Cut + Paste | An Aesthetic Exploration

Photography can provide references for collage compositions. In my work, each step of this transformation resulted in new discoveries moving from one medium to another, and has culminated in dynamic time-lapse videos. This thesis follows my studio habits and derives implications for my classroom practice

Uncovering strata: an investigation into the graphic innovations of geologist Henry T. De la Beche

An historical investigation into the types of illustrations in the Golden Age of Geology (1788-1840) revealed the nature and progression of graphic representation at the dawning of geology as a science. Exhaustive sampling of geology texts published in the period of focus proceeded until saturation was achieved. Qualitative analysis and evaluation of early illustrations were accomplished with Edward R. Tufte\u27s theory of graphic design. Hypothesis testing around a correlation coefficient revealed significance at the 99% confidence level for relationships between publication year and number of included graphics, and publication year and the graphic density of texts. Henry T. De la Beche emerged as an important geologist who made numerous innovative graphic contributions in the Golden Age of Geology. De la Beche promoted colliding theory graphics, or the accurate portrayal of the earth\u27s sections and scenes that would remain valuable for future generations of geologists. He was apparently the first geologist to utilize the small multiple format. De la Beche also designed and drew scientific caricatures that encapsulated the theoretical debates of the day, as well as the social, cultural, and historical influences on the emerging theories of geology. These scientific caricatures have emerged as instructional graphics with significant classroom potential for teaching the nature of science. De la Beche also drew the first portrayal of a scene from deep time, Duria antiquior, which became the first innovative classroom geology teaching graphic. Through his introduction and development of several important genres of visual explanation, De la Beche emerged as the Father of Visual Geology Education

KEER2022

Avanttítol: KEER2022. DiversitiesDescripció del recurs: 25 juliol 202

Symbolic geography in John Ruskin's modern painters, Volumes III, IV, V

Modern Painters vol. III, IV et V est une œuvre tripartite développée après 1850, en synchronie avec la guerre de Crimée (1854-56), la répression de la révolte indienne (1857-59) et la deuxième guerre d’indépendance d’Italie (1859). Marqué par ces événements politiques, Ruskin met en œuvre une stratégie complexe pour configurer dans un langage symbolique les frontières et les taxonomies impériales de l’espace européen. Il développe des stratégies de présentation qui combinent le texte et les illustrations pour créer des allégories mentales et visuelles, construites à partir des stéréotypes littéraires et culturels véhiculés dans l’espace britannique. L’auteur met ses derniers volumes de Modern Painters sous le signe de « la crise de la civilisation » représentée par les conflagrations de Crimée, d’Inde et d’Italie, en exprimant son soutien pour la nouvelle alliance entre l’Angleterre et la France. Un autre motif est son obsession avec la réforme sociale via un retour aux valeurs chrétiennes traditionnelles.John Ruskin writes Modern Painters Volumes III, IV, and V as events such as The Crimean War (1854-56), the Indian Mutiny (1857-59), and the Second Italian War of Independence (1859) unfold. As such, Ruskin’s work tends to reflect and respond to the political context of his time. In these works, Ruskin tries to symbolically interpret and represent geopolitical and taxonomical characteristics of the European continent, generally in an imperial narrative, paying particular attention to British identity and national stereotypes. Ruskin articulates his ideas using a unique style that combines visual and written elements to create powerful allegories. In these volumes, Ruskin is especially concerned with what he sees as an impending “crisis of civilization” of which the aforementioned conflicts are symptoms. As a response, Ruskin strongly advocates societal reform in the form of a return to old Christian values. He also supports a military alliance between Britain and France

Back to the drawing board? : exploring process drawing and pathways to drawing participation in higher education for graphic design students

