Brushed in Light

Drawing on a millennia of calligraphy theory and history, Brushed in Light examines how the brushed word appears in films and in film cultures of Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and PRC cinemas. This includes silent era intertitles, subtitles, title frames, letters, graffiti, end titles, and props. Markus Nornes also looks at the role of calligraphy in film culture at large, from gifts to correspondence to advertising. The book begins with a historical dimension, tracking how calligraphy is initially used in early cinema and how it is continually rearticulated by transforming conventions and the integration of new technologies. These chapters ask how calligraphy creates new meaning in cinema and demonstrate how calligraphy, cinematography, and acting work together in a single film. The last part of the book moves to other regions of theory. Nornes explores the cinematization of the handwritten word and explores how calligraphers understand their own work

A Cup of Imperial Taste: The Formation of Ceramic Aesthetics under Emperor Huizong (r. 1100-1126)

Ancient Chinese ceramics are objects of appreciation around the world and have been defined as works of art by the art world. My thesis, however, points out that the taken-for-granted idea that ceramics are born to be works of art in ancient China, is, in fact, a constructed interpretation. In the thesis, I ask the question: when and how were ceramics transformed from functional objects into works of art in ancient China? The thesis investigates the change of roles and imperial tastes of ceramics during the Tang-Song transition, and examines the formation of a new aesthetics of ceramics, combining two aesthetic concepts: unadorned naturalness and antiquarianism, under Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127). Ru ware, the imperial ceramics cherished by Huizong, was produced after the new ceramic aesthetics. Through examining the life of Ru ware in relation to Song dynasty literati culture and court rituals, the thesis proposes that Emperor Huizong developed the new ceramic aesthetics through appropriating contemporary literati aesthetics of nature and synthesizing it with his political interest in reviving antiquity. The ceramics aesthetics was established as a powerful cultural discourse rejecting the extravagant lifestyle of the Tang court and emphasizing a return to morality, which also elevated functional ceramics into the realm of art

An Investigation of Holographic Technologies Applied to Contemporary Art Practice A new approach to temporal aesthetics

The works of contemporary art using audio, 35mm slide, video, film and computer- based technologies are commonly referred to as time-based media, since they have duration as a dimension. By looking at artworks which are classified in this category, it appears that temporal visual perceptual interpretations are mainly created through the use of the illusion of movement, which is primarily constituted by sequential images. In art holography, the light-based characteristic qualities of this medium compose a kinetic and interactive visual syntax, which are not seen in other imaging technologies, stating its unique creative possibilities. Thus, this study intends to employ holography as an art medium to explore its temporal properties in order to establish a new approach to time-based media art practice. To review the practice and artworks created for this study, the author recognises that the characteristic qualities of a medium is key for the development of its own aesthetic culture. Moreover, the author also identifies that the combination of both the slips form of a hologram and a portable lighting device would be fundamental elements of the suggested new approach. This approach integrates the holographic image replaying process and the Chinese bamboo slips structure to create a scroll form of an artwork presentation, which suggests a viewer to observe with an unrolling activity, section by section. The role of light in this approach is essential as it not only reconstructs the image, but also acts as an intangible guide to indicate the viewing direction, which forms a directional linear temporal expression. This study combines the suggested approach with classical Chinese poetry to create a series of experimental artworks, demonstrating that the literal and figurative meaning of the poem could possibly be elevated through the manipulation of the light source and the scroll from of the image presentation, as the former creates the holographic kinetic expression and the latter reinforces the poetic linearity. This approach could be interpreted as a time-based holographic manifestation, as it unfolds the art to the viewer over time. Furthermore, in terms of the characteristic qualities of holography, the visual expressive techniques and aesthetic features created for this study indicate that such works cannot be recreated without the use of holography. This study reveals that the irreplaceable aesthetic qualities of holography, suggesting that it could expand and diversify the creative potential of time-based media art; and the discussion of this category would not be comprehensive unless taking this medium into consideration. This study establishes a creative possibility of holography and expects the finding to lead to a greater appreciation for future time-based media art practice, thus enriching the temporal artistic expressions. Moreover, as it is practice-based, the process of the research is primarily expressed through a series of holographic artworks, and combined with written format of discussion, which is presented in this thesis. For comprehensive understanding, reading the thesis in conjunction with viewing the artworks in person is suggested, as the photographic reproduction of the holographic images in this thesis is only for illustration purpose

AutoGraff: towards a computational understanding of graffiti writing and related art forms.

