Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Retrieving Images From Tarnished Daguerreotypes Using X-Ray Fluorescence Imaging With An X-Ray Micro Beam With Tunable Energy, Tsun-Kong Sham, Y. Zou Finfrock, Qunfeng Xiao, Renfei Feng, Sarah Bassnet

Visual Arts Publications

We report recent observations using a synchrotron X-ray micro-beam to retrieve images from tarnished 19th century daguerreotypes. We confirm that high quality image can always be retrieved from tarnished plates using Hg Lα XRF as long as the bulk of the image particles and their distribution remains intact. We also report results from using tunable tender X-rays (2 - 7 keV) to conduct imaging in high vacuum at energy above the Ag L-edge and the Hg M-edge, extracting images using Ag Lα and Hg Mα, respectively among others (e.g., S to track corrosion). Images obtained with the surface sensitive total …

Photography And 21st-Century Migration, Sarah Bassnet, Blessy Augustine

Visual Arts Publications

No abstract provided.

Family, Diaspora, And The Politics Of Care In Griselda San Martin’S The Wall , 2015-16, Sarah Bassnet

Visual Arts Publications

This article examines a series of photographs by Griselda San Martin, a Spanish journalist and documentary photographer based in New York City and Mexico City. The series focuses on the experiences of people at Friendship Park, a bi-national park located in the border region of San Diego, United States, and Tijuana, Mexico. Working in Tijuana, San Martin engaged with families as they attempted to connect with loved ones across the border in San Diego. Many of the people she met at Friendship Park had become separated from family members after living as undocumented migrants in the US and then being …

Rescue Politics: Richard Mosse’S Thermal Imaging And The Containment Of Migration, Sarah Bassnet

Visual Arts Publications

This article focuses on a body of work by Mosse that includes the multichannel video installation Incoming, shown as a 52:12 minute three-channel video installation with 7.3 surround sound, and the photographic series Heat Maps (2015–2017) (Fig. 1). While Incoming concentrates on migration routes, Heat Maps portrays the architecture of refugee camps.4 I consider how the artist’s use of thermal imaging and his immersive mode of documentary complicates tropes used to represent migration. I reflect on the way Mosse’s artwork intersects with a long-standing interest by practitioners and theorists of film and photography in the idea of the camera as …

At Dusk, Michelle Paterok

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In supplement to my Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition, this dossier is composed of an extended artist statement, photographic documentation of artwork, a transcribed interview with artist Ben Reeves, and a curriculum vitae. These components contextualize the motivation and research that inform my studio work in painting. The extended artist statement describes the personal and theoretical foundation of my Master’s thesis project—a series of paintings collectively titled At Dusk, which documents everyday interior space in order to explore the invocations of colour, light and atmosphere. The interview with Ben Reeves provides insight into his artistic practice in painting, …

A Qualitative Look Into Repair Practices, Jumana Labib

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

This research poster is based on a working research paper which moves beyond the traditional scope of repair and examines the Right to Repair movement from a smaller, more personal lens by detailing the 6 categorical impediments as dubbed by Dr. Alissa Centivany (design, law, economic/business strategy, material asymmetry, informational asymmetry, and social impediments) have continuously inhibited repair and affected repair practices, which has consequently had larger implications (environmental, economic, social, etc.) on ourselves, our objects, and our world. The poster builds upon my research from last year (see "The Right to Repair: (Re)building a better future"), this time pulling …

Neoliberalism, Institutionalism, And Art, Declan Hoy

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

As contemporary art has expanded to encompass further disparate activities under its umbrella, the various institutions of art can be looked to as the only constant and defining characteristic of art. These institutions are often seen in sharp contrast to spontaneous collectivism, the real, and radical creativity—attributes deeply valued within contemporary art. This creates a troubling situation in which institutions are seen as limiting the possibility of what art could be, and artworks are perceived as needing to escape the very institutions which define them in order to be deemed worthy. In this structure, contemporary art follows and validates the …

The Embroidered Tablecloth: How Locale Influences Eastern European Jewish Textile Production, Elena Solomon

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Recent scholarship frames craft as distinct from art and as an encapsulation of cultural expression at a given moment. Building on that framework, this thesis analyzes the shifting attitudes towards the production of handmade textiles among Eastern European Jews in the US in the twentieth century, as influenced by their migration. To demonstrate the textile environment at that time, this thesis examines pre- and post-migration primary sources and autobiographical writing, including Mary Antin’s The Promised Land, supplemented with interviews of first- and second-generation immigrants to Chicago. In contrast with stereotypes about craft as historically stable, defining craft as regional …

Exhibitions As Artworks - Research Output, Kaitlyn German

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Slide 1: Hello, my name is Kaitlyn German and I was the USRI Intern of Professor John Hatch this summer.

