This essay explores possibilities for enactive imagining and criticism. It observes how recent enactive accounts of cognition see no divide between imagination and everyday perception, and forego... Show moreThis essay explores possibilities for enactive imagining and criticism. It observes how recent enactive accounts of cognition see no divide between imagination and everyday perception, and forego representationalism. It examines somatosensory responses and effortless vivacity for some animal-related imagery in Terence Cave’s cognitive literary criticism Thinking with Literature (2016). Next, it finds that today’s enactive criticism resonates with Francis Junius’s early modern notion of energia, a loose blend of vividness (enargeia) and vivacity (energeia), and concludes that, with its emphasis on energeia’s ‘life force’, energia goes beyond the viewer’s participation in an image’s pictorialist illusion. Pictorialist-style imagining, the essay claims, aligns with a pre-enactive representationalist understanding of cognition. To better explore enactive imagining, the essay entangles discursive writing and artistic work, animated by bird wings. Show less
The House of I. Ideology and Theory in the Netherlands' Design Education is based on the hypothesis that Dutch Art Academies, which since the emergence of (applied) art education have focused... Show moreThe House of I. Ideology and Theory in the Netherlands' Design Education is based on the hypothesis that Dutch Art Academies, which since the emergence of (applied) art education have focused expressly on training the professional artist type - in stead of a focus on the dependent artist type (the artisan) or the distanced artist type (the bohemien) - have used and/or developed forms of theory that are relevant for the current and future design education. The hypothesis is examined for Dutch art schools of Amsterdam, Arnhem, Breda, The Hague, Eindhoven, Maastricht, Rotterdam and Utrecht between 1921 and the present. Where relevant, information about the academies of Den Bosch, Enschede, Groningen and Tilburg has been added. The tree artist types and the various forms of theory are examined in the boardrooms of the art school and in the classrooms and workplaces for education in graphic, product and fashion design. Show less
Due to the low quality level of visual input they receive in the form of printed text, beginning visually impaired readers are at a disadvantage in comparison to their peers. In the past,... Show moreDue to the low quality level of visual input they receive in the form of printed text, beginning visually impaired readers are at a disadvantage in comparison to their peers. In the past, typography has often been looked upon as a useful instrument to improve the legibility of the printed reading material that is being offered to children with low vision. However, the legiblity research efforts that were at the base of this conception were not always of good quality. In cognitive science for example, many efforts were made that were methodologically correct, yet the test material (the used typefaces) had little to do with reality. Many typefaces that were supposed to improve legibility were also suggested by typographers themselves, but the reasoning behind them was hardly ever sufficiently methodologically supported. Moreover, most legibility research focused on people with low vision in general, ignoring the fac t that visually impaired children constitute a very particular group with specific issues. This doctoral research project in design seeks to shed a light on legibility in the context of visually impaired beginning readers. Starting from these findings and from a legibility research a first step is given to design a typeface that will be able to provide support for the target group of visually impaired children in the first stages of the reading process. Show less
The thesis is about artistic research – what it is, or what it could be. And it is about the place that artistic research could have in academia, within the whole of academic research. It is also... Show moreThe thesis is about artistic research – what it is, or what it could be. And it is about the place that artistic research could have in academia, within the whole of academic research. It is also about the ways we speak about such issues, and about how the things we say (in this study and elsewhere) cause the practices involved to manifest themselves in specific ways, while also setting them into motion. In this sense, the thesis not only explores the phenomenon of artistic research in relation to academia, but it also engages with that relationship. This performative dimension of the thesis is interwoven with its constative and interpretive dimensions. If the thesis succeeds in its aims, it will not only advance knowledge and understanding of artistic research, but it will further the development of this emerging field. Show less
This research focuses on a new field of artistic research in which a visual artist takes on the role of researcher. The main research question is whether performance art integrated in an ecumenical... Show moreThis research focuses on a new field of artistic research in which a visual artist takes on the role of researcher. The main research question is whether performance art integrated in an ecumenical service, combined with artistic directions from the artist, can enhance the religious experience of those taking part in the church service. I set my research against theology and Ritual Studies by describing my ideal image of a liturgical service and by comparing this personal view with the viewpoints of several theologians. Furthermore I examined the theories of the psychology of religion to search for an description of the concept of religious experience.The artistic experiment I set up in order to answer my main research question comprised a set of church services with several integrated performances. In this research I counted, described and analysed a total number of seven religious experiences. From the description and analyses of the experiences it became clear that these were indeed brought about by the performance rituals in the church services. Show less
