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The aim of this creative project was to explore the ideas of impermanence and transience through the lens of different, largely non-western cultural backgrounds, and to incorporate what I learned into my own work as a painter. As part of this, I focused on the materials, techniques, visual strategies, and philosophies that guided the creation of these works. The project consisted of a discrete research phase, during which time I gathered information and materials related to my topic, and a creation phase, when I focused largely on the production of oil paintings and ink paintings whose technique and/or subject matter pertained to impermanence. Research for the most part was conducted by utilizing online and physical collections of work to analyze the formal elements of the work along with the cultural context in which it was created. Ultimately the creative project resulted in a product of three oil paintings and five ink paintings.
ContributorsLewis, Evan G (Author) / Button, Melissa (Thesis director) / Schoebel, Henry (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
In the middle of the 20th century, juried annuals of Native American painting in art museums were unique opportunities because of their select focus on two-dimensional art as opposed to "craft" objects and their inclusion of artists from across the United States. Their first fifteen years were critical for patronage and widespread acceptance of modern easel painting. Held at the Philbrook Art Center in Tulsa (1946-1979), the Denver Art Museum (1951-1954), and the Museum of New Mexico Art Gallery in Santa Fe (1956-1965), they were significant not only for the accolades and prestige they garnered for award winners, but also for setting standards of quality and style at the time. During the early years of the annuals, the art was changing, some moving away from conventional forms derived from the early art training of the 1920s and 30s in the Southwest and Oklahoma, and incorporating modern themes and styles acquired through expanded opportunities for travel and education. The competitions reinforced and reflected a variety of attitudes about contemporary art which ranged from preserving the authenticity of the traditional style to encouraging experimentation. Ultimately becoming sites of conflict, the museums that hosted annuals contested the directions in which artists were working. Exhibition catalogs, archived documents, and newspaper and magazine articles about the annuals provide details on the exhibits and the changes that occurred over time. The museums' guidelines and motivations, and the statistics on the award winners reveal attitudes toward the art. The institutions' reactions in the face of controversy and their adjustments to the annuals' guidelines impart the compromises each made as they adapted to new trends that occurred in Native American painting over a fifteen year period. This thesis compares the approaches of three museums to their juried annuals and establishes the existence of a variety of attitudes on contemporary Native American painting from 1946-1960. Through this collection of institutional views, the competitions maintained a patronage base for traditional style painting while providing opportunities for experimentation, paving the way for the great variety and artistic progress of Native American painting today.
ContributorsPeters, Stephanie (Author) / Duncan, Kate (Thesis advisor) / Fahlman, Betsy (Thesis advisor) / Mesch, Claudia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
"On Music Videos" is an exploration of music videos, particularly narrative ones. As such, a brief history of the music video and its genres are examined. Ideas about narrative are also discussed through descriptions of what is meant by "story," based on theories from Pixar animators as well as author J.R.R. Tolkien. The connections between how story fits with music videos is then outlined. From this background research one is able to analyze examples of existing narrative music videos, before applying this knowledge and reflecting on the process of creating a narrative music video.
ContributorsNguyen, Melissa M (Author) / Finn, Ed (Thesis director) / Simeone, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor) / School of Arts, Media and Engineering (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Freewheelin': The American Counterculture in Museums is the first study to explore American museums that collect artifacts from the counterculture era at length. Examining institutions whose specialized collections and histories represent the recent, dynamic social movements of the mid-twentieth century begets particular institutional challenges and extraordinary opportunities; both factors causing the evolution of some American history museums into premier social history centers. I have focused on four institutions for research: the Beat Museum, the GLBT History Museum, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Museum of Sex. The analysis of each organization contains a brief account of the history they strive to preserve, a case study of their professional operations, and objective recommendations. Ultimately through researching the four selected institutions and museum studies at large, it was determined that certain collective features are propelling a paradigm shift in modern American history museums.
ContributorsSenjamin, Willow (Author) / Fahlman, Betsy (Thesis director) / Codell, Julie (Committee member) / Susser, Deborah (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor)
Created2012-12
Description
My work focuses on the themes of grief, closure, and celebration of life. Life is a catalyst both celebration and grief. Feeling joy when a life is introduced is as common as feeling pain when a life is lost. When I lost my maternal grandmother nearly a year ago, I felt grief accompanied with guilt. I never got a chance to say goodbye since we lived so far apart, her residing in the Philippines and me residing in the United States. In order to get rid of these negative emotions, I sought closure. I attended her funeral, and now I want to celebrate her life through my artwork.
