Department of Visual Arts

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Browsing Department of Visual Arts by browse.metadata.advisor "Arnold, Marion"

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    Contemporary South African printmaking : a study of the artform in relation to socio-economic conditions, with special reference to the Caversham Press
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002-12) Conidaris, Amanda Jane; Arnold, Marion; Dietrich, Keith; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The body of the thesis explores contemporary South African printmaking by focusing on The Caversham Press, established in 1985. Caversham's success encouraged the opening of four other studios, which formed the core of professional printmaking in South Africa up to 2000. Positioning Caversham in a broader arena, the politicised nature of printmaking in South Africa prior to 1985 is discussed and six projects produced at the Press between 1985 and 2000 are examined to situate the Press within the South African socio-economic and cultural context. Finally, the interaction between prints from Caversham Press projects and the art market in Johannesburg is described and analysed to ascertain the extent to which these six projects were products of their time and place in South African art history. In Appendices IV and V, the candidate's own printmaking work, which examines male midlife depression and its impact on the marital relationship, is discussed.
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    The development of a critical practice in post-apartheid South African photography
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001-03) Josephy, Svea Valeska; Arnold, Marion; Ractliffe, J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South African photography in the 20th century was dominated by the documentary genre. This genre has its roots in 19th century Modernist and colonialist belief in the accuracy of the camera as a tool of representation, and faith in the camera's objectivity and ability to present empirical evidence and 'truth'. These positivist notions were carried into South African documentary practice during the apartheid era. Apartheid-era South African documentary photography was particularly focused on exposing the socio-political ills of apartheid in order to gain support for the liberation movement, both locally and abroad. It was serious and didactic in its purpose and did not allow for creative responses to the medium, as the camera was seen as a 'weapon' of the struggle. The 1990s saw the beginning of the emergence of a liberated South Africa. The documentary imperative to record and expose apartheid practices was now increasingly redundant. Photographers, particularly after the elections, were faced with a 'crisis' of sorts in documentary as the main focus of their subject had been removed. The upshot of this was that documentary photographers had to find new subjects, which they had to approach in different ways. The arrival of Postmodernism in South Africa coincided with the demise of apartheid. It had in essence been kept at bay by what seemed to be the more pressing issues of the struggle. Postmodern art and its theoretical base, post-structuralism, argued for an erosion of the previously fixed concepts of genre, and allowed for the mixing of the previously separate categories of 'documentary' and 'art'. There was a radical questioning of previously fixed constructs of race, identity, class and gender. The erosion of the documentary imperative to record allowed for more creative responses to the medium than ever before. Artists were able to experiment technically, with video, multi-media, digital photography, historical processes, colour, composite work and interactive pieces. In this thesis I explore the above-mentioned shift and situate my practical work within this contemporary paradigm.
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    The female body as spectacle in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Western art
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001-03) Cronje, Karen; Arnold, Marion; Van der Merwe, V.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts .
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A spectacle denotes an impressive or deplorable sight, and necessarily involves the power and politics of viewing. The female body exists as a sexualised object of these processes of looking within Western culture, not only in high art, but also in discourses such as medicine and science. In both art and medicine the female body has been treated as a passive object to be studied, analysed and classified. Power relations and patriarchal ideologies have played a great part in the resulting objectifying representations, firmly locating images of the female body within the realm of the spectacle. Bodily perceptions, in terms of the female body, have changed much, particularly through the reinterpretation of sexuality through feminist theory. Modem culture and technology have opened up many new possibilities for the redefinition and understanding of the body. Modem bodies seem to be under as much close surveillance and scrutiny as their nineteenth century counterparts. This study explores these ideas through a wide range of examples from painting, photography and performance art, and non-art objects such as anatomical objects and medical illustrations. Central to the construction of the body as spectacle, are issues of looking and viewing. Chapter 1 examines ideas around the gaze; the politics and processes of vision, objectification and fetishisation are explored in relation to the functioning of the medical and aesthetic gaze. The concept of spectacle is also elaborated upon in terms of ideas around the nineteenth century carnival and freak show, and in terms of societal taboos and transgression. Aspects of aesthetic and medical discourse focus on the display and scrutiny of the female body. Chapter 2 examines the way in which these discourses attempted to reveal the female body by rendering it in highly visual terms. The dominant ideologies informing both discourses played an instrumental role and resulted in representations that defined the female body in normative standards and ideals of beauty and health. Pornography is considered as a modem discourse in which the female body is defined and displayed as an object of scrutiny. Feminist theory challenged exclusively male representations of the female body and the subversion of traditional forms of representation of women is studied by examining the work of Annie Sprinkle and Cindy Sherman. Many representations of the female body by feminist artists are considered highly disturbing and transgressive, precisely because they traverse traditional and acceptable representations of it. The idealised nude forms the epitome of contained ideals of health and beauty, and the work of Orlan and Cindy Sherman is examined within these terms in Chapter 3. These artists' representations of the female body are in direct opposition to such norms, rather settling for an open-ended, unconfined and abject representation. However, such transgressive cultural images produced by women artists are often regarded as pathological acts, and dismissed in terms of deplorable spectacle. The research concludes with a commentary on the candidate's practical work, which in dealing with the representation of the human body explores some issues of visuality, spectacle and fragmentation.
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    Photographic representation of lesbian identity with special reference to the Southern African context
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2000-03) Brundrit, Jean; Arnold, Marion; Ractliffe, J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts .
