Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Ethnographemes, Vaishnavi Mahendran

Masters Theses

Spoken and written languages are living processes. As with our own natural systems, they are born, evolve in stages, yet also face the eventuality of death. Current research indicates that there are 7,111 spoken languages in the world. UNESCO lists a total of 577 languages as critically endangered.

This thesis examines the role of graphic design and its potential contribution to the preservation of endangered languages and writing systems of indigenous communities. My interest lies in exploring possibilities of the script serving as a vessel to share and celebrate deeper stories of each of these communities’ heritage.

Through my practice, …

Re: Ornament, Aleks Dawson

Masters Theses

Re:Ornament calls for a rethinking of ornament within the history and practice of design, urging a broad reconsideration of ornament’s value and a complete reimagining of ornament’s future potential. Charting the arc of ornament in the Western tradition, this thesis reexamines the impact of modernism’s rejection of ornament—and, with it, its embedded culture, history, knowledge and craft.

Studying ornament’s structure as a language, I make the case for ornament’s inherent beauty and excess and speculate on how ornament could apply to thinking and making beyond design. Through graphic form, material exploration and pattern thinking, I …

Something To See Here, Weixi Zeng

Masters Theses

“Nothing to see here” is a suspicious phrase.

Whenever we hear it, we pause and become alerted. Something is most likely indeed happening, and worth noting — mishaps ranging from either an embarrassing coffee spill, unfair abuses of privacy, or insidious early signs of a pandemic.

Historically, states and national entities have always valued the power of information to allow them to see more, and see better — all the while obstructing the path to clarity for ordinary citizens. Systems and infrastructure have become expressions of authority, rife with distortion and deception. Familiar systems are commandeered to surveil us, yet …

Projective Aesthetics As A New Discourse, Boris Orlov Ph.D.

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Material Matters, Mary Bittner Wiseman

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Secret Communication System, Jocelyn Salim, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Baker & Whitehill supplemental content

No abstract provided.

Looking-Glass Mixology, Xu (Susie) Zhu, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Baker & Whitehill supplemental content

No abstract provided.

A Book Of Happiness, Shuyan Chen, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Baker & Whitehill supplemental content

No abstract provided.

Oral History Transcript | Interview With Martin Mull, March 5, 2020, Martin Mull, Andrew Martinez, Risd Archives

RISD Oral History Project Transcripts

No abstract provided.

Aesthetic Disappointmnet, Russell L. Quacchia

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

A survey of the literature in philosophical aesthetics reveals no extended studies on aesthetic disappointment. If anything, the topic has no more than a tacit or implicit presence to that of aesthetic satisfaction. Yet we do suffer aesthetic dissatisfactions in the form of disappointment. In this essay I attempt to initiate a discussion of the question, why and under what conditions are we aesthetically disappointed? I identify some of the main ingredients of aesthetic disappointment by examining commonly relevant emotions, the expectation basis of aesthetic appreciation, and the role of adaptive preference formation in the cultivation of personal taste as …

The Aesthetics Of Social Situations: Encounters And Sensibilities Of The Everyday Life In Japan, Garcia Chambers

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

What beauty could there be in mundane, interactive encounters in and observations of the everydayness of life in Japan? The answer rightly may be none whatsoever based on the Kantian, distancing, art-centered theory and practice of aesthetics. Refreshingly, however, contemporary social and aesthetic philosophers would argue that the use of the word ‘beauty’ was a misguided choice, as it repeats the common error of equating the aesthetic with the beautiful or pleasing. A more appropriate word, honoring the original sense perception meaning of aesthetics, would be ‘sensibility.’ True to this original meaning of aesthetics, this paper presents and analyzes two …

Revolution And Aesthetics, Nicholas Romanos

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Aesthetic Appreciation Of Silence, Erik Anderson

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

We enjoy sounds. What about silence: the absence of sound? Certainly not all, but surely many of us seek out, attend to, and appreciate silence. But, if nothing is there, then there is nothing to possess aesthetic qualities that might engage aesthetic interest or reward aesthetic attention. This is at least puzzling, perhaps even paradoxical. In this paper, I attempt to dispel the sense of paradox and provide a way to understand aesthetic appreciation of silence. I argue that silence can have an aesthetic character and can sustain the kinds of rich experiences apt for aesthetic assessment and appraisal.