The aim of this thesis is to develop a system that generates letters and pictures with a style that is immediately recognizable as graffiti art or calligraphy. The proposed system can be used similarly to, and in tight integration with, conventional computer-aided geometric design tools and can be used to generate synthetic graffiti content for urban environments in games and in movies, and to guide robotic or fabrication systems that can materialise the output of the system with physical drawing media. The thesis is divided into two main parts. The first part describes a set of stroke primitives, building blocks that can be combined to generate different designs that resemble graffiti or calligraphy. These primitives mimic the process typically used to design graffiti letters and exploit well known principles of motor control to model the way in which an artist moves when incrementally tracing stylised letter forms. The second part demonstrates how these stroke primitives can be automatically recovered from input geometry defined in vector form, such as the digitised traces of writing made by a user, or the glyph outlines in a font. This procedure converts the input geometry into a seed that can be transformed into a variety of calligraphic and graffiti stylisations, which depend on parametric variations of the strokes

Stylised procedural animation

This thesis develops a stylised procedural paradigm for computer graphics animation. Cartoon effects animations - stylised representations of natural phenomena - have presented a long-standing, difficult challenge to computer animators. We propose a framework for achieving the intricacy of effects motion with minimal animator intervention.Our approach is to construct cartoon effects by simulating the hand-drawing process through synthetic, computational means. We create a system which emulates the stylish appearance, movements of cartoon effects in both 2D and 3D environments. Our computational models achieve this by capturing the essential characteristics common to all cartoon effects: structure modelling, dynamic controlling and stylised rendering.To validate our framework, we have implemented a cartoon effects system for a range of effects including water effects, fire, smoke, rain and snow. Each effect model has its own static structure such as how the different parts are related temporarily. The flexibility of our approach is suggested most evidently by the high-level controls on shape, colour, timing and rendering on the effects. Like their hand-drawn counterparts, they move consistently while retaining the hand-crafted look.Since the movements of cartoon effects are animated procedurally, their detailed motions need not be keyframed. This thesis therefore demonstrates a powerful approach to computer animation in which the animator plays the role of a high level controller, rather than the more conventional hand-drawing slave. Our work not only achieves cartoon effects animation of un-precedented complexity, but it also provides an interesting experimental domain for related research disciplines toward more creative and expressive image synthesis in animation

Glass as ink: seeking spontaneity from the casting process

This practice-based research addresses internal form in cast glass. That is, ink- like imagery, which is wholly contained within clear, colourless glass. For the purposes of this project, ‘ink’ refers to liquid ink as is used in Chinese brush painting and calligraphy rather than to ink applications such as those used in print media. The aim is not to use ink itself. Rather, it is to emulate ink, rendered inside glass, while exploring the material similarities between the two media, including their liquid properties and their ability to be worked opaque or translucent. The project examines the interface between control and chance; where the artistic process ends and the unique properties of glass take over and are governed by heat, time and gravity. It also addresses the transformation of two- dimensional line drawing and ink wash into the third dimension. My research question is how the kiln and furnace casting processes can best be exploited to render the fluid, gestural and expressionistic immediacy of brush and ink painting, three-dimensionally, in solid glass. Following 14 years of studying and making art in Korea (1997‒2003) and China (2003‒2010), I have developed an affinity for brush and ink painting and, more specifically, for Chinese Grass script calligraphy and traditional landscape. This project aims to explore various methods of capturing apparent gesture and spontaneity in cast glass, in the form of ‘ink’ abstractions that evoke these styles of Chinese painting. My methodology includes identifying and isolating the elements that characterise Chinese brushwork in calligraphy and landscape painting, which are intimately linked fine art forms in China. Studio tests include manipulating different types of glass to create a dynamic, rhythmic, assured and graceful ink aesthetic, interpreted in the third dimension. I use flameworked inclusions to explore ink-like line and experiment with glass powders to evoke different intensities of ink wash. All tests are recorded in detail and are used to anticipate and loosely control glass movement. My research into Chinese brushwork characteristics is used to identify a framework within which the studio work sits. The variety, order and combination of techniques used to create the work constitute original knowledge in the field of cast glass. My method for reinterpreting the characteristics of Chinese painting, including line quality, ink wash, composition and balance, embedded three-dimensionally within the framework of cast glass, also contributes new knowledge. Based on systematic research and analysis, the terms ‘casting’, ‘moulds’, ‘spontaneity’ and the ‘third dimension’ are examined and defined anew

