Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Sculpture – United States – Exhibitions'

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of History of Art, 2006.
"Title from dissertation home page (viewed July 17, 2007)." Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-12, Section: A, page: 4367. Adviser: Sarah L. Burns.

Thesis: Ph. D. in History and Theory of Art, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2015.
CD-ROM contains PDF of Addenda section, quarterly report and 5 PDFs of images for thesis.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Pages 237 to 428 of original thesis for Addenda section are removed and copied onto CD-ROM.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 429-446).
Following the work of German-American curator Alexander Dorner (1893-1957) from his early curatorial career in Niedersachsen to professorships in New England, this dissertation explores the intersections of Euro-American modernism and developing ideations of experience within aesthetic philosophy. Dorner's work was formulated in deep engagement with (and often intentional contradiction to) the art theory being incubated in contemporaneous art institutions, pedagogies, and practices. His written texts and museum praxis responded to emerging notions of subjectivity, restoration, and perception in the aesthetic theory of Alois Riegl and Erwin Panofsky, art restoration mandates advocated by German museum leaders such as Max Sauerlandt and Kurt Karl Eberlein, and the artistic productions of El Lissitzky and Herbert Bayer. Against shifting expressions of democracy in Weimar Germany and the mid-century United States, Dorner's polemical focus on museum experience was, in effect, an attempt to train citizens for collective but heterogeneous social life.
by Rebecca K. Uchill.
Ph. D. in History and Theory of Art

The first objective of this creative project was to create seven Non-figurative, abstract, multi-media (wood, metals, clay, concrete, glass) sculptures that attempted to express some of the feelings experienced during transitions in life. The second objective was to explore the continuum of abstract sculptural art: from art being simply aesthetically stimulating compositions to art that emphasizes meaning or purpose first, and being aesthetically pleasing or stimulating second.
Department of Art

An important body of literature has accumulated (both primary and secondary sources) which necessitates that Rothko, Newman and Still be placed in the tradition of the sublime. In attempting this task, a background is established by a detailed summary of classical theory of the sublime in Longinus, Burke, Kant, and Nietzsche, followed by detailed summaries of major recent sublimist theory by Weiskel, Crowther, Lyotard, and Ferguson. Also, key ideas of Sartre and Jung are treated in order to round out the proper ideational context for a sublimicist analysis of these three painters. From this foundation, a working theory of the sublime is developed. Next, the painters' crucial theoretic statement are analysed for their relevance to the sublime, and their programs and specific works are characterized in relation to theory of the sublime, and in relation to their treatments in criticism. The last two chapters treat two crucial contexts in which Rothko, Newman and Still are situated: The historically accumulated American tradition of the sublime in art and literature; and the general European context of modernism and postmodernism. Throughout the study, it is argued that various kinds of transcendence validate a set of various major modes of the sublime: The ideational, religious, moral, Burkean-Gothic, Kantian, Nietzschean, romantic, existential, Jungian-mythic, ontological, noble, and the sublime of light/color, along with negatives modes such as the comic, the ironic, the counter, the mock, and the merely rhetorical. It is argued, finally, that sublimicism will continue to be attractive for conservative, moderate, and radical points of view, that theory of the sublime has on-going power and validity into the future, and that between positive and negative modes, the positive will probably continue to dominate.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2010.
Title from first page of PDF file (viewed March 30, 2010). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The method I use in creating abstract sculpture presented the question that became the subject of my Master's thesis. Only occasionally will I create from a pre-conceived concept. The sculptures evolve through a process of addition and subtraction of material to something that simply pleases me. This method, really no method at all, seemed contradictory to my original intentions. My artistic goals were purposeful; I wanted to create sculpture that would provoke a reaction first, not a judgment of features. I wanted the viewers emotional and psychological involvement to be the basis for content and meaning in the work. In spite of the indirect approach, I felt there was some success in achieving my goal. Discovering how this occurred was important because I was at a loss to understand the content of my own work. Did the sculpture I was making hold any deeper meaning for me? My thesis proposal advanced the question of how sculptural form expresses content. A more accurate question is, what does it mean? I had faith that I was indeed making art that was more than a pleasant arrangement of forms. Confident that there was also meaning, I proceeded to explore and analyze the relationship of creative process to sculptural form and content. While writing a draft of my thesis, I realized the question was beyond a definitive answer. This was a personal investigation of a fundamental question. My expectation was that insight and analysis would provide the answer I needed.

