History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons^™

Somewhere Between Distance And Intimacy: Vija Celmins In California 1962-1981, Jessie Lebowitz

Theses and Dissertations

During her nineteen years spent in California (1962-81), the young Vija Celmins formulated a distinct landscape informed by California’s physical topography as well as the stylistic and materialistic advances resulting from the city’s newfound cultural awakening. With an intimate technical application, Celmins engages viewers with the spatial and optical facets of desert, sea, and sky.

The Chôra Of Dionisy’S Wall-Painting (1500-1502) At The Nativity Of The Mother Of God Sobor, Ferapontovo Monastery, Maria M. Shevelkina

Theses and Dissertations

The structure, spatiality, and wall-paintings of the Nativity church together emulated the Platonist Chôra through transparency, fluidity, circular movement, veils, and Marian imagery. Dionisy’s wall-paintings are studied through a phenomenological lens, considering the process as a reflection of hesychast thought in the post-Byzantine Russian north.

Martian Mother, Elizabeth Mcgrady

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the relationship between humans and land, through the lens of the scientific and religious, bridging the physical realm with the spiritual. It acts as accompanying material to the project titled Martian Mother, supplementary information to the visual work, and an extension of the proposal, the center of the work. The proposal exists to send myself, or a like-minded individual, to Mars with artificial insemination equipment to give birth to the first Martian, becoming the first Martian Mother. This work is rooted firmly in speculative fiction, creating a nonlinear future framework for a new society and space exploration.

(Re)Forming And (Re)Fusing The Sub-Divided Self, Laura Boban

Theses and Dissertations

The split between the individual and being part of a social body is addressed in this paper. I begin with my suburban upbringing; applying notions of separate and sub-divided to the construction of one’s aspirations, gender expression(s), and one’s ideological alignment. I contemplate the forces directing individual and shared desires and the persistent messaging of individual pursuits over efforts that benefit many. What does it mean to participate in a collective dreaming of one’s own wealth, happiness, and power? Can one cultivate an integrated art practice and sense of self? In the studio, I layer and abstract figures, stack household …

Moving Parts, Andrew Lowrie

Theses and Dissertations

Material bodies, human and non-human, exist in a constant state of doing and undoing. As bodies change over time, so too do the objects they wear. In this way, a jewelry object is never finished and is constantly being made. In contemporary art practice, this is described as relational ontology by Amelia Jones, who reaches this terminology through the eco-political writings of Jane Bennett and Karen Barad. Through this framework we are able to understand the way artists like Gabriel Orozco and Helen Carnac resist the notion of a finished object or artwork. By engaging with the ways that process …

Prey Begins With Play, Seren C. Moran

Theses and Dissertations

My work examines the lasting psychological and emotional torment of trauma focusing on sexual violence against women. My thesis consists of five short animated films recounting non-fiction experiences of sexual assault. To contextualize my work within cultural and historical representations of sexual violence, this text reflects my research on the mishandling of rape in Western art history as well as contemporary politics and cinema. In both my work and research, I address the complicated, and often contradictory, internal reality of experiencing and remembering trauma and how this relates to artistic strategies such as collage and maximalism. My personal struggles recovering …

Institutional Effect: Consistency And Contingency In The Art & Pedagogy Of Josef Albers, Andrea Alvarez

Theses and Dissertations

Josef Albers (1888–1976) was an artist and educator best known for his teaching on color and for his painting series Homage to the Square, which he worked on from 1949 until his death. The symbiotic relationship between his teaching and artmaking practices, as well as the value Albers placed on the ongoing pursuit of knowledge, contributed to a lifelong commitment to teaching and learning whether he was at the Bauhaus, BMC, Yale, or in any other institutional context. This dissertation, in addition to offering a history that addresses the development of both Albers’ teaching methods and his artworks, …

Broadening Our Understanding Of Noble-Wieting: A Langford Tradition Village In Central Illinois, Kristin R. Travis

Theses and Dissertations

The Noble-Wieting site is an Upper Mississippian Langford Tradition village and burial mound, located in east-central Illinois on the outskirts of the Langford Tradition region and distant from other known Mississippian villages. Archaeological excavations at Noble-Wieting during the 1960s and 1970s unearthed features within limited sections of the site, leaving a large portion unexplored. Excavations revealed a higher than average percentage of shell-tempered Middle Mississippian pottery as compared to other Langford villages, giving rise to questions regarding internal changes of cultural identity and suggestions of isolation from contemporary communities. However, the 1976 excavations in the southern portion of the site …

In Present Past: Sun Tunnels And The Historic Reconstruction Of Vision, Patrice M. Capobianchi

Theses and Dissertations

The following study investigates how Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels makes effective use of time and land to reprogram the modern viewer’s eye. By utilizing sculpture that is reminiscent of pre-historic observatories as an observational framing device against the landscape topography, the artwork succeeds in presenting a historic reconstruction of vision.