StrokeStyles: Stroke-based Segmentation and Stylization of Fonts

We develop a method to automatically segment a font’s glyphs into a set of overlapping and intersecting strokes with the aim of generating artistic stylizations. The segmentation method relies on a geometric analysis of the glyph’s outline, its interior, and the surrounding areas and is grounded in perceptually informed principles and measures. Our method does not require training data or templates and applies to glyphs in a large variety of input languages, writing systems, and styles. It uses the medial axis, curvilinear shape features that specify convex and concave outline parts, links that connect concavities, and seven junction types. We show that the resulting decomposition in strokes can be used to create variations, stylizations, and animations in different artistic or design-oriented styles while remaining recognizably similar to the input font

The Crisis of Language in Contemporary Japan: Reading, Writing, and New Technology

My dissertation is an ethnographically inspired theoretical exploration of the crises of reading and writing in contemporary Japan. Each of the five chapters examines concrete instances of reading and writing practices that have been problematized in recent decades. By calling attention to underlying moral assumptions, established sociocultural protocols, and socio-technological conditions of the everyday, I theorize the concept of embodied reading and writing thresholds. The scope of analysis is partly informed by popular discourse decrying a perceived decline in reading and writing proficiency among Japanese youth. This alleged failing literacy figures as a national crisis under the assumption that the futurity of children's national language proficiency metonymically correlates with the future well being of its national cultural body. In light of heightened interests in the past, present, and future of books, and a series of recent state interventions on the prospect of "national" text culture, it is my argument that ongoing tensions surrounding the changing media landscape and symbolic relations to the world do not merely reflect changes in styles of language, structures of spatiotemporal awareness, or forms of knowledge production. Rather, they indicate profound transformations and apprehensions among the lives mediated and embodied by the very system of signification that has come under scrutiny in the post-Lost Decade Japan (03/1991-01/2002). My dissertation offers an unique point of critical intervention into 1) various forms of tension arising from the overlapping media technologies and polarized population, 2) formations of reading and writing body (embodiment) at an intersection of heterogeneous elements and everyday disciplining, 3) culturally specific conditions and articulations of the effects of "universal" technologies, 4) prospects of "proper" national reading and writing culture, and 5) questions of cultural transformation and transmission. I hope that the diverse set of events explored in respective chapters provide, as a whole, a broader perspective of the institutional and technological background as well as an intimate understanding of culturally specific circumstances in Japan. Insofar as this is an attempt to conduct a nuanced inquiry into the culturally specific configurations and articulations of a global phenomenon, each ethnographic moment is carefully contextualized to reflect Japan specific conditions while avoiding the pitfall of culturalist assumptions. Understanding how an existing system of representation, technological imperatives and sociohistorical predicaments have coalesced to form a unique constellation is the first step in identifying how the practice of reading and writing becomes a site of heated national debate in Japan. Against theories that problematize the de-corporealizing effects of digital technology within reading and writing, I emphasize the material specificity of contemporary reading and writing practices