Art Practice Commons^™

Queerform/Ing, Matthew Solon-Lee Weimer

Art Theses and Dissertations

My artwork is situated within and around vessels and the Queer Homoerotic World and explores sexuality as a Demisexual within them. This is accomplished through the two processes of my creation, Minivague and Queerform/ing: balancing sexual tension and explicit expression, while subverting traditional norms and stereotypes with queerness to distance oneself from stereotypical Gay Art. Altering/emphasizing makes the artwork more romantic, lighter, whimsical, softer, and tender than the figure/s and the situations actually are. The process is also emphasizing what one sees or wants to be seen. The Pink Boy becomes a celebration of intimacy of any form. I discuss …

Complexity Of Perfection, Ayanna M. Johnson

Honors Capstones

Many of the first art galleries and museums existed in places where elite individuals were allowed. The constant pursuit of achieving perfection in many circumstances may stem from a white supremacist narrative that often stagnates creativity from achieving its full potential. This sends a series of alarming messages to artists as they tend to lose the initial interest they have for their medium by attempting to achieve a level of perfection that is unattainable. As a result, this notion can shed light on the social impact art can have in society and the relationship with the type of artwork displayed. …

Cultural Formation Of Place: Making Yourself At Home, Olivia Arratia

Art Theses and Dissertations

The environment you grow up in can become a pivotal part of your existence. The sights, smells, people, and places you experience every day can transform the way you see the world. Growing up in a Mexican-American household has brought its own set of experiences that have made me the artist I am today. I am one of many contemporary artists building on the foundations of their heritage and the Chicano movement. I am also a Mexican-American artist expanding the identity and extending the legacy in the 21st century. This paper will investigate how Mexican-American heritage has influenced my artistic …

Dust, Mist, Haze, Michael C. Tracy

Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores painting through the ideas of dust, mist, and haze as specific atmospheric metaphors that could be used to describe ontologies of space, time, memory, and history.

Bitter Fruit, Ronald J. Green

Theses and Dissertations

Pain is a phenomenon like fear, belief, and love -- among the forces that determine the course of our lives long before we are born. These conditions generate the layers of the human soul, marrying one life with others past, present and future.

There is an unconscious consensus on the linearity of time. Our lives, memories, dreams and reflections constantly present a challenge to this general agreement. Life, like time, is a series of interlocking awarenesses. Paths intersect, the actions of individuals deposit change into an internal pool of collective experience. Freud once believed that the past is not fixed …

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 …

To The Peaches, Jazmine Hayes

Theses and Dissertations

My work focuses on erased histories and the ways these histories are preserved through cultural traditions. I explore histories across the African diaspora with specificity on African American culture and black female subjectivity.

The Russian Five, Austin M. Doub

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

This paper explores Russian culture beginning in the mid nineteenth-century as the leading group of composers and musicians known as the Moguchaya Kuchka, or The Russian Five, sought to influence Russian culture and develop a pure school of Russian music amidst rampant Westernization. Comprised of César Cui, Aleksandr Borodin, Mily Balakirev, Modest Mussorgsky, and Nikolay Rimksy-Korsakov, this group of inspired musicians, steeped in Russian society, worked to remove outside cultural influences and create a uniquely Russian sound in their compositions. Under the progressive reign of Tsar Peter the Great and the subsequent leadership of Tsar Peter the great, the nation …

Reworking The White-Masculine Ideal, Steven H. Gonzalez

Art Theses and Dissertations

This text functions as an exploration of self through artistic practice, a designated space for reflection on contemporary Queer experience. In looking specifically at the permeation of the idealized-white-masculine figure as found within Western visual culture, social media and gay pornography become isolated as sites where these figures are commonly found. This line of inquiry defines how the ideal is reified through these differing digital platforms and the social implications the homogenized male form has on raced individuals. In addition to determining the image of the perfect masculine physique through research, this text expands on how its' imaged representation becomes …

Layered Histories, Interpretive Desires, Rachelle Dang

Theses and Dissertations

I aim to excavate source material from the past and reinterpret its significance in the present through art. I merge history with the contemporary through acts of appropriation and material exploration, creating conditions for the viewer to grapple with colonial legacies in an affective space of visual experience.