2020 Mlk Keynote Address: Michelle Alexander Presentation, Center For Social Equity & Inclusion, Michelle Alexander, Rosanne Somerson, Matthew Shenoda

Martin Luther King, Jr. Series

2020 MLK Series Keynote Michelle Alexander brings audiences profoundly necessary and meaningful insights on the practice of mass incarceration that plagues the US justice system, as well as eye-opening conversation on how we can end racial caste in America. Lecture Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at 5:30pm, RISD Auditorium, 17 Canal Walk, Providence, RI.

In her acclaimed bestseller The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Alexander peels back the curtain on systemic racism in the US prison system in a work that the New York Review of Books describes as "striking in the intelligence of her …

Recent Publications, Editorial Office

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Notices, Editorial Office

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Santa Barbara Save Us, Alejandro Cartegena, Special Collections, Fleet Library, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Photography

116 unnumbered pages : all illustrations (some color) ;1 booklet (8 unnumbered pages : 3 illustrations (1 portrait). Cover title. Introduction by Jonathan Blaustein. Limited edition of 50 copies signed by the photographer and accompanied by 2 photographic color prints. "The last chapter of the trilogy that has followed the cultural turmoil that the US has lived in the last 4 years. The third volume continues to paint an uncertain present and future"--Publisher's website, viewed October 14, 2021. Alejandro's pictures in this project, since the beginning, have channeled that fear of fire, the engulfing heat, the insatiable flames, devouring everyone …

In Between, Frida Baranek, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Printmaking

42 pages ; 28 cm + 16 portfolios (samples ; 28 cm). 1 box, 16 portfolios. Title from title page of text booklet. Housed in a cloth-covered drop-spine portfolio box (30 x 24 x 5 cm) with paper label on spine Portfolio contains a text booklet (42 pages) plus 16 specimens of handmade paper in individual white paper folders with letterpress identifying each artist. Text booklet contains artists' statements and biographical information. Contents: Amalia Avilés-Lugo -- Anna Hendrick Karpatkin Benjamin -- Hannah O'Hare Bennett -- Jenna Bonistalli -- Elena Bordacconi -- Lesa Hepburn -- Julie L. Johnson -- Danae Lagoy …

The Book Of Ezekiel And The Speculative Design, Ian Gonsher

Scholarly Research

In this essay, the origins of speculative literature are situated within the prophetic tradition of Jewish mysticism, particularly in the Book of Ezekiel. The Book of Ezekiel is also a text about design. We investigate how these ancient sources align with contemporary design discourses, particularly Speculative Design, and propose new strategies for the readings of historical progress.

Editorial, Editorial Office

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Yearbook, 2020, Risd Archives, Center For Student Involvement (Csi), Risd Design Guild

RISD Yearbooks

No abstract provided.

The Morse Dry Dock Dial, Sarah Nicholls, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

1 volume (unpaged) : illustrations ; 31 x 46 cm folded to 17 x 13 cm. Cover title. Edition of 250. "The Morse Dry Dock Dial is the Spring 2020 Informational Pamphlet, taking its name from the magazine published by the Morse Dry Dock Company, my great-grandfather's employer in the early years of the twentieth century. The original publication reported on the lives and activities of their community of workers, many of which lived in the neighborhood, what was then called Bay Ridge and is now named Sunset Park, Brooklyn. This pamphlet talks about my family's history in the neighborhood, …

Black Is Every Color, Alisa Banks, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

