Browsing by Author "Hall, Louise Gillian."

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An animated film with an accompanying analysis of its relationship to the theory and practice of art and animation.
(2016) Stewart, Michelle.; Van der Hoven, Anton.; Hall, Louise Gillian.
The focus of this practice-based PhD study is the production of an experimental, 2D animated short film of 10 minutes, 27 seconds, titled Big Man. The animated film is a retelling of several episodes that are found in chapters two and four of The Book of Daniel from the Old Testament in which Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, has troubled dreams that can only be interpreted by the Hebrew prophet Daniel. In the film, this biblical story is re-imagined using the former South African Prime Minister, Mr Balthazar Johannes (BJ) Vorster as the character of Nebuchadnezzar, thus linking the narrative directly to South African history. This is done using a variety of animation techniques, including stop-motion paper cut-out animation, digital and traditional hand-drawn frame-by-frame and cel animation, digital puppet animation and paint-on-glass animation. The written component of this research provides a detailed explanation of the conceptual, technical and creative approaches used in the making of the film prior to, during and post production, and locates the film within the contexts of animation and fine arts practice in South Africa. In addition, the theoretical component discusses the concept of the ‘Big Man’, the particular literary, theoretical and visual influences at work in the film, and the adaptation of the biblical narrative from its origins to its re-imagining as a fictional, South African narrative explored through the medium of experimental animation. Practice-based research is essentially interdisciplinary, as one is approaching a study through both practice and theory (Elkins 2009). Thus research methods and aims can be applied to both aspects of the study and can differ quite radically, as textual research is clearly not the same as research through creative practice. This makes it impossible to come up with a single research question. Research that originates through practice involves a complexity of technical, conceptual, visual and aesthetic areas of exploration and approaches specific to creative practice, whereas the associated written component critically and cognitively engages with and supports the practice through theory. In terms of assessment the PhD project comprises a 50/50 split between practice and theory. The following questions cover the scope of my exploration in both the practice and textual components of my study: Does the film represent the theme of the “Big Man” in such a way as to make it relevant to both the South African context and to a broader international audience? At the outset the objective of this project was to use the theme of the “Big Man” to explore notions of power, and, in particular, to comment on the present political climate in South Africa with an emphasis on the rising conception of President Jacob Zuma as South Africa's most recent “Big Man”. The intention was to explore this idea implicitly, through the guise of the past, using former apartheid Prime Minister BJ Vorster as the central character of the film. A motivation for casting BJ Vorster as the biblical character of Nebuchadnezzar is that the biblical king is a famous, archetypal Big Man, whereas BJ Vorster is not necessarily widely known outside South Africa. Also, using The Book of Daniel from the Old Testament as the overarching narrative was intended to place the narrative within a broader understanding, beyond the South African context. The primary intention was for the film to convey this theme and narrative to its audience in a visually, conceptually and aesthetically coherent way. The textual component aims to reflect critically on the various visual, aesthetic and conceptual methods the film uses to engage with both the theme of the Big Man and the biblical narrative. This component also aims to engage with the relevance of the notion of the “Big Man” in terms of notable precedents in the creative and performing arts in South Africa. What are the interdisciplinary and research potentials of the experimental animation platform? While my film uses a narrative form associated with orthodox animation, the use of a multiplicity of styles and approaches is more commonly associated with the experimental tradition (Wells 2002: 42). One objective in creating this film was to extend my creative and conceptual knowledge of art-making and animation by creating an independent, experimental animated film. I chose to make an experimental film due to my interest in learning, using and integrating a variety of creative processes within a filmic medium. My methods and aims included using and extending my skills and interest in the fine arts, digital image-making and 2D digital animation. The film's identity within the experimental tradition, and the successful use and integration of a variety of creative processes is hopefully evident in the artwork itself. The methods of researching and applying these diverse approaches are illuminated in the course of the textual component. How can the digital platform act as both a medium and a tool for the animation process? A significant objective of this project was to explore the digital platform on the one hand as a tool for facilitating the animation process, and on the other hand as a medium for creating digital