My work comes in two parts: an illustration book titled The Butanding and an illustration exhibition. The book will be published through lulu.com and made available to the public. The exhibition component will be held from March 2nd to March 6th in Gallery 100 as part of my senior exhibition Post Pre-Production with six other colleagues in the School of Art. The illustration book is a narration of a little girl and her growing friendship with a whale shark. The overarching theme of the creative project is closure with the passing away of loved ones.
The Butanding is a narrative illustration book about a young girl befriending the local menace of her village, the whale shark. Similar to my own experience, the main subject—the young girl—of my narrative is shown suffering from grief and guilt over her grandmother’s death. My work illustrates a progression of the young girl’s emotional state as she goes on a journey with the whale shark or locally known in the Philippines as the “butanding”. It provides the scenario of a grieving individual who gets the chance to reconnect with a deceased loved one and rebuild relationships that were lost.
My work comes in two parts: an illustration book titled The Butanding and an illustration exhibition. The book will be published through lulu.com and made available to the public. The exhibition component will be held from March 2nd to March 6th in Gallery 100 as part of my senior exhibition Post Pre-Production with six other colleagues in the School of Art. The illustration book is a narration of a little girl and her growing friendship with a whale shark. The overarching theme of the creative project is closure with the passing away of loved ones.
The Butanding is a narrative illustration book about a young girl befriending the local menace of her village, the whale shark. Similar to my own experience, the main subject—the young girl—of my narrative is shown suffering from grief and guilt over her grandmother’s death. My work illustrates a progression of the young girl’s emotional state as she goes on a journey with the whale shark or locally known in the Philippines as the “butanding”. It provides the scenario of a grieving individual who gets the chance to reconnect with a deceased loved one and rebuild relationships that were lost.
ContributorsSydiongco, Hannah Gloria (Author) / Solis, Forrest (Thesis director) / Drum, Meredith (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
SYSTEMA NERVOSUM is an interdisciplinary personal narrative on design, music, and identity. The project is composed of eleven parts, each addressing the themes of interconnection, the power of the human body, internal and external misunderstanding, and fear. The goal of SYSTEMA NERVOSUM was to create a body of work that reflected the very essence of creative and interdisciplinary thinking.
ContributorsSmall, Elizabeth Quincy (Author) / Bates, Denise (Thesis director) / Ach, Jada (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Art is an ancient, personal, and cultural phenomenon used to convey human creativity and emotion. Dating back as early as 40,000 years in Indonesian cave paintings, this medium has been used to record stories, histories, and shape cultural opinion throughout the history of mankind. While we have witnessed the rise and fall of types of art in popular culture and traditions, the core of art remains the same, which is to express the imagery within the human mind into a tangible form. As such, this allows for the candid acknowledgement and projection of an individual’s state of being into a productive, expressive skill which reaps therapeutic benefits.
ContributorsMahmud, Aysha (Co-author) / Shahid, Marija (Co-author) / Button, Melissa (Thesis director) / Moore, Marianne (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This project is a visual presentation on the value of music education in public schools. With cutbacks in funding for education, arts programs such as orchestra or band are often the first to face budget restrictions or be eliminated altogether. Many schools and administrators deem arts programs as less essential to a student’s education because they do not directly teach core subjects such as math, science or reading. This project explains why reducing or eliminating funding for arts programs is ultimately detrimental to students. A high quality musical education brings great developmental benefits in a variety of skills such as language development, memory learning and special understanding. Students trained in music also have shown higher scores on standardized tests. Additionally, music programs provide a creative outlet for students that can help relieve stress and provide an opportunity for personal expression and a sense of identity. This project is organized into three sections. Part I discusses the lack of funding for fine arts programs in schools and the affordability of playing a stringed instrument. Part II dives into the academic, cognitive and behavioral benefits of an education in music. Finally, Part III discusses potential solutions to the problem and showcases examples of out-of-school music programs. The final form of the project is displayed online through a program called Readymag, a digital tool for presenting projects, which allows for the written aspect of the project to fall seamlessly with the visual component. The visual component of the project is made of photographs captured on site at interviews, performances and practices, as well as in a studio.
