Art and Design Commons^™

Sense Make Before Book, Bradley Sinanan

Theses and Dissertations

“Sense Make Before Book” is an Indo-Caribbean turn of phrase which refers to common sense being more important than book smarts. My sister sent me a post the other day on Instagram of an Trinidadian woman using this phrase, saying it was one of Indo-Caribbean origin. I was interested and asked my mom about it. My mom says that when she was younger my grandpa said it often around their house in Princes Town, Trinidad and Tobago. This adage feels charged thinking about the history of indenture and its effects on the Indo-Caribbean diaspora.

The written word of archival history …

Partial Eclipse, Christopher Pak

Masters Theses

A meditation on the interior and exterior in physical space can help us to think about the relationship between the self and other. This thesis explores the boundary between the inside and outside, and between absence and presence through silkscreen printed fabrics. Using an improvisational process guided by chance, residual marks are layered to create an illusion of ephemeral architecture. These textiles offer an experience of time and space that exists between interior and exterior worlds.

The Self, My Self, And Female Portraiture, Kenza Fernandez

Scripps Senior Theses

Growing up in Mexico was a privilege for many reasons. I am most grateful for its history of preservation and storytelling through art, specifically portraiture. I learned about my country's history and its most influential figures primarily through visuals. From mesoamerican sculptures to Mexican modern mural art, one did not have to be literate or speak vernacular Spanish to understand the story of our culture through time. It is this visual way of recording history that I have decided to turn to for interpretation and self exploration. Throughout the course of this academic year, I will be creating a series …

Self && Self, Shuang Cai

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Seldom before the COVID-19 pandemic have so many people simultaneously had their lifestyle drastically changed in the same way. The forced physical isolation is, ironically, a communal experience. The sickening quarantine left everyone nothing but time to confront and reconnect with themselves. Another inevitable result of corporal isolation is the predominant awakening awareness of digital existences and connections. Evoking the shared sensitivity and delicacy, studying the tectonic activity of the digital world, the project documents the endured contemplation in the upcoming resurgence.

Recycle Bin (Trashure), Eunhyung Chung

Masters Theses

I am inspired by painful and exhausting situations, fragile or impermanent things that break easily and do not last long, so most of my works are installation or performance which changes as time goes by. I think a lot about the sense of loss and there are two kinds of loss in my work. One is the loss of precious moments and emotions of the past. Since I have so many blissful memories of my childhood related to art, they are the driving force of my artwork and they form the core of my identity. The loss of direction and …

"My Self Is The Art Is": An Art Installation Exploring Self-Reflection In Art-Making, Alexis Rubertino

Honors Projects

This is an art-installation which explores the following question: How does self-reflection play a role in art-making, particularly involving tacit artist-viewer communication?

I consider the self to be the recognition of a sum of experiences which constitute a sense of being: the self is experiential baggage that actively shapes the way one experiences the world. Artists must analyze their self and assume the viewer’s self to fulfill the intention of their art.

Art, loosely defined, points at or interacts with life and living – artists gather materials (visuals, ideas, audios, objects, etc.) and combine them to provide juxtapositions which create …

A Single {Frame}, Liya Zhu, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

1 volume, 6 pages. Numbered edition of 12 copies. "printed in Caslon Old Style on French paper with watercolor and lino-cuts"--colophon. ".. [Produced] spring 2019 [for] Art 136: The Artist's Book course, taught by Tia Blassingame"--colophon. Combines handset letterpress, linocuts, watercolor, papercutting and an interactive element to express the significance of self."--Scripts Press.

Ekatvam, Atreyee Chakraborty

Comparative Woman

"What is spirituality? Is this all about God? And what is God? A mystical concept? All I know that if we surrender to the will of God, if we pray and repent for our sins, we will be saved out of our trouble and we will get peace of mind. To me, my dance is my God. Through my dance I have touched the essence of spirituality."

Ghost, A Stone, Audrey Blood

Masters Theses

This is a book of cement and paper. It addresses questions of surface, self, interior, and relations with the environment. It points to emotional and affective geographies in the context of printmaking.

Polaroid Access, Becky Jane Rosen

Theses and Dissertations

In her thesis statement, Becky Jane Rosen discusses the relationships between photography, family, and the psyche through her recent paintings and artistic influences.

