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INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may t>e from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print Weedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, tMginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any ptiotographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Leaming 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMT THE EMERGENCE OF A 3D OBJECT AESTHETICS IN COMPUTER MEDIA DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Phiiosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Todor Kaffaia, MA The Ohio State University 2000 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Suzanne Damarin, Adviser Professor Terry Barrett Adviser Assistant Professor Mary Leach Educationai Poiicy and Leadership UMI Number; 9971578 Copyright 2000 by Kafaia, Todor (Ted) All rights reserved. UMI UMI Microform9971578 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright by Todor Kafaia 2000 ABSTRACT Computer animations incorporate a diversity of spatial events in a variety of organic arxj geometric forms, juxtaposing and then unfolding them in sequence as disparate bodies, masses and objects within three-dimensional space. Digital spaces are visionary architectures that offer an excess of possibility in shape, contour and topological construction. In practice, the application of simulationist aesthetics in computer media expand on the 30 computer game aesthetic in part by pushing the limits of photorealism and "life­ like" behaviors. In the creation of an apparent realism, a nested hierarchy of perceptual cues that organize light, space, color, form, movement, texture, sound, and object behavior in 30 mediascapes correspond to our shared understanding of everyday events and things. I id e n tify the archaeological object of my study as the value-based and critically-determined art polemics surrounding 30 ot>jects from the 1960's onwards. Rather than engaging in an endless tracing in search of origins, or silent beginnings, the im plicit intentions of this method work toward identifying the possible displacements and transformations in aesthetic concepts that suspend the continuous accumulation of late modernist Knowledge. I begin with the premise that the art aesthetics of 30 graphical forms is largely the academic enterprise of critics, curators, art historians and other academics vested in the production of evaluative and theoretical knowledges of graphical figures. I view aesthetic criticism as the description, persuasive interpretation and judgement of creative work in terms of its form and content. The critic uses value-laden evaluators to articulate assumptions about the art work, and therefore expresses im plicitly an aesthetical, theoretical and/or ethical agenda Aesthetic theories and approaches do not combine into a single, cohesive theory of criticism , but exhibit a plurality of knowledges and practices that reflect the culture-specific contexts of meanings and values My dissertation contrasts the focus on thefo rm o f th e autonom ous material object as defined by its medium with more conceptual ideas that challenge the lim itations of such a focus. Minimalism particularly confronts formalist restrictions on the critical aesthetics of art ot>jects, allowing for more conceptual and valuative discussions of interactive 3D avatars. My dissertation engages in the rewriting of art critical knowledge and evaluative criteria surrounding the 30 object. The central debate in art aesthetics in the 1960's and 1970's revolves around form alist and minimalist debates over the autonomy of the art object and its “normative” condition of “flatness” or abstraction as opposed to the arbitrary, everyday "object” that may hold conceptual, perceptual, utilitarian or instructional information. A paradox exists within formalism that is in part the iii legacy of Kantian aesthetics: the aesthetic judgement of what is “beauty,” or what is “art” is dictated and ascribable only to theform of the work. Therefore, the self-critical tendency that Clement Greenberg calls “modernism” values fyrm for the s ^e of form : its experience of art objects is merely phenomenal and logical. Minimalist work departs from the prescriptive two-dimensionality of abstract expressionism by adding the 30 element. As formalism reached its peak in the 1960‘s, conceptual art (minimalism, simulationism) challenged some restrictions on form and aesthetics. The critical aesthetics of 30 computer interactive avatars emerged from this disorderly, potentially transmuting exchange of ideas, concepts and objects. The simulationist aesthetics of 30 objects are wherefo rm m eets œ n te n t in concrete cultural practices that include the design and use of interactive media. Both ideas and their effects aresuperficial in simulationist new media that express seriality arxj reproduction: The “depth” of meaning is realized on the surface in the domain of visual, auditory and tactile representations. Regarding these aesthetics, I select four threads of thought to sum up my presentation of ideas: They are 1 ) the modulation of topological surfaces in 30 media, 2) the object-concsf^ and the conceptual uses of the constructivist computer interface, 3) the evolution of the intelligent 30 avatar, and 4) the cinematic, topological space of informatics and knowledge in computer media. Creating concepts in/with computer media is a kind of creative constructivism iv whereby the extension and unfolding of lines of thought lead to the production of new patterns and framings of meaning. Deleuze and other constructivists argue that the cinematic use of transitions foster plural versions and frames of mind. Creating new connections or junctions in art means creating them in the mind too! Its no great leap of faith to believe that variations in spatial and temporal dimensions as part of larger conceptual frameworks may be possible in some future digital media. The designer should also consider the possibilities of intuitive gaming and constructivist leaming outcomeslearner in to object a n d object to object interaction and navigation. The material automatism of images that imposes a thought from the outside constructs both the twisting and folding of informatic substance and new cerebral connections in thought. In a "paradigm" of folding and unfolding, I try to emphasize the value ofcreative a aesthetic in th e intuitive and nonlinear construction of knowledge and information in computer m edia. For Michael, Bess and Katina VI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank my adviser and friend, Suzanne Damarin, for encouraging my interdisciplinary pursuit of art, media, science and education. I w ill always feel g ra te fu l. I thank the members of my doctoral committee, Suzanne Damarin, Mary Leach and Terry Barrett for understanding my creative and unconventional indulgences in postmodernist thought. I acknowledge the help and support of my friends, Miguel Robles, Dr Lisa Cary, Dr. Patti Lather, Dr. Victoria Hollxook, Laura Brendon, Jill Lynch, Hsi-chi Huang and my other colleagues in Cultural Studies in Education. I thank my family for their emotional support. VII VITA 1999 MA Cultural Studies in Education