“I can’t draw”. “Idon’tdraw.” While facilitating my first brainstorming session with undergraduate Visual Communication, Designstudents at Western Sydney University (WSU), I was struck by the absence of any drawing activity in the classroom. Technological innovations have significantly reduced the role of drawing in the design process since the mid-eighties; however, research confirms sketching, or indeed any form of hand-eye coordination provides valuable cognitive and communication functions in the creative process. The ambiguous nature of a freehand sketch allows for creative interpretation, encourages ‘fluency’ and iteration, and provides a ‘thinking trail’ for evaluation. The physical act of drawing can also aid concentration and memory. Many professional designers recognise process drawing as a vital ingredient in their creative thinking processes and those of new graduates. Through a literature review and reflection on my creative practices, this thesis identifies the benefits of process drawing to think, create, communicate and collaboratein the design process. So, if drawing is so useful, why don’t design students use rough sketches and thumbnails in the classroom?Through a practice-led enquiry, I reflect on observations made as both “insider” and “outsider” within my communities of practice. As a professional design practitioner, visual artist, teacher and researcher, I investigate the role and value of process drawing in the twenty-first-century classroom.The attitudes, behaviours and ‘designerly’practices of WSU design students are explored through a multiple-choiceWhy draw?questionnaireconducted over six years.The interviews and group discussions with final-year, high achievingWSU designstudents help clarify the creative thinking practicesof these participants and identify possible barriers to wider drawing participation. The observations,interpretation of theliterature and questionnaire and interview findings underpin the studio exploration into possible pathways to foster drawing participationin the classroom. ASpeed Squigglingactivity was designed to demonstrate the value of drawing and to encouragedivergent thinking, iteration, creative flow, and design thinking skills. APre-and Post-Why draw?questionnaire was collected from second-year WSU Design students before and after theSpeed Squigglingtrial. An analysis of students’ written and visual responses explores the effectiveness of this kind of drawing activity to encourage and foster drawing participation.Back to the drawing board?adds to the critical discourse in drawing research and design education that argues process drawing has an important role to play in the twenty-first century classroom and should continue to be clarified, demonstrated and encouraged in design education

Wise Economies: Storytelling, Narrative Authority, and Brevity in the American Short Story, 1819-1980.

This study proposes a new way of measuring brevity in the American short story. Since Edgar Allan Poe\u27s definition of the tale, literary criticism has looked to various structural features within the text to define the elements that distinguish the short story from other prose genres like the novel. I argue that brevity is an essential feature of storytelling and suggest that its perception is molded and shaped by several historical factors. The phrase wise economy offers two ways of thinking about the conciseness of the form: it evokes a history of rhetorical economy central to the formation of a distinctly American English and, more broadly, the exchange that takes place between a storyteller and his/her audience in the narrative act. These meanings work at cross-purposes: rhetorical economy results in the disappearance of the storyteller whose presence is the most visible marker of exchange. I trace how the general elision of the narrative act shapes the reader\u27s perception of the meaning in a text in four different modes of storytelling (romanticism, realism, modernism, and minimalism) by proposing an interpretive model grounded in speech-act theory. This model is in turn applied to works by Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Rebecca Harding Davis, Sarah Orne Jewett, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, Djuna Barnes, Richard Wright, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Raymond Carver

Art as Meaning Making

This project examines the meaning-making of art through multiple disciplinary lenses: Art Therapy, Art History, Studio Art, Art Education and Anthropology. Disciplines were selected for their inherent ability to enhance an understanding of meaning-making through the art making process and art product. An arts-based methodology was utilized in conjunction with the Outliers and American Vanguard Art exhibition at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), which featured a juxtaposition of formally trained and self-taught artists. Each of the five researchers selected a piece of art included in the exhibition, rendered the piece, documented the rendering process, and viewed each piece and its accompanying documentation from their respective disciplinary lenses to understand meaning-making of the original artist and their work. Results of this systematic investigation exposed common themes across disciplines that inform meaning-making: Culture, Context, Comparison, Communication, Formal Elements, and Accuracy. Through an understanding of elements that comprise each exposed theme, the discipline of art therapy can expand its theoretical and practical knowledge that currently informs its approaches toward the meaning-making of art. Results of this arts-based investigation imply that continued investigation of adjacent art and culture-centric disciplines can question, corroborate, and supplement existing assumptions about the meaning-making of art process and art product in the discipline of art therapy

Interactive Flat Coloring of Minimalist Neat Sketches

International audienceWe introduce a simple Delaunay-triangulation based algorithm for the interactive coloring of neat line-art minimalist sketches, ie. vector sketches that may include open contours. The main objective is to minimize user intervention and make interaction as natural as with the flood-fill algorithm while extending coloring to regions with open contours. In particular, we want to save the user from worrying about parameters such as stroke weight and size. Our solution works in two steps, 1) a segmentation step in which the input sketch is automatically divided into regions based on the underlying Delaunay structure and 2) the interactive grouping of neighboring regions based on user input. More precisely, a region adjacency graph is computed from the segmentation result, and is interactively partitioned based on user input to generate the final colored sketch. Results show that our method is as natural as a bucket fill tool and powerful enough to color minimalist sketches