Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Sculpture, Modern 20th century Australia'

It would be wrong to suggest that this essay is in any way a comprehensive study of brutal sculpture. Certainly not. There have been many deliberate omissions for reasons which become clear in the text. Very briefly, omissions of certain sculptors and their work are largely due to my wish to avoid repetitive ideas and images. My view in this essay is to provide a cross-section of ideas and works, whereby the reader might gain some insight into the varied nature of this kind of sculpture. Thus, there seemed very little need for endless similarities of concept and expression. It was the diversity which I felt was important. The chapter which discusses concepts of beauty is also not a comprehensive study. This subject demands more than a humble essay to do it any justice. However, my reasons for touching the vague and controversial outline of these concepts were, primarily, to suggest that notions of beauty as the sole criterion in the judgement of art are too limiting, and, consequently, to introduce the concept of vitalism, which I believe is more valid. Finally, I wish to mention the personal motive behind this work. Over the years, I have witnessed the emergence of brutal elements in my own work, which I found disturbing at times. I have never been able to answer satisfactorily the criticism I've received. All I knew was that these things came from a very deep source. It is with this in mind that I embarked on this project, hoping to achieve two things. Firstly, to provide an objective survey of an important development in art, and, secondly , to answer some of my criticism. Foreword, p. 1.

The ritualistic aspect of Walter Pichler's work greatly problematizes the traditional view of the art object as the locus of aesthetic contemplation. Yet how are we to approach such art in our secularized world? For it to maintain its meaningfulness, does not ritual require a shared symbolic system?
Indirectly guided by Pichler's work, this thesis is an exploration of the contemporary status of the work of art. An investigation into the myth of Prometheus reveals that art and ritual share the same origin. Further inquiries into early Greek sculpture, as well as the concepts of techne and mimesis, expand this origin into the relationship between the art object and the viewer, shifting the customary focus away from the resemblance between the model and the copy. In this space of looking , art no longer presents itself as an aestheticized object---presence and absence, the visible and the invisible, recognition and anamnesis come into play as possible ways of participation in the work of art.

Over a period of two decades, Raymond D. Nasher, a Dallas-based real estate developer, and his late wife Patsy amassed a collection of significant modern sculptures. For years, pieces from the private collection--numbering over 300 as of 1990--were on display in various museums and civic institutions, and they were installed on a rotating basis at Northpark Center, a Dallas shopping mall developed by Nasher. Since the 1987 Dallas Museum of Art exhibition, the collection has been shown in several major international museums. This study documents the formative period of the collection, the Nashers' collecting and exhibiting philosophies, and four early exhibitions of the sculptures. It includes a chronology of the Nashers and major acquisitions of sculpture.

This paper analyses and contextualises the artist’s exploration of self-portraiture through the sculptural bust format. Conventionally, the portrait bust epitomises an antiquated view of the human subject as fixed, finite and knowable. The classicistic allusion of the form seems the perfect embodiment of a pre-modern and hopelessly idealised view of subjectivity and its capacity to be represented. This paper will show how, despite these impressions, the portrait bust is in fact a highly volatile sculptural form in which presence and absence are brought into question. When used as a vehicle for self-portraiture the bust yields a spectrum of instability, both literal and metaphoric, that calls into question the clarity of notions of subject and object and challenges the ideas of authority and representation more broadly. By providing an historical overview of the role of the portrait bust, this paper will map the field of content inherent to the portrait bust and discuss its application in contemporary self-portraiture. As the work of Mike Parr, Janine Antoni and Marc Quinn demonstrates, the classical certainty that permeates the bust format can indeed heighten the capacity of the form to represent uncertainty: an ambiguity that makes it a highly potent form for sustained studio investigation and experimentation. This paper will provide an overview of this experimental scope and application, by discussing the author’s process of sculptural self-portraiture in relation to aspects of ‘likeness’, expression, truncation and reproduction that occur in the form.

Esta tesis da una visión sintética de las diferentes corrientes escultóricas internacionales que confluyen en el panorama actual español. Una vez contextualizada nuestra joven escultura se pasa a estudiar las reacciones individuales concretas de nuestros escultores, dejando claro que estos análisis individuales son solo una fase de la metodología sin que constituyan una finalidad por sí mismos. A través del análisis de las posiciones individuales se detectan una serie de planteamientos que rebasan las posturas particulares concretas y que se expresan mediante unos "ejes de discusión". Estos ejes se organizan como estructuras bipolares que asocian determinadas posiciones opuestas o antagónicas en un esfuerzo notable por deshacerse del concepto de "negación de lo anterior" como finalidad. Con esta intención revisa el arte conceptual español y constata la permanencia de alguno de sus postulados en la segunda mitad de la década de los 80, una vez superada la fase de pura negación del concepto en los primeros años de la actual década. Con la misma vocación positiva se cuestiona conceptos tales como proceso y proyecto, mostrándonos el primero como una línea descompositiva tendente al signo elemental, mientras que nos presenta el proyecto como afirmación, posterior al proceso, en la cual tiene cabida la expresión de lo complejo. Relaciona tal énfasis de lo complejo con el carácter ecléctico del actual panorama.

