Browsing by Author "Hardy, Michele"

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    A Study of Dress and Identity in the Late Classic Maya Court
    (2017) Tremain, Cara Grace; McCafferty, Geoffrey; Reese-Taylor, Kathryn; Lyons, Diane; Hardy, Michele; Halperin, Christina
    This dissertation seeks to understand the relationship between ancient Maya identities and dress during the Late Classic period (A.D. 600-900), through an analysis of sartorial representations of members within the royal court. The specific research question that frames this dissertation is whether roles or offices within the ancient Maya royal court were made salient through dress. Rather than focus on one particular type of identity or office role, this dissertation takes a more holistic approach by considering all royal court members represented on painted ceramic vessels. In carefully examining painted imagery and providing a means of identifying inauthentic representations of dress, this research also helps to uncover the life histories of Maya ceramics. Using organizational dress theory, the study contributes a novel insight into the nature of Maya royal courts. It demonstrates that dress is a useful means of examining the political makeup and behaviour of courts, though at present it cannot alone speak to all the identities of those within the court. The study also reveals the difficulty of understanding active individuals from static representations, reflecting the fluidity with which courtiers were able to change dress and shift their identities. Overall, there is a lack of evidence that dress made specific courtly roles salient. Maya courtiers seem to have chosen dress elements that align with their gender identity and elite positioning—choices that were regulated by informal rules (or norms) in society.
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    Argonautika: Transformation as a Design Motif
    (2023-04-30) Garland, Bonnie; Viczko, April; Reid, Scott; Hardy, Michele; Brucaker, Christine
    This artist statement is intended to demonstrate proficiency in properties and costume design for the theatre. These two areas were designed and manifested for Mary Zimmerman’s play Argonautika. This production was directed by Randi Edmundson and presented in the University Theatre at the University of Calgary from February 10th to 18th, 2023. The following essay outlines my process, starting from the design workshops through the preliminary design phases to the fully realised production of the play.
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    Beehabilitation on Spaceship Earth
    (2018-09-07) McLernon, Dylan; Eiserman, Jennifer; Leblanc, Jean-René; Hardy, Michele
    “Spaceship Earth” is an enclosed ecosystem where the survival of all crew members depends on our ability to coexist (Ward). Currently, important life support systems on Spaceship Earth are malfunctioning due to human neglect. One result of this malfunction is the rapid decline of fellow crew members such as bees. Humans rely on bees to help pollinate over one-third of our food supply. Thus, our survival is inevitably linked to bee health. With all crew members of Spaceship Earth in mind: What could an ecological space look like where human beings live harmoniously and productively with bees? Beehabilitation on Spaceship Earth is an eco-art initiative that is focused on engaging citizens as actors towards the study and ecology of Calgary’s urban bumblebee populations. In a collaborative effort with Dr. Ralph Cartar from the department of Bioscience, small ceramic sculptures called Bumblebee Domiciles have been designed and field tested. As part of my graduate exhibit in the Nickle Galleries, Bumblebee Domiciles are being offered to the public for free. People who choose to take a Bumblebee Domicile are expected to take part in a community-based art project, to answer five questions about the sculptures functionality. Beehabilitation utilizes Research Creation as an overarching methodology, underpinned by Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Relational Aesthetics. Supporting methods include observation, field testing, and collaboration. My research is contextualized within an eco-art philosophy to minimize negative impacts on the planet, while maximizing positive impacts for bees. Preliminary findings from Dr. Ralph Cartar’s field tests show a forty-percent occupancy rate in Tree Domiciles. The importance of native bee ecology on Spaceship Earth cannot be overstated. Beehabiltation will educate the public about urban bee populations and ways to create mutual spaces for humans and bees.
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    Generated User
    (2023-09-19) Morgan, Allison Leigh; Gadbois, Denis Jacques; Eiserman, Jennifer; Hardy, Michele
    "Though we see the same world we see it through different eyes" Virginia Woolf, Three Guineas This research and creation exposes how some social inequalities and machinations in society affect my performance of femininity. In this thesis support paper I reveal some foundational moments in my life as a cis gendered woman, that were directly and indirectly affected by a patriarchal logic. Through these experiences, I learned to adapt by modifying how I am seen; I perform my femininity as I have been directed. In this support paper, the theory behind The Gaze is used to decode what it feels like to be seen through a hegemonic male perspective, and then how this surveillance is used to construct societal and cultural foundations that I, and many women are expected to follow. My research responds to this by exploring visual strategies within a contemporary aesthetic, that elucidate and challenge how being seen is experienced. I examine significant moments in my life, that can be representative of many women, that were affected by the gaze of another and which influenced and then developed into a gaze of my own. This research looks at why this happens, and the outcome of when a lens turns inward. My artwork is structured through generative investigations that include case studies of contemporary feminist artists, feminist theory, literature review, and studio creation/installation, to develop a broader and deeper understanding of the underlying relationship between patriarchy and cultural phenomena that affect women. Through this research, there is an attempt to go beyond simply a critique of existing conditions and instead construct an autonomy from the male gaze structured through my self-realization as a woman.
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    Made in Afghanistan: Rugs and Resistance, 1979-2005
    (The Nickle Arts Museum, 2006-02) Hardy, Michele; Fyke, Robert
    Carpets and textiles communicate cultural values to those who make and use them. Recent research has shown that textiles may also offer producers an avenue for the expression subversive discourses and resistance. War rugs began to be made in Afghanistan following the Soviet Invasion of 1979 and offer weavers’ responses to the dramatic events surrounding the war in Afghanistan.
