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 …

Cinema's Poetic Function: Creating An Amorous Distance, William Yonts

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

The aim of this thesis is to examine how cinema can embrace its poetic function to avoid its assimilation into preexisting hermeneutic structures, which would leave it vulnerable to myth as defined by Roland Barthes, and instead be a generative force, encouraging its viewer to engage with the full potential of the text. This mode of spectatorship is termed the “amorous distance,” which Barthes describes as his simultaneous fascination with the film and that which exceeds it. The amorous distance finds further articulation through the work of Roman Jakobson and Julia Kristeva. Jakobson’s schema of six language functions describes the …

Simulacra And Historical Fidelity In Digital Recreation Of Lost Cultural Heritage: Reconstituting Period Materialities For The Period Eye, Trent Olsen, James Hutson, Charles O'Brien, Jeremiah Ratican

Faculty Scholarship

The advancement of digital technologies in art history has opened avenues for reconstructing lost or damaged cultural heritage, a need highlighted by the deteriorated state of many artworks from the 1785 Salon. Grounded in the concept of the “Period Eye” by art historian Michael Baxandall, which emphasizes understanding artworks within their original historical and cultural contexts, this study proposes a subfield focused on Reconstituting Period Materialities for the Period Eye. This methodology bridges comprehensive historical research with generative visual artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, facilitating the creation and immersive virtual reality viewing of artworks. Beyond mere visual replication, the approach aims …

Pompeiian Mill-Bakeries: Spatial Organization And Social Interaction, Madeleine Rubin

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines bread production and the daily lives of those who worked in mill-bakeries during the first century CE. Bread was the staple food across the ancient Mediterranean; however, there is little textual evidence about those who produced the bread that fed the Roman Empire. The most significant body of evidence relating to the lives of mill-bakers is the archaeological remains of mill-bakeries from the city of Pompeii, preserved by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. This thesis analyzes the spatial organization of bread production within these mill-bakeries and applies the methodologies of spatial syntax – a …

Gentleman Death In Silk And Lace: Death And The Maiden In Vampire Literature And Film, Emily Wilson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis contains an examination in the psychosocial significance of Hans Baldung Grien’s “Death and the Maiden” art motif, created during the Renaissance period following the Black Death, and its resurgence in the vampire fiction genre of both literature and film. I investigate the motif in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) and Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire (1976) as well as their film adaptations by Francis Ford Coppola (1992) and Neil Jordan (1994), respectively. By examining the presence of the motif in art, literature, and film, I found that the common threads across all investigated works were the dominant social …

That Way: An Examination Of Male Relationships In Film During The Hays Code, Jane Knudsen

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The Hays Code (1934-1968) influenced the construct of United States masculinity and the discourse surrounding masculine presentation between the 1920s to the 1960s. The Hays Code and World War II affected the culture surrounding male/male relationships in the United States. Previous research done by David Lugowski (1999) and Jeffrey Suzik (1999) shows that both World Wars led to crises of masculinity in which the hegemonic ideal of masculinity was restructured to establish men as providers and warriors, and Code-era films reflected the discourse. To understand the gender roles in the 20^th century, I analyzed the Hays code, male bonds, …

From Tidewater To Tennessee: The Structuring Influences Of Virginia Schemata In The Settlement Of East Tennessee, Slade Nakoff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For over two hundred years, historians have debated the historical importance of early Tennessee migrants in shaping the state’s history. These discussions center around North Carolina's impact compared to Virginia's. By shifting discourse to the retention of migrant mentalities, the overwhelming influence of Virginia emerges through the continuity of privilege and commodification schemata. This study employs an interdisciplinary methodological approach combining schema theory, memory studies, and material culture analysis to outline the retention of mentalities from Tidewater, Virginia, to East Tennessee during the early settlement period. By utilizing the case study of John Carter of Watauga (1728-1781), the research illustrates …

The Unspoken Words Of Fashion: Movements Behind Harajuku’S Avant-Garde Fashion Trends, Alastair Leon

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Over the past 50 years, the Harajuku neighborhood in Tokyo, Japan, has become an epicenter for innovative fashion trends that have reached global audiences. Fashion, as a medium, is an art form that can be as powerful as traditional work. It can convey a multitude of messages, and most notably, it can be a wordless statement against dominant culture and societal norms. Social groups have used fashion as an identifier, and they are commonly linked with a subcultural identity. Self-expression is a powerful tool to fight against the status quo, and fashion enthusiasts in Japan have advocated for a rebellion …

Bedeviled Beauty: My Journey Through White American Theater Institutions, J'Aila C. Price

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Game console: Oculus Quest

World: American Theater Institutions

Player: Minority

Place: United States

Level: “Ain’t no way.”