This paper describes my research project and body of work, which investigates social inequalities through the different language and functions of everyday objects. The research moves on from my previous Honours research project on the dou ble nature of caravan parks in NSW and looked at the changing demographics of these locations. I noted the increase of semi-permanent, residential 'homes' for low income earners and the unemployed, in these holiday locations. This paper examines broader social issues of homelessness and social inequalities within our society. I look at the complexities in the definitions of homelessness and the ways in which people find themselves in the position where they rely on welfare agencies and government support. I also investigate different representations of homelessness by artists and other social commentators, ranging from the hopeless victim to the vagrant. This section locates my social concerns with the context of theoretical debate and artistic representation. I have used everyday and mundane objects in my artworks to discuss these social concerns. Everyday objects posses a language and commonality that is familiar to all members of society. This language is developed from the different historical, cultural and functional qualities that everyday objects possess. I discus this in relation to the development of the everyday object in artistic practices from the early 20th century to today. Of specifically importance to my practice is the influence of contemporary German artists and their manipulation of objects to make works with political and social content. Throughout this paper I have discussed individual art works which illustrate my social concerns and the practicalities of the everyday. Revealing how I juxtapose certain objects to question the uneven nature of travel and home, with regards to possessions and mobility. Additionally I challenge the normal functions of objects to reveal new absurd possibilities of use.

Scenario House, a gallery based installation, is comprised of a room constructed as a ???family room??? within a domestic space, a television with a looped video work and a sound componant played through a 5.1 sound system. The paper is intended to give my work context in relation to the processes leading up to its completion. This is achieved through clarification of the basis for the installation including previous socio-political discourses within my art practice. It then focuses on ways that the installation Scenario House is based on gun practice facilities such as the Valhalla Shooting Club. Further it gives an explanation of the actual production, in context with other art practices. It was found that distinctions between ???war as a game??? and the actual event are being lost within ???simulation revenge scenarios??? where the borders distinguishing gaming violence, television violence and revenge scenarios are increasingly indefinable. War can then be viewed a spectacle where the actual event is lost in a simplified simulation. Scenario House as installation allows audience immersion through sound spatialisation and physical devices. Sound is achieved by design of a 5.1 system played through a domestic home theatre system. The physical design incorporates the dual aspect of a gun shooting club and a lounge room. Further a film loop is shown on the television monitor as part of the domestic space ??? it is non-narrative and semi-documentary in style. The film loop represents the mediation of the representation of fear where there is an exclusion of ???the other??? from the social body. When considering this installation it is important to note that politics and art need not be considered as representing two separate and permanent realities. Conversely there is a need to distance politicised art production from any direct political campaign work in so far as the notion of a campaign constitutes a fixed and inflexible space for intellectual and cultural production. Finally this paper expresses the need to maintain a critical openness to media cultures that dominate political discourse. Art practices such as those of Martha Rosler, Haacke and Paul McCarthy are presented as effective strategies for this form of production.

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Artes
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-17T01:15:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mello_EduardoBortolottide_M.pdf: 24701423 bytes, checksum: d5a3d14748b8cbbbcbafe292a5148eda (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010
Resumo: Este trabalho tem como objetivo o estudo das articulações do volume que Camargo realizou ao longo de sua obra. Com base em uma afirmação do artista sobre seu próprio trabalho, nós iremos decodificar a linguagem abstrata de Sérgio, revelando as relações volumétricas presentes na obra do artista como por exemplo: equilibrar, tensionar e repousar. Ao longo de toda a sua obra construtiva Sérgio busca uma arte extremamente sensível. Esta característica é a grande contribuição de Sérgio Camargo para a arte brasileira
Abstract: This work has as its aim the study of the volumetric articulations that Camargo developed throughout his oeuvre. Based on an artist statement, we will decode Sérgio's abstract language, revealing the volumetric relations present on the artist's work such as to balance, to tense and to rest, for example. Throughout his whole constructive oeuvre, Sérgio searched for an extremely sensitive art. This aspect is the great contribution from Camargo to brazilian art
Mestrado
Artes Visuais

A partir del momento en que el escultor entiende su obra como un elemento trascendente, donde la imagen que crea adquiere una vocación de transmisión de ideas, aparece un comportamiento donde la reflexión sobre los mecanismos de creación y las consecuencias expresivas, que se derivan de este hecho, fundamentan el quehacer artístico. Este trabajo se centra, precisamente, en este tema: el de la relación entre la teoría y la práctica en la escultura y concretamente en el ámbito de la escultura catalana contemporánea. El tema de la relación entre la teoría y la práctica se ha enfocado desde la articulación de tres conceptos que fundamentan el trabajo artístico: proceso, materia y comportamiento. Proceso, materia y comportamiento sirven para efectuar un recorrido por las propuestas de la escultura contemporánea, referenciándolas con las actitudes y las formas que se desarrollan en la escultura catalana.