ContributorsAtzenweiler, Stella Alexander (Author) / Dolin, Penny (Thesis director) / Buck, Nancy (Committee member) / Graphic Information Technology (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
How do you convey what’s interesting and important to you as an artist in a digital world of constantly shifting attentions? For many young creatives, the answer is original characters, or OCs. An OC is a character that an artist creates for personal enjoyment, whether based on an already existing story or world, or completely from their own imagination.
As creations made for purely personal interests, OCs are an excellent elevator pitch to talk one creative to another, opening up opportunities for connection in a world where communication is at our fingertips but personal connection is increasingly harder to make. OCs encourage meaningful interaction by offering themselves as muses, avatars, and story pieces, and so much more, where artists can have their characters interact with other creatives through many different avenues such as art-making, table top games, or word of mouth.
In this thesis, I explore the worlds and aesthetics of many creators and their original characters through qualitative research and collaborative art-making. I begin with a short survey of my creative peers, asking general questions about their characters and thoughts on OCs, then move to sketching characters from various creators. I focus my research to a group of seven core creators and their characters, whom I interview and work closely with in order to create a series of seven final paintings of their original characters.
As creations made for purely personal interests, OCs are an excellent elevator pitch to talk one creative to another, opening up opportunities for connection in a world where communication is at our fingertips but personal connection is increasingly harder to make. OCs encourage meaningful interaction by offering themselves as muses, avatars, and story pieces, and so much more, where artists can have their characters interact with other creatives through many different avenues such as art-making, table top games, or word of mouth.
In this thesis, I explore the worlds and aesthetics of many creators and their original characters through qualitative research and collaborative art-making. I begin with a short survey of my creative peers, asking general questions about their characters and thoughts on OCs, then move to sketching characters from various creators. I focus my research to a group of seven core creators and their characters, whom I interview and work closely with in order to create a series of seven final paintings of their original characters.
ContributorsCote, Jacqueline (Author) / Button, Melissa M (Thesis director) / Dove-Viebahn, Aviva (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The tarot is a means of communication with the world. It allows readers to interpret signs from their surroundings, gather information, and use this information to make inferences about a posed question. Its origins can be found in mid-15th century Europe as playing cards with four suits commonly used for gambling. Several hundred years later during the 18th century, it began to be used as a tool for divination; the Major Arcana, a set of 22 trump cards representing various archetypes, evolved as a supplement to a new tarot that has become associated with mysticism. The tarot’s foundation is based on archetypes that build society. It can serve as a visual lens to understand the experiences, thoughts, and actions of a person posing a question, allowing the reader to offer a solution by understanding and interpreting the specific visual language of a deck.
Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world and one of the most practiced today. It is full of fantastical myths and heroic legends, as well as undercurrents of feminism contrasted with misogyny and patriarchy. Hindu myths are contradictory as stories have evolved over time and have been retold with millions of differing perspectives.
In my thesis, I portrayed the 22 archetypes of the Major Arcana of the tarot through the lens of Hindu mythology as well as the broader pan-Indian culture. I include ancient stories and references to modern social issues. I visually communicated the connections between characters of Hindu mythology and the archetypes of the tarot with 22 watercolor paintings. This project was an opportunity to explore both the tarot through Hinduism, vice-versa. It allowed for the development of a deeper connection with spirituality and religion, along with a greater understanding of visual communication.
Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world and one of the most practiced today. It is full of fantastical myths and heroic legends, as well as undercurrents of feminism contrasted with misogyny and patriarchy. Hindu myths are contradictory as stories have evolved over time and have been retold with millions of differing perspectives.
In my thesis, I portrayed the 22 archetypes of the Major Arcana of the tarot through the lens of Hindu mythology as well as the broader pan-Indian culture. I include ancient stories and references to modern social issues. I visually communicated the connections between characters of Hindu mythology and the archetypes of the tarot with 22 watercolor paintings. This project was an opportunity to explore both the tarot through Hinduism, vice-versa. It allowed for the development of a deeper connection with spirituality and religion, along with a greater understanding of visual communication.
ContributorsHarve, Prathima (Author) / Jenik, Adriene (Thesis director) / Codell, Julie (Committee member) / Zirbel, Lisa (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05