animation. The film accessed the traditional stop-motion animation processes of paper cut-out animation and paint-on-glass animation. As these are labour-intensive processes, I aimed to find ways of using the digital platform as tool to facilitate and speed up this process. I also had to find ways of integrating diverse traditional and digital styles and approaches. In order to do this, while I had previous knowledge of digital cinema technology, I had to learn to process and integrate these hybrid techniques in film editing and production suites at a more advanced level than I had previously used. In terms of accessing the digital platform as a medium with which to create animation, I aimed to develop my skills in digital, hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animation and learn 2D puppet animation using the Flash animation platform. To what extent do the visual conceptualisation, planning and preparation for the film represent valid research methods? The general consensus within practice-based research is that the practice forms a significant part of the research (Elkins 2009). While to some extent the investigation is seen to be made visible in the culminating creative work, other modes of investigation applied during the practice may not be apparent in the end product. These include storyboarding the narrative, the initial visual and aesthetic conceptualisation, and the technical planning. Some commentators suggest that these processes can be recorded in the form of a diary (Frayling 1994). I have chosen to incorporate them into the written component. In this way the textual component aims to elucidate and document the visual methods of investigation applied during the creative process. The objective is to clarify this visual exploration as valid research, without which there would be no film. It is important to note that while such visual processes are major aspects of the research, other forms of non-visual investigation also apply and are an essential part of the planning process as well. The theme of the “Big Man”, for example, required both visual and theoretical exploration. However, for the sake of clarity, these aspects of the research are dealt with separately to the visual research process.
Beyond Sumi-e: A practice-led investigation into the influences of an ancient art form on contemporary artists,with reference to the artworks of Hiroshi Senju and Yoshio Ikezaki.
(2019) Adams, Denise Ingrid.; Arbuckle, Katherine Elizabeth.; Hall, Louise Gillian.
This study investigates the influence of traditional ink painting from Japan, Sumi-e, on the artworks of two contemporary artists, Yoshio Ikezaki and Hiroshi Senju. It also examines the impact of these influences on my own artmaking. This research included the identification and description of the key elements, characteristics and philosophy forming the basis of Sumi-e, as a framework of reference. The philosophy and aesthetics associated with traditional Sumi-e reflect Zen Buddhism as well as traditional Japanese culture. There is very limited literature available in English on Sumi-e. It has strict principles, one of which is ‘learn the rules and break the rules’. This principle has been a point of departure for my own art practice, and I explore the influence of this principle on the art practices of Senju and Ikezaki. This study used practice-related research methodology with a case study approach. These combined methods offered subjective flexibility through using personal experience of learning, teaching and practicing Sumi-e. In addition to a literature review, data was collected through questionnaires conducted with the two artists, and the analysis of their artworks. My own practice is captured visually in my workbooks where I have recorded and photographed my practice, together with swatches of materials. These ten workbooks form the link between my research and my art practice, and viewing these enhances the interpretation of both bodies of work. The case studies of the artists revealed that while Senju was not explicitly influenced by Sumi-e, elements of this aesthetic resonated in his work. The influence of Sumi-e on Ikezaki was more pronounced because his initial traditional Japanese artistic training included Sumi-e. Both artists expanded beyond these boundaries. New insights challenged my assumptions about Japanese culture and art practices. Breaking the rules of traditional Sumi-e and a nexus of other influences catalysed my artmaking, manifesting in the materiality of the works. Theories of materiality expand on the role of materials and material thinking in artmaking. Investigations of sites and contexts of display result in a shift beyond conventional modernist display of two-dimensional artworks hung vertically on gallery walls. Results vi included an installation of my artworks in a forest, and the evolvements of three-dimensional forms. The forest atmosphere enhanced and intensified the materiality through the movement of air, light and shadow. The final gallery exhibition titled “Beyond” recreated the ambience of the forest installation, using limited lighting, shadows, a breeze, the sounds of the forest, and film footage projected over the artworks. Key words: Sumi-e, natural materials, Japanese art, practice-related research, material thinking, materiality, holistic art practice.
Bronwen Findlay, Yinka Shonibare and Joanna Smart: Approaches to pattern and form in contemporary artists’ practice.
(2017) Smart, Joanna.; Spencer, Faye Julia.; Hall, Louise Gillian.