Este trabajo de investigación plantea una relación entre los puentes y su historia, estructura y funcionalidad, su análisis estético formal y la escultura. Como método de aproximación se utiliza una doble vía: la via histórica, mediante un recorrido por los puentes de todas las épocas, poniendo en paralelo la evolución formal de los mismos con los materiales y tecnologías utilizados. A la vez, se intercalan, de manera comparativa, propuestas escultóricas que se aproximan al lenguaje de los puentes por analogía. No se marcan límites temporales ni tampoco espaciales, entendiendo que el lenguaje de los puentes es un lenguaje universal. La vía analítica se resuelve con una propuesta que parte de tres ámbitos de conocimiento perceptivo, interpretativo y gráfico; para concluir con la conceptualización de categorías visuales que son susceptibles de ser aplicadas a una lectura estético-formal de los puentes. La mayor aportación de este estudio se desprende de la amplitud de sus objetivos, lo que deja caminos abiertos, pero también un recorrido iniciado del que destacaría las siguientes aportaciones: el planteamiento interdisciplinar, la sistematización, la propuesta de metodología y la conexión interdisciplinar.

This thesis is an investigation of how spiritual ideas have contributed to West Australian academic and artist Tom Gibbons’s approach to Modernism. Against the backdrop of the local context I show how Gibbons’s 1950s undergraduate and 1960s post-graduate studies in the area of the occult and esoteric influences on Early Modernism provided him with an atypical perspective on Modernism itself but that this perspective resulted in his development of a Modernist sensibility particularly suitable for the type of questions asked about art in the later part of last century. My thesis traces Gibbons’s development of an integrated aesthetic “theory” that bridged for him the gap between a host of contrary sources. For Gibbons the bridge between divergent views on art, from the Modern period to the Renaissance period, is an ahistorical perspective based on Christian Immanence. He thus adopted a perspective that redefined the metaphysical aspects of Modernist abstraction through a particular approach to realism which celebrates the everyday world because of the Christian structures that for him condition it. I argue that his sensibility, which combines the stylistic features of a Modernist literature witty juxtaposition, irony and paradox with the concept of Christian Immanence, resulted in an oeuvre which can be read as a particular example of what Ken Wilber in the late 1990s termed Integral Studies. I argue that underlying Gibbons’s use of Christian Immanence is the Integralist’s understanding that the world’s great philosophical and spiritual traditions approach consciousness and experience through similar ideas. The argument presented, in agreement with writers such as Wilber, is that Gibbons’s capacity to develop a sense of life’s irony and metaphor, and to then use this as a capacity to embrace the beauty and outrageousness of the whole, is a mature spirituality that provides an integrated perspective filled with joy for the ordinary. I conclude that his art provides a particular example of how the loss of meaning felt by Modernists may be addressed.

En esta tesis doctoral, se exploran las diferentes técnicas cimáticas existentes (la cimática es la ciencia que estudia las representaciones visuales generadas por las ondas de sonido y los fenómenos periódicos de vibración sobre la materia), y se realiza un riguroso estudio desde una perspectiva audio-visual. A partir de los resultados, se desarrollan herramientas para su aplicación en las diferentes disciplinas artísticas contemporáneas.