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    Motherland: Country of the Healer, Country of the Healed
    (2015-08-24) Rushton, Chelsea; Hardy, Michele
    In support of my thesis project and exhibition, Motherland: Country of the Healer, Country of the Healed, this paper contextualizes Motherland, a 66” x 66” hand embroidery on Belgian linen that evolved from a growing body of vision drawings, small gouache and graphite compositions sketched intuitively after meditation, as part of a continuing venture to reconcile the position of self in the world. Motherland functions as a work of art, a work of craft, a therapeutic process, and a meditative discipline, to raise and address questions about how humans participate in an expanded reality. The metaphysical landscape Motherland depicts speaks to the universal condition of birth and death. The response it offers to this condition is a possibility. The project itself envisions a collective attitude of relatedness: being in the world harmoniously, and facilitating reciprocal relationships with the natural world, spirit, each other, and ourselves.
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    Prairie Interlace: Weaving, Modernisms, and the Expanded Frame, 1960-2000
    (University of Calgary Press, 2023-11-30) Hardy, Michele; Long, Timothy; Krueger, Julia
    Innovative textile-based artwork exploded across the Canadian Prairies in the second half of the twentieth century. Melding craft traditions with modern and modernist movements in art and theory, a diverse body of creators opened a beautiful new chapter in textile art. Prairie Interlace brings together some of the most important scholars of art and craft in Canada to examine the work of forty-eight artists working with textiles from the 1960s to 2000. Recapturing and recording lost histories, this book explores both artists working with textiles and centres of textile study and production, paying special attention to the contexts in which artworks were produced. Indigenous scholars, experts in textile techniques, and experts in Prairie textile history provide fascinating insight into an artistic movement which, until now, has been largely overlooked. Featuring more than 180 beautiful full-colour images of textile works, many of which have never before been photographed for print, Prairie Interlace provides an opportunity to discover a fascinating movement which has not received the attention it deserves and invites further investigation of this rich period in Canadian art history. Developed from the travelling exhibition of the same name, Prairie Interlace is a collaboration between Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary in Calgary, AB and the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, SK.
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    Prairies entrelacées: Tissage, modernismes et cadre élargi (1960-2000)
    (University of Calgary Press, 2024-02-15) Hardy, Michele; Long, Timothy; Krueger, Julia
    Au cours de la deuxième moitié du vingtième siècle, un foisonnement remarquable d’oeuvres textiles novatrices s’est produit dans les Prairies canadiennes. Mêlant traditions artisanales, mouvements de l’art moderne et moderniste et approches théoriques, un groupe de créateurs d’origines diverses ouvrent alors un magnifique chapitre de l’art du textile. Prairies entrelacées, qui réunit certains des chercheurs les plus importants dans le domaine de l’artisanat au Canada, étudie les oeuvres créées par quarante-huit artistes entre les années 1960 et 2000. Ayant retrouvé et catalogué cette histoire oubliée, cet ouvrage s’intéresse tant aux artistes de la fibre qu’aux divers centres d’études et de production textile, s’attardant en particulier aux contextes de création de ces oeuvres. Chercheurs autochtones, experts des techniques textiles et des Prairies canadiennes proposent une plongée fascinante dans un mouvement artistique insuffisamment documenté jusqu’à présent. Avec plus de cent cinquante magnifiques illustrations couleurs d’oeuvres textiles, dont un grand nombre d’entre elles n’ayant jamais été photographié, Prairies entrelacées ouvre une fenêtre sur un mouvement fascinant qui, n’ayant jamais reçu l’attention qu’il mérite, encourage la recherche dans cette riche période de l’histoire de l’art au Canada. Poursuivant le succès de l’exposition itinérante du même nom, l’ouvrage Prairies entrelacées est une collaboration entre les Nickle Galleries de l’Université de Calgary (Alberta) et la MacKenzie Art Gallery de Regina (Saskatchewan).
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    Theory and Practice of Museum Translation: Translating and Translated Chinese Heritage in Xi’an
    (2023-12) Li, Qing; Mladenova, Olga; Hardy, Michele; Xie, Shaobo; Wright, David; Lupke, Christopher
    This thesis presents the outcomes of a pioneering study of translation activities in mainland China, specifically exploring the interplay between cultural translation, power dynamics, and the formation of English-language heritage discourse in Chinese museums. The focus is on understanding how English-language heritage discourse is constructed, with an emphasis on intercultural translation and the roles of intercultural translators. A comprehensive literature review underscores the limitations in the field of museum translation, highlighting the insufficient consideration of diverse factors and stakeholders shaping translation processes in museums. To address this gap, I establish a robust theoretical foundation that integrates Western and Chinese perspectives, facilitating the exploration of museum translation across cultures and addressing crucial questions about the feasibility, indispensability, and incommensurability of intercultural translation in Chinese heritage museums. The investigation centres on cultural outreach policies influencing translation practices within Chinese heritage museums. These policies advocate a Sino-centric approach, resisting the assimilation of Chinese culture into English-language discourse. Translator subjectivity and the new Chinese heritage discourse contribute to ‘telling Chinese stories’ in languages other than Chinese. Empirical evidence from field research in Xi’an, China, includes in-depth interviews, photographic documentation, and analysis of exhibits, shedding light on intended messages and translation strategies. The study reveals deliberate efforts to present distinct aspects of Chinese culture to international visitors, while safeguarding narratives from undue assimilation into Western discourse. The study identifies various influencing factors on English-language discourse within Chinese heritage museums, such as the intentions of cultural outreach policymakers, museum administration, translator efforts, and international visitor engagement. The final chapter revisits museum Sino-centric translation, aligning it with thick translation and exploring periperformative factors affecting intercultural communication between translators and museum visitors. In summary, this thesis explores how intercultural translation shapes English-language heritage discourse in Chinese museums, offering a detailed understanding of the relationship between translation processes, cultural policies, and diverse stakeholders. This research advances the comprehension of the dynamic nature of English-language discourse in the context of Chinese heritage museums.