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Full-Text Articles in Art and Design
Their Bodies Flamboyant: An Exploration Of Self Through Figuration And Flower, Gabriel Cortese
Their Bodies Flamboyant: An Exploration Of Self Through Figuration And Flower, Gabriel Cortese
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
This thesis explores my relationship to artmaking through the exploration of my identity. As a gay, Puerto-Rican, Argentinian, American man, my relationship to art has always been a way for me to make sense of my intersectional experiences. Chronologically recounting past and current bodies of work, I explain how my personal growth coincides with my artwork. From once shameful, hidden figures to later flamboyant, unapologetic bodies, this thesis links the sequential evolution of my figuration and ideas. I also investigate the process of reclaiming moments in art history as being inherently queer and explore the ways in which they manifest …
Critical Modding: A Design Framework For Exploring Representation In Games, Kenton Howard
Critical Modding: A Design Framework For Exploring Representation In Games, Kenton Howard
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
In this project, I created a framework for exploring problems with representations of marginalized characters in video games called "critical modding." The main goal of this project was to provide a method for addressing issues with portrayals of queer characters in video games through modification of a game's narrative and gameplay systems. I also created a video game prototype called Life in the Megapocalypse as a digital tool for engaging in critical modding. In addition, I created classroom assignments based on the game prototype aimed at helping people learn more about problems with portrayals of queer characters in games through …
Effectiveness Of Digital Interactive Experiment In Learning Outcomes And Engagement, Matin Salemirad
Effectiveness Of Digital Interactive Experiment In Learning Outcomes And Engagement, Matin Salemirad
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Despite some ongoing debates over the positive or negative impact of digital games, educational games are powerful tools to increase engagement and improve learning outcomes. Scientific concepts about the weather are complicated for younger learners and deep learning often requires long-term cultivation. This thesis presents a novel interactive educational simulation called the Science of Meteorology with Interactive Learning Experience (SMILE). In it, students interact with a touchscreen monitor to change weather conditions and learn about clouds and weather science. The relationship between engagement and learning outcomes and the effectiveness of the experience is evaluated using a formal user study. Online …
The Technical World Of Warcraft, Derek Hampton
The Technical World Of Warcraft, Derek Hampton
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
The Technical World of Warcraft explores the various technical instruction elements of World of Warcraft, more specifically observing issues faced by players who take on content at the highest level. The thesis raises the problem of the in-game technical documentation being utterly ineffective for the aforementioned players, causing them to create their own technical documents. While observing the environment found exclusively within the game, research from Jennifer DeWinter and Ryan Moeller, Mark Chen, Sarah Bishop, and more, is used to analyze the game's instructional elements from a critical angle. Several job listings from other major game development companies are also …
For Consumption: Observations Of Paint, Food, & Culture, Annette Tojar
For Consumption: Observations Of Paint, Food, & Culture, Annette Tojar
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
This thesis is a visual documentation of my story. In it, I discuss the urgency which drives the creation of my work. Unable to speak the same language, my grandmother and I used food and paint as means of communication, thus instilling my love of food, my desire to paint, and my need to investigate my Cuban culture. As a former professional pastry chef, my understanding of the physicality of food informs how it is portrayed on a two-dimensional surface for visual indulgence. I explore loss, objectification, transculturation, and the pandemic through images of food, while experimenting with the properties …
Representation Of Death In Independent Videogames: Providing A Space For Meaningful Death Reflection, Alexander Boyd
Representation Of Death In Independent Videogames: Providing A Space For Meaningful Death Reflection, Alexander Boyd
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
This thesis examines the unique representation of death in independent videogames. Specifically, in three titles: That Dragon, Cancer, Spiritfarer, and A Mortician's Tale. These three games break traditional norms of death in video games and how death is presented in other more traditional mediums. These unique perspectives are more concerned with the personal and societal side of death, the reflection, and confrontation of our mortality. Each game is a stand-out example of a growing trend in independent titles coined as "death positive" games. These types of games are made with the intent to approach death differently, potentially providing comfort to …
Rules For Living And How I Began To Break Them: The Influence Of Creative Practice And Cognitive Dissonance On Personal Growth, Timothy Reid
Rules For Living And How I Began To Break Them: The Influence Of Creative Practice And Cognitive Dissonance On Personal Growth, Timothy Reid
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
I create experimental films and installations that challenge the belief system I inherited from well-intended people who believed they furnished me with the "right" answers, behaviors, and expectations for a good and proper life. Applying the theory of cognitive dissonance as a philosophical framework to this formative and enforced messaging helps me appreciate why it is so difficult to accept new information incongruent with one's previously held beliefs. Through parallel efforts of self-reflection, research, and creative practice, I have begun to reexamine my upbringing and the ensuing insecurities, contradictions, and feelings of hypocrisy they engendered. My work aspires to transform …
Immersion's Relationship To Enjoyment In Gaming, Ronald Ray Eddy
Immersion's Relationship To Enjoyment In Gaming, Ronald Ray Eddy
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
The term immersion has become ubiquitous in descriptions of entertainment activities, including theme park attractions, virtual reality experiences, video games, and more. In nearly all cases, an expectation is that immersion in an activity is a desired outcome. However, this implication is challenged by a lack of research into the relationship between immersion and enjoyment. A further challenge is presented by the lack of a consensus among researchers regarding a precise definition of immersion. This dissertation explores the immersion-enjoyment relationship by first examining the construct of immersion itself, followed by an exploration of the myriad concepts surrounding immersion, including engagement, …
Liminality Of Culture In Studio Art: A Biographical Investigation Of A Second Generation Filipino American Experience, Danielle Culibao Powell
Liminality Of Culture In Studio Art: A Biographical Investigation Of A Second Generation Filipino American Experience, Danielle Culibao Powell
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Danielle Culibao Powell manifests the disconnectedness of a second-generation immigrants' cultural disorientation into colorful collage paintings, reconciling cultural history with contemporary identity while building a connection between herself and her parents' homeland the Philippines. The evolution of Powell's studio art practice follows entering a transcultural marriage and researching the art created by the Filipino women artists before her. This thesis documents that evolution both visually and conceptually. It elaborates the history of both the cannons of Western Art and lesser-known Filipina art and expressed in art rooted in cultural plurality.