A First-Person Theory of Documentation

Purpose To first articulate and then illustrate a descriptive theoretical model of documentation (i.e., document creation) suitable for analysis of the experiential, first-person perspective. Design/methodology/approach Three models of documentation in the literature are presented and synthesized into a new model. This model is then used to understand the findings from a phenomenology-of-practice study of the work of seven visual artists as they each created a self-portrait, understood here as a form of documentation. Findings A number of themes are found to express the first-person experience of art-making in these examples, including communicating, memories, reference materials, taking breaks and stepping back. The themes are discussed with an eye toward articulating what is shared and unique in these experiences. Finally, the themes are mapped successfully to the theoretical model. Research limitations/implications The study involved artists creating self-portraits, and further research will be required to determine if the thematic findings are unique to self-portraiture or apply as well to art-making, to documentation generally, etc. Still, the theoretical model developed here seems useful for analyzing documentation experiences. Practical implications As many activities and tasks in contemporary life can be conceptualized as documentation, this model provides a valuable analytical tool for better understanding those experiences. This can ground education and management decisions for those involved. Originality/value This paper makes conceptual and empirical contributions to document theory and the study of the information behavior of artists, particularly furthering discussions of information and document experience

Constituent Parts: Recent Portraiture in Canadian Military Art

Not common within the art historical record of the Canadian Military, the work of a number of visual artists participating in the Canadian Forces Artists Program demonstrates a keen and growing interest in portraiture. In this article, the work of Gertrude Kearns, Mary Kavanagh, and Erin Riley will be highlighted to illustrate the recent trend. Their work is contrasted with one another as well as with portraiture created by Canada’s war artists in the First and Second World Wars to bring to light the tensions of representation inherent in military portraiture. It will be shown that shifting perceptions found in the wider employment of portraiture and freedom given to participants in the Canadian Forces most recent official art program have encouraged depictions of members at all levels of the Canadian Forces

Macroscale multimodal imaging reveals ancient painting production technology and the vogue in Greco-Roman Egypt.

Macroscale multimodal chemical imaging combining hyperspectral diffuse reflectance (400-2500 nm), luminescence (400-1000 nm), and X-ray fluorescence (XRF, 2 to 25 keV) data, is uniquely equipped for noninvasive characterization of heterogeneous complex systems such as paintings. Here we present the first application of multimodal chemical imaging to analyze the production technology of an 1,800-year-old painting and one of the oldest surviving encaustic ("burned in") paintings in the world. Co-registration of the data cubes from these three hyperspectral imaging modalities enabled the comparison of reflectance, luminescence, and XRF spectra at each pixel in the image for the entire painting. By comparing the molecular and elemental spectral signatures at each pixel, this fusion of the data allowed for a more thorough identification and mapping of the painting's constituent organic and inorganic materials, revealing key information on the selection of raw materials, production sequence and the fashion aesthetics and chemical arts practiced in Egypt in the second century AD

Embracing Identity And Narrative In Art For Self-empowerment

This arts-based thesis will explore ethnic identity and narrative in symbolic self-portraiture as themes for a body of work. This paper will discuss how identity and narrative play an important role in the empowerment of the artist and viewer. It will also show how this can be incorporated into an art classroom engaged in multicultural learning and the study of visual culture to empower students and give them opportunities to narrate their life stories

Can Computers Create Art?

This essay discusses whether computers, using Artificial Intelligence (AI), could create art. First, the history of technologies that automated aspects of art is surveyed, including photography and animation. In each case, there were initial fears and denial of the technology, followed by a blossoming of new creative and professional opportunities for artists. The current hype and reality of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for art making is then discussed, together with predictions about how AI tools will be used. It is then speculated about whether it could ever happen that AI systems could be credited with authorship of artwork. It is theorized that art is something created by social agents, and so computers cannot be credited with authorship of art in our current understanding. A few ways that this could change are also hypothesized.Comment: to appear in Arts, special issue on Machine as Artist (21st Century

POPULAR AMERICAN NEWS MEDIA EXPLAINED THROUGH Visual Arts: USING DRAWING AS A TOOL FOR HUMOROUS AND OBLIGATORY CULTURAL CRITIQUE

