Art Practice Commons^™

Unearthing Complexity: Tangible Histories Of Water And Earth, Alexis Violet

Masters Theses

Unearthing Complexity investigates conceptions of time and surface through geological stories of the water and earth. Building on theories of deep time, hydrofeminism, critical zones, and grounding, I hope to foster a deeper awareness of time scales other than our own and a more tangible understanding of the embodied experience of matter in the universe. Working toward a new literacy of the water and earth in which they are recognized as living, changing bodies to which we are inherently tied at a molecular level, the site of this multiscalar inquiry occurs in the coastal zones of the Narragansett Bay where …

Iteration One, Julian Suver

Masters Theses

In the fashion world, companies put a lot of effort towards classifying their products as luxury to the consumer. The age of social media has aggrandized collaborations with famous artists, endorsements by celebrities and even the appointment of pop stars as directors of the biggest fashion houses in the world, as if this makes the clothing better. I can't help but question what luxury actually means when you strip away marketing and if this status can be given or taken away. If a silk dress gets irreparably stained or ripped is it still luxury? Is an old band T-shirt found …

Soul Furnace / فرن الأرواح, Isa Ghanayem

Masters Theses

“This is the good washing, this is (the washing) which separates the dirty body from the pure body. This is like silver mixed with lead, it is separated from it by this (process): one makes for it a cupel of bones, which is what is called the “head of the dog” and of which the common name is kūja-which is the crucible—and this must be made of burnt bones. One melts the silver in it, one gives it a strong fire: the cupel will absorb and receive the lead, the fire will make its subtle (part) fly away and extirpate …

Rooted In Topsoil, Jiaying Wang

Masters Theses

Disillusioned by my transnational identity, I have come to realize that my sense of belonging is no longer attached to any physical location, but instead to a state of mind, to an intimacy with the world. My notion of home is an obscure and unsettled—at times utopian—idea, which can be infinitely decoded, re-positioned and re-established psychologically. This thesis is an investigation of that liminal state, questioning the paradoxical place at the intersection of longing and belonging, interior and exterior, rootedness and uprootedness. Through a collection of short essays that accompany projects, I seek to unpack the precarious emotional complexities that …

Moretheless, Abdelghani Alnahawi

Masters Theses

material investigations becoming questions with interjections

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 …

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 …

Migratory Material: Epigenetics & Weaving At The Us-Mexico Border, Valerie Navarrete

Masters Theses

Discourse often sutures the body shut, disallowing representations of identity to outgrow sociopolitical interests. This issue may originate from borders, but also from the unnamable pathology that generational colonial trauma transmits to the mind, body, and environment. Without a direct form of translatability, this thesis proposes a new materialism that deviates from any object-oriented ontology. Untethered and intra-active, epigenetics and weaving represent objects that transform typical ways of knowing and seeing. Their sensitivity to the environment, in addition to their mobility across generations of time, broaden the spatiotemporal loci of the body and its embodiment. Proposing new materials that expand …

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.

Material Encounters: Making Memory Beyond The Mind, Ariel Wills

Masters Theses

Can acts of making carry the memories of our embeddedness within the world? This thesis explores how making things can nurture a sense of kinship that cuts across the organic and inorganic, erasing the distinction between living and dead, material and spiritual. Through handwork such as art-making, sewing, knitting, cooking, woodworking, and beyond, the burden of remembering and of archiving is shared across human and non-human bodies, cultivated through practices of making, and through the materials themselves. By recounting the stories of my family’s experience as Jewish immigrants in the United States, I aim to reveal how their domestic practices …

Risd Faculty Values Statement, Rhode Island School Of Design

RISD Faculty Values

After thoughtful consideration and refinement of the 2017 RISD Faculty Values Statement, the full-time faculty, several part-time faculty and RISD Museum curators voted in favor of its contents and have signed on as supporters. We intend that this statement will remain relevant beyond the current political moment and encourage its wider distribution—both at RISD and beyond.

2017 Faculty Letter To Students, Rhode Island School Of Design

RISD Faculty Values

An end of the year letter from the RISD faculty sent to RISD students reaffirming their support of the students, acknowledging the challenges of this past academic year in light of the current social and political turmoil and sharing the RISD Faculty Values Statement.

Design Science 5 | Steam Intelligence, Schedule, Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab

Design Science Symposia

Schedule of events.