Slide 2: The goal of my USRI internship under Professor Hatch was to conduct research and find academic articles for Professor Hatch to aid in the design of a university undergraduate course. As such, there was a steady amount of research that was required in order to properly find information on the topics that Professor Hatch requested. To further my researching skills, I attended various Professional Development sessions including: Intro to Literature Searches and Information Evaluation, wherein I learned about …

Music Sounds Better With You, M Gillian Carrabre

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Electronic Dance Music (EDM) is a catalyst for creative expression, from the solo dance form known as shuffling, to “Flow Arts” activities (forms of self-expression inducing a flow state) like poi, hula hooping, orbiting, and gloving. Gloving is a subcultural practice and artform that couples LED lights with dexterous finger movements. It is a method of expression for dance music enthusiasts (also known as ravers) and has become an important component of the EDM scene, particularly over the past decade. Glovers engage in “secondary” performances to live music (DJs) using complex techniques such as symbolism, word painting, and what the …

The Retablos Of Teabo And Mani: The Evolution Of Renaissance Altars In Colonial Yucatán, C. Cody Barteet

Visual Arts Publications

From the turn to seventeenth through the early eighteenth century, three retablos (altarpieces) were created in Yucatán that relied on a similar Renaissance design. The retablos located in the ex-convents of Mani and Teabo all adopt the Spanish sixteenth-century Renaissance style of the Plateresque. Further, the retablos are connected by the inclusion of caryatid framing devices that establishes a strong affinity among the works. Two of the retablos are located in Mani: the Retablo of San Antonio de Padua and the Retablo of Nuestra Señora de Soledad (or sometimes called the Dolores Retablo). At Teabo is the Retablo de Santa …

Sasah Experiential Learning Opportunities: Western Heads East And The Iconoclast Collective, Jade Rozal

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

The first part of this report discusses my time as a remote intern during Summer 2020 for the Tanzanian organization, MikonoYetu. MikonoYetu is an NGO that seeks to promote the empowerment and economic independence of young girls, and my team and I were tasked were creating and designing their live website. This internship was supervised by Western Heads East, who also tasked my team with reviewing and suggesting changes for their current website. While completing this remote internship during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic brought many challenges, my team and I were able to fulfill our deliverables and learn …

Final Experiential Learning Report: The Stratford Festival Archives & Ecuador Women’S Empowerment Trip, Julia Campbell

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

To fulfil my SASAH experiential-learning requirement, I worked as an intern at the Stratford Festival Archives in 2017 and travelled to Ecuador as part of a Women’s Empowerment trip in 2018. At the Festival, my colleague and I were responsible for designing the Archives’ first-ever digital catalogue. We researched the provenance of each costume piece, which often included looking through design bibles and conducting informal interviews. We then photographed and wrote detailed descriptions for each costume piece. By the end of the summer, my colleague and I had written over 300 complete entries, laying the groundwork for future interns. My …

Learning From Experience: Designing For Western Libraries And Western Mustangs, Sophia Belyk

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

In this report, Belyk reflects on her two internship experiences. In her summer with Western Libraries, Belyk worked on social-media content production and social-media management, as well as expanded her knowledge of design and her skill of working collaboratively. In her three years with the Western Mustangs, Belyk learned a lot about working in design professionally, as well as how to thrive in unfamiliar circumstances, and what kind of team she likes to work with. Throughout the report Belyk reflects on the value of experiential learning and what it means to be a designer.