This thesis explores the contrast between the Westernized philosophies ingrained in my education and my identity as a Black female artist. It sheds light on the difficulties of pursuing higher education in the arts and the gaps that arise from limited exposure to culturally diverse Black resources, revealing the systemic issues in Western performance education. The paper also discusses the insights gained from my journey as a Black female artist, focusing on my thesis performance of Blood at the Root, which is …

Additional Thoughts On The Coucy Donjon Tympanum And Table Of Homage, Richard Leson

Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture

No abstract provided.

Power And Poison: A Medieval Sapphire Ring In The Gotlands Museum, Visby Sweden, Louise Martinez

Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture

No abstract provided.

Medieval Zines: A New-Old Way To Study Medieval Art, Sarah Blick

Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture

No abstract provided.

Impressions Of Two Unstudied Badges In Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, Ms 540, E K. Myerson

Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture

No abstract provided.

Persepsi Pemerintah Dan Masyarakat Dalam Pelestarian Cagar Budaya: Studi Kasus Kawasan Cagar Budaya Pusat Pemerintahan Kesultanan Siak Sri Indrapura, Agi Ginanjar

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This study discusses the interpretation of the importance of government versus community in the preservation and potential use of the Siak Sri Indrapura Cultural Heritage Area. Efforts for preservation in accordance with the law are not easy, since in practice various problems arise, especially those related to their use. The purpose of this study is to combine the interpretation of important values of government and society in the preservation of cultural heritage areas and their potential use by taking into account socio-cultural and economic values. This study was designed using a convergent qualitative and quantitative approach (convergent mixed methods approach), …

Loyalitas Masyarakat Jawa Kuno Kepada Raja Berdasarkan Data Prasasti Abad Xiii–Xv Masehi, Victoria Geraldine, Andriyati Rahayu

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

The sima inscription is an edict issued by the king as a gift given to certain parties. One of the reasons for its bestowment is as a reward to those who have shown him loyalty. This paper studies the forms of loyalty shown by the Ancient Javanese People to the king and the factors that influenced it. The study aims to give an understanding of the relationship that existed between the Ancient Javanese people and the king in the XIII–XV Centuries AD. The results of this research provides new insight for the effort to reconstruct the life of the Ancient …

The Reproductive Politics Of Maiolica: Birth, Abortion, And Gendered Authority During The Italian Renaissance, Rose Brookhart

Honors Projects

In the aftermath of several plagues that decimated the population of the Italian peninsula since 1348, men and women from all socioeconomic backgrounds safeguarded their individual corporeal health and collective societal well-being through a variety of routines and rituals, which were prescribed but at the same time extremely personalized. This increased attention in personal and civic health promoted new trends in both literal and material consumption during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Purgative drugs and medicines were a common facet of medicine during the Italian Renaissance and were ingested regularly to alleviate commonplace bodily discomforts in addition to more serious …

At The Death Of Architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright's Dreams Of America In Japan, Matthew L. Delgaudio

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

In 1832, French writer Victor Hugo declares the death of the edifice as a result of the totalizing popularity of Gutenberg’s printing press since the fifteenth century. American architect Frank Lloyd Wright would echo this sentiment to an intrigued Chicago audience almost 70 years later in his 1901 lecture, “The Art and Craft of the Machine.” The argument went that architecture, chief among the arts, would employ ornament, applied art, and symbolic meaning to capture and spread lasting imprints of human thought before the book usurped this position on account of its greater efficiency in accomplishing the same ends. While …

“When White Men And Indians United Shall Praise:” Indigenous Inclusion In The Hartford Music Company, Savannah N. Skaggs