Carving Out A Space In Time: Sandra Swan And Her Block Island Oeuvre, Kylie S. Knee

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on the Contemporary artist Sandra Swan, and how she peels back the layers of false identity and history created around Block Island, RI in her woodcuts. These woodcuts document the seafaring, landscape and architectural elements of the island, which are proven to be more contemporary than Block Island claims them to be. Through her pure observation and documentation, Swan reveals the falsities behind the early history of the island, as well as the maintained narrative of Block Island as a “place lost in time.” Her woodcutting technique links her to traditional nineteenth-century lithography, yet also places her …

Staging A Modern Nation: The Art And Architecture Of The Peruvian Pavilion At The 1939/40 New York World’S Fair, Alida R. Jekabson

Theses and Dissertations

At the 1939/40 New York World’s Fair, the Peruvian government installed a multimedia display of objects and products in a foreign pavilion. An examination of the building and its contents provides a basis to understand how art and commerce work together to construct narratives of authenticity, nationalism and modernity.

Fragmented Ornament: An Analysis Of Print Reproductions Of Medieval Ornament And Decoration During The Gothic Revival, Allison M. Ransom

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis considers how printed reproductions of medieval ornament, produced in England during the Nineteenth Century, had the potential to misrepresent medieval art to the public, since they only focused on one element of ornamental significance from an object, thereby presenting an incomplete picture.

Landscape Of Portraiture: The Process Of Assimilation And Reconciliation In Search Of Identity Of Eighteenth Century England, Aram Park

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the use of landscape paintings embedded within English conversation pieces of the eighteenth century with an emphasis on the art works of Arthur Devis and Johan Zoffany, exploring the way they influenced the development of an English school of painting during this century.

Two Become One. Collaboration In Life And Work: Emilia’S Role In The Work Of The Artistic Duo Ilya And Emilia Kabakov, Elena Coureau

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the artistic collaboration of Ilya and Emilia Kabakov in terms of co-authorship. Through a discussion of collaboration in diverse fields, this paper develops an understanding of the artists’ decision to join forces and highlights Emilia Kabakov’s artistic talent and originality, diverging from the previous scholarship.

Disruption And Recovery In The Work Of Botticelli And Piero Di Cosimo, Ellen G. Birger

Theses and Dissertations

Florence underwent major destabilization during the 1490s, creating an extremely stressful time for its citizens. Chief amongst these events were the death of Lorenzo dei Medici and the ascendance, then demise, of the charismatic preacher Girolamo Savonarola. The impact on the work of Botticelli and Piero di Cosimo is evaluated.

Altar/Installations By Amalia Mesa-Bains In A Feminist Context, Carmen Del Valle Hermo

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the path-breaking art installations and attendant writing of Amalia Mesa-Bains, who fused the home altar traditions of Mexican and Chicana women with contemporary considerations of identity politics and hybridity, naming the form domesticana. It situates her practice within a trajectory of feminist art.

The Narrative Of Revolution: Socialism And The Masses 1911-1917, Stephen K. Walkiewicz

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to situate The Masses magazine (1911-1917) within a specific discursive tradition of revolution, revealing a narrative pattern that is linked with discourse that began to emerge during and after the French Revolution. As the term “socialism” begins to resonate again within popular American political discourse (and as a potentially viable course of action rather than a curse for damnable offense), it is worthwhile to trace its significance within American history to better understand its aesthetic dimensions, its radical difference, and its way of devising problems and answers. In short, this thesis poses the question: what ideological structures …

The Villa Baizeau And The Casa O’Gorman: The Modern House In 1929 Through Two Case Studies, Nora L. Boyd

Theses and Dissertations

Using as case studies two houses designed and built in the years 1928-1931 in Mexico City and Tunis, which early scholars connected to the Swiss architect Le Corbusier, this study illuminates inherent biases in architectural history and proposes a more historically rigorous framework, reoriented around individual buildings rather than architects.

Ornament And The Vienna Secession: A Study Of The 1902 Beethoven Exhibition, Chika Jenkins

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis examines the vital roles of ornament in Vienna Secession’s Beethoven Exhibition (1902), the embodiment of Gesamtkunstwerk and artistic freedom. Gustav Klimt and Joseph Maria Olbrich evoked various senses, alluded to Apollonian and Dionysian aspects of artistic creation, and celebrated its evolution and freedom, inspired by Alois Riegl.

Kiddush Levana, The Moon Is Your Handheld Mirror, Noa Ginzburg

Theses and Dissertations

Noa Ginzburg is weaving cast-off and hand-made objects, lights, reflections, spells, drawings, and an abundance of knots into site-responsive installations. In her thesis, Ginzburg addresses Hieronymus Bosch’s paintings, the synergy of assemblages, repurposing of materials in the era of Anthropocene, and how notions of solidarity and indeterminacy influence her work.

Seen And Unseen: Visualizing Contradictions In Postwar Japan, 1950s–1960s, Christina Lai

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis offers a comparative study on how photography visualizes the political dynamics, ideological and psychological contradictions in postwar Japan. The discussion includes the exhibition The Family of Man in Tokyo (1956), Werner Bischof and Robert Capa’s photographs of Japan, and local photographers Ken Domon and Shomei Tomatsu.