Notes From Johannesburg - Dialogues And Itineraries Of The South From Kinshasa: Art, History, And Education, David Andrew

Artl@s Bulletin

This text was originally a brief speech in a debate – Dialogues and Itineraries of the South from Kinshasa: Art, History and Education that took place at Mário de Andrade Library’s Auditorium in São Paulo (Brazil) on October 26^th 2016. It draws from questions and discussions in Kinshasa, concerning arts education, the challenges in decolonizing curriculum and methods, connecting them to South African experiences, particularly at the Wits School of Arts (Johannesburg) and also from the Another Road Map School research group workshops.

Tuff Breeches, Arkadiy Ryabin

Theses and Dissertations

In consideration of language and it’s relationship to information and knowledge, the author explores personal set of events in relationship to that of the public, via forms of orality. 19th century American literature is posited as a hangover influencing contemporary events.

Pineapple, 022, Conversation – Behind The Cover Art, Jesse W. Standlea

The STEAM Journal

Many sources date the pit-firing process as a 30,000 plus years-old ceramic firing technique. Every year I take my AP 3D Design class to the beach to fire ceramic pieces using this method. Being a contemporary sculptor who shows in Los Angeles I have always appreciated pit-fired pieces but never used one in my own art practice until now. A connection between the first method of firing ceramics and my art practice seemed unrelated. The title for my piece might add to the disconnect; and yet these seemingly unrelated elements force the work into a place where the artistic process …

The Spirit Of Shu, Nathan Lewis

Nathan Lewis

"Yesterday, we unveiled the mural that Professor Nathan Lewis has been working on for about a year. It is currently on display in the gallery space at the Edgerton and, if you haven’t seen it, I recommend that you make a point to do so. It features images of more than 70 members of the SHU community—past and present—and truly lives up to its name, The Spirit of SHU. Nathan involved all members of the community as he decided what to include in the mural. As he said in his remarks yesterday, even if your image is not part of …

Steam With A Capital A: Learning Frenzy, David Rufo

The STEAM Journal

A student dipped a brush into a bowl of viscous tempera paint and in a few quick strokes formed thick magenta letters on a large display board. Nearby a handful of students were working together to attach string to paper cups and balloons. Across the room a small group of girls were lying on the floor carefully adding multi-colored text to a poster. Two others created characters out of Popsicle sticks for a puppet show...This is how the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, & Math (S.T.E.A.M.) happened with the fourth and fifth graders during the first few weeks of …

From "Stalinkas" To "Khrushchevkas": The Transition To Minimalism In Urban Residential Interiors In The Soviet Union From 1953 To 1964, Ksenia Choate

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

During the shift from the rule of Joseph Stalin to that of Nikita Khrushchev, people in the Soviet Union witnessed dramatic political, economic, and social changes, evident even in such private aspects of life as residential home interiors.

The major architectural style of Stalin's era, known as Stalin's Empire Style, was characterized by grandeur and rich embellishments. The buildings' interiors were similarly grandiose and ornate. By endorsing this kind of design, Stalin attempted to position himself as an heir of classical traditions, to encourage respect for his regime, and to signal his power. When Nikita Khrushchev became the country's leader …

An Activist's Guide To Lesbian History: A Companion To The Video Not Just Passing Through, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

This guide, designed to accompany the video Not Just Passing Through, contains guidelines for conducting oral history, forms for donating material to mainstream and community based archives, and lessons for engaging lesbian history with activism.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peacekeeper, Wright State University Art Galleries

Exhibition and Program Catalogs

Organized by The Peace Museum, Peacekeeper was an exhibit held at Wright State University to document the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and his influence with The Civil Rights Movement. Included in the exhibit, was historical reference to his life, as well as, performances by the Wright State University Gospel Choir, and the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. Peacekeeper was held at the Wright State University Art Gallery from November 5 through December 1st, 1989.

Committed To Print, Wright State University Art Galleries

Exhibition and Program Catalogs

A poster depicting several events ending the 1960s. The composition is overlapping and visually striking. Figures within this collage include: Martin Luther King Jr, President Kennedy, an astronaut representing the Apollo 11 mission, a truck with U.S. troops in Vietnam, a singer representing Woodstock, and many other smaller images representing other historical events of the time. The artist is unknown, and there was no name for the collage.