Investigations of ‘universality plus difference’ as being a ‘partial way of seeing’

My body of work described in this thesis is a demonstration of my continued fascination as an artist with the cosmopolitanist outlook on life. In particular, the elements within this cosmopolitanist framework of universality and difference and their coexistence, as described by Kwame Anthony Appiah, are used as a means of exploring a partial way of seeing. This is explored by a series of works: OneSixty Characters, Roaming Sweets, Ringe Raja, and the final set of works using the camera obscura technique (Accidental Surveillance, Outside In, and Outside In/Inside Out). Universality is explored through the use of a number of cultural, and, in the case of the initial works, various technological means. Cultural devices used included nursery rhymes/songs, story-telling and archetypal imagery. Technological explorations included use of moving images, mobile phones, Bluetooth hardware and the Internet. Other elements of the universal included the dome’s representation of the world and moving cloud animations as depicted in Ringe Raja and natural light – the main feature of the last set of works. The elements of difference presented included linguistic and cultural differences, and ultimately each individual’s own personal experiences. It is this that sets each of us apart from one another, and provides for each of us a partial way of seeing that is unique to ourselves. By exploring works that encourage us to seek answers to the way we look, see, and interpret the world around us, we use that which is familiar to us to try to find the answers. This is particularly relevant to the final work which removed all forms of contemporary technology and used natural light to provide a place for contemplation, where familiar sounds, images and our own archive of experiences was used as a reference base to assist in the interpretation of what was being experienced. The intention of the work was not to provide all the answers to questions that arise among participants, but to encourage contemplation, an interaction with the environment, and with others.

Grantor dc:publisher

UNSW, Sydney

Year dc:date

2008

Author dc:creator

• Bacic, Anita

• Cosmopolitanism
• Camera obscura technique

Statement dc:rights

• open access
• CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
• free_to_read

Licence

• https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/

Language dc:language

EN

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/20271

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/42279