Massey Documents by Type
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294
Browse
17 results
Search Results
Item Miniatures of reality : an inter-photo-textual investigation of ekphrasis of photographs : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Creative Writing at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2021) Moores, Margaret RuthThis creative thesis comprises a critical study of contemporary ekphrastic poems about photographs and a manuscript of original ekphrastic prose poems that focus on photography or are inspired by photographic technique. The balance of the thesis, approximately 60/40 in favour of the critical study, reflects how the creative manuscript was informed by my investigation of critical theories of ekphrasis and photography. Ekphrasis, commonly defined after James Heffernan as “the verbal representation of visual representation” (3), is a relationship traditionally cast as a struggle for dominance between image and word. However, this thesis is inspired by contemporary poet Cole Swensen’s challenge to this perspective in her essay “To Writewithize” (2011), in which she expands the term to cover works in which the encounter between poet and artwork is of “fellow travelers sharing a context” (70). In this mode of ekphrasis, art is no longer sequestered in a museum or gallery but has become an element of the poet’s world, providing them with “a model for formal construction” (71) for their work. In the critical portion of this thesis I argue that the visual turn of the twentieth century, and the invention of photography in particular, has contributed to developments in ekphrasis that Swensen identifies. Specifically, I argue that the context sharing that Swensen describes is particularly productive in prose poem ekphrasis of photographs, an intersection characterized by aesthetic and theoretical synergies. A sequence of lyric ekphrasis by Carol Snow, whom Swensen identifies as a “writewithist” poet, provides an introductory case study for my research, and provides a lens through which I consider Natasha Trethewey’s lyric ekphrasis of photographs in Bellocq’s Ophelia and a further sequence from Snow. These case studies provide a reference point for my exploration of the aesthetic intersection of prose poetry and photography via close readings of prose poetry ekphrasis in Mary Jo Bang’s A Doll for Throwing and prose poem selections from Kathleen Fraser’s Discrete Categories Forced into Coupling. The creative component, Miniatures of Reality, is a collection of prose poems that presents the life experiences of an implied speaker via ekphrasis of photographs. In writing these poems, I set out to creatively explore the questions raised in my critical component by producing “writewithist” ekphrasis in which the poems demonstrate aspects of the aesthetics and theory of photography in both form and emotional content. The poems, largely presented in linked sequences, consider aspects of the speaker’s life story as memories transformed by a “camera vision” which shapes the way these experiences are recounted. An underlying subtext to all the sequences is the notion of “hidden motherhood” inspired by Victorian “Hidden Mother” photographs. Notions of hidden motherhood occur throughout, e.g. in poems about the speaker’s grandmother who died when the speaker’s mother was a child or in poems suggesting the speaker’s ambivalence about motherhood and mothering. A further creative imperative is represented by my use of the prose poem as a form to represent what Fraser describes as the “the average female’s habituated availability to interruption” (Fraser, “Hogue Interview” 9). This notion of gendered experience contributes to both the internal structure of the poems and to the structure of the collection as a whole as the speaker revisits events from her life through the medium of photography and often retells them from differing perspectives.Item Matter of time : an exegesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at Massey University Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand(Massey University, 2018) Airisniemi, EssiMatter of time sets out to examine the temporal and physical conditions of prospective mining sites in Finland and Aotearoa New Zealand to question natural resource use in the context of contemporary landscapes and changing ecologies. Photographic records of the two sites map out microcosms of natural matter in its temporal and physical state of flux, suggesting an intimacy that is not grounded in the traditional representations of a landscape. Photography and its position in contemporary image culture is investigated in this exegesis through physicality and materiality of the photo object. While seeking analogies between the physical environment and its photographic presence, matter of time attempts to challenge the cultural construct that a landscape photograph constitutes through challenging the surface of a photographic print. The objects and installation methodologies continue to question the finality of a photograph and the conditions of its physical presence in installation space by presenting a site that suggests impermanence and navigation through a terrain with multiple trajectories.Item The art of living, retro-gradient jives : an exegesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2018) Tapsell-Kururangi, JamesIs there an art to living? To make meaning of the sober experience, the shortcomings of my present life. These works, albeit tell of the grief, love, longing, loss, dreams, of living. I try to resist the retrogressive forces of our contemporary cultural, social and political maelstrom. Explored through a series of performative and durational lived works; 1442 Hinemoa St 2017, my childhood home is now an Airbnb, an observation of the domestic home and the surround neoliberal forces in Aōtearoa. Poroporo Road 2017, a journey taken with my uncle to find my grandfather's tin of buried marbles, ontologically observing the Māori ritual of tikanga. An Intercity Bus Ride 2017, a queer passage of grief. FUN-RAZAR 2017, a convivial fundraiser with a latent nomadism, negotiating dematerialising art practice. Two afternoons spent in Mexico City 2017, participation in the tourism economy of Mexico City. Suncake, 