consumer-based environments in which we live. Combining a variety of ceramic techniques including hand building, wheel throwing, and casting these sculptures appear to be grown from, and even taken over by nature itself.

Often drawing inspiration from my personal narrative, that of consistent upheaval, relocation, and adjustment to new places, my work can appear both grounded and in a state of motion. I believe …

Happy, Dontay Farley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an exploration of graphic design and how it can be used as tool to create awareness about mental illness and positive solutions to decrease its affect on individuals. Using the “simple things” in life as metaphors, this thesis attempts to use graphic design as a way to help decrease depression. Drawing on the emergent strands of enquiry associated with mental illness, this thesis will investigate how design and its basic principles can be used create positive experiences for the complex issue of mental illness.

This thesis will also review the body of critical and historical design thinking, …