La presente tesis se basa en el estudio de las múltiples variantes plásticas que la luz ha permitido desarrollar dentro de la escultura contemporánea, siendo prioritaria una aproximación a las poéticas generadas por la utilización de ese material determinado o el que se deriva de su observación. Para ello se ha diseñado una estructura consistente en varios capítulos destinados a analizar la poética en general referida a las obras de arte que conjugan luz y el concepto de tridimensionalidad en un ámbito contemporáneo dado que analizamos el arte y a los artistas que trabajan en este ámbito después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. En la introducción podemos ver un análisis de carácter más histórico respecto al marco conceptual que estamos analizando, mencionando algún caso puntual anterior al periodo histórico en el que nos movemos, con el interés de entender mejor los procesos creativos que han generado las nuevas realidades creativa en el ámbito de la luz y la escultura. También aclaramos conceptos como la motivación personal, el interés temático, los objetivos y la metodología seguida para realizar esta tesis. En un primer capítulo, analizamos las expresiones escultóricas que utilizan la luz como material poético inherente, haciendo un repaso de las maneras de hacer o interpretar la escultura o las intervenciones tridimensionales desde todas las perspectivas y formas de crear utilizadas por artistas de todo el mundo e inscritos (o aún no) en determinadas tendencias. Esto hace que el análisis sea amplio y contrastado con ciertos comportamientos del espectro artístico contemporáneo en un mundo cada vez más global y conectado en todo momento. En este capítulo también se hace una breve reflexión poética referida a la luz y a las intervenciones escultóricas contemporáneas. En el segundo capítulo se refiere a las distintas formas de intervenciones artísticas que utilizan la luz como elemento fundamental, desde una tipificación que recoge unas catorce formas de interpretar el arte desde estos parámetros específicos de luz y espacio tridimensional, todo ello ejemplificado con una buena cantidad de artistas de una relevancia que justifican cada uno de los diferentes apartados por su particular manera de trabajar su producción artística. El tercer capítulo recoge información de algunos acontecimientos significativos que han representado un impulso para nuestro objeto de estudio, haciendo un repaso desde “Luzboa” en el 2004, a la gran exposición celebrada en el museo ZKM de Karlsrühe “Light art from artificial light” entre los años 2005 y 2006, la Bienal de Venecia del año 2011, las “Festes Decennals Candela 2011” (Valls, Tarragona) con su exposición “LUMENS”, que se celebra cada diez años, y el XI Foro Internacional de Escultura celebrado en la ciudad alemana de Celle en el año 2012 y organizado por “Sculpture Network”. El cuarto capítulo está destinado a cuatro entrevistas realizadas a artistas (con una representatividad justificada en el panorama artístico nacional e internacional) que aportan su visión personal en un documento que recoge sus motivaciones conceptuales y aspiraciones artísticas en todas sus posibilidades, artistas estos de ámbito nacional e internacional, dos de ellos locales, otro nacional y un último extranjero que aporta una nota distinta por su manera de trabajar. También quedan recogidas en el quinto capítulo, a modo de conclusiones, algunas reflexiones personales acerca de la propia obra artística con ejemplos de desarrollo de proyectos escultóricos con luz y las evidencias pedagógicas recogidas en ejemplos de alumnos que han trabajado en estas dinámicas como consecuencia del tipo de docencia recibida. Por último, y cerrando el trabajo, la base bibliográfica, hemerográfica y de Internet, además de los anexos pertinentes.

Louise Bourgeois se está convirtiendo en una de las artistas modernas más conocidas en occidente, su fama es casi una parodia del anonimato en el que vivió durante la mayor parte de su vida artística. En el último cuarto de siglo se ha escrito una cantidad abrumadora de literatura sobre su trabajo, siendo su obra mostrada en grandes exposiciones internacionales itinerantes y convirtiéndose en el centro de estudio de críticos, académicos y estudiantes. ¿Qué es lo que aún queda por decir sobre esta artista tan ampliamente estudiada? Este fue una de las grandes interrogantes que se me plantearon al iniciar mi trabajo de tesis en 2010. Por un lado es muy difícil aportar algo diferente cuando hay equipos de personas en los grandes museos que junto con especialistas externos redactan catálogos para sus exposiciones, pero por el otro, tantos profesionales han arrojado luz sobre su obra que es posible profundizar en ella desde numerosos campos de conocimiento distintos. La clave está en la obra de Bourgeois, un cuerpo de obra que se extiende durante la mayor parte del siglo XX e inicios del XXI, que es capaz de reinventar los términos de su expresión artística pero que es coherente con sus temas durante todo el re- corrido. Una obra enigmática, asombrosa y muy personal que es capaz de abrazar innumerables interpretaciones. Para mí no ha sido un camino fácil ni directo. Cuando empecé la tesis quise abordar el trabajo a partir de la idea de “la habitación propia de Virginia Woolf”, leyendo el trabajo de Bourgeois como la construcción progresiva de un espacio literal y metafórico donde ser y devenir mujer y artista. Seguidamente me concentré en el concepto de celda, con la ambición de elaborar una genealogía de este concepto a partir de la vida y la obra de diferentes mujeres desde el siglo XV. Finalmente, mi investigación y mi experiencia vital durante la escritura de la tesis me llevaron a la propuesta actual, el análisis de la escultura en Bourgeois como un espacio matricial, donde es posible la revuelta interior. Mi trabajo ha consistido en relacionar la obra de Bourgeois con la teoría de los géneros de Christopher Bollas, el concepto de revuelta de Julia Kristeva y el estudio de la subjetividad de Nick Mansfeld. En la primera parte de la tesis se propone una introducción a la vida y obra de Louise Bourgeois exponiendo los factores que propiciaron que su trabajo fuera considerado contemporáneo durante más de siete décadas. El segundo capítulo se centra en su emblemática serie Cells y se describe como una estructura generativa y matricial. El tercer capítulo recorre la propuesta de Bourgeois a partir del concepto de revuelta y del protagonismo de la subjetividad en el trabajo de la artista. Durante la redacción de esta tesis he usado intermitentemente la primera persona. Podría parecer no procedente desde una perspectiva académica más tradicional. He creído oportuno hacerlo porque este trabajo me ha ocupado durante un largo periodo de mi vida y me he comprometido con él; este estudio ha influido en mi vida y mi vida ha dado forma a esta investigación. En segundo lugar porque uno de los temas centrales de la tesis es la subjetividad en el trabajo de Bourgeois, una subjetividad que nace a través de su experiencia vivencial y que se manifiesta a lo largo de todo su arte. Espero que la estructura del índice de esta tesis, así como las relaciones conceptuales y visuales que en ella se han establecido, permitan acercarse al trabajo de Louise Bourgeois desde un nuevo prisma, y sean de utilidad para el futuro estudio de la artista.