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis presents a discussion of a photographic representation of lesbian identity in Southern Africa. Two photographic series, Does your lifestyle depress your mother? and the Dyke Career Series (collectively referred to/exhibited as Lavender Menace) produced during the period 1997 to 1999 form the practical component of this MA submission. Lavender Menace is considered in relation to lesbian identity, lesbian social visibility, stereotypes and the relationship between photography and 'reality'. The various readings that the works can be said to have, are discussed and an explanation of the purpose in photographing the 'ordinariness' of the lesbians who were imaged, is included. A historical overview of the concepts 'lesbian', and 'visibility'specifically in South Africa during the last 50 years, and how homophobia has affected lesbian life is presented in Chapter One. In Chapter Two, the notion of stereotypes is examined, particularly those of the 'butch' lesbian and the 'lipstick' or 'chic' lesbian. Neither of these stereotypes is entirely accurate and the role of stereotypes in potentially disseminating mis-information and prejudice, and how this influences potential ways of identity construction, is discussed. It can be seen that this influence of stereotypes on lesbians and lesbian visual representation cannot be ignored as the dominant stereotypes in society are too pervasive. The notion of readability is explored in Chapter Three. The constructed nature of photography, specifically with regard to Lavender Menace, is discussed in relation to truth, theatricality, the use of text and possible readings of the work. An explanation of my particular purpose in choosing to photograph in the way I did is included, concluding that although meaning is not fixed, the intention of the artist can be visually presented in a 'legible' manner (if desired) to assist possible interpretations. This thesis/research has been utilised to inform my own artistic production, by exploring the questions and issues raised while producing Lavender Menace, namely lesbian visibility, the use of stereotypes and how images are interpreted. This thesis and Lavender Menace should contribute to the general research area by promoting social visibility of lesbians in South Africa.
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    South African botanical art : a study of nineteenth- and twentieth-century imagery
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001-03) Blake, Tamlin; Arnold, Marion; Bouma, Paddy; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Botanical art consists of a complex combination of scientific fact and aesthetic awareness, and is concerned with more than the realistic representation of a plant and its flowers. It goes beyond the visual description of scientific information and speaks about the contributions artists have made through history to the conventions of both art and science. It contains a unique visual language, conventions which we read intelligently and an evolved tradition, and it is this language and the development of these conventions within the genre of South African botanical art, which this thesis investigates. In South Africa botanical art developed as a direct result of European interest in the flora and the colonisation of this country by the West. A brief history of responses to South African plants is discussed in the Introduction in order to begin to establish an understanding of this tradition and to contextualise the contributions made by 19th-and 20th -century South African botanical artists. Now that postmodernity has called for the reassessment and questioning of 'given truths', alternative ways of assessing botanical art are slowly evolving. Through study and the comparison of botanical art and artists of South Africa their evaluation as artists is reconsidered. This issue of defining art and artists is the subject of Chapter One of this study. Some of the factors that have a bearing on this include: relationships between text and image; art and science; art and illustration; and how society's expectations of gender roles affect the production of botanical art. In order to establish a context from which to discuss plant imagery in South Africa, it is important to study the history and development of botanical art in this country. Chapter Two discusses the emergence and development of this art form and its artists, starting with a short description of people and events from the 1600s and then takes a comprehensive look at developments in the 19th and 20m centuries. For the artists working within the genre of botanical art, the conventions and inventions are often explicitly formulated. It is an art based on the logic, scrutiny and informative tradition of science, where the main objective is to represent a plant's structural essence. Fundamental to our response to botanical art, however, is the style and technique employed by the artist. Chapter Three is devoted to a detailed discussion of the work of selected contemporary South African botanical art and artists. By comparing their work it is possible to establish trends and developments in representation and the role played by mediums and techniques in this highly skilled art form. Since this research has both a theoretical and a practical component, Chapter Four is devoted to discussion of my own work within the botanical art genre. I describe and illustrate several related series of paintings and explore established conventions and ways of developing my own stylistic identity as a botanical artist.
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    The transition from an object-oriented to a systems-oriented approach in art, leading to a redefinition of the concept of sculpture
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2000-03) Keyser, Nicolet; Arnold, Marion; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis I look at the impact of technology on the concept of sculpture. However, I am more concerned with the principles behind technological change as influence, than looking at high-technology advances. A key issue that I address is the consideration of changes in society and art, and I ask the question, to what extent does three-dimensional art remain in any traditional sense 'sculpture'? It is my objective to show these changes, indicated by the transition from an object-oriented to a systems-oriented approach in art leading to a redefinition of the concept of sculpture. Although I deal with my practical work as a separate part in the thesis, there is a close integration and mutual objectives between the practical and theoretical components. The transition occurring in sculpture can directly be traced to the technological advances in society. Scientific knowledge in any period of history reflects the way people understand their world, thus affecting human perceptions of the natural world and in turn influencing artistic creation. In Chapter One, attention is given in general to some of these scientific discoveries, for example the shift from classical science to an organismic approach with its focus on the interconnectedness of all things. Also of importance is the beginning of Chaos Theory, introducing the element of chance. In Chapter Two, more specific changes in the concept of art and sculpture are dealt with. Referring to some important predecessors earlier in the zo" century. I look at art becoming an interactive system, and find the interrelationship between sculpture and architecture useful in illustrating this, because of the foregrounding of the concept of space. In Chapter Three, I examine the different way that artists deal with the issues of urbanity', for example, the Minimalists putting emphasis on the idea of sculpture as an infinitely malleable category. Shifting definitions of urbanity were responses to specific new conditions in the environment, for example, as seen in the changing features of the city. Chapter Four deals with contemporary artists' response to these conditions, starting with examples of an object-oriented approach to sculpture, moving step by step towards a different systems-oriented approach. To conclude, I speculate on all the possibilities that the virtual environments that modern computers allow us to create may for the first time open up. We are at the beginning of a new century full of promise to artists in all fields.