Browsing by Subject "Visual communication"
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Item Autoethnography of Paint Talks: Questioning the beautiful collision between visual communication and fundamentalist christian churches(2008-08) Mereness, Kent Landon; Heuman, Amy N.; Williams, David E.; Gring, Mark A.The purpose of the following thesis is to perform an autoethnographic study of artists in Fundamentalist Christian churches through the lens of Paint Talks—a Christian performance painting ministry. It aims to create conversation among scholars concerning the role of autoethnography, faith, and visual communication in the field of Communication Studies, as well as provide therapy for the Fundamentalist Christian—especially the Fundamentalist Christian artist. The following narrative is personal—in it, I record the events of one Paint Talks performance, one calendar day spent at my grandparent's West Texas farm, and my search for a response to one BIG (Goodall, 2000) question about communication, art, and faith: “What is the role of the artist in the Fundamentalist Christian Church?” I answer this question through a series of smaller questions, namely, “Does Autoethnography choose us?”, “What is the relationship between Fundamentalism, perfectionism, and legalism?”, “Am I being true to myself as an artist and a Christian through Paint Talks?”, and, “Why are Paint Talks accepted in the Fundamentalist Christian church?” Returning to the place where much of my worldview and many of my communicative and artistic skills were formed, journaling through each step of the Paint Talks process (calling, canvas, image, performance, painting), and writing autoethnographically about my experience, I discover an absence concerning tensions of faith in contemporary autoethnographies, record the paralyzing affects of legalism and perfectionism in the life of a Fundamentalist Christian artist, find out that I am usually, but not always, true to myself as an artist and a Christian through Paint Talks, and affirm that Paint Talks performances are accepted in Fundamentalist Christian churches primarily because they speak a clear, Fundamentalist Christian message. Ultimately, and most of all, I discover that the role of the artist in the Fundamentalist Christian Church is to communicate truth, and that the Fundamentalist Christian artist is reaching out for a supportive Christian community. It is important to note, however, that the discoveries of this thesis are not final—they are emergent.Item Design : a tool for transformation(2009) Ferguson, Beth Jean; Catterall, KateMy graduate research has been focused on testing how visual communication in the form of three-dimensional polemic works can become a tool for effecting social change. The change I am interested in relates to the global energy crisis, and resolving imminent transportation and associated ecological problems by promoting the use of electric vehicles. The main focus of my work has been the use of a strategy that is best described as the transformation of old and iconic artifacts in order to communicate complex new ideas. The main project that I will use to discuss this strategy uses the form and implications of a 1950’s gas pump emblematic of the golden era of petroleum production and the heyday of the automobile as the lynchpin for a conversation with my audience. By tweaking the original meaning of the pump and by juxtaposing an image of gas guzzling vehicles with a proposal for sustainable electric powered vehicles I have created a public dialogue about the current energy crisis and a compelling argument to support the move towards alternate fuels. This 3-D design intervention in public space has proven to be an effective way to, convey a socio-political message, more effective than any poster because it is a functional element which is both warmly received because it hits home an idea in a positive, even humorous way and elicits an emotional response from the viewer. The station not only charges electric vehicles and encourages the public to test ride them, it allows people to re-envision mobility through experience, become involved and take action.Item Designed communication : structures that shape meaning(2002) Rodgers, Angela Sue; Not availableItem Multimodalities and dramatic imaginations in mise-en-scène communication(2007) Ho, Shin-Jung, 1974-; Maxwell, Madeline M.This dissertation is a micro-analysis of one particular type of communicative practice, the "mise-en-scène communication," which emerges as people talk and build scenery in their everyday work experiences in a theater consulting company in Taiwan. This dissertation engages in interaction analyses of participants' naturally occurring talk and face-to-face interaction in the set design meetings. Three findings are documented. First, mise-en-scène communication is multimodal. The participants use visual representations to communicate. These visual representational tools include architectural drawings, scale models, miniature props, and 3-D models and animations. The use of visual representations and communicative resources of language, gestural and postural conduct, the material surround, and physical objects enable the participants to visually communicate, envision, and construct scenes in and through talk and interaction. Second, mise-en-scène communication concerns three key organizing, work practices of creating an entirety of the theatrical space, including the scene-setting practice, the staging practice, and the measuring practice. This study finds that in these three major mise-en-scène practices identified, the theater artists express and formulate scenes and dramatic ideas in their talk. At the same time, they also frequently turn to bodily conduct as a source of insight into configuring, expressing, and formulating dramatic scenes. Third, the architectural drawings, the scale models, the props in miniature, and the computer simulations of theater space provide a material, perceptual field, which shapes embodied interaction systematically performed within it. The architectural drawings enable the participants to project the perceivable space through language and bodily behaviors. The miniature model and objects in a set create a full stage of symbolic communication in which scenes are arranged and dramas are spoken and created. Moreover, the theater artists manage to use language, gestures, and semiotic resources of the computer program, Maya, and its design interface to communicate and build 3-D scenes together. This research concludes that the plurality of channels exists in human communication. The micro-analysis of mise-en-scène communication reveals such a communicative process in which the participants draw on multiple modalities to visually construct theatrical meaning out of the set of visualization objects.Item Photo manipulation: the influence of implicit visual arguments on dual processing(2015-05) Lazard, Allison Joan; Mackert, MichaelIndividuals view an overwhelming number of mediated messages every day, even if most of these messages are merely glanced at or given minimal amounts of attention. It is not possible or advantageous for individuals to critically evaluate all messages they encounter. In that first glance or initial impression, however, our brains process the visual arguments designed by photo manipulation presented in messages. This happens instinctually, almost instantaneously, and most often underneath our radar of consciousness. Following, individuals decide to attend to the information (or not) though conscious processing. Regardless of decisions for elaborative processing, however, the initial visual processing of photo manipulated arguments influences how individuals think, feel, and behave – whether they are aware of it or not. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of the role of implied visual arguments for persuasive message processing in three ways. First, Experiment 1 identified and provided empirical evidence for effects of photo manipulation as a visual persuasion technique. This experiment was a necessary first step in exploring the cause-and-effect relationship of photo manipulation and attitudes to better understand influences on message perception. Second, Experiment 2 tested currently used dual processing approaches for persuasive messages to overcome the gaps that currently exist. Theoretical frameworks widely used in advertising and communication research – ELM and HSM – largely overlook the influence of visual communication and visual processing. These models do not account for the current understand of the brain mechanisms and processes for message processing. Findings from Experiment 2 provide evidence for the need to refine these models to account for influential visual processing variables that are largely absent from the literature. Third, findings from both experiments contributed to the conceptual refinement of visual literacy with evidenced-based support for the boundaries of when this concept is (or is not) influential for assigning meaning to visual messages.