Art and Design Commons^™

From John Street To Union, Andrew Shea

Masters Theses

I have been making paintings constructed loosely from my experience of walking about one mile each morning from my apartment in Fox Point to my studio in downtown Providence, and of walking back each night. My goal is to rediscover the feeling of these outdoor places—their lights, atmospheres, colors, and topographies—through the process of painting inside the studio. As such, the visual representations of these paintings are not straight-forward and objective, but oblique and affective.

I hope that these works draw one’s attention to the idiosyncrasies of natural life and to the particularities of weather. I want the paintings to …

Making Then Meaning, Ben Denzer

Masters Theses

This is an artist talk contained within a book. It is 816 pages and 49 minutes long. Closed captions run across the spreads. A video of this talk can be watched on bendenzer.com/making-then-meaning

At RISD, I’ve been prompted to expand the scope and tools of my practice and to reflect on questions of meaning in my work.

I spend my days making things, but I’ve never really had good answers to questions of why I make the things I make, or what their meaning is. I don’t think there are simple answers to these questions.

I think meaning comes from …

Access In Ambiguity, Moritz Lónyay

Masters Theses

The wealth of color present in nature has long been a major source of inspiration for works of art and design. Yet as more species become extinct due to habitat loss, climate change and unchecked hunting, will we face a less colorful, more monotonous future? How will this impact art and design and how could either be utilized as tools to counteract the loss of color? This thesis speculates upon such a future by the sixth wave of mass extinction and instigates a movement that celebrates color. Growing up in the Anthropocene, the first geological epoch in which human existence …

Mini Makers: Designing Curriculum For Community-Based Arts Education, Hayden Goldberg

Masters Theses

This work serves as documentation of my experience planning and teaching classes for a Rhode Island based after school visual arts pro- gram. Through arts-based action research, I explore methods of documentation and material exploration in order to create an adaptive, emergent curriculum that is responsive to a community-oriented arts education setting.

Step 10, Jinhong Cai

Masters Theses

Step 10 is an experiment on provoking empathy through

abstracted elements within my studio practice. I am

proposing to craft an emotional piece without leaning

on my identity. This written thesis consists of two parts:

narrative prose and an explanation of my studio practice.

While the installation is entirely devoid of cultural or

personal references, this text-based thesis is full of them

because it is intended to inform whoever is interested in

learning more about the motive behind this creation.

The questions I bought into the thought and creation

process are: Can a piece of art still successfully bring

out …

Spaces Of Wait And Their Weight, Eman Alhashemi

Masters Theses

i have been exploring, researching and observing what influences affect a space within the traditions, rituals, food, thoughts and behavior. what happens when that space of comfort disappears and changes? through a series of work that waits, melts, merges, and exaggerates in am attempt to find its place. as i borrow objects and movements from daily life observing my surroundings and extracting mundane things that take on different forms whether exaggerated or unidentifiable. this recent culmination of work over the two years at risd look at objects and spaces of waiting, discomfort, longing and sharing. our behavior is affected by …

Flores, Rigoberto Flores

Masters Theses

My name is Rigoberto Flores and I was born in Guerrero, Mexico. The work I make involves politics, immigration, cartel violence and religious themes. I’m interested in presenting these challenging and difficult concepts, to have them remain in the public consciousness. The work I produce involve charcoal drawings, textiles, print, and painting. The work I create is intended to address inconstancies in established ideas, usually involving government violence. Throughout history art has been used to promote institutional propaganda. I am searching to do the same, but to oppose those structures.

Promoting Mental Treatment In The Arab World, Aya Emam Hassanein

Masters Theses

This study investigates why mental health has been neglected in the Arab world and what strategies could be used to promote it and break the stigma associated with mental disorders. The literature review reveals that the most prominent barriers preventing mental treatment in the Arab world are cultural stigma, poverty, illiteracy, false beliefs regarding the causation of the illness, conflicts in countries, and a scarcity of mental health services and research. The review also discusses the most common mental illnesses in the Arab world and how the culture affects the process of treatment. Additionally, it discusses the possible solutions proposed …

Designs For Coping: Integrating Coping Strategies In Children's Medical Picture Books, Elizebeth Nicole Jones

Masters Theses

This study uses design to create a children’s medical picture book that is presented in first-person perspective through illustrations and text that teach children coping strategies for going to a medical visit. Many children fear what they do not understand. Children’s medical picture books are a useful tool to teach children coping strategies as well as what to expect from a visit to a doctor.

