Art and Design Commons^™

Talk To Me, I Am Listening, Larbi Sami Ben

Theses and Dissertations

An introductory conversation with a new person I just met usually goes like this: So, where is your accent from ? Are you American? Well, yes, .....but no. Not really. I do have American citizenship and I lived in the US for fifteen years but I grew up in France. Ok, so you’re French? Well, yes, but .....not totally. My mother is French but my father is Tunisian. Ok, so you’re Tunisian? Well, yes, but... not wholly. I don’t speak Arabic, so I don’t totally feel Tunisian. So what are you? American? French? Tunisian? With my work, I ask the …

Unseen, Sohee Kwon

Theses and Dissertations

Photography conveys informative data, aesthetic value, and a conceptual message very much like graphic design. In the hands of the photographer, the viewfinder of a camera becomes an editing tool. Editing by point of view, use of color and cropping determines a great deal about the communication made by imagery. In my creative project, I will explore photography as a means to generate form, concept, and content. As a result of this exploration, I expect to find new ways of approaching graphic design problems. My goal is to develop themes that combine aspects of photography and graphic design. Themes could …

A Sense Of Place: A Personal Exploration, Analysis And Re-Interpretation Of Diverse Places, Hyejin Park

Theses and Dissertations

Every city/place has unique, distinctive qualities. Individuals acquire a sense of place in accordance with their own experiences and perspectives, which may not be the same as the experiences and viewpoints of another person. In this project, I explore, analyze, and re-interpret three places that have creatively and emotionally influenced me and remained in my memory: Times Square, New York City; Insadong, Seoul, South Korea; and Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia. To comprehend and draw a sense of place, I observe, feel, and document the characteristics of each place through different methods and processes, based on my own experiences. In addition, …

Mobile Exhibition System, Sanford Jillian Columbus

Theses and Dissertations

Through the development and design of a Mobile Exhibition System (MES) in this thesis, I will demonstrate the benefits and possibilities of a flexible and mobile system within an exhibition environment. A flexible system will be able to adapt to a wide range of content, while at the same time, maintaining a synergy between its form and function. By the reuse and reappropriation of shipping containers as the exhibition envelope, the goal of mobility can be achieved, reaching out to those who might not otherwise experience learning through an exhibition environment.

Design By Accident, Mengfu Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Accident is a metaphor for life. From an arbitrary point in time, we potentially preview the entirety of existence. There is a Chinese idiom called “ blessing or bane,” which implies that a misfortune may perhaps soon turn into a blessing. Focusing on accident as a design method implies making the best out of a bad situation. An accident reveals invisible circumstances and potentialities in the world, both familiar and unfamiliar. Looking into the unpredictable world, I can begin to release my control, take a breath, and see what might happen if I do not fight the situation. I am …

Crafting Authenticity, Allison N. Schumacher

Theses and Dissertations

Authenticity is what we want from the world around us, from others, and crucially from ourselves and what we make. As it relates to graphic design, I define authenticity as a perceived match between form and purpose. For the designer, its quality is found in the process of simultaneously developing a concept and crafting the design/object.

Creative Insubordination, John Henry Blatter

Theses and Dissertations

In today’s lexicon a ‘Daily Constitutional’ usually refers to a daily walk. But in actuality, a ‘Daily Constitutional’ is something that one does on a daily basis that is beneficial to one’s constitution or healthful(1); and one’s constitution being the aggregate of a person’s physical and psychological characteristics(2). With this definition, the daily constitutional refers to any daily activity that improves a person’s physical or mental health. At various stages in my life I may have understood my constitutional to be any number of things and it was not until I came into my own did I truly discover my …

The Certainty Of Uncertainty, Julie Nagle

Theses and Dissertations

In this paper I investigate the limitations of memory, physical and psychological effects on individuals’ perception that effect memory, and the impact of those limitations on our ability to recall objective truth. The paper is introduced with an explanation of my interest in the subjective narrative voice in historical accounts and questions the possibility of a completely objective voice. In the first chapter, a fantastical biographical story of the life of Tycho Brahe is used as an example of the difficulty in parsing truth from legend. Descriptions of changes in scientific methods exemplify the uncertainty of scientific fact. I propose …

