Fine Arts Commons^™

Meshpotato: A C++/Python Api For Production Volumetric Rendering, Kevin Coley

All Theses

MeshPotato is a production volume rendering API written in C++. Its purpose is to simplify the creation of high quality volumetric effects such as fire, smoke, clouds and explosions. MeshPotato has been designed to be extensible and flexible for quick changes. Python bindings have been implemented with this library to allow for tools that are scripted and integrated within popular 3D modeling applications such as Maya and Houdini. The design of MeshPotato is discussed along with its plugin system, volume rendering API and some results from using the tool.

The Saga Of Bob And Carson, Joshua R. Holley

Undergraduate Honors Theses

I expanded a ten-minute play that I had written in my sophomore year, Bob and Carson on a Couch, into six ten-minute plays. Each play can stand on it's own to be performed, or they can be done in order to tell one story.

Unification, Agency, Systemization, Intuition: My Art Making Process And Ideas, Zachary Duer

Theses and Dissertations

This essay is an attempt to describe my ideas about my work, my process, and my philosophy of art by examining five of the major pieces I created during the pursuit of a Master of Fine Arts degree at Virginia Commonwealth University. I will discuss the pieces in chronological order, first providing a description of the works’ salient characteristics, then delving into both my specific thoughts about the work as well as the background ideas that were pertinent to me during my process of creation.

One Way To Light A Candle, Samantha Samson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The following collection of poems represents three years of creative work in the Masters of Fine Arts-Poetry program at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Meeting at the intersection of both Jewish and Queer identities, the manuscript is united by the recurring image of a candle. Candles are lit on a wide variety of Jewish occasions, from the Sabbath to the anniversary of a family member's death. They serve as a constant reminder of God's divine presence. In Jewish tradition, candles also represent the human soul, the flame reminding us of the beauty and frailty of life. Proverbs 20:27 states, …

Humanimal, April Vandegrift

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is part of a project that includes a physical body of work in which I investigate ideas about cultural narratives and hierarchies of power. I discuss how animal imagery in the stories that we tell at multiple levels in our culture has been used to communicate societal norms and rules. Thus, the paintings explore the notion of power in contemporary culture. The language of 18^th and 19^th century portrait painting is employed to draw a comparison between depictions of people in power and animal stereotypes. Childhood games are utilized as a way to demonstrate how social …

Awful/Awful: An Archive Of Light Embarrassments, Teysha Vinson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The difficulty of representing intangible religious ideas is at the core of Awful/Awful: An Archive of Light Embarrassments. Through an interest in how light is discussed in the Bible as a symbol for God and his fellowship, I make imagery that both repulses me and intrigues me but never do I get to the point where I feel the work encapsulates any answers. Instead, the photographs are questions, archived, unable to represent this light of God on their own without being trite or obtuse. The arranged work on the walls consists of these photographs plus a few ephemera from my …

Takes Dying Animals, Brittany Leigh Bronson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The following collection represents three years of creative work in the Masters of Fine Arts-Fiction program at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The majority of these stories operate in the realm of the surreal with comic and farcical leanings. All of the characters portrayed deal with death in some way--whether it a parent, a marriage, an animal, or a friend--and each cope their loss by pushing grief to the periphery, often masking it with humor or denial, until the story requires them to consciously confront it. These stories should not be considered finished work, but as a summation of …

Combining The Names Of Ancestors With The Names Of Birds, Jessica Sierra Durham

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The following manuscript deals with a range of themes including origin, family, place, gender, sexuality and their intersections. The title, Combining the Names of Ancestors with the Names of Birds, and title poem exemplify the intersection of origin, family, place (ancestors) and gender, sexuality, movement, change and freedom (birds). Combining

their names speaks to the interplay between memory and imagination that has served as a foundation for all of the poems in this manuscript. This manuscript is split into three sections: Origin, which deals with home, with growing up in Louisiana, with the land and the water, my family and …

Racial Epithet Vignettes, Luz Maria Camarena Test

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In this paper and the accompanying exhibition I examine the overlap of racism and immigration. This work explores the silent violence of oppression that results from dominant culture attitudes and policies about immigration. It also considers how these attitudes affect the formation of identity, including my own.

For the development of this work, I had to move away from the idea of creating just a project inside my studio to an active participation with the community in search of answers to my internal questions. The work presented is the result of a long process of research within the Mexican community …

Mfa14 (Mfa 2014), Sam Fox School Of Design & Visual Arts, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Buzz Spector, Patricia Olynyk

Books and Monographs

Catalogue of a culminating student exhibition held at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, May 9-August 3, 2014. Contents include Introduction / Buzz Spector and Patricia Olynyk -- David Baker / Katie McGinnis -- Amber bloom ; Mop cask ; Sullen fluff ; Frothy Shiraz ; Aquatic jaws ; Smoking trumpets ; Lake feigned goose flap / Steve Byrnes -- Nathan Childs : the affliction a strange weight, the weight a plume of pain, the pain a shrill desire / Aaron Coleman -- Christopher Chrome / Marianne Rosa Laury -- Shayna Cohn / Cassie Jones -- Alyse Cole / Nicholas …

Marshall University Music Department Presents The Marshall University Symphony Orchestra, Concert Of Soloists, Dr. Elizabeth Reed Smith, Conductor, Dr. Edwin Bingham, Guest Conductor, Featuring, Jordan Carinelli, Alto Saxophone, Yuhao Zhoe, Violin, Elizabeth Reed Smith, Ed Bingham

All Performances

No abstract provided.