A Future For Foster Youth - Opening The Doors For The Next Generation, Marcus Alexander Grant

Masters Theses

The issue of foster children aging out of care and services has been an issue for quite some time. There are many concerns related to their care and needs. While in the foster care system, services and programs are typically tailored to help support these children and get them to 18 years old. College is often available and paid for to help those aging out of foster care, but what happens to those who do not take that path? College can be stressful and challenging for students with a strong support system. Those aging out of foster care often have …

Recipes For Building Relationships, Adriana Lintz

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the history of women's access to education and the issues of gender disparity in education. I focus on single-gendered schools as I write from personal experience to describe the benefits for individuals in single-gender educational systems. I cite conflicting research on how men and women learn regarding biological, cognitive, and developmental differences. I illuminate some of the benefits of single-gendered education through research, experience, and personal communications. I write about the controversies and disparities regarding education and single-gender schools. I document research on the issues women face in education and the politics of women’s bodies and minds …

Using Video Storytelling To Transform The Consumer Narrative Of Fashion Into One Of Caretaking: A First Step Towards A Sustainable Fashion Industry, Piumi De Alwis

Masters Theses

This study speaks about today’s apparel industry run by the consumption based “consumer narrative” and will introduce a sustainable alternative of “caretaker narrative,” a consumer oriented way of being to combat toxic practices in the apparel industry. Meanwhile on the other hand in today’s day and age video storytelling is getting extremely popular in the media we daily consume. This study examines how to effectively use video storytelling to popularize the sustainable practice of the “caretaker narrative” in society.

Cultivating Collaboration: Optimizing Communication Between Designers And Non-Designers, Haley Constance Tebo

Masters Theses

Clients and designers, having different tacit knowledge, fail to effectively communicate with each other during the design process. These inadequacies risk relationships, reputations, and project success. This issue has long been recognized in the field of design, often as a concern with client involvement. This research aims to identify these complications in the design process and inform how they might be amended. Specifically, it investigates how the relationship between designers and clients can be improved in order to garner better communication and greater project success. In this context, clients are defined as non-designers that commission design professionals. A literature review …

Beauty And Modern Art: The Importance Of Classically Educating Students About Beauty Through Modern Art, Rebecca Brooke Edwards

Masters Theses

It has often been asked throughout the history of mankind what classifies beauty within an artwork. When observing some of the outstanding works of Leonardo DaVinci or Sandro Botticelli, a few of the great masters of the Renaissance, there is no problem teaching students about what makes those artists’ work beautiful. What about the artistic work from the past two hundred years to the current art being produced today? I have found through my own personal journey as an artist that there is a severe lack of promotion for creative gifts being used for God within the Christian communities (and …

More Than A Bulleted List: Rethinking The Traditional Resume As A Way To Present The Unique Personality Of An Applicant, Andrew Alleman White

Masters Theses

Every business has its own unique culture, and the traditional resume fails to denote the personality and individualism of the applicant; this leads to wasted time interviewing the wrong applicants and missed opportunities to employ culturally beneficial employees. A culturally beneficial employee is one that fits the company culture and improves the performance of the entire team with both their skills and personality. The most advanced technologies available, are still using the traditional resume as a baseline for the sourcing, sorting, and evaluation of a potential hire. Even with the implementation of artificial intelligence to sort through the predetermined meta …

World-Building Warnings: Depth In Creative Art To Consider Societal Paths, Kane Samuel Wright

Masters Theses

Addressing the issue of artists often failing to visually communicate through world-building concepts, this paper seeks to inform a design piece demonstrating the potential effectiveness of a message communicated through visual world-building in a manner that minimises audience disengagement and maximises articulate artistic communication. Questions arise as to what dangers a future society may face that could be worth using as a framework to address this communication problem, whether techniques surrounding visual world-building can be successful in this task, and where artists go astray in their own attempts. Research conducted suggests that psychology, culture, and semiotics play an important role …