This thesis project consists of 19 sculptures. The medium is hot blown glass. The work interprets and extends the visual and metaphorical qualities of bagpipes. The utilization of the German dudelsack references the playful improvisational nature of these international and culturally diverse forms.

Museums today provide learning-rich experiences and quality informational resources through both physical and virtual environments. This study examined a Holocaust Museum traveling exhibition, Life in Shadows: Hidden Children and the Holocaust that was on display at the Art Center of Battle Creek, Michigan in fall 2005. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to assess the informational value of a Holocaust Museum exhibition in its onsite vs. online format by converging quantitative and qualitative data. Participants in the study included six eighth grade language arts classes who viewed various combinations or scenarios of the onsite and online Life in Shadows. Using student responses to questions in an online exhibition survey, an analysis of variance was performed to determine which scenario visit promotes the greatest content learning. Using student responses to additional questions on the same survey, data were analyzed qualitatively to discover the impact on students of each scenario visit. By means of an emotional empathy test, data were analyzed to determine differences among student response according to scenario visit. A principal finding of the study (supporting Falk and Dierking's contextual model of learning) was that the use of the online exhibition provided a source of prior orientation and functioned as an advanced organizer for students who subsequently viewed the onsite exhibition. Students who viewed the online exhibition received higher topic assessment scores. Students in each scenario visit gave positive exhibition feedback and evidence of emotional empathy. Further longitudinal studies in museum informatics and Holocaust education involving a more diverse population are needed. Of particular importance would be research focusing on using museum exhibitions and Web-based technology in a compelling manner so that students can continue to hear the words of survivors who themselves bear witness and give voice to silenced victims. When perpetuity of access to informational resources is assured, future generations will continue to be connected to the primary documents of history and cultural heritage.

This thesis will examine the practice of relational aesthetics as it involves the viewer, as well as the way in which it plays out within and outside of the institutional setting of the museum. I will focus primarily on two unique projects: that of The Machine Project Field Guide at Los Angeles County Museum of Art on November 15, 2008, produced by Machine Project, a social project operated out of a storefront gallery in Echo Park; and David Michalek's Slow Dancing at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York City, July 12-29 2007.