It Can't Leave You The Way It Finds You, Kyle Nobles

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

There’s a beautiful innocence in childhood where, although the world is large and new, it feels as though your place in it and the roles that you play are stable and unchanging. In our youth, outside of extraordinary circumstances, we are unburdened by the awareness that everything and everyone is subject to radical change—including our own sense of self. As we grow older though, looking back it becomes clear that this was never the case. In a matter of years, you can change so dramatically that you did not even notice as you became an entirely new person. For me, …

What You See Is What You Get, Kevin Kempisty

Graduate Theses

This thesis statement describes and comments on the four videos that compose my thesis exhibition, "What you See is What You Get." Together, they constitute a self-portrait. Videos require multiple mediums and software, each with their own purpose and aesthetic. The three key ingredients these four videos make use of are recorded performances, 2D animation and narrative. This statement will detail the visuals and purpose of each one, the technology and editing process, and the inspirations that have led to the thesis exhibition. The statement describes the choice of color, movement and rhythm to carry the narrative, which is not …

Considering Triple Self-Portraiture In The Work Of María Izquierdo, Brooke Lashley

The Quiet Corner Interdisciplinary Journal

This paper looks to María Izquierdo’s paintings, Prisioneras (Prisoners) of 1936 and Sueño y presentimiento (Dream and Premonition) of 1947, as case studies for activating a theory of triple self-portraiture. The theory reflects how plurality arises in the singular or in single significations of the self and disrupts homogeneity in thinking about identities for the self and others within the genre of self-portraiture. In activating a theory of triple self-portraiture, I found three forms of the self in Izquierdo's works: the self as oppressed (the past); the self as oppressing (the current); and the self as an emancipator (future). Although …

Interior, Concept And Clay: A Study Of Self And Space, Lily Alan

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper considers theories of perception, interaction, and being as a historical and philosophical foundation for themes of space and the self within art; namely, my senior installation, Interior, Concept & Clay. Beginning with a biological discussion of the eye’s perception, the paper moves on to Kant’s theories of Differentiation of Direction in Space. From there, I discuss Gaston Bachelard’s text The Poetics of Space as an investigation of personal awareness within domestic interiors. Finally, I study the vast and varied philosophical notions of selfhood and no-selfhood with the help of John Canfield’s The Looking-Glass Self: An Examination of …

The Design Of A Mobile, Animatronic Bald Eagle, Eric Burns

Phi Kappa Phi Research Symposium (2012-2016)

Modern animatronics are used as a tool to help engage audiences in realistic and entertaining experiences. Many animatronic figures are dynamic in movement, but static in mobility. The research presented covers the beginnings of mobile animatronic research. An animatronic bald eagle, Opportunity, was designed for that purpose. Animations for Opportunity are generated by integration of Arduino, Pololu Mini Maestro, and Hitec Servo Motors. Arduino receives signals from flex sensors which cause voltage variations when “flexed”. The 1:1 scale, animatronic eagle can be perched on the arm of an “actor” who simulates an eagle’s caretaker. The flex sensors are located within …

Because I Am Not Here, Selected Second Life-Based Art Case Studies. Subjectivity, Autoempathy And Virtual World Aesthetics, Francisco Gerardo Toledo Ramírez

Francisco Gerardo Toledo Ramírez

Second Life is a virtual world accessible through the Internet in which users create objects and spaces, and interact socially through 3D avatars. Certain artists use the platform as a medium for art creation, using the aesthetic, spatial, temporal and technological features of SL as raw material. Code and scripts applied to animate and manipulate objects, avatars and spaces are important in this sense. These artists, their avatars and artwork in SL are at the centre of my research questions: what does virtual existence mean and what is its purpose when stemming from aesthetic exchange in SL?

Through a qualitative …

Because I Am Not Here, Selected Second Life-Based Art Case Studies. Subjectivity, Autoempathy And Virtual World Aesthetics, Francisco Gerardo Toledo Ramírez

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Second Life is a virtual world accessible through the Internet in which users create objects and spaces, and interact socially through 3D avatars. Certain artists use the platform as a medium for art creation, using the aesthetic, spatial, temporal and technological features of SL as raw material. Code and scripts applied to animate and manipulate objects, avatars and spaces are important in this sense. These artists, their avatars and artwork in SL are at the centre of my research questions: what does virtual existence mean and what is its purpose when stemming from aesthetic exchange in SL?

Through a qualitative …

Dichotomy Of Self, Shelly Hokanson

All Student Theses

This body of work explores, through a character named Doll, the impressions, emotions, and realizations I have experienced while undergoing a transformation of self, both inside and out. This collection of images also explores the dichotomy of solitude vs. companionship. (Abstract by OPUS staff from author text)

Evocation Of Memory And Place, Colleen Pendry

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

My work investigates the inseparability of memory and emotion. Guided by what remain of my mother’s tattered memoirs, I have investigated a place from her past that suggests an intense search which filters through her writings and in tandem with my own visual remembrance. Through the manipulation of materials, technique and space, my work reveals a simple yet complex connectedness to memory and place.

Self / Center, Jason J. Anderson

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The act of photographing myself has had a profound effect on my personal healing after surviving a suicide attempt in the winter of 2008. Coming to the end of my rope after years of trying ex-gay therapy and countless bullying in the workplace and from others left me with a fragmented self that was collapsing. It was through the reawakening and rebuilding of myself that I began to photograph myself as a means of therapy and closure. My work has consistently dealt with the elements of faith and sexuality and the problems that one goes through in attempting to reconcile …