Childhood Food Insecurity In Rural America: Raising Awareness And Inspiring Action Through Art And Design, Julie Hansen Olson

Masters Theses

Children go hungry in America every day, particularly in rural communities, where statistics show food insecurity to be as high as 17%. This means one in six children in rural communities lacks nutritionally adequate food or the ability to acquire it on a daily basis. In one of the wealthiest countries in the world, this appalling statistic is unacceptable. But how do we mitigate food insecurity for children and its resulting effects on a child’s physical, mental, and social development? This project proposes to educate, raise awareness, and inspire and/or enable action by all stakeholders to reduce food insecurity, specifically …

Exploring The Pulse Of Design And Music: The Impact Of Visual Rhythm In Design For Auditorily Impaired Music Students, Nina Marie Tedeschi

Masters Theses

Auditorily impaired music students struggle to understand musical rhythms and patterns which can lead to frustration, low self-esteem, lack of developing musical skills, and reduced music appreciation. Often, the needs of those with hearing challenges are overlooked in the curriculum planning process. This research aims to show the importance of providing appropriate learning methods and materials for music students who are hearing impaired. Specifically, this study focuses on the elements of patterns, repetition of patterns, and rhythm within the visual designs used in the instruction of musical elements. The methods used in this research are based upon observation, investigation, and …

Dress The Mess: An Art Therapy Awareness Social Media Marketing Campaign For Young Adults Dealing With Trauma, Victoria Leigh Alba

Masters Theses

This research analyzes the effects of art therapy on young adults between the ages of 18-29 dealing with emotional trauma. The research includes an in-depth exploration of various types of art therapy: visual art, dance, music, photography, and visual journaling. Furthermore, the study explores the lack of awareness of art therapy and how, through a social media awareness campaign, the narrative can be advanced to promote art therapy awareness. Finally, this paper aims to provide insight and practical strategies through a social marketing guerilla campaign, “Dress the Mess,” by incorporating photography, graphic design, and the social media platform Instagram to …

Breaking Diet Culture: Utilizing Anti-Dieting Messaging For Healthier Adolescents, Emily Elise Spurgin

Masters Theses

Every day, an adolescent is exposed to hundreds of outlets telling them their bodies are not good enough. With each one of these exposures, it does not take long before the young person starts to believe they are not enough. By incorporating anti-diet messaging into a young person’s everyday life, they are more likely to respond to harmful messaging with critical thinking, leading to healthier adolescents. Anti-diet “means standing against [our current] oppressive system, in all its sneaky, shape-shifting forms” (Harrison). Research shows that adolescents have little to no information provided to them on a daily basis that will help …

Effective Environmental Education: The Way To A Greener, Brighter Future, Amber Leanne Bailey

Masters Theses

Green spaces provide many benefits to local communities, including improved mental and physical health and stronger, safer communities. They also provide sustainable ecosystems for wildlife. These benefits provide a better quality of life for the people in the community. However, some communities cannot experience these benefits due to a common issue among green spaces: degradation in the forms of littering and vandalism. Despite efforts in environmental education, this problem persists. The aim of this project is to contribute to keeping green spaces greener. To study potential solutions for the continued degradation, an analysis of relevant literature is conducted on the …

Commissioned To The Nations: Using Graphic Design To Mobilize Millennials For God's Strategic Mission, Victoria Dissmore

Masters Theses

All over the world, billions of people are walking throughout their entire lives without ever hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they never will unless someone crosses into their culture to share it with them. Giving Gospel access to all people groups is a huge mission for the Church to tackle, but this mission is often not even known among the Millennial generation. Initial investigation for this thesis found that although some Millennials are engaging in missions, there is still a huge need for people to give, go, pray, and send, especially as older missions workers age out. Existing …

That Mirror Again, Kyros Barton

Masters Theses

That Mirror Again is a summary of experiences, used to pose questions about self-hood through technological metaphor and theory. Its memories are disjointed, separate, and removed from time, and are an honest attempt to recenter an identity before the end of formal education. The themes of each section, Aground, Tilt, and Threshold, are presented as isolated definitions that set the mood for the writing before it is introduced. Referencing information age technology, invoking ancient deities in prose, and brushing against the fur of monster-hood, the text holds the memory it carries softly and offers it to the reader.