Through my drawings, I focus on jostling the passive American viewer out of her/his complacent acceptance of the images delivered by popular media outlets. Using humor as a multi-functional tool, I combine and reinterpret recognizable media artifacts to comment on the content that makes up American culture. This body of work is a cultural critique, pitting the ridiculous and superficial entertainment we (Americans) so easily ingest against current and crucial moments in time (i.e: political protests, violence, death, etc). Often times, the current media landscape is saturated with fast-cycling images and stories that do not promote careful contemplation. Instead, these hurried/short-lasting bits of information are consumed, providing momentary satiation until the next news is delivered. It is my intention to disrupt the flow of news as entertainment to create moments of critical awareness through visual work, while pointing out the disturbing methods news organizations employ to encourage and perpetuate a culture that lacks agency. I do this through my work and by citing relevant theoretical writing, current and historical artists and genres serving to bolster my critiques. I use multiple strategies to critique American media in a variety of ways. Beginning with the talking heads literally delivering the news, the anchorpersons and their feigned emotions, I use traditional aspects of portraiture to capture the disturbing theatrics so common in the news. Process, the way that I draw, the substrate, the scale of the images, and the media I use, are all integral elements that influence the meaning of my work. Another notion I investigate is the idea of paradox. Mixing and matching images that are silly or absurd with images that are horrifying is a common strategy used to provoke an unsettled response from a reticent viewer. An added intention of mine is to extract images from Internet-based news sources in order to change their original meaning. Rendering casualties from current wars and skirmishes, I relocate these figures to a serene space where they become memorialized. Through most of these methods, a simultaneously dissipating and resurfacing humor is intertwined in the work (with the exception of the war time casualties series). The images have many different/contrasting qualities and evoke different sentiments. The contrasts often equate to contradictory viewer responses. It is this method of cognitive dissonance that works to critique American News media and subverts the way news media is received. My overarching intention for this body of work is to mediate images seen on the news in order to provide viewers with opportunities for contemplation. I do this using a variety of drawing styles, different types of humor, mixing and matching images, and extracting and isolating images. My own cognitive dissonance, or, the discomfort I feel when experiencing contradictory thoughts, leads me to make peculiar decisions in my attempt to critique a disturbing part of American culture

The place of African slaves in early modern Spain

Book synopsis: This volume crosses geographical as well as chronological divides in order to emphasise the mutability of the social margins, making an important contribution to research on social and urban history by considering a variety of groups identified as "marginal." Focusing on two key themes in relation to these groups - the language of marginality and the spaces of the margins - the volume counters the trend in the existing historiography to discuss the social margins either as a single, undifferentiated group or separate, unconnected ones, instead examining the effect that changing perceptions of social position had in shaping the spaces in which people worked, lived, or worshipped

\u3cem\u3eYet Another Fight for Remembrance\u3c/em\u3e: Titus Kaphar’s Representation of Race in the Past and the Present

With compelling portraits that challenge the representation of minorities within the art historical canon, American artist Titus Kaphar has emerged as an important voice in contemporary art. His paintings are best-known for engaging the history of art and visual culture founded on the construction of whiteness and restoring narratives of people of color through modern-day representations of once hidden historical actors. Kaphar questions how repressed histories have shaped preconceived notions of famous historic figures, such as Thomas Jefferson, and more importantly, of United States history. Throughout his career, his innovative practice has aimed to disrupt the visual field and reveal silenced truths. However, when Kaphar was commissioned to create a cover of the Ferguson protesters for Time magazine in 2014, he drastically altered his initial approach to concepts of visibility and identity. While critiquing the hypervisibility of news media and social media platforms, the piece became a product of media culture itself. As I explore in this paper, Kaphar\u27s Yet Another Fight for Remembrance redirects his signature whitewashing technique to provide anonymity to the protesters, to comment on contemporary media\u27s representation of minorities, and capture the collectivity of a movement fighting for justice. By analyzing the visual and contextual components of Kaphar’s practice, in both historical and contemporary subject matter, I argue that Kaphar provides a unique lens with which to examine the complexities of black representation in American history

Use Of Non-Paint Media By Artists In Southwestern Nigeria

This paper is an examination of non-paint media by artists in Southwestern Nigeria. Extant literature shows that only few known contemporary artists venture into the use of non-paint media. Moreover, this form of art has not received adequate scholarly attention perhaps because the experiment is time consuming and the execution is strenuous. The study analyses paintings executed with non-paint media sourced from abandoned industrially generated materials. Direct field study and descriptive methodologies were adopted for this study. The study covers Southwestern Nigeria. Eight art institutions in the study area constituted sample frame while three (3) art institutions were choosen as sample size. Thirty (30) respondents were selected from the choosen art institutions. One hundred and fifty (150) paintings were also randomly selected while ten percent (10%) which is fifteen (15) non-paint media works were selected for the analysis.  Result of the analysis indicates that pictorial composition, rectangular shape, medium size and expressionism dominate form, genres and style of the paintings in southwestern Nigeria