Understanding Community: Microwear Analysis Of Blades At The Mound House Site, Silas Levi Chapman

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding Middle Woodland period sites has been of considerable interest for North American archaeologists since early on in the discipline. Various Middle Woodland period (50 BCE-400CE) cultures participated in shared ideas and behaviors, such as constructing mounds and earthworks and importing exotic materials to make objects for ceremony and for interring with the dead. These shared behaviors and ideas are termed by archaeologists as “Hopewell”. The Mound House site is a floodplain mound group thought to have served as a “ritual aggregation center”, a place for the dispersed Middle Woodland communities to congregate at certain times of year to reinforce …

A Pivotal Point: James Mcneill Whistler’S Harmony In Blue And Silver: Trouville And The Formation Of His Aesthetic, Eugenie B. Fortier

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a study of the seascapes of James McNeill Whistler’s formative career. It highlights Harmony in Blue and Silver: Trouville (1865) as a crucial painting that demonstrates his revolt from the influence of Gustave Courbet and marks the synthesis of his artistic style.

Everything We Touch Is Touching Us, Molly Markow

Theses and Dissertations

EVERYTHING WE TOUCH IS TOUCHING US

MOLLY MARKOW

22 Pages

Images shape both personal and collective experiences of place in the Anthropocene. I am interested in the relationship of landscape and representation to purity politics, longing, and escape. I am critical of the role of idealized depictions of “nature” and question how images shape our notions of paradise, desire, and fantasy. Who benefits from notions of paradise, and who doesn’t? I ask these questions while searching for a way to embrace impurity and the beauty in contamination. How might we come to an understanding of the post-pure that leaves room …

Sex, Drugs, And Rock-Lined Privies: An Analysis Of Embossed Glass Health Product Bottles From Victorian-Era Brothel And Non-Brothel Archaeological Sites By Socioeconomic Status, Erin Lynn Randolph

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines consumption patterns of Victorian-Era health products once contained in embossed-glass bottles to elucidate trends among different socioeconomic groups during the mid-nineteenth century through the first decade of the twentieth century. The consumption patterns of 20 types of health products from nine different archaeological sites across the United States were analyzed among Victorian-Era brothel residents and the non-brothel population, by socioeconomic class, and then by both socioeconomic status and affiliation with the sex industry. This process was repeated using the ingredients contained within the health products examined above.

Analysis revealed that soda water was exceptionally popular as a …

Constraint And Control, Patricia Ayres

Theses and Dissertations

I have long considered themes of the body. Drawing on my knowledge as a fashion designer, I bring materials and hardware from the fashion industry into my artwork transforming and rendering them non-functional. My sculptures relate to stories of isolation, separation, and confinement. The following pages will analyze how the United States penal system controls, constrains and restricts the body through physical and psychological wounds. Furthermore, they will examine how the Catholic Church controls people’s minds and behavior through a ritualistic belief system.

Modernizing The Arthurian Legend: Julia Margaret Cameron’S Photographic Illustrations Of Idylls Of The King, Hannah Rozenblat

Theses and Dissertations

This study identifies Julia Margaret Cameron’s contribution to the Arthurian Revival through Illustrations to the Idylls of the King and Other Poems, taking into consideration the development of narrative photography, the depiction of Arthurian themes in art and book illustration, theatricality and its connection to photography, and Victorian gender roles.

Umberto Boccioni's States Of Mind, Sonya Shrier

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Umberto Boccioni’s series the States of Mind (1911) and discusses how these works represent a breakthrough in the artist’s search to find a pictorial expression for concepts that occupied him throughout his career. The States of Mind exists in four complete iterations each comprised of three images: The Farewells, Those Who Go and Those Who Stay.The first set of oil paintings, begun in late summer of 1911, are in the Divisionist style and are in the collection of the Civica Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Milan. A set of charcoal and contè drawings on paper, likely completed in …

Big Sister Enterprise: Just Be There, Wai Ying Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

Wai Ying Zhao, an artist and curator, instituted an American company named Big Sister Enterprise in 2018. BSE is a Delaware registered LLC that imitates briefcase companies implemented in order to foster a community of emerging artists with the intent of exhibiting and promoting their works. Zhao’s initiative stems from the awareness that many artists are struggling to continue their studio practices because of unstable income or being overworked in jobs such as art handling, gallery sitting and bartending. Through openings and events held in spaces in both New York and Shenzhen, she aims to create a community where emerging …

Access Point: Yuan Dongping’S Mental Patients In China And The State Of Chinese Documentary Photography In The 1990s, Sheung Ng

Theses and Dissertations

An investigation of the biographical, political, art historical, and social factors that could affect the discrepancy between the intention and reception of Chinese photographer Yuan Dongping’s Mental Patients in China photobook published in 1996, providing insight into the state of Chinese documentary photography publishing in the 1990s.