The purpose of this Master’s dissertation was to investigate the use of pattern and fabric in the artworks of contemporary artists Yinka Shonibare, Bronwen Findlay and the researcher, Joanna Smart. Through this enquiry the aim was to position her practice and approach with respect to pattern in the contemporary Fine Art context. This research intended to explore how pattern and textile is used to challenge the art and craft hierarchy within the art of a few contemporary artists. Further this research acknowledges a subjective element in these artists choice of pattern and fabric. The methodology used in this research is Practice-Based, which will reflect on how the researcher makes work through the painting process and the documentation of that process. The theoretical framework that underpinned the thesis is the art/craft debate. The researcher’s studio practice aimed to disrupt hierarchies of art and craft, and this dissertation explored how notions of art and craft have been interrogated in her painting. This dissertation discussed how the approaches of other artists has shifted the researcher’s work with regard to pattern and cloth. The researcher aimed to experiment with the different ways in which textiles and pattern can be used in the researcher’s paintings. Through a reflection of her painting practice and an examination of how other artists use pattern and cloth, the complexity of possible meaning inherent in pattern and fabric was explored. For example, the conceptual meaning of pattern and fabric in the researcher’s painting practice was encouraged by the research into other contemporary artists’ works. The researcher discovered a deeper appreciation for the way cloth and pattern challenges hierarchies within art and craft. Furthermore, the way in which pattern and cloth are often used as signifiers of culture and identity was explored. This dissertation explores how pattern and cloth reflects the researcher’s experiences. Importantly, the review of other artists’ work shifted how she uses fabric and pattern as a representation of culture and identity in her paintings. Additionally, her practice shifted visually with regards to diverse textures, colours and tones.
Bronwen Findlay, Yinka Shonibare and Joanna Smart: approaches to pattern and form in contemporary artists’ practice.
(2017) Smart, Joanna.; Hall, Louise Gillian.; Spencer, Faye Julia.
The purpose of this Master’s dissertation was to investigate the use of pattern and fabric in the artworks of contemporary artists Yinka Shonibare, Bronwen Findlay and the researcher, Joanna Smart. Through this enquiry the aim was to position her practice and approach with respect to pattern in the contemporary Fine Art context. This research intended to explore how pattern and textile is used to challenge the art and craft hierarchy within the art of a few contemporary artists. Further this research acknowledges a subjective element in these artists choice of pattern and fabric. The methodology used in this research is Practice-Based, which will reflect on how the researcher makes work through the painting process and the documentation of that process. The theoretical framework that underpinned the thesis is the art/craft debate. The researcher’s studio practice aimed to disrupt hierarchies of art and craft, and this dissertation explored how notions of art and craft have been interrogated in her painting. This dissertation discussed how the approaches of other artists has shifted the researcher’s work with regard to pattern and cloth. The researcher aimed to experiment with the different ways in which textiles and pattern can be used in the researcher’s paintings. Through a reflection of her painting practice and an examination of how other artists use pattern and cloth, the complexity of possible meaning inherent in pattern and fabric was explored. For example, the conceptual meaning of pattern and fabric in the researcher’s painting practice was encouraged by the research into other contemporary artists’ works. The researcher discovered a deeper appreciation for the way cloth and pattern challenges hierarchies within art and craft. Furthermore, the way in which pattern and cloth are often used as signifiers of culture and identity was explored. This dissertation explores how pattern and cloth reflects the researcher’s experiences. Importantly, the review of other artists’ work shifted how she uses fabric and pattern as a representation of culture and identity in her paintings. Additionally, her practice shifted visually with regards to diverse textures, colours and tones.
Can’t you see it is mine? A consideration of the appropriation of space through the use of building materials (earth, clay and bricks) in art making.
(2022) Gush, David Hofmeyr.; Hall, Louise Gillian.; Draper, Jessica Lindiwe.