El nostre estudi -basat en les fonts documentals originals i el treball de camp-, aporta una lectura del corpus de l’obra a la llum del sistema conceptual desenvolupat pels Baschet, per facilitar la comprensió dels principis acústics i les seves aplicacions. L’objectiu d’aquesta tesi és posar en valor aspectes estètics i tècnics -en relació als posicionaments vitals dels Baschet respecte la noció de l’Escultura Sonora com a objecte de participació pública-, per afavorir la reflexió i contribuir a establir les bases per a la conservació, recerca i desenvolupaments posteriors, tot insertant-se naturalment en la pròpia trajectòria de l’Escultura Sonora Baschet.
Our study -based on original documentary sources and field work- provides a reading of the corpus of work under the light of the conceptual system developed by Baschet, to ease the understanding of acoustic principles and their applications as well. The aim of this thesis is to highlight the technical and aesthetic aspects -in relation to the vital statements of Baschet respect the notion of Sound Sculpture as an object for public participation- to encourage ponder and help laying the foundation for conservation, research and further development, while inserting naturally in the path of the Baschet Sound Sculpture.

"L'Anell de pedra" és una aliança amb la natura i una reflexió oberta sobre la comunicació que s'experimenta en contacte amb ella. Presenta un ordre en la complexitat de l'acte creatiu i manifesta la voluntat de fer un pacte estable. Vol ser una gnosi, un fil d'unió entre el pensament estètic, la sensibilitat espiritual i el paradigma emergent. Amb la informació disponible sobre l'existència paradoxal de les coses, la tesi defineix una gràfica virtual amb tres àrees de realitat:

· El món exterior construït amb matèria inerta, base comuna de la realitat.

· Les coses sensibles encarnades en el cicle de la vida i la mort.

· Allò que emergeix de l'activitat mental, les hipòtesis de treball científic i les obres d'art.

Aquests universos estan traspassats per un fil invisible unit a les lleis de la física, als processos metabòlics i bioquímics que constitueixen la base de la vida. La visió del paradigma emergent, post cartesià, unifica la matèria, la vida i la ment i ens obliga a definir de bell nou la relació existent entre l'home i la resta d'éssers vius. La raó humana no és una característica diferenciadora de la resta d'animals, sinó que és una qualitat que ens unifica amb ells, ens situa en la mateixa línia d'evolució de la vida. En la roda dels canvis, en la transformació de la matèria, tant sols estem en altre nivell, en una fase de complexitat diferent.
L'art pot ser ara una manera que l'home fa servir per connectar amb l'alè invisible del món, amb el llenguatge encriptat que presenta la natura. Des de la perspectiva de la realitat estètica, l'obra d'art és el vehicle que posa en comunió la matèria i les seves produccions, és el nodol de les xarxes de relació entre la matèria, la vida i la cultura.
L'Anell de pedra vol mitigar el dolor de la vida i apaivagar els nivells d'incertesa. La seva forma presenta un ordre amb el qual es mira el misteri inefable del món, en ell queda emmirallat un patró de conducta que s'auto replica, que balla sobre un fons caòtic i genera ontologia. Aquesta percepció de la matèria sensible l'he anomenada "la realitat estètica". Tot emergeix d'aquesta premissa; la qualitat creativa de la matèria. El món que veiem, és la seva obra i en ella intentem trobar-nos i acomodar la nostra existència. La ressonància creadora, les "hierofanies" que emanen d'una muntanya, no són la veu del sagrat, són constatacions de la realitat estètica, intuïcions creatives, "revelacions", fruït d'anàlisis de la raó científica. Hem de pensar, però, que tot és físic, incloent les emocions i els pensaments, tot emergeix d'una memòria implicada en la matèria que es desplega als ulls per mitjà de reaccions físiques i químiques. L'univers es revela a la mirada com holografies, creacions instantànies de la ment que queden unides per xarxes de relació física. En el fons caòtic del món i la ment, tot és atzar i necessitat, intercanvi d'energia i informació.

El procediment de treball ha portat varies direccions:

· Constatar en l'experiència de camp que la ressonància de la matèria es comunica i traspassa els tres àmbits anunciats.