Calendar Of Events April 1943, Brown/Risd Community Art Project

Calendar of Events

The Calendar of Art Events of April 1943 includes information about painting exhibits, musical concerts, and lectures taking place in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Calendar Of Events March 1943, Brown/Risd Community Art Project

Calendar of Events

The Calendar of Art Events of March 1943 includes information about painting exhibitions, musical concerts, lectures and a radio program taking place in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Calendar Of Events February 1943, Brown/Risd Community Art Project

Calendar of Events

The Calendar of Art Events of February 1943 includes exhibitions, concerts, lectures, a dance recital and some plays taking place in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Calendar Of Events January 1943, Brown/Risd Community Art Project

Calendar of Events

The Calendar of Art Events of January 1943 includes information about exhibitions, concerts, lectures and plays taking place in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Calendar Of Events December 1942, Brown/Risd Community Art Project

Calendar of Events

The Calendar of Art Events of December 1942 includes information about exhibitions, concerts, lectures, plays and a movie. Also includes information about Art exhibitions in Massachusetts and New York (the Museum of Modern Art).

Calendar Of Events November 1942, Brown/Risd Community Art Project

Calendar of Events

The Calendar of Art Events of November 1942 includes information about exhibitions, concerts, lectures and plays in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Also includes information about art exhibitions at the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Calendar Of Events October 1942, Brown/Risd Community Art Project

Calendar of Events

The Calendar of Art Events of October 1942 includes information about exhibitions, concerts, dance recitals and plays taking place in Providence. Also includes information about art exhibitions in Massachusetts and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Calendar Of Events May 1942, Brown/Risd Community Art Project

Calendar of Events

The Calendar of Art Events of May 1942 that includes information about art exhibits, concerts, and plays in Providence. There is also a brief article about the South County Museum in North Kingstown, RI. Art exhibitions in Massachusetts, Yale Art Gallery in New Haven, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City are also mentioned.

Calendar Of Events April 1942, Brown/Risd Community Art Project

Calendar of Events

The Calendar of Art Events of April 1942 includes information about art exhibitions, concerts and plays taking place in Providence. An article is included about the RI Audubon Society and the Parker Woodland in Coventry, RI and the Kimball Bird Sanctuary in Charlestown, RI. Also there is information about art exhibitions in Massachusetts and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Calendar Of Events March 1942, Brown/Risd Community Art Project

Calendar of Events

The Calendar of Art Events of March 1942 includes information about art exhibitions, concerts, and plays in Providence. There is an article about children's programs in the RISD Museum. Art exhibitions in Massachusetts, the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City are also mentioned.

Calendar Of Events March 1942, Brown/Risd Community Art Project

Calendar of Events

The Calendar of Art Events of March 1942 includes information about art exhibitions, concerts and plays in Providence. There is an article about children's programs in the RISD Museum of Art. Art exhibitions in Massachusetts, the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City are also mentioned.

Calendar Of Events February 1942, Brown/Risd Community Art Project

Calendar of Events

The Calendar of Art Events of February 1942 includes an article about the radio program of WPRO called "Youth on the Air". This program is about music, art and literature for families. Also mentioned are the art exhibitions, concerts and plays in Rhode Island. Art Exhibitions in Massachusetts are also mentioned.

Annual Report 1942, Brown/Risd

Annual Reports

Programs were well received. They were held in the RISD Auditorium but a smaller venue, perhaps the RISD Museum of Art is being considered. The Picture Lending Library, where pictures are rented out is doing well. $71.25 was raised. Because of war shortages only 2 exhibitions were shown at the Army camps.

Calendar Of Events January 1942, Brown/Risd Community Art Project

Calendar of Events

The Calendar of Art Events of January 1942 includes an article about silk-screening technique. Also included are art exhibitions, concerts, and plays taking place in Rhode Island. Art exhibitions at the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and at several art galleries and museum in Massachusetts are also mentioned.

Calendar Of Events December 1941, Brown/Risd Community Art Project

Calendar of Events

The Calendar of Art Events of January 1942 includes an article entitled "A History of Decorated Tole Ware" (or painted tin). Also, information about art exhibitions, concerts, and plays in Rhode Island are included. Art exhibitions in Massachusetts art galleries and museums and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City are also included.