ATU Research Symposium

The Hartford Music Company and Institute of Hartford, Arkansas has attracted increasing academic interest, particularly within the last twenty years. This southern gospel music publishing company and singing school based in southern Sebastian County published a collection of shape note hymnals which boasted some of the genre’s most prolific literature. Though a growing number of Arkansans are learning that these gospel staples came from their own hill country, many do not realize that several of these songs were premiered by or recorded by Indigenous people. While this may not initially seem particularly impactful, this genre developed its own distinct identity …

The First Foundation Of A Good House: Ferryland's Mansion House Kitchen, John D. Archer

Northeast Historical Archaeology

The community of Ferryland, located on Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula, is home to the remains of George Calvert’s initial attempt at colonial settlement in North America. Over 25 years of excavations and research at the site have produced an increasingly detailed image of life in the seventeenth-century community there. As part of this ongoing work, the project discussed in this paper explores the use and provisioning of a detached kitchen which would have served Ferryland’s Mansion House. Built between 1621 and 1627, the structure makes up one half of a detached service wing adjacent to the Mansion House, fitting a pattern …

"From The Sea, Work": Investigating Historical French Landscapes And Lifeways At Anse À Bertrand, Saint-Pierre Et Miquelon, Meghann Livingston, Catherine Losier

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Given its history and changing role within the French salt-cod fishery, Saint-Pierre et Miquelon was essential for French colonial expansion throughout the Atlantic World. Saint-Pierre’s sheltered harbour paired with the archipelago’s proximity to the Grand Banks made these islands an ideal locale for carrying out shore-based activities associated with the salt-cod fishery. In this way, Saint-Pierre et Miquelon can be viewed not only as an integral component of the French presence within the greater region but also as a unique cultural landscape within its own right. With particular reference to Anse à Bertrand, a site located on the southeastern edge …

A Material History Of The Early Eighteenth-Century Cod Fishery In Canso, Nova Scotia, Adrian Lk Morrison

Northeast Historical Archaeology

In the early eighteenth century, Canso, Nova Scotia housed an influential Anglo-American fishing and trading community with far-reaching connections across Europe and the Americas. The islands were inhabited by a small permanent population joined each year by hundreds of migratory workers who established seasonal operations along their shores. Despite high hopes for long-term development, success would be short lived. Canso was a volatile space: the islands were contested territory and existed within a tense and turbulent frontier. The settlement was attacked multiple times and was destroyed in 1744. This paper draws upon new research and previous archaeological studies to discuss …

Orpheus And The Harrowing Of Hell In The Tale Of Beren And Lúthien, Giovanni Carmine Costabile

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Critics have observed that Beren and Lúthien’s tale is a Christian retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The “Harrowing of Hell” tradition is widespread in Italy as attested by the mosaic of San Marco among others, but it is in France that the Ovid Moralized reconnects it to Orpheus who descended into the Underworld to save Eurydice (an already late antique parallel) and therefore attests a happy ending version of the story that can be found in medieval England and also in various classical sources, perhaps even in the original legend of Orpheus. The apocryphal Harrowing is also …

From The Outside, Looking In: Reflections On The Complex Infrastructures Of African Art History, Joanna Gardner-Huggett

Artl@s Bulletin

This essay engages with the five articles featured in this issue from the perspective of a non-specialist. Each contribution considers challenges facing scholars of African arts when confronted with incomplete and not always reliable historical evidence. The author contends that given the escalating demands for the repatriation of African objects, all art historians— not only art historians focused on African arts—should better understand the important strategies proposed by contributors to this issue. These interventions encourage the development of a more critical audience for African arts and also model ethical research, a slow critical archival practice, and sustainable provenance and digital …

Art And Evidence In Totems Of Uganda (2014), Margaret Nagawa, Taga F. Nuwagaba

Artl@s Bulletin

In his painting and book project, Totems of Uganda: Buganda Edition (2014), Ugandan artist Taga Nuwagaba asks: What is the function of a totem? In Buganda, the historical kingdom in current-day Uganda, totems serve as unique identifiers for fifty-two distinct patrilineal descent groups designated as clans, or ebika in the Luganda language, forming the primary scheme of social and political organization. Yet, totems also serve as a conservation practice. In this 2022 interview, Nuwagaba discussed his art and the evidence he relies upon to create his images, demonstrating that identities and knowledges are complex.