Lucy Lippard réalise sa première exposition Eccentric Abstraction en 1966. À partir de ce moment-là, la curatrice nord-américaine n'aura de cesse d'interroger les modalités de ce que l'exposition a à offrir aux artistes en termes d'expressions et d'expériences et en termes politiques. Lucy Lippard a d'abord contribué à penser un certain moment conceptuel dans l'art. De manière concomitante, ses engagements politiques se sont développés : contre la guerre du Viet Nam ou avec une communauté d'artistes, contre les politiques discriminatoires des institutions, créant un lien peu documenté entre art conceptuel et art politique. Nous explorons comment Lucy Lippard a développé différentes problématiques féministes en organisant des expositions, faisant écho aux théories qui ont succédées à cette période. C'est à travers son travail de curatrice que nous envisageons son féminisme. Ainsi, quatre expositions structurent notre trajectoire : Eccentric Abstraction (1966) à New York, 955,000(1971) à Vancouver, c'7500(1973) en Californie à Valencia, puis itinérante, et Strata (1977) à Vancouver. C'est en imaginant les œuvres dans ces quatre expositions que leur caractère situé a émergé. Trois axes se sont alors dégagés : une approche historique du contexte des expositions et des luttes sociales autour du parcours personnel de Lucy Lippard, une approche phénoménologique des œuvres présentées dans les quatre expositions comme les deux manières d'appréhender le dernier axe, celui d'une approche féministe de ces moments d'expositions. La redescription d'œuvres qui ne furent pas d'emblée associées au féminisme, bien qu'appartenant au corpus de la curatrice, va permettre de penser une autre réception pour ces expositions
Lucy Lippard produced her first exhibition, Eccentric Abstraction, in 1966. From that moment on, the North American curator never stopped questioning the modalities of what the exhibition had to offer artists in terms of expression, experience and political action. Lucy Lippard first helped to think critically about a particular conceptual moment in art. Concurrently, her political commitments developed through protest against the Vietnam war, support for artist communities, revealing discriminatory institutional policies, and creating a little-documented connection between conceptual and political art. We explore how Lucy Lippard developed diverse feminist issues by organizing exhibitions, echoing the theories that emerged during this period. It is through her work as a curator that we see her feminism in action. Four exhibitions structure our trajectory: Eccentric Abstraction (1966) in New York, 955,000 (1971) in Vancouver, c'7500 (1973) in Valencia, California and other itinerant locations, and Strata (1977) in Vancouver. By imagining the works in these four exhibitions their situated character emerges. There are three key axis: a historical approach to the context of exhibitions and social struggles related to the personal journey of Lucy Lippard and a phenomenological approach to the works presented in the four exhibitions, allowing an aprehension of the last axis, a feminist approach to these exhibition events. The redescription of works that were not immediately associated with feminism, although belonging to the curator's corpus, will allow us to think of another reception for these exhibitions

This thesis involves the creation of a historically-themed museum element. The element, titled “Improving Community,” is a virtual interactive game that allows players to explore certain realities of colonial American life. Within the game, players are presented with a number of civic-related issues that existed throughout the eighteenth century, and they are then given options to improve the situation. Interactivity and immersion are key features of the game, and they have been incorporated so that players may engage with the past and assume a more active role in the process of historical reconstruction. Research for the games draws mostly upon historical primary sources, including first-hand accounts, letters, diaries, periodicals, pamphlets, meeting minutes, and legal documents. In addition, the process of developing the games was informed by a number of secondary source works, and therefore this study inspects the ways in which “Improving Community” fits within the ongoing scholarly debates. Ultimately this project contributes to the field of public history by demonstrating the usefulness of games as a tool for historical exhibition. “Improving Community” is both entertaining and educational, and as a result, the game provides individuals with a unique outlet for exploring and experiencing the past.
ID: 031001287; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Title from PDF title page (viewed February 26, 2013).; Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2012.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-120).
M.A.
Masters
History
Arts and Humanities
History; Public History

I have organized this paper into four chapters: "The Environmental Situation," "Space and Place," "Art and the Natural Environment," and "Creating Work of My Own." Chapter 1 explains human beings' intrinsic interconnection to the natural environment, outlining why humans should be concerned about the current degraded state of the natural world. Chapter 2 discusses the concepts of space and place. It analyzes how human beings interact with and experience spaces, developing their sense of place - within physical, theoretical, and spiritual realms. It finally illustrates the importance that spaces and places have in humans' lives. Chapter 3 describes the Land Art phenomenon: its development, the different forms within it, and artists producing Land Artworks. The forms and artists included are those that have been inspirational for the development of my own work. It also emphasizes Land Art as a fundamental form for improving humans' relationship with the natural environment and the new realm of eco-feminism that resonates with Land Art ideals. Chapter 4 recounts the development of my art throughout my college career. It describes my work as site-specific, sculptural installations that use natural materials. It also states why this format is the most effective for my senior art thesis project. Focusing mainly on "Ecological Reawakening: organic DNA," it explains the mentality in designing, creating, installing, and completing the work. Overall, Chapter 4 emphasizes the work's two main goals: to demonstrate a new avenue for comprehending humankind's place within earth's environmental spaces, and to advocate for an environmental paradigm shift during the twenty-first century. Finally, Chapter 5 describes the transformation of "Ecological Reawakening: organic DNA" as it developed over time during the spring honors senior thesis course. It details my mentalities in adding living plant matter to the structure, incorporating a stool into the piece, and creating "Evolution," the digital photography composition that documents "Ecological Reawakening" and was included in the Scripps Senior Art Exhibition in the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery from May 1 – May 17, 2009.