· La recerca i documentació d'aspectes sensibles en la natura, com a eina que ajuda a conèixer la condició humana.

· Elaborar la idea que l'art és també el llenguatge de la natura, ja que aquesta està sotmesa al cicle creatiu de la vida i de la mort.

· La vida també és art i aparença; pregunta obsessiva que cerca el seu significat en una contínua transformació.

CONCLUSIONS: Com a escultor he assajat escenaris per fer accions en la cara fosca de la realitat: les ocultacions. Com a resposta a les meves conviccions, allí, on les simetries fonamentals de les partícules presenten el principi d'incertesa, he presentat l'obra, allí he redactat el compromís conceptual de l'aliança. En el món exterior, en el de les coses tangibles he instal·lat la forma de l'anell de pedra.
"El anillo de piedra" es una reflexión abierta desde la escultura que trata sobre la comunicación débil y sobre la comunión que se establece con la naturaleza. Presenta un orden en la complejidad del acto creativo y expresa la voluntad de establecer una alianza dentro de la oscuridad del mundo. Quiere ser una gnosis, un hilo de unión entre el pensamiento estético, la sensibilidad espiritual y el paradigma emergente, la nueva formulación de la realidad. Con la información disponible sobre la existencia paradójica de las cosas, la tesis define una gráfica con tres áreas de realidad:

· El mundo exterior construido con materia exánime pero común a todo lo que nos rodea.

· Las cosas sensibles encarnadas en el ciclo de la vida y de la muerte.

· Las acciones que emergen de la actividad mental, las ideas, ilusiones, fascinaciones, hipótesis de trabajo científico y las obras de arte.

Presenta estos universos traspasados por un hilo invisible, unidos siempre a las leyes de la física, a los procesos metabólicos y bioquímicos que constituyen la base de la vida. La visión del paradigma emergente, post cartesiano, unifica la materia, la vida y la mente y nos obliga a definir de nuevo la relación existente entre el hombre y el resto de seres vivos. Las propuestas de la tesis nos invitan a formar parte del fluir creativo de la naturaleza. Se reflexiona sobre la razón estética y apunta que no es una característica que nos diferencie del resto de los animales, sino que es una cualidad que nos unifica con ellos; nos sitúa en la misma línea de evolución, así, podemos de pensar que tan sólo nos encontramos en una fase diferente.

Las aportaciones del procedimiento creativo son:

· Constatar en la experiencia de campo que la resonancia de la materia se comunica y traspasa los tres ámbitos anunciados.

· La búsqueda y documentación de aspectos sensibles en la naturaleza ha proporcionado una respuesta estética que mitiga los niveles de incertidumbre y nos reconcilia con el mundo.

· La vida es arte y apariencia en proceso permanente, cuestión que nos obliga a elaborar una idea firme más allá del escenario de los objetos. El arte es también el lenguaje de la naturaleza, ya que ésta está sometida al ciclo de la vida y de la muerte.

Conclusiones: como escultor he ensayado espacios para hacer acciones en la cara oculta de la realidad: las ocultaciones. Como respuesta a mis convicciones, allí, donde les simetrías fundamentales de las partículas presentan el principio de incertidumbre, he presentado la obra, allí he redactado el compromiso conceptual de la alianza. En el mundo exterior, en el de las cosas tangibles y contingentes, he instalado la forma, el Anillo de piedra.
ENGLISH SUMMARY:

"Stone ring" is an open reflection and experiment of poor communication, which introduces order into the complexity of the creative act and reveals the will to create an alliance with Nature.

It is a work of gnosis, a connection between the aesthetic thought, the spiritual sensitivity and the emergent paradigm; a new world order. By means of information on the paradoxical existence of things, the thesis defines a virtual graphic displaying three areas of reality:

· The external world built with spiritless material, common to everything.

· Sensible things involved in the cycle of life and death.

· Everything that arises from mental activity; ideas, illusions, fantasies, hypotheses of scientific and art works.

These universes are connected by an invisible thread which is united to the laws of physics, metabolic and biochemical processes that constitute the basis for life.
The post Cartesian vision of the emergent paradigm unifies matter, life and soul, and forces us to redefine the relationship between man and other beings; nature.
Reason does not make us different from other animals. In fact, it is a quality that unifies us, that places us in the same evolution chain, despite representing different phases of evolution.

The procedure for the project has focused on three main areas:

· Prove through field experience that resonance of matter can communicate and move through the three above-mentioned areas

· Use research as a tool to document sensitive aspects of nature and reduce levels of uncertainty

· Develop the ideas that art is the language of nature, subjected to the cycle of life and death and that life is art and appearance.