2018 a ritualised sharing of cultural ecosystems. A Love Song 2018, a musical cathartic embodiment of grief. Tropical Lab 2018, a study of my mother’s oral histories and geopolitics of international socially engaged residencies. Nans home, an epistemological study of living. I document my humbling experience of what it has been like to frame life as art.Item One for the road(Massey University, 2017) MacInnes, BridieOne for the Road is a photographic exploration of the social landscape of craft beer in New Zealand. Drawing on the methods of visual anthropology and visual ethnography, the aim of this research is to explore how people, public houses and geography intertwine to create micro-cultures within the industry. For generations, beer in New Zealand has represented the epitome of hegemonic, white masculinity. Homogenised during the rise of the duopoly of DB and Lion Nathan (through a series of acquisitions and mergers up until the mid 1970s), beer lost an intrinsic element of craftsmanship. In its place a product emerged that no longer represented beer’s diversity, in favour of becoming a beacon of regional pride and masculine values. With beer, still a quintessential part of Kiwi culture, craft beer has been a welcome change to the many seeking the complexity of flavour, allure of artistry and sophistication a good beer can offer. In my time, as both a patron and bartender, what I have come to observe is a huge social and cultural shift in the way society engages with beer. For me the craft beer pub and its denizens have come to represent the antithesis of the ‘iconic Kiwi beer’ culture. Craft beer is a relatively young industry. With this there is a lack of research into the fascinating web of relationships that allow the industry to thrive. Building on my experiences, and drawing from the theory of The Third Place by Ray Oldenburg, this research takes the form of a publication that samples four regional examples of the craft beer industry in New Zealand. The photographic dialogue is supported by anecdotal interviews giving context on both the regional and national development of the industry and, in turn, highlights the importance of place, kinship and rapport to the growth of the craft beer scene as a whole.Item How does widespread copyright violation, as facilitated by networked telecommunications, impact upon artistic practice and industry in New Zealand? : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Media Studies at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2016) Jurgens, Timothy CarlThe culture of artistic content creation is changing. Once upon a time cultural products, and the ability to dictate how they were used and consumed, could be easily controlled via virtue of the difficulty of working with analogue formats in regards to modification, mass duplication or sampling. The widespread adoption of digital technologies, and the Internet serving as a global vector of seemingly endless information exchange, has rendered these hindrances to content duplication, distribution, and manipulation irrelevant in the wake of a globally distributed network of techno-cosmopolitan media content consumers. With the widespread normalisation of illegal online file-sharing, consumers of entertainment can essentially source anything they desire at a non-existent cost, whilst simultaneously excluding themselves from traditional economic channels of distribution. This research, partially presented as a documentary, investigates the opinions of artists (photographers, filmmakers, and musicians) working and living in New Zealand regarding the prevalence and impact of online copyright infringement. How has this new digital ecosphere impacted their work/practice as an artist and the industry generally? Is the fact that content gains far greater proliferation via these networks an advantage to media creators? Or does the reduction in scarcity and/or effort to obtain said art remove much of the associated value and thus the need to pay? A consumer can steal art considerably more easily now, but an artist can also source material for inspiration or reappropriation in ways largely unavailable in the past. In what ways (and with how much success) have content creators adapted to this new paradigm? How do these viewpoints correlate with variables such as medium, time spend in the industry and level of professional/economic involvement? And, indeed, how should both the creators, and the consumers, of media content think about art in a new world where it can be digitised so easily?Item Ready steady go : design of a protective, stabilising camera gimbal : an exegesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2016) Desborough, GeoffreyThe rapid evolution of lightweight, high performance compact cameras in conjunction with electronic stabilisation has given photographers and filmmakers the ability to capture extremely high quality ‘shakefree’ footage. However most of the equipment currently available is cumbersome and offers poor protection for expensive cameras. This issue is especially problematic for subject matter like action sports such as BMX, skateboarding, and snow sports where the action is fast and the conditions can be extreme. My design objective was to develop a protective, stabilising camera gimbal that was easy to use and extremely compact and lightweight. I also wanted to design for competitive cost in materials and manufacture to make my product available to a wide user base. I used a spiral product development process involving multiple prototype iterations to develop aspects of the design, particularly the external roll axis which is a major feature. My final design incorporates innovation: in how the roll axis and drive was achieved; the mounting system which enables rapid set up and lens changes; a very high level of protection; and ease of use in a compact and lightweight unit. The end result is a product which should appeal to leading edge amateur and semi-professional filmmakers in this area, and give them new options to expand their craft.Item Photographic practice : an exploration into the working methods of five New Zealand photographers : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design in Photographic Design at Massey University(Massey University, 