Collapse, Mia Feuer

Theses and Dissertations

Through large sculptural works that are often caricatures of representational objects, my work explores the complicated moments and tangled histories of childhood Jewish schooling in Winnipeg and travels to Israel and Palestine as an adult. My thesis exhibition Collapse, as well as most of my graduate work, examines my investigation through manmade constructions that control and restrict or unite and connect the movement of others. Sculptures about a destroyed bridge’s imagined longing for exotic places, a giant onion serving as a resuscitation mechanism against tear gas or a construction crane to Armageddon are some examples of work that explore the …

On A Saturday, Thoughts And Revelations, Maria Pithara

Theses and Dissertations

A favorite poet, a strange woman on the beach, pictures I love to look at. Back yard voyeurism, some thoughts on portraiture and why I couldn’t be a photographer. Strange rituals that make sense. Unexpected revelations. Two kinds of light. This essay presents part of the constellation of thoughts, images and ideas that have informed my most recent video installation, Saturday.

A Tlapalizquixochitl Tree, Christopher Mahonski

Theses and Dissertations

This writing was done in correlation to my thesis show, The Void, the Coach and the Future.

Nature Calls, Angela White

Theses and Dissertations

I am wandering wonderingly through the unplanned material atmosphere shaped by differences in temperature and moisture. The chaotic nature of weather phenomena is the catalyst for visual exploration of the subterranean catacombs of reality. The work is metaphor of nature and its creation of form and substance. Observing art and nature: I am allowing nature to be the instigator of art.

Hotel + Urban Community Interwoven, Cilvia Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Infusion is a gallery hotel that seeks to promote and encourage interaction between the local people of the community and traveling guests. More than just a hotel for rest and relaxation, Infusion will display a public gallery making art the universal language for their guests and the locals.

The Ambassador's Residence At 909 West Franklin, Jonathan Janis

Theses and Dissertations

In redesigning the century old Scott House into a modern Class IV residence of an US Ambassador, his/her family, and staff the concepts of transparency, circulation, and materiality and the ideas of openness and design as a display of national identity are explored.

Lollipop, Don't Be A Hero, Jennida Chase

Theses and Dissertations

Lollipop, Don’t Be a Hero explores the conceptual and visual themes that are presented in my MFA thesis exhibition. This thesis recounts the development of my work during the two years of graduate study at the VCU Photography and Film Department. The research looks into historical and contemporary ideas within art, social and philosophical commentary and literature, which influence my creative process and aesthetic. This work investigates the idea of giving a voice to a specific section of the working class.

In Pursuit Of Harmony: Calligraphy & Typography, Feifei Fan

Theses and Dissertations

Chinese calligraphy and Western typography have been evolving for around five thousands years. During this time, they have developed quite different characteristics. Compared with the geometrical form and precision of Western printing types, Chinese calligraphy features abstract shapes and spontaneous strokes. These differences result in a gap that prevents a harmonious and organic relationship between them. This project explores the possibilities of combining these two historical visual systems, demonstrates specific methods and approaches for creating compelling formal relationships, and endeavors to establish a friendly, organic and harmonious dialogue between Chinese calligraphy and Western typography. The outcome of this project is …

Vernal, Jason Orvis Dilworth

Theses and Dissertations

Culminating with a dream, this project transverses theoretical and geographical boundaries with explorations into the message-carrying potential of video, sound, performance, print, and web. Stories and content are extracted from an autobiographical history of one small western town turned boomtown. That town, the center from which the project emerges, is Vernal, Utah.

The Dismissive Actually, Alexander Egner

Theses and Dissertations

This project is about giving in to the impulse of ideas. My mind is a little messy and cluttered, swirling with bits of stimuli. The spark of an idea happens when the bits collide. I prefer not to initiate or control the process so much as keep it fed and active. Through graphic design, I bear witness to these ideas, giving them form as a series of visible, tangible objects. Viewed comprehensively, the work establishes an ongoing chronicle of my creative life and mind.

Modes Of Participation: Co-Creative Approaches To The Design Process, Carissa Henriques

Theses and Dissertations

This project explores the notion of participation within the graphic design and problem-solving process. Through projects using generative tools and collaboration, I explore ways to instigate controlled participation from designers and non-designers. I observe and document how the methods and means of participation affect the creative process during these projects.

Design For Conspicuous Transit, Peter Bain

Theses and Dissertations

My creative project explores design for transit advocacy; aimed at shifting a car-dependent society into one where transit helps meet climate change, energy, and land-use challenges. It incorporates my research into aspects of designing for transit, an understanding of urbanism in Richmond and New York, and an appreciation of planning.