1 volume (8 unnumbered pages) : color illustrations ; in box 11.5 x 12.5 x 12.5 cm. Unique book. Artist's statement: Black, the sum of all colors, mysterious, all-encompassing, a shroud, a swarm. Familiar but unknowable, coveted and uncontained. This book work considers the encompassing nature of blackness. Box containing painted cube surrounded by four flaps featuring single signature books. Each stitched cover opens to reveal a poem about the color black. Media: Book cloth, book board, paper, acrylic paint, graphite, glass, embroidery thread, silk, watercolor, graphite. "Created while watching spring bloom and events unfold during COVID-19."--artist's website. Curated title …

A Cloud Index, Spencer Finch, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

60 folded sheets : illustrations. "The sixty pastel drawings that comprise this book were originally created for a public art project at the new Elizabeth Line station at Paddington in London. The entire work, titled "A Cloud Index," presents 27 different types of clouds within a single composition. The drawings were scanned and then printed onto 180 clear glass panels (each 2 meters x 6 meters) and installed in the canopy of the station. The pages of this book can be assembled and attached to a wall to re-create the entire artwork, at a reduced scale. The number printed on …

Draw Down Books, Draw Down Books, Kathleen Sleboda, Christopher Sleboda, Zak Jensen, Nejc Prah, Daniel Eatock, Maziyar Pahlevan, Benoit Bodhuin, Bráulio Amado, Jost Hochuli, Ian Lynam

UNBOUND 2020 Archive

Draw Down Books exhibitors. Draw Down is an independent publisher located in the northeastern corner of the United States. Created in 2012, Draw Down publishes small books about graphic design, typography, illustration, photography, art, and architecture.

Avalanche Safety Book, Casey Gardner, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

1 volume (unpaged) : illustrations Title from cover; imprint from colophon. "Written, drawn, printed and bound by the artist"--Colophon. Limited edition of 50 copies. Letterpress printed accordion-bound folios with pamphlet-stitched interior booklets. Printed on a Vandercook 4 with photo-polymer plates and carved linoleum. Two digitally printed, hand-bound fascicles. Covers are cloth-cornered davey board. Typefaces: Cheltenham, Kabel, Gill Sans, Futura, and Bodoni. Paper: Moulin du Gué, Zerkall Book, and Curious Metallic. "This book, through a story of two climbers, explores human vulnerability and vision in navigating physical and existential risks. The story reflects our era of environmental peril and the blind …

Don't Cut Your Hair It's Beautiful, Kellee Morgado, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

3 volumes : color illustrations Edition of 50. Each volume has 24 unnumbered pages, bound so that the reader can lift the center illustration to reveal a larger illustration within. The gatherings are unopened throughout, obscuring text and illustrations. In a cloth-covered portfolio, held closed with a printed paper band. "The work questions personal rituals surrounding hair, constructs associated with hair in Western culture, and the shift in value when hair is unattached to bodies. In this ongoing inquiry I explore my own experience with femininity, womanhood, my relationship with my own hair, and how it conforms to or disrupts …

Baldio, I.E. S̆Egota, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

20 unnumbered pages : all color illustrations Title from cover. "Dibugado por I.E. S̆egota para Concordia, MX, en la ciudad de Qro., en el año de la pandemia."--back cover. Signed in pencil by the artist on back cover. Accordion book, front side has one continuos illustration screen printed in green, orange, and purple on beige paper. Illustration on verso in blue on beige.

Delirium, Philip Zimmermann, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

60 unnumbered pages : color illustrations Printed by archival inkjet in a numbered edition of 30 copies, signed. "Delirium is a book born of the Covid-19 pandemic and time spent in lock-down. The text uses a paragraph from the 1866 masterpiece "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Towards the end of the book, his protagonist, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, has a feverish dream. This strangely prophetic text is quoted and used as the narrative line in this book. Highly manipluated images of jewel-like approximations of the corona virus appeared all over the web in the first few months of the pandemic …