The purpose of this dissertation is to consider the extent to which the materiality of an artist’s art making materials can demonstrate an appropriation of the space in which the work is exhibited. The specific medium I have considered is the use of earth, clay and/or bricks. The dissertation concentrates on artworks that are exhibited as installations. The research into this question considers particularly in what ways might artists appropriate the space purely through the use of their choice of materials. Is the appropriation dependent only upon the nature of the work, or does the materiality of the medium constitute an overt appropriation of a gallery space in which the artwork is exhibited? The dissertation examines and explores these issues through the application of research-led methodology and the consequential influence and application of the results of the practice-led research on my own work. In the course of considering this influence, this dissertation explores specific works by Dineo Bopape, Antony Gormley’s Field Series, Walter de Maria’s New York Earth Room, Jorge Mendez Blake’s The Castle and Charles Simonds’ New York Dwellings, all of whom have used earth, clay and/or bricks in their work. The dissertation includes a series of photographs and a video of the installation entitled somewhere between heaven and hell which forms the practical offering of this project. I conclude that while the materials contribute to the environment, it is the overall effect (the environment and atmosphere) of the installation that creates an appropriation for the viewer.
Drawing as a generative medium in art making.
(2013) Hall, Louise Gillian.; Gouws, Andries Stefanus.; Armstrong, Juliet Yvonne.
The research of a practice led PhD in Fine Arts consists of interrelated artwork and writing (Macleod and Holdridge 2005:197). In the dual practical and theoretical research for this PhD I examined drawing as a generative medium in art making. This thesis constitutes the theoretical aspect of such research, which is rooted primarily in artistic practice and not in theory. As the other, practical aspect of this PhD I have produced and exhibited original art works, namely works in paint and drawing media. The thesis presented here is an integrative text supporting this practical aspect. It examines the role and process of drawing as a contemporary medium of artistic expression, and pays special attention to its generative nature. The focus on drawing stems from the fact that drawing plays a seminal role in all aspects of my art-making. The thesis examines the body of art works produced during this research as well as the artistic process and methodology used to produce it. It also contextualises the research within the contemporary Fine Art field where drawing has become an ascendant, primary and legitimate medium of artistic expression. In the history of mainly Western art since Classical Antiquity, drawing served an essential and predominantly, though not exclusively, preparatory function. In the last fifty years the status of drawing has shifted, so that it has become a legitimate primary medium of expression for many contemporary artists. The historical function of preparation is consequently no longer the primary guiding rationale for drawing. The status of drawing as secondary and incomplete is now also obsolete. As a consequence of this recent radical function and status shift, current drawing discourse and practice is continually open to question and exploration. Moreover, there is little consensus about the nature of drawing among key players in the Fine Art field. This, as well as the ambiguous nature of drawing which allows it to be a constituent of other media as well as an independent medium, complicates any attempt to define drawing strictly. Having given an outline of the parameters of my specific research topic and my rationale for choosing it, the text proffers a working definition of drawing. Notwithstanding the challenging nature of this task a working definition is necessary to discuss the focus of the research—drawing. The thesis next examines my idiosyncratic use of drawing. Lastly, I address the central question of the thesis, namely, what accounts for the generative nature of drawing? The title of the research, Drawing as a Generative Medium in Art Making, may seem to suggest that the generative potential of drawing is peculiar to the medium as a discrete entity. This research concluded that while drawing is indeed eminently suited to such a function, this exploratory and innovative capacity is the likely outcome of a complex of factors. These factors span artistic approach, drawing process and medium. These inextricably connected factors are difficult to treat discretely. Each of them plays an essential role in this non-formulaic, nuanced and dynamic thinking and art making process. It was therefore concluded that media other than drawing, if combined with a similar complex of factors, may have a marked generative potential as well.
A new ‘dance of agency’: an embodied engagement with material agency in artistic practice.
(2023) Moore, Neith Leigh.; Hall, Louise Gillian.
My current body of work explores, and is rooted in, the issues and challenges surrounding posthuman performativity as part of the New Materialisms. These theories claim to offer a new way of making/knowing/being that is not anthropocentric. From this framework, I approach understandings of material agency that seek to go beyond human agency and “chasten my fantasies of human mastery”1. My objective is to investigate my ‘dance of agency’2 through a posthumanist lens, as I engage in an inter-epistemic dialogue, which seeks to undermine the traditional boundaries between the human, the animal, and the inanimate. This dialogue positions itself on the boundaries of many disciplines, namely physics, biological systems theory, psychology and chemistry, in an attempt to apply a posthumanist theory to the Visual Arts. Using my art practice and the exhibition, ‘Material Agency in the Anthropocene’, from my practice-led research, I explore my own, and society's vulnerability in a manner that pays attention to the powerful ‘being’ of nonhuman forces and materials and their inherent entropic ‘messiness’. Given the scope and scale of current non-human agencies, such as viral, biological and climate change factors, I suggest that this area of research into a new 'dance of agency' between the human and the non-human could be of contemporary value.