CONCLUSIONS:

As a sculptor, I have conducted research in different settings in order to perform actions on the dark side of reality: concealments. To prove my convictions, I have presented my work where the main symmetries of particles display the uncertainty principle. The display is found in the external world of tangible objects and is where I have placed the Stone ring and ultimately written the conceptual compromise of alliance.

Taking Paris as its geographical nexus, this dissertation tracks European and African modernist appropriations of African sculpture across a three-tiered historical trajectory spanning from 1905 to 1980. Part I charts engagements with West and Central African masks and statues by the Fauves and Pablo Picasso; Part II assesses the work of pioneering black South African artists Ernest Mancoba and Gerard Sekoto; and Part III chronicles the nationalization of modern art in Senegal under President Léopold Sédar Senghor. Through examinations of the cross-cultural, formal, and politicized dynamics of African sculpture--or so-called art nègre--in modern art discourse and practice on two continents, the dissertation argues that European and African artists shared certain form-based approaches to African objects, coupled with tactical understandings of those objects' cultural origins. The artists diverged--both individually and by movement--insofar as they appropriated African art to different ends reflective of historical period, social context, and personal approach. More broadly, the dissertation argues that the early-20th-century European avant-garde "discovery" of African sculpture became globally significant through its eventual catalytic role for modern art movements in Africa. It argues that some of the most important modernist appropriators of African sculptural forms were African painters who both studied and subverted their European precursors in that practice.

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Fine Art, Durban Institute of Technology, Durban, 2004.
This dissertation investigates the use of clay as a medium in contemporary sculpture made between 1980 and 2003. This research focuses specifically on discussing the artists' (both sculptors and ceramists) different approaches and attitudes to working with clay, from construction, manipulation, firing and glazing techniques through to their personal aesthetics and ideas. This dissertation examines how and why the contemporary sculptor trained in Fine Art is increasingly using clay as a medium in which to work. In addition, the candidate discusses the work of ceramic artists that have moved away from the constraints of earlier, more traditional, functional ceramics and have sought to push the boundaries of clay usage in terms of size, scale, mass and concept. Chapter One presents a broad historical overview of the use of clay in sculpture. This overview illustrates the depth and breadth of the use of clay in the making of sculpture, spanning the Nineteenth Century to the Twentieth Century, in order to highlight the significant shift in the use of clay in contemporary sculpture. Chapter Two introduces and discusses a number of contemporary sculptors who work in clay in different ways. Section One examines artists using clay and other materials in the creation of installations. These include Antony Gormley and Andy Goldsworthy. Section Two discusses those artists working with clay in large-scale, including Jun Kaneko and Wilma Cruise. The architectural and environmental use of clay materials is discussed in Section Three; this includes artists John Roloff, who works with the kiln as sculpture and Joyce Kohl, who works with adobe assemblages and steel.
M

The contemporary ecological debate embodies diverse opinions reflecting the complexity of information available. The museum has recorded the history of human-nature relations, and has influenced ways in which meaning has been assigned to nature. Its influence over the interpretation of objects has been critiqued by 20th century artists and postmodern theorists. However, the museum also continues to engage and inspire some artists, and this research uncovers reasons for this. This research investigates the ways in which contemporary sculpture can employ museum aesthetics to draw attention to flexible and uncertain meaning regarding ecological issues. It is undertaken in two parts. The first, the studio work with an exegesis of 8,000 words, investigates two particular sites and applies museum methodology to sculptures inspired by those environments. The work is supported by a dissertation of 18,000 words researching the work of Mark Dion and Fiona Hall. Both of these artists appropriate museum aesthetics in order to demonstrate that meaning is flexible and engage the viewer in the interpretive process. The studio research culminates in two bodies of work related to the two sites chosen, using the aesthetics of cultural artefacts, natural specimens, and skeleton galleries found in museums of natural history and ethnography. The form and materiality of these objects intends to defy didactic interpretation. The dissertation reveals that, as a result of its history, the museum is a house of wonder and mystery. The examination of Dion's and Hall's works demonstrates their use of postmodern strategies to both challenge the museum and exploit its potential as a house of wonder, and ultimately to engage the viewer's curiosity and active interpretation.
Vol.1: Dissertation -- vol.2: Exegesis.