What The Water Says As It Runs, Jeanette Cosentini

Masters Theses

During the last two years, I have been examining the importance of vulnerability, memory and empowerment within my work as it relates to archival silence. The archive is presumed to be an objective record but what is chosen and discarded is an inherently political act. When there is archival silence, what then becomes missing from our collective histories? My exploration has spread across many forms of media, including sound, video, textiles, sculpture and writing . I have sought to understand the ways that these different mediums embody sentiment and concept, while establishing an open-ended record within which others can explore …

Treeing: What Remains Of A Pilgrim, Sichen Liu

Masters Theses

Myths and legends have existed since the start of human civilization, but now we can only imagine a world full of wonders from our ancestor’s scripts. What if we could go back to the age of myths and magic? Would we see things differently?

In Treeing: What Remains of a Pilgrim, I propose a fictional book with 15 short myths of humans transformed into trees. The stories combine my own imagination with inspiration from real mythologies. In the annotations of each story, an unnamed person is following the myths as guidance and manuals, one by one, trying to bring them …

Everything Comes Full Circle, Lilan Yang

Masters Theses

Following Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas (1984) filming locations from Houston, Texas to Los Angeles, California, I use a 16mm Bolex camera to capture the vastness of the American West. The footage draws me to reminisce about snippets of my everyday life. I contemplate how we perceive the world through analog optical apparatuses and how memories are multidimensional yet fragile. Our recollections of people and places can be distorted, unrecognizable, and fictitious. These memories would eventually diminish with the passing of time. By converting the filmmaking back and forth between analog and digital filmmaking, with the loss of information during the …

Generative Image Systems And Emergent Play, Travess Smalley

Masters Theses

Generative Image Systems and Emergent Play is a collection of writings around generative creative processes and the emergent outcomes that can develop from simple systems. The generative systems I utilize in my practice are explored in this writing through the lenses of Instructional Art, Generative Art, Chance and Randomness, the Xerox, Computer Programming, and Emergent Play in games. These texts are a statement about my computational art practice and research, and they explore what it means to create with generative systems inside of other designer’s programs.

Embedded Are The Embers Of Echoes, Sarah Jane Cribbs

Masters Theses

What is a haunted house? What makes it haunted? What makes it a house?

I grew up in northern Appalachia. I sat in the back seat of my father’s car for trips from the Eastern foothills to the Western foothills of Pennsylvania mountains to visit my grandmother.

When my perception of the world grew larger as I did too, I began to hide my Appalachian identity. This ended as I began my practice, beginning with a realtime performance on artificial intelligence and queerness. Art practice opened up the possibility of critical play, a method of criticism that focuses on a …

Wall, Jazzmynn Chang Hong

Masters Theses

The WALL is a mosaic-style book with a collection of personal anecdotes and reflections. Traceback from the earliest memory of mine, the instinctive exploration of a sheltered structure, to my recent art practices exploring the spatial perception when the boundary breaks. Each chapter, as I grow older, unfolds my progressive encounter and interpretation of the spatial boundaries.

As the book titled the WALL, its form references a traditional Chinese partition structure - the folding screen. It is not only an aesthetic manifestation, the screens are usually decorated with calligraphies or paintings, it also has a practical purpose as a spatial …

Abyss Without Vertigo, Jack Madden

Masters Theses

Science has difficulty changing the way we think because it takes us beyond our natural perception. To scales and phenomena that we are unaccustomed to, that are instinctively inhuman.

To fundamentally change the philosophy of our species there needs to be a bridge or, more presciently, an emergency ladder for the human mind to science.

As we are inclined to logic yet inherently emotional, the importance of the scientific cannot be understood using science alone.

Significance must be felt, feelings are the foundation of art, and validation the consequence of the artifact.