2004) Rouse, Frankie NicolaEach participant's photographic practice is explored in relation to their individual background, their working environments, their sourcing and development of concepts and final usage, production and display of images. Analysis and discussion of ethnographic information is underpinned by theories of creativity and communication.Item A mirror with an imagination : an exegesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2016) Hoyle, TomThe photographic work A Mirror With An Imagination consists of photographs made in a way consistent with the vernacular photographic tradition. However, their appearance is quite different to what might be expected from that tradition. The lack of worldly context in the images means that they present to the viewer as possibilities, to be completed by the imagination. The reason for this approach is explained by reference to the partial disconnect between the photographer's intentions and the viewing experience of the audience, as described by Roland Barthes in Camera Lucida (1981). An investigation into Barthes' thought leads to an ontological position espoused by Jean-Paul Sartre in L'Imaginaire (2004), in which he describes the photograph as a partial object with an ontological connection to its referent that nevertheless must be completed by the imagination of the viewer. This action allows for the subjectivity of the viewer to act upon the content of the photograph, as their particular experiences and memories influence what they add to the content of the image. In reflecting on this I identify the theme of the contingent nature of our experience – the sense of the arbitrariness of circumstance and that many things that are might not be, or might be different – as a definitive factor within this subjective action. I also identify that the ontological relationship between world and photograph means that photographs innately express this contingency. I then discuss making photographic work informed by these understandings, in particular the necessity of light in the photographic process and its strong relation to our imaginative metaphorical usage and also the idea of contingency. I continue to outline the choices made in producing this work with reference to the art photographic tradition; in particular the constructed work of Jeff Wall, indexicality as seen in Ed Ruscha and the Bechers, Andreas Gursky's engagement with art history and Hiroshi Sugimoto's conceptual use of light and approach to the sublime.Item A string of data_ : disrupting, altering and generating the photographic image : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2016) Nishioka, MizuhoThrough a body of photographic work, this thesis examines how an engagement with photographic technology presents the opportunity to destabilise the established conceptions of the performance of the medium. Historically photographic technology is presented as a series of seamless mechanised transactions that is potentially free of human interaction and situated as a mute participant in the technical production of the photographic image. Acknowledging the role technology manifests in the production of photography, I examine through my work and critical reflection, how my creative practice can harness these technical processes to alter the aesthetic and theoretical positioning of a photographic practice. Three key bodies of work: Uninhabited Space, The Reflective Field and Machine Time_Nature Time explore a successive development of a studio practice through a series of Contextual developments to uncover and interrogate the procedures at play. The Contextual developments employed a range of fundamental materials, techniques and processes native to photographic practice. The first key work, Uninhabited Space explores the role film processes play in the authoring of a photographic image. The work specifically investigates the limitations of film technology as a means to demonstrate how a ‘void of information’ might be reinterpreted as visual information within a photographic image. The subsequent key work, The Reflective Field conceptually challenges the connection between the photographic image and its presentation to resituate the photographic image as a transformable surface. The final key work, Machine Time_Nature Time is presented through extended Contextual developments that examine the role of contemporary technology in the creation of the photographic image. Digital, electronic and computational processes are deployed to augment the capture of the photographic image. Reflection on the outcome of this final body of work led to the positioning that technological disruption was used as a creative strategy. This conceptual revision initiates a theoretical evaluation of photographic practice that allows the opportunity to resituate the subliminal role of technology in the production of the photographic image. The research concludes with a final body of work, Machine Time_Nature Time in which I argue the disruption of technology contributes to an alternative understanding of photographic practice and questions how might deviation of these subliminal processes alter or augment a body of creative photographic based work. By presenting a series of photographic works in exhibition format, the research incites a recursive questioning of what constitutes the photographic image, what is selectively included, and what is silently occluded. Key Words: Photography, Technology, Disruption, Generative, Archive, DigitalItem Notes from a firefly : the reality of Isarn woman in the cross-cultural space : an extended essay presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the post-graduate degree of Master of Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, Aotearoa(Massey University, 2014) Boontoum, Nara-Ratch PoaNo abstract. The following is taken from chapter 1: Photography is my medium to express identity, my sense of being, feeling and creativity. /liken the course of this project as crossing oceans, often treacherous and frightening and rarely comfortable, but through this path, different layers of my identity unfold and reveal different dimensions about myself. The tide is rough, the night is cold, but I feel the freedom in my soul. This paper is a landing point.