The work of the Imitation Realists has rightly been seen as marking the start of the widespread use of assemblage and popular culture by Australian artists during the 1960s. Viewed within the context of their training and the debates of the Australian art world in the 1950s, it can be seen that the impetus for their work was to find an alternative form of 'Australian' art. The stated objective of this thesis is to demonstrate how the work of the Imitation Realists adapted and contributed to changes to art in Australia. This is achieved by considering the work of Mike Brown, Ross Crothall and Colin Lanceley in the context of the debates that shaped the reception and production of art in Australia, including changing ideas concerning materials, exhibition display and the national identity. Their art, exhibitions and statements are closely analysed to show how the group formed, worked together and why they later disbanded. It is argued in this thesis that Imitation Realism arose as a response to what the artists saw as the inadequacy of local art practice. This was a result of a disconnection that they saw between contemporary art and daily life in Australia. The Imitation Realists found that both abstract and figurative painters were at a remove from modern urban life as they experienced it. They tried to form an authentic mode of art that connected with the materiality of the everyday. Assemblage enabled the artists to break through the impasse they perceived in contemporary art. Their work was one instance of a widespread interest in the 'primitive' and assemblage shared by artists in Europe and the United States. As virtually no precedent existed for their art in Australia, it is contextualised internationally in this thesis. This identifies that the Imitation Realists shared the practice of using deliberately naive techniques and styles to create work that sought to capture creativity at its most basic level. The Imitation Realists used assemblage to respond to modern life as a whole, not just to modernism within the visual arts.

Beyond Picturing is practice led research aimed at determining whether horizontality can be deemed a medium in its own right, and further, whether it can establish a new set of conventions, enabling a cross-cultural dialogue between peoples of our region, particularly Aboriginal people and Maori and those of European heritage. I chart the course of horizontality across the art of the 20th century, identifying it as a medium for practice. My thesis examines examples in which horizontality as a methodology was a vehicle for meaning, based on the theories of structural linguistics and phenomenology. Furthermore, by acknowledging the axial shift, from the horizontal plane of process to the vertical plane of image, I discover a shared ground for cultural dialogue with painters of the central desert and the Kimberley.

I begin by describing Western culture in the way proposed by Fritjof Capra whose ideas remain seminal to my argument throughout this examination. I argue that Western value systems are in the midst of a major transformation, exhibiting an increasing Ecological awareness. I define Ecology as an all-encompassing phenomenon which includes the biological definition of the term as well as the practice of environmental, peace and feminist groups and movements. As such it is seen as a philosophy or approach to experiencing the world which has much in common with many spiritual traditions, contentions and intuitions. I concentrate especially on Buddhism and Taoism insofar as they articulate seminal aspects of Ecology. Situating this notion of cultural transformation and Ecology into a South African context, I interpret Waiter Oltmann's sculptures in relation to this, inherently and consciously embracing Ecological concepts and ideas and redressing cultural imbalances with his images and techniques. Andries Botha's work is likewise seen to question cultural imbalances and to pose questions about new and dynamic relationships within society and culture. His work is seen to relate very closely to Capra's ideas. Finally I discuss my own sculptures, noting how they relate to Botha's and Oltmann's works and how I consciously set out to address and articulate ideas pertaining to Ecology and my experience of the world in these terms. I discuss the origins of my images, techniques and materials and the construction of my works, describing how these relate intentionally and intuitively to the ideas which inform my work. My discussion of art making in terms of Ecology intends as much to offer a new interpretation of this art making as it does to illuminate and illustrate aspects of Ecology. In conclusion I situate this argument in the South African context, discussing how my discourse can be seen to enrich and compliment a particularly South African interpretation of these artists' works which could draw on traditional South African or Christian cultures and traditions.
Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1995.

In 1920 the Lone Hand reported that Sydney composer Roy Agnew (1891-1944) had “after much anxious consideration been forced to abandon the limitations of key and tonal relationship.” For this transgression, he was branded, among other things, a musical Bolshevik. Three years later in Adelaide, Hooper Brewster-Jones (1887-1949) wrote the first of his “formula” pieces which are part of a larger body of works that experiment with various aspects of musical language. In this thesis, I will argue that together certain works of these two isolated composers constitute an instance of what is known in conventional music history terms as “progressive” or “innovative” music. As such it can be seen as part of the wider international scene concerned with developing new means of musical expression at this time. This significant fact has been overlooked by musicologists and historians dealing with this interwar period, long dismissed as stagnant, producing only second-rate work: a pale imitation of British pastoralism and “light” salon music. This study seeks to revise that longaccepted story and show that there was an Australian musical intelligentsia in the early decades of last century. Drawing from a wide array of primary sources, including contemporary newspapers, journals, letters, memoirs, unpublished music manuscripts and other archival material, I will first, through analysis of selected works, demonstrate how the music fits into a broader international framework, then, using biography as a lens, reconstruct their worlds in Sydney, Adelaide and London, describing networks and important relationships that provide a context for this music, and finally examine aspects of the two composers’ public output such as performance, radio broadcasts and newspaper criticism that strengthen the picture of these two composers as individuals who enthusiastically engaged with international modernism. Central themes that emerge to underpin the study of these two figures are: the relationship between exoticism, occultism and modernism (demonstrating that exoticism and occultism were driving forces behind the development of early modernism); exoticism as a process by which that from the outside is brought into and reinterpreted for the local and particular; an interpretation of the diverse meanings and uses of that much-contested term modernism; and the broad informal network of dissemination, communication and bi-directional influence offered by the transnational British world and direct engagement with America and Europe.