Credulous Spectatorship from Zeuxis to Barthes

This dissertation explores intersections between trompe l\u27oeil painting and photography. It began as an interest in contemporary photographers, such as Thomas Demand, whose photographs of constructed paper models encourage viewers to discover the nature of his interventions. His strategy resonates with a centuries-old strategy in trompe l\u27oeil painting, but now in the terms of photographic, rather than pictorial presence. That is, most of Demand\u27s photographs do not compel the viewer\u27s belief in the tangible presence of the object represented; instead, they exploit photography\u27s indexical promise of delivering the world as it once appeared, in order to temporarily trick viewers about the terms of that indexical delivery. Beyond intersections in artistic strategies, I track reception accounts of trompe l\u27oeil painting and photography for their reliance on a credulous spectator. Pliny\u27s Zeuxis, who is tricked by Parrhasius\u27s painting of a curtain, remains the model for this errant credulity. In their efforts to reveal the manipulation of photographs, historians and theorists assume that the natural attitude for viewing photographs is wholly credulous and recast postmodern viewers as contemporary Zeuxises. Instead of admonishing spectators for such credulity, I argue that trompe l\u27oeil facilitates a pleasurable experience of oscillation between belief and disbelief. I also suggest that these trompe l’oeil deployments of oscillation tend to coincide with historical moments of perceived change in visual technologies—changes due to digitalization, as well as mechanical or other forms of reproduction. Trompe l\u27oeil artists play upon our supposed willingness to accept reproductions for the objects they represent. The inclusion of photographs and/or engravings in these trompe l’oeil paintings simultaneously stages and reprimands our desire for the aura of the actual object. Finally, I suggest that a contemporary renewal of trompe l\u27oeil in the medium of photography reveals an interest in recuperating belief in photographs—a belief not unlike that which Roland Barthes narrates in Camera Lucida. Just as Barthes can discover something of photography\u27s indexical promise, even after decades of his own scholarly efforts to unveil photography\u27s rhetoric of construction, so might we, even while heeding the postmodernist lessons of disbelief, recuperate a moment of belief in a skeptical age

Credulous Spectatorship from Zeuxis to Barthes

This dissertation explores intersections between trompe l\u27oeil painting and photography. It began as an interest in contemporary photographers, such as Thomas Demand, whose photographs of constructed paper models encourage viewers to discover the nature of his interventions. His strategy resonates with a centuries-old strategy in trompe l\u27oeil painting, but now in the terms of photographic, rather than pictorial presence. That is, most of Demand\u27s photographs do not compel the viewer\u27s belief in the tangible presence of the object represented; instead, they exploit photography\u27s indexical promise of delivering the world as it once appeared, in order to temporarily trick viewers about the terms of that indexical delivery. Beyond intersections in artistic strategies, I track reception accounts of trompe l\u27oeil painting and photography for their reliance on a credulous spectator. Pliny\u27s Zeuxis, who is tricked by Parrhasius\u27s painting of a curtain, remains the model for this errant credulity. In their efforts to reveal the manipulation of photographs, historians and theorists assume that the natural attitude for viewing photographs is wholly credulous and recast postmodern viewers as contemporary Zeuxises. Instead of admonishing spectators for such credulity, I argue that trompe l\u27oeil facilitates a pleasurable experience of oscillation between belief and disbelief. I also suggest that these trompe l’oeil deployments of oscillation tend to coincide with historical moments of perceived change in visual technologies—changes due to digitalization, as well as mechanical or other forms of reproduction. Trompe l\u27oeil artists play upon our supposed willingness to accept reproductions for the objects they represent. The inclusion of photographs and/or engravings in these trompe l’oeil paintings simultaneously stages and reprimands our desire for the aura of the actual object. Finally, I suggest that a contemporary renewal of trompe l\u27oeil in the medium of photography reveals an interest in recuperating belief in photographs—a belief not unlike that which Roland Barthes narrates in Camera Lucida. Just as Barthes can discover something of photography\u27s indexical promise, even after decades of his own scholarly efforts to unveil photography\u27s rhetoric of construction, so might we, even while heeding the postmodernist lessons of disbelief, recuperate a moment of belief in a skeptical age

Double Take: Selected Views from the Photography Collection at Bryn Mawr College, 1860s-Present