Final Report: Iconoclast And London Children's Connection Internships, Veronica Botnick

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

In my second year of university, I joined an on-campus magazine, Iconoclast, as an assistant director. In my third year, I continued with Iconoclast as a director and started another internship with the London Children's Connection. Both projects have shown the effects of different language choice. With Iconoclast, I learned the importance of taking a less academic writing approach in theme descriptions and editors' letters. A neutral tone reaches a wider audience and ensures that readers from any background gain a full understanding of our theme. At the London Children's Connection, a simple change in choice of words can improve …

Undocumented Migration And Political Community In Susan Meiselas's Crossings Photographs, Sarah Bassnet

Visual Arts Publications

In 1989, Magnum photographer Susan Meiselas (b. 1948) photographed irregular border crossings in southern California. At the time, it was relatively easy for undocumented migrants from Central America and Mexico to cross between ports of entry, even as there was growing pressure on American officials to address border security.1 One photograph in Meiselas’s Crossings series depicts a border patrol officer apprehending a migrant off the interstate near Oceanside (fig. 1). Two torsos fill the center of the image. The officer grasps the man’s clothing, propelling him toward the nearby vehicle. With heads cut off by the frame and backs turned, …

Still, Unfolding, Ramolen Mencero Laruan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Together with my Master of Fine Art thesis exhibition, still, unfolding, at Zalucky Contemporary (Toronto, Ontario), this dossier constitutes the following accompanying components: a comprehensive artist statement, documented artwork, an interview with artist Erika DeFreitas, and a curriculum vitae. These components contextualize my subject-position, and outline theoretical research, motivations, and reflections that drive my work. I expand on the diasporic experience, politics of knowledge, and the autobiographical genre as they are linked methodologies in the retrieval of immigrant histories. The fusion of autobiography and fiction becomes a hopeful approach in challenging forgotten or omitted history and confronts the expectations …

Embodiment Of Creative Thought And Visual Logic In Bookmaking: An Example Of Intermediality In Word-Picture Adaptation, Diana Bychkova

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This interdisciplinary study discusses word-picture translation for book illustrations and brings together visual art, book/illustration history, the materiality of the book, literature, and library science. The focus is on communication between the creator, the work of literary and visual art, and the receiver. Theories that observe verbal-visual relations appear typically disconnected from the practical aspects of bookmaking and publishing. In bridging practice and theory, I have developed my own method of word-picture interpretation that can be applied to any adult fiction text.

The thesis discusses the outside and the inside of illustration-making, presents the methodology and theoretical framework, explores such …

Horse Portraits Business Project And Anova Cel, Alex Busch

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

For her first experiential-learning credit, Alex started a small art business as a chance to learn about business, marketing and entrepreneurship. As part of the process, she built a website, wrote a business plan, and created a “how to” manual explaining the basics of what she learned for other aspiring entrepreneurs. For her second project, Alex worked with Anova in two main capacities: first, as part of the “pet committee,” she helped create a plan and proposal for making the shelter pet friendly; second, she facilitated a number of public outreach workshops in the London community.

Experiential Learning: Sasah Final Report, Elora Sinnott

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

Elora Sinnott revisits both her experiential-learning opportunities, one as a research assistant at Western and the other with Art 4 All Kids in London, ON. In describing her opportunities and the results, Elora focuses on the skills she developed, the impact the opportunities had on her career path, and the importance of instilling a love of the arts in children.

Experiential Learning, Elora Sinnott

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Presentations

In her presentation, Elora Sinnott revisits both her experiential-learning opportunities, one as a research assistant at Western and the other with Art 4 All Kids in London, ON. In describing her opportunities and the results, Elora focuses on the skills she developed, the impact the opportunities had on her career path, and the importance of instilling a love of the arts in children.

An App A Day Keeps The Doctor Away: A Visual Case Analysis Of The Self-Optimization Ideologies Downloaded Onto Apple Users As They Download Applications, Ismahan Yusuf

MA Research Paper

This visually thematic qualitative case analysis seeks to advance cyber-sociology by analyzing the hyper-under-attended relationship between interfaces and discourses. Here, the interface under investigation is the Apple App Store, examined for the ways in which the platform is discursively encoded with particular ideologies, ideals, desires and narratives downloaded onto users as they download applications. Such is explored via a two-part research question inquiring: Which type of applications enjoy the most promotion on the Apple App Store and what cyber-architectural tools are herein used to optically exalt them? To investigate this, an iOS 11-operating iPhone was used to frequent the store’s …

Rui(N)Ation: Narratives Of Art And Urban Revitalization In Detroit, Jessica Ks Cappuccitti

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation considers the City of Detroit as a case study for analyzing the complex role that artists and art institutions are playing in the potential re-growth and revitalization of the city. I specifically look at artists and arts organizations who are working against the popular narrative of Detroit as “ruin city.” Their efforts create counter narratives that emphasize stories of survival and showcase vibrant communities. By focussing on artist-led and institutional initiatives, I emphasize the importance of art in both community and narrative-building.