Queeranimal Imaginary: An Intra-Active Investigation Of Ecology, Performance, And Sound, Caryn Brissey

Theses and Dissertations

Through interrelated experiments in writing, video, sound, and movement, this research investigates the intersections of intimacy, ecology, and performance. Integrating an autoethnographic approach to gender and sexuality with creative practice and theoretical inquiry, this layered investigation offers implications that are both deeply personal and widely accessible. I am using my own experiences growing up as a queer child to generative corporeal and experience-based material, while also incorporating the ideas of current queer and gender theorists to frame my own research within the larger context of feminist studies. This research culminated into an evening length performance at Dogtown Dance Theatre on …

Foggy Morning In The Quarter, Jennifer Karpowicz

Ellipsis: A Journal of Art, Ideas, and Literature

No abstract provided.

Afternoons In The Quarter, Jennifer Karpowicz

Ellipsis: A Journal of Art, Ideas, and Literature

No abstract provided.

Atchafalaya Dreamland, Jennifer Karpowicz

Ellipsis: A Journal of Art, Ideas, and Literature

No abstract provided.

Sunset Over The Cathedral, Jennifer Karpowicz

Ellipsis: A Journal of Art, Ideas, and Literature

No abstract provided.

Structure, Elizabeth Lynch

Ellipsis: A Journal of Art, Ideas, and Literature

No abstract provided.

Venetian Ghetto, Elizabeth Lynch

Ellipsis: A Journal of Art, Ideas, and Literature

No abstract provided.

Ghost Advertising, Ross Peter Nelson

Ellipsis: A Journal of Art, Ideas, and Literature

No abstract provided.

Marshall University Music Department Presents A Senior Recital, Matt Drummer, Euphonium, Mark Smith, Piano, Matt Drummer, Mark Smith

All Performances

No abstract provided.

Camping Out, Mike Linskie

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores my personal mythology, and its relation to all things found not only in my studio practice but the work itself. Biographical anecdotes are shared as well as ideas on drawing, home décor, collecting, craft, art history, storytelling, and camp. Camp provides the space in which all aspects of my practice and work reside.

Necessary Movements, Janelle Proulx

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis follows the trajectory of my artistic practice over the past two years which has led me to the creation of the installation REVERB. While incorporating performance, installation, and video into my modes of creation, I’ve likewise expanded my conceptual research regarding the influential capabilities of touch, gesture, and environment. By focusing on the relationship of REVERB to a broader discussion regarding these themes, I hope to situate the work among its art, cultural, and scientific referents.

Untitled, Adriane Connerton

Theses and Dissertations

This text is an exploration of the ideas and work that I made in 2014.

Marshall University Music Department Presents The Marshall University African Drumming & Dance Ensemble, Steven Hall, Conductor, Steven Hall

All Performances

No abstract provided.

Child As Other: The Crisis Of Representing Childhood, Cynthia Henebry

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores my own work in the context of historical and contemporary representations of children. Because the child’s experience is essentially unknowable to the adult, issues of control that are always at play between photographer and subject are highlighted when an adult is the photographer and a child is the subject. This is evident when we examine and compare the photographs of children that have so far existed as well as the contexts in which they were made. While I believe that complete resolution of these issues is all but impossible, my work and research is motivated by a …

Anti-Heroics, Modesty, And Bad Taste, Philip Hinge

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis work revolves around investigating painting’s relationship with “bad taste” and heroism. By comparing my paintings to illustrative depictions of “heroism”, artists who turn bad art good, ideas concerning modesty, humor, and invention I will contextualize my stance towards “heroism” and bad taste. By establishing my relationship to the aforementioned examples I will trace the growth of my work over the past few years and discuss how its role within contemporary painting has changed as well as how it interacts with various cultural references.

The Devil Can’T Find You If You Hum: Post-Environmental Conductivity, Thomas Burkett

Theses and Dissertations

What would a repositioned concept of environmentalism look like, one that is specifically determined by the geography and the human rights at stake within the environmental politics of a place? I am interested in determining how performative engagements act as an art form that counters dispossessing industrial, political and environmental regimes. Within this discussion of environmental dispossession I will discuss ways I have used drawing as a conceptual space to explore resistance, redefine cultural capital and challenge archeological structures of knowledge, through my presence and protest.

Waveform Analogy, Experimentation, And Optimism, Aaron Storck

Theses and Dissertations

This paper offers a contextualization of my art practice, within particular trends in contemporary art and its discourse. It traces an expressed interest in networked objects, and the indeterminacy of meaning in art; from researched examples and texts, through specific expressions of these ideas in my thesis art exhibition. The paper then outlines key areas of practical interest to the experimental viability of my art practice. The paper goes on to explore the relationships between indeterminacy, experimentation, and creativity in the arts; within the context of an original thought experiment that draws an analogy between topics in physics and the …

Untitled, Michael Hunter

Theses and Dissertations

The following is an exploration of ideas and themes related to my studio work, past and present, concrete and aspirational. I approach painting as an experience of pleasure and as a mode of resistance and critique. I will discuss how my work is aligned with many of the themes found in the Pattern and Decoration movement of the 1970s. I will also identify alliances that my work has with DIY, networks, and the contemporary art scene as discussed in Lane Relyea’s "Your Everyday Art World". I describe my mode of working in the context of "workable resistance," which Jan Verwoert …

Marshall University Music Department Presents A Junior Recital, Jason Cook, Flute, Jason Cook

All Performances

No abstract provided.