Cultural diplomacy is a neglected tool of public diplomacy, both in theory as in practice. United States (US) have made great use of promoting its art abroad during the Cold War, but as soon as it ended funding for cultural activities was cut. American cultural diplomacy towards Europe has been analyzed quite throughly in the areas of film and music. The author decided to focus on art and art exhibition as tools of diplomacy, as it is a sphere not yet fully discovered. As cultural diplomacy is gaining on importance it is crucial to analyze the past activities in order to properly design the new, upcoming ones.This thesis’ aim was to analyze how the United States made use of art (in the form of art exhibitions) as a tool of cultural diplomacy towards Poland in the years 1956-2016 and to discover the patterns in American public diplomacy decision making process regarding cultural diplomacy in the form of art exhibitions. Thus, the author sought to find out what the US government had planned to achieve in Poland by organizing art exhibitions and also how were they received.Scope of the research encompasses all of the American art exhibitions in Poland. Detailed analysis is applied to six of the exhibitions: 200 years of American Painting (200 lat Malarstwa Amerykańskiego), Warsaw 1976; Willem de Kooning & Robert Rauschenberg, Warsaw and Cracow 1978; The 70’s: New American Painting (Lata Siedemdziesiąte: Nowe Malarstwo Amerykańskie), Toruń and Warsaw 1980/81; Faces of America. Portraits from the Collection of the Terra Foundation for American Art 1770–1940 (Twarze Ameryki: Portrety z kolekcji Terra Foundation for American Art 1770–1940), Cracow 2006; American Dream (Amerykański sen) - part of the “America, America…” museum project comprising six exhibitions, Cracow 2009; Frank Stella and the Synagogues of Historic Poland, Warsaw 2016.
Dyplomacja kulturalna stanowi zaniedbane narzędzie dyplomacji publicznej, zarówno w teorii, jak i w praktyce. Stany Zjednocznone doskonale wykorzystały kulturę i sztukę w ramach propagandy podczas drugiej wojny światowej oraz zimnej wojny, jednak po jej zakończeniu obcięły dotacje na działania kulturalne za granicą. Dyplomacja kulturalna USA została zbadana w sferach muzyki oraz filmu, natomiast wykorzystanie sztuki jako narzędzia dyplomacji kulturalnej jest obszarem, który stanowi lukę badawaczą. W czasie, gdy dyplomacja kutluralna cieszy się coraz większym zainteresowaniem, zarówno badaczy, jak i praktyków, szczególnie istotna jest analiza dotychczasowych działań w tym zakresie, by odpowiednio zaplanować inicjatywy w przyszłości. Celem autorki było zbadanie w jaki sposób Stany Zjednoczone wykorzystały sztukę (w formie wystaw) jako narzędzie dyplomacji kulturalnej wobec Polski w latach 1956-2016 oraz próba wykrycia prawidłowości w procesie decyzyjnym zachodzącym przy organizacji tychże wystaw. Zakres badań obejmuje wszystkie wystawy sztuki amerykańskiej w Polsce oraz szczegółowo analizuje sześć z tych wystaw: Dwieście lat malarstwa amerykańskiego, (Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, 1976), Willem de Kooning & Robert Rauschenberg, (Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie i Krakowie, 1978) oraz wystawa Lata 70-te: Nowe malarstwo amerykańskie, (galeria BWA w Toruniu, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, 1980/81), Twarze Ameryki: Portrety z kolekcji Terra Foundation for American Art 1770-1940 (Międzynarodowe Centrum Kultury, Kraków, 2006), American Dream - Amerykański Sen, jako część projektu muzealnego zatytuowanego Ameryka, Ameryka… (Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie, 2009) oraz Frank Stella i polskie synagogi, (Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich, POLIN, Warszawa, 2016).