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Browsing Fine Arts by Author "Van den Berg, D. J."
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Item Open Access Artistieke visualisering van konnektiwiteit(University of the Free State, 2005-11) Mellet-Pretorius, Louisa J.; Allen-Spies, J.; Van den Berg, D. J.English: Connectivity is expanded through technological deve lopments converting the world into a global and interactive connectivity field. Each individual finds him- or herself to be a link in this network of connectivity. Using certain visual projects as an example, this particular project argues that man has, on the one hand, become entrapped in this network through technological developments, and is liberated by them, on the other, through the global mobility they facilitate. The applicability of “connectivity,” the mathematical loanword, to the visual arts is explored and depicted through art projects. In this project, representations of illustrations, paintings, photographs, installations and video art are employed as a form of artistic visualization of the experience of connectivity in post- modern society. Technological phenomena as extensions of the human body and central nervous system, and the implications of this for visual culture and the society of connectivity are explored. The spatial expansiveness of the network is visualized in the texture of Jackson Pollock’s paintings, which in this project are referred to as a metaphor for connectivity. The series of photographs by Danwen Xing, “disCONNEXION,” are described as the antithesis of connectivity, where computer parts are arranged separately from one another, eliciting the notion of a living organism. In representations of connectivity the symbiotic relationship between man and machine is brought to the fore. The mutual dependency of man and machine are symbolized in Eduardo Kac’s Teleporting an unknown state. Herein an attempt is made to foster a critical consciousness which sufficiently takes into consideration the man- made nature of the new media. Man builds technological information systems which creep across the earth, enfolding it in a web. In the photographic and installation-type depictions of Frank Thiel, Dan Graham and Peter Weibel, the omnipresence of the surveillance camera is fore grounded. It surrounds, captures and reads man into databases, forming a categorized, typified data image of the individual. In a more positive light, the media of connectivity creates an immediate though virtual presence through mobilization, where man is an absent presence who is simultaneously here and at the site of communication. Connectivity enables the immediate connections between individuals who are physically separated from one another, and is visualized in Draadwerk, where the implied communicator is overwhelmed and drawn in by the scale and mass of tin can telephone wires. Man is simultaneously here, physically, and, in thought, in the conversational space (i.e. cyberspace), where communication takes place through technological communication media. The greatest liberation of technological means is facilitated by the virtuality it creates. James Turrell’s light installations visualize illusory virtual spaces where the viewer enters a light-drenched space and the actual boundaries of the space are faded. In my own installation, Immersie, a virtual space is entered which becomes a connective plane between top/bottom and inside/outside. Ties which limit and entrap man are left behind as the virtual space is entered, and man creates, through technological media, new spaces in which freedom or liberation may be experienced.Item Open Access Representing the sublime: interactions between spatial representation in new media and idyllic and mystic traditions in painting(University of the Free State, 2005) Raubenheimer, Landi; Van den Berg, D. J.; Allen-Spies, Janine; Human, E. S.English: The major image investigated in this study, is a cibachrome print entitled Pureland by Japanese artist Mariko Mori. The print is a still image from one of her 3D installations titled Nirvana. Throughout the text I refer to Pureland not as a pure image but as one appearing in different media, since the varied visual manifestations and reproductions of the image contribute to diverse aspects of the argument. The image is found in calendars and books, is exhibited as a large print and certain of Mori’s prints are even exhibited on lightboxes. This renders the prints a glowing computer or television screen quality, and suggests the notion of an advertising billboard. The “screen” qualities of the image are investigated throughout. The appearance of the image is pleasant, pink, even pretty, and this “eye-candy” could allude to the affirmative character of mass media images describing beautiful natural scenery. Sentimental images appear in Japanese manga and anime, but also in Western popular media such as Hollywood films. Furthermore Pureland seems reminiscent of landscape traditions that relate to idyllic yearning or nostalgia. This leads to the following question: is the pastoral tradition in its established conventions pertinent to the idyllic tendencies in mass media? What seems problematic in my view is that it appears as if something is omitted from the image on account of its pleasing character. This may indicate that what is not depicted (something extremely un-pleasant?) may also be relevant. This “un-pleasant” is investigated as a possible allusion to the digital sublime lurking beneath the smooth appearance of the image, only to manifest in brief moments of “suddenness”. The sublime is discussed in the context of the mystic landscape tradition and especially the work of artists such as Caspar David Friedrich in the mystic tradition, and, as it develops into the Abstract Expressionist movement in the work of Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and even the avant-garde art of Yves Klein. The mystic tradition is based on a negative stance grounded in the notion of kenosis, which is an emptying out resulting in transcendence. This tradition is fundamentally opposed to affirmative (idyllic) tendencies in both art and popular culture. The co-existence of the conflicting idyllic and mystic strands in