Exhibition held at Bryn Mawr College Class of 1912 Rare Book Room, Canaday Library, from September 27 to December 22, 2011.https://repository.brynmawr.edu/bmc_books/1015/thumbnail.jp

Mirrors & Masks: Reflections and Constructions of the Self

Catalogue of an exhibition held at Bryn Mawr College March 23, 2017-June 4, 2017, curated by Steven Z. Levine and Carrie M. Robbins and students in the year-long course Mirroring the Self/Exhibiting the Self. The exhibition, organized by 11 student curators considers the role of mirrors, masks, makeup, and masquerade in explorations of the self across the centuries and cultures that are represented in Bryn Mawr College’s Art & Artifacts Collection.https://repository.brynmawr.edu/bmc_books/1031/thumbnail.jp

Mirrors & Masks: Reflections and Constructions of the Self

Catalogue of an exhibition held at Bryn Mawr College March 23, 2017-June 4, 2017, curated by Steven Z. Levine and Carrie M. Robbins and students in the year-long course Mirroring the Self/Exhibiting the Self. The exhibition, organized by 11 student curators considers the role of mirrors, masks, makeup, and masquerade in explorations of the self across the centuries and cultures that are represented in Bryn Mawr College’s Art & Artifacts Collection.https://repository.brynmawr.edu/bmc_books/1031/thumbnail.jp

A Comparative Study of Intercultural and Global Competency Opportunities on American and Irish University Campuses

The lack of intercultural competencies among students in higher education is one of the most significant issues facing higher education and society in general. As institutions of higher education embark on the journey of embracing the increasingly diverse student populations, some universities have revamped university mission statements to reflect their support for “creating and maintaining” a diverse student population and for graduating interculturally competent students. This study compared reports from the three participating universities (one university in the United States and two in Ireland) on four different variables regarding student diversity, student participation in study abroad programs, types of study abroad programs offered, and types of intercultural programs available to students. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed. Reprinted by permission of the publisher

\u3ci\u3eBeyond Boundaries: Feminine Forms\u3c/i\u3e

Beyond Boundaries: Feminine Forms is the first exhibition to unite two important Philadelphia collections of art by women: the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts’ (PAFA) Linda Lee Alter Collection of Art by Women and Bryn Mawr College (BMC) Special Collections’ William and Uytendale Scott Memorial Study Collection of Works by Women Artists. Laurel McLaughlin and Mechella Yezernitskaya, doctoral students in the History of Art at BMC, astutely observed the connections between these two collections and initiated this collaboration. They have curated an insightful exhibition that rigorously examines a wide range of issues related to female representation—a topic that has been addressed by artists for centuries and continues to resonate in our current political moment. In addition, their thoughtful interviews with Bill Scott and Linda Lee Alter for this catalogue give meaningful context to these groups of work and will be appreciated by art historians for many years to come. Lee and Bill share a generosity of spirit and a steadfast passion for art, which is apparent in these contemplative discussions.https://repository.brynmawr.edu/bmc_books/1034/thumbnail.jp

\u3ci\u3eBeyond Boundaries: Feminine Forms\u3c/i\u3e

Beyond Boundaries: Feminine Forms is the first exhibition to unite two important Philadelphia collections of art by women: the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts’ (PAFA) Linda Lee Alter Collection of Art by Women and Bryn Mawr College (BMC) Special Collections’ William and Uytendale Scott Memorial Study Collection of Works by Women Artists. Laurel McLaughlin and Mechella Yezernitskaya, doctoral students in the History of Art at BMC, astutely observed the connections between these two collections and initiated this collaboration. They have curated an insightful exhibition that rigorously examines a wide range of issues related to female representation—a topic that has been addressed by artists for centuries and continues to resonate in our current political moment. In addition, their thoughtful interviews with Bill Scott and Linda Lee Alter for this catalogue give meaningful context to these groups of work and will be appreciated by art historians for many years to come. Lee and Bill share a generosity of spirit and a steadfast passion for art, which is apparent in these contemplative discussions.https://repository.brynmawr.edu/bmc_books/1034/thumbnail.jp

Trigger Point Injections for Headache Disorders: Expert Consensus Methodology and Narrative Review

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109332/1/head12442.pd