Pedestrian speech act: filmed landscape explored through stalking.
(2023) Croeser, Michael Alan Colvile.; Hall, Louise Gillian.
This study proposes that a landscape recorded by video while walking into it, or what I call stalking into it, enables the creation of a more profound self-reflection than a single isolated picture of the same landscape. My stalking, whose primary process is based on Debord’s subject-object model, is derived from several fields including, but not limited to, psychogeographic fiction and psychogeographic research. Stalking is an intensely self-focused way of moving through the landscape while filming it, that draws on the unconscious walking practice of deambulation, and the notion of “the signifying body” in relation to hand-held camera filmmaking, which encourages a kind of sensory and bodily hyperawareness. Based on Elder’s conviction that this signifying body can be reflected in film by catching changes in perception, movement and the body’s location in the moving image, a similar hypothesis is explored through stalking movements reflected in a series of films called Paths. These path films created through stalking are perceived as a kind of “in-between” space, as underexposed videos positioned between my inner space and the outer space of the woodland zone. This research project explores my stalking reflected in these paths as visual autobiographical traces, as pedestrian acts of speech, and as creating a certain experience and form of time defined within the uniquely positioned environment of the woodland zone. Furthermore this study investigates my stalking and filming actions as disrupting pictorial space, and as creating video labyrinths connecting past and present walking experiences within suburban hinterlands, furthering aiming to implicate the viewer through my simultaneous absence and presence in the image.
Poised in space: between mark and maker, investigating the effects of unknowing on my artistic practice.
(2018) Birch, Caroline Clare.; Hall, Louise Gillian.
The focus of this research is to investigate the effects of unknowing on my artistic practice. This encompasses finding ways to access unknowing, and ways of remaining open to unknowing. Profound uncertainty, which disrupted my artmaking practice, was initially perceived as an artist’s block. When the approach to this uncertainty was changed to one of curious enquiry, the close relationship between instability, uncertainty and transformation was revealed. This investigation unexpectedly found that the solution to this prohibitive uncertainty was not provided by knowledge but by deliberately turning away from knowledge (Morgan 2014: 111). Discovering ways to repudiate understanding or knowledge as a goal, revealed the generative potency of unknowing. Unknowing appears to be a ubiquitous yet indefinable presence, whose influence was felt in this study as instability, uncertainty, or disorientation. Practice-led research (PLR) proved an invaluable means of embedding these experiences in artmaking methods. ‘In-the-dark’ artmaking methods were developed from PLR interweaving of artmaking practice and theory. This provided a means of moving away from understanding (Morgan 2014: 111) and of cultivating uncertainty and instability. From ‘in-the-dark’ methods a new understanding emerged that artist, materials and unfolding interaction (Carter in Barrett & Bolt 2007: 21) together constitute a single artmaking intelligence. Referred to as energy density, this concept is underpinned by extended mind theory (Clark & Chalmers 1998), material thinking (Barrett & Bolt 2007: 19-20,30), Hannula’s (2009: 4-5 of 20) “democracy of experience” and physics. Energy density embodies the spacious structure of atoms and all matter (Eddington 1948: 2; Niaz 1998: 534-537), indicating the lack of physical impediments hindering the transformative influence of ‘spacious unknowing’. Additionally, this research demonstrates that prior knowledge of an action was not required to be able to act or make art. Action embodies the transformative quantum of action (Bohr 1958: 17-18; Eddington 1948: 180,185; Hilgevoord & Uffink rev. 2016: 11-12 of 25) and enabled the implementation of destabilising ‘in-the-dark’ methods. Instability and transformation are closely allied in this study. ‘In-the-dark’ methods, applied using PLR and “postmodern emergence” methodologies, have triggered radical change at all levels of my artistic practice.
The transformative potential of visual language with special reference to DWEBA's use of drawing as a participatory training methodology in the development facilitation context in KwaZulu-Natal.
(2006) Hall, Louise Gillian.; Leeb-du Toit, Juliette Cecile.; Rule, Peter Neville.
No abstract available.