the image is investigated throughout as an uneasy relationship which may result in a rupturing of the smooth pleasant appearance of the image, revealing the digital sublime. The “digital sublime” is derived from Jean-Francois Lyotard’s understanding of the sublime. It may manifest in cyberspace, virtual reality and other digital media that evoke virtual space, through seeming vastness and threatening character. Understanding the operations of viewing and representation implied by the computer and television screen is thus important in grasping the dynamic of the digital sublime. Do representations of space on the screen differ from perspectival representations of space and landscape in the fixed images of Western painting traditions? On the screen overlay and geometric principles are combined, urging the observer to penetrate and explore the layers, virtually or imaginatively entering the layered virtual environment. The notion of virtual depth as non-illusory depth may be comparable to Japanese viewing traditions and the diverse concepts of śūnyatā and “superflat”. The application of overlay and śūnyatā to contemporary painting is investigated in chapter three. I suspect that Pureland is a hybrid image, not only digitally composited from existing visual material, but also comprised of traces of disparate visual traditions and conventions. This is dicussed in conclusion.Item Open Access Roots, rhizomes and radicles: critical reflections on memories and the voyage of becoming(University of the Free State, 2019-05) Maartens-Van Vuuren, Cecilia Hendrina; Allen-Spies, J.; Van den Berg, D. J.; Botma, B.A critical reflection on childhood memories and time unfolds into a labyrinthine journey involving fluctuating emotions, but also a voyage of creativity and new beginnings. In this M.A. Fine Arts project, comprising a dissertation, an exhibition of painting, embroidery and installation, and an exhibition catalogue, I endeavour to share my lived experiences on such a life journey. The objective is to raise awareness of the dynamics of inner life and the existence of the past in the present, which influence behaviour and future endeavours. Childhood memories of railroads and trains, motivated an exploration of the experience of the flow of time. In our planetary existence, we are consciously responding to a sensorium charged with impressions, the continuous passing of time and the irrevocability of the past. Not only a pressing awareness of the potential creative impact of one’s past experiences on current perceptions of life is raised, but also how humans impact each other and the environment. Henri Bergson’s philosophy of life, embodying the revitalising of past lived experience in the present through the process of duration (Fr. durée réelle), underpins the research. The past's actualising in the present as something new implies inner movement and change alongside invention, which is realised as a spiritual becoming – an outcome of the evolution of time, as conceived in Bergson's concept, vital impetus (Fr. élan vital). Hence, Bergsonian envitalised life as perpetual becoming serves as the determining conceptual frame in the discursive ordering of the dissertation, mainly because he emphasises the emergence of something new from the reconfiguration of past experiences through the method of intuition or inner perceiving. Bergson's evolutionary time, relative to contemporary thought, is explicated through the relationship between the plant-based metaphorical concepts of roots, rhizomes and radicles, to explore memory, time and the life journey. Throughout the project, the rhizome, due to its peculiar mode of growth, becomes a metaphor to express the relationship of memories, thoughts, feelings and lived experience. Temporality and life as a journey through time, is explored by analysing a selected group of artworks. Prevalent figures of time, exemplified by life as being predestined, the progressive life stages, the transience of life, and the decay of matter were revealed in the process. The impact of changing environments related to catastrophic events (wars and industrialisation), culminated in the epoch of the Anthropocene. With the élan vital concept at hand, the Anthropocene is reflected upon to compel human beings to confront and counteract the trajectory of earthly destruction. Conceptual metaphors of memory in the folds of time and place are analysed by means of historical and contemporary artworks, including some of my own, in order to grasp the nature and impact of memory and place in the flow of time. These metaphors are the engram, which is investigated as the imprint of experience, the palimpsest revealing fragments of layered memory and the rhizome by which the flow and connection of memories are interpreted, and how this relates to the actual physical brain. My reflection on memories is informed by Boym’s (2001: 41) rendering of reflective nostalgia as a way to characterise one’s relationship with the past and one’s own self-perception. My position is that of a reflective nostalgic who cherishes memories of the past, especially those of childhood, as a rich source of information that could serve as encouragement, better understanding of the self and of perceiving the present and the future within my own cultural existence. Therefore the act of looking back as conducive to the spectator's spiritual becoming is discussed, as well as the way in which intense emotions, thoughts and conceptualisations are expressed. Thus the complex reality of the labyrinthine life journey unrolls towards maturation, encompassing movement, change, creativity and invention. In the dissertation's coda, time's persistence in the present and future is reviewed by means of T. S. Elliot’s “The Dry Salvages” (1941). Elliot conceptualises the transference of tradition with Bergson’s evolutionary time conceived in durée réelle, as time unfolds in memory and place. What is eventually revealed is that the reconfiguration of past lived experiences potentially impact my present perceptions and behaviour, as well as views on the future. My belief in the significant impact of music and colours on emotional expression subconsciously conditioned my studio practice and selected artworks in this research.