Correction, addition and deletion : memory and its function in creating "visual narratives" (and identity) in photographic art
- Authors: Geyer, Xanthe Amanda
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Botha, Lien, 1961- Photography -- Social aspects Memory in art Photography -- Philosophy Identity (Philosophical concept)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: vital:2402 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002198
- Description: With this dissertation I propose to investigate critical theories dealing with memory and its role in photography. The function of memory is a well discussed and analysed topic within the ambit of historical research. Drawing from theoretical texts by critical theorists, namely, Roland Barthes, Annette Kuhn and Marianne Hirsch, I will critically address the function of memory in the understanding of photography; particularly how photographs have the ability to construct our identity in terms of history and narrative. I will study the content of memory in relation to visual images, focusing on what is remembered, what is suppressed, and finally, what is transformed when viewing an image. By doing so, I will consider whether or not still photographs have the ability to construct the past in a narrative form that is intrinsic to its medium. This consideration will be undertaken with specific reference to the works of contemporary South African artist Lien Botha. Special attention will be directed to her series of work entitled Amendment (2006), a series which permits me in turn, to deal with issues pertaining to memory and “visual narrative” which I have explored in my own professional art practice namely, Memory Boxes, Back Stories, Faces of You and Me, Memories Re-layered and Ghostly Remnants.
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- Date Issued: 2009
Unearthed : personifications of widowhood and acts of memory : volume 1 and 2
- Authors: Arbi, Linda Margaret
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Widowhood -- Social aspects -- South Africa Widowhood -- Social aspects -- Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) Widows in art -- South Africa Widows in art -- Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) Memory in art -- South Africa Memory in art -- Cape of Good Hope (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: vital:2428 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002225
- Description: By researching visual traditions of representing widows in relation to a social role, I explore how these may be related to processes of mourning and memory. My study begins with an historical reading and, along with an analysis of Renaissance widow portraiture, I trace the experiences of widows in the Cape of Good Hope. For the purposes of this thesis, I have selected images of widows to investigate memory-work particularly when speaking of loss. I re-view these memory processes through recent historical and art historical discourse with reference to contemporary South African artworks in order to understand how public memory is formed by way of visual documentation. These narratives around widowhood have informed the subject matter for my Master’s exhibition and shed light on my own experience as a widow. The interaction between objects and memory are of particular interest and manifest in my studio art practice.
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- Date Issued: 2009