This research has taken the form of a written dissertation and two adapted projects, and positions …

Spanning, Mary Katherine Carder-Thompson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dossier consists of three chapters. Chapter 1 is a comprehensive artist statement describing my system for spirit communication that leverages the latent power of wool processing tools. This system borrows strategies from varied sources including living history, paraconceptualism, and bricolage. Chapter 2 visually documents my studio practice over the two years of my MFA candidacy at Western University. Chapter 3 is a case study of Luanne Martineau’s 2009 drawing, Who are they you salute, and that one after another salute you. This case study addresses Martineau’s engagement with Modernism’s legacy and discusses how her work builds an equitable …

Philosophical Archeology In Theoretical And Artistic Practice, Ido Govrin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The aim of this thesis is to examine philosophical archeology and the feasibility of knowledge that derives from researching it simultaneously through theoretical and artistic practice.

Philosophical archeology essentially embodies one’s relation to history and historiographic research—a research methodology at the core of which lies a “historical a priori”, that which a priori conditions the historical development of a phenomenon. However, this research conceives of philosophical archeology more broadly, as a multifaceted term that traverses the discourse of the humanities at large.

By pursuing this doctoral research, my original contribution to knowledge is twofold: (1) I historicize philosophical archeology—a …

Synchrotron Radiation Analysis Of Daguerreotypes: Surface Characterization, Electrocleaning, And Preservation, Madalena S. Kozachuk

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The first commercially viable photographic image, the daguerreotype, captured images from 1839 to 1860. While daguerreotypes provide a significant historical record of 19^th century individuals and events, deterioration now disfigures many of these images. This work describes the application of synchrotron radiation (SR) to the study of daguerreotypes.

Three goals were addressed in this thesis: 1) to utilize SR to further elucidate the physics and chemistry of the daguerreotype and how the surface varies with time, 2) to study the effects of the electrocleaning system on the daguerreotype surface, and 3) to propose suggestions to improve their preservation and …

Bone Meal, Johnathan Onyschuk

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

My research explores the material properties of gaming interfaces and the paranoiac virtual spaces of male fantasies. The first chapter of this thesis is an extended artist statement and a summary of influences in my work. Topics include the relationship between fantasy violence and real violence, digital avatars, and the limits of empathy in digital space. This chapter also contains documentation of works produced throughout the course of my MFA candidacy as well as the contexts and concepts behind those works. The second chapter is a case study exploring the work of artist Neo Rauch, whose paintings quietly critique and …

The Medieval Genesis Of A Mythology Of Painting, Colin Dorward

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Abstract: The Medieval Genesis of a Mythology of Painting.

Author: Colin Dorward

Principal Advisor: Sky Glabush.

Advisory Committee: Dr. Kathryn Brush, Patrick Mahon.

This dissertation attempts to enrich awareness of the late antique and early medieval preconditions of art which fortified today’s capacity for painted representations to fulfill a demand for the presence of absent individuals, such as in the case of portraiture. Chapter one contextualizes this program of research in terms of my practice as an oil painter, where figuration plays a prominent role. Key aspects of my studio work are introduced, such as my commitment to working from …

Reflections On The Art Education Program, Devon Lowrie

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Presentations

Devon founded The Art Education Program (AEP) started because of her interest in the transition into a post-secondary level of arts academics from a secondary school level. The AEP aims to ease the transition from high school into university by providing support to students interested in pursuing the visual arts. The outcome of the program became a lot more than a mentorship, but it became an opportunity for participants to critically engage with their own art practice, and professionalize their skills, and created a small community that fostered growth, creativity, and experimentation. Devon designed the AEP to uncover where the …

Woodland Cemetery Cel, Mickey Juranka

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

In this Final Report of his CEL Experience, Mickey gives an overview of the work he completed for the Woodland Cemetery, reflects on how the skills he's honed through SASAH affected his work, further reflects on the experience of creating and delivering the final presentation, and discusses the impact the work may have on his career prospectives after graduation this spring.