Munna Uganda Taga Nuwagaba abuuza nti: …

You Cannot See It: Navigating Yorùbá Religious Artistic Materials, Stephen A. Fọlárànmí

Artl@s Bulletin

My research spanning two decades in Ọ̀yọ́ Palace generated series of questions about access to artistic materials in site-locational spaces, archives and private collections. I probe how scholars have navigated and negotiated these terrains, especially artworks created for religious functions. I explore alternatives to resolve field challenges and consider the effects of such hindrances in art historical research. Drawing on the concept of ọ̀gbẹ̀rì, anecdotes and personal scholarly experiences, I interrogate research access and propose approaches based on personal experience on the importance of Yoruba religion, and practice of initiation.

Iṣẹ́ ìwádì mi fún bíi ogún ọdún sẹ́yìn lórí ààfin …

Shaky Foundations: Cultural Classifications In Museum Collections Management Systems And The Endurance Of Colonial-Era Terminology, Carlee S. Forbes, Erica P. Jones

Artl@s Bulletin

This article uses two musical instruments with attached ancestral remains and labeled as “Asante” from the Fowler Museum at UCLA to consider effects of style-based cultural classifications that appear in museum databases today. We highlight the sway of past classifications over our current understanding of objects that is prolonged by the problem of confirmation-bias in museum collections management systems. We then indicate how working across disciplines stimulated a more nuanced understanding about the complexities of artistic styles for musical instruments with attached human remains in the Akan-speaking region of West Africa.

Cet article étudie deux instruments de musique incorporant des …

Shifting Approaches, Innovative Methods: Collection Histories As A Tool To Move Beyond William Fagg’S ‘Lower Niger Bronze Industry Mystery’, Imogen Coulson, Julie Hudson, Sam Nixon

Artl@s Bulletin

At the end of 2019, the British Museum launched a new research project focusing on copper alloy objects associated with the Lower Niger Bronze Industry. The aim was to increase knowledge of these objects through a combination of provenance and collection history research and scientific analysis. This paper will outline the earlier art historical-focused approach to the Lower Niger Bronzes corpus and will then describe the new research and its methodology. Initial findings will be presented through a case study of objects from the Forcados River in the Niger Delta region of present-day Nigeria. In doing so, we aim to …

Making Absences Present: The Process Of Visualizing Knowledge Production In Museum Records, Caitlin Glosser

Artl@s Bulletin

In this paper, I evaluate the development of data visualizations as an art historical approach. By visualizing data for Senufo-labeled objects in the Musée Africain de Lyon’s collection, I demonstrate how the museum’s knowledge infrastructure privileges European collectors over African makers. I use Tableau visualizations to decenter this narrative by making silences present in a more impactful manner than through text alone. The visualizations also reveal the complex role that one maker, Bèma Coulibaly, played in the life of the collection. The addition of the individual narrative to the data was necessary to bring a human element into view.

Nous …

Technologies Of Recovery And Discovery: The Poetics Of “Artefacts”, Kathryn Simpson

Artl@s Bulletin

This article discusses the ways that objects, specifically personal belongings, held in British collections have their stories muted to become imperial signifiers. Using two pieces of jewellery acquired in 1859 by David Livingstone, British missionary and traveller (1813-1873), a lip ring from a Mang’anja woman in present day Malawi and a bracelet from the Kafue valley in present day Zambia, this article evidences how digital tools can be used to layer, in a palimpsestic way, the information available about colonially collected objects, to locate them physically, in the space they inhabit, and narratively, in the space they create.

En este …

What Does It Mean To Keep Kissing-Close To The Evidence, And Why Might It Matter?, Susan Elizabeth Gagliardi, Constantine Petridis

Artl@s Bulletin

African art specialists often lack detailed information to assess the original meanings, uses, and contexts of so-called historical or traditional arts of Africa, and they rely on indirect evidence to interpret the works. Thus, claims about African arts often reflect speculation rather than irrefutable details. When specific documentation for an object does exist, the circumstances of its creation require careful evaluation as well. The assessment of the quality and reliability of any claim is of particular importance in attempts to determine an object’s place of origin in the ongoing debates about restitution.