Blood & Thunder Classics, Vol. 2, Brian Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

A MAGAZINE – A game of Chutes and Ladders – a network of pools connected by streams, rivulets, creeks and rivers. Concerns: aluminum, sculpture, film, an endless image or an image-object, cork, shoulders as the center of movement, archery, wicker, nystagmus, darkness or the penumbral near-darkness, constant movement, beer, tone, musical forms, bells, gongs, The Titanic, purple, black and white, indeterminacy, Ghostface, yodeling, John Smith, John Adams, David Hammons, Beyoncé, Honda CR-V’s, Har-khebi, Ahnighito, Hermann Doomer, Prince, Yvonne Rainer, perception, double rainbows, composers from Transylvania, Los Angeles, and chandeliers. “Everything is everything.” and “A woman is the first teacher.”

Nourish, Sara Streeter

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the design of a food service space in an historic building in Richmond, Virginia near the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. It is a result of retrofitting an awkward 1850s building by transforming it through the modern concept of a fast casual style restaurant, based in whole ingredients. The thesis is about the process of designing to rebalance the relationship between food and consumer in a modern era.

Building Blocks Retreat Center, Kelly Warner

Theses and Dissertations

In a perfect world, teamwork just exists. People function harmoniously with each other & their environment. Although we do not live in a perfect world, people and environments can always change and adapt to better their relationships. The Pumphouse was abandoned 41 years after the project was completed because it no longer met the needs and performed the functions that it needed to perform. It no longer serves the same purpose that it once did. And while acknowledging its past, it must also address its new functions and become a piece of beautiful, usable architecture once more. This space will …

Connectivity, Jennifer Farris

Theses and Dissertations

Create a place for learning Develop an interior system that addresses the under utilized spaces in existing higher education schools directed towards distance learning Design a place for one and a place for few, within a place for many Traditional classroom/school environments were developed around a specific program that addresses the needs of a teacher-class environment. Distance learning programs are introducing a new approach to higher education and require a new approach to learning environments. The goal of this project is to understand the development of the traditional classroom environment in order to assess the changes that need to be …

Paper Tricks, Edward Gardner

Theses and Dissertations

Prefabricated post disaster housing

Culture And A Connection, Chris Arias

Theses and Dissertations

Culture and a Connection In the Spanish province of Asturias, many homes built in the16th and 17th centuries are constructed of dry-stacked stone and large timbers for floor joists, rafters, decking. They are topped with large, irregularly shaped roof slates. Alongside many of these homes stands a rectangular granary called a cabazo. The cabazo, similarly constructed, is a stand-alone structure about twenty feet tall, six feet wide and twenty feet long. The main portion, (the storage area), stands ten feet off the ground atop two large, tapered columns. The upper level is typically separated form the lower level by a …

Spontaneous Knotting Of Agitated Strings, Anthony Klotz

Theses and Dissertations

The nature of perception and discernment through an examination of hypotheses and theories considered peculiar in their time but which had at least some popular, scientific or social support.

Username Tab Password Return, Andrea Nia Burks

Theses and Dissertations

USERNAME TAB PASSWORD RETURN

Social Networking Site, User Generated Content, Screen Identity, Gender, Sexuality, YouTube, Booty Video, Reaction Video, Digital Culture, Archive

An Adaptive Reuse Design For Faculty Living., Valentina Moore

Theses and Dissertations

Adaptive reuse of historic buildings is often a good way to make use of empty unutilized spaces that are architecturally valuable to function as desirable and pleasing environments. The inherited architectural features, large amounts of craftsmanship in the details that usually accompany these older spaces are the appealing traits, which make them exclusive. The design idea of faculty housing in an early twenty’s century Baptist church currently used as the Virginia Commonwealth University Music Center represent an alternative option to it’s existing use. The faculty housing idea in this thesis, as a second adaptive reuse option does not try to …

The Bird, Katherine Ann Kisicki

Theses and Dissertations

I have always approached my paintings with confidence. Mark making has always been my strength, particularly in drawing, and I feel this comes through in my gestural use of the paint. I also believe I approach paintings in a trial and error manner, where experimentation has precedence over concept. To remain in the moment and focused on what I am doing at that moment is a fundamental base of both my process and, interestingly what the resulting image translates to the viewer. To know this, and to remain suspended in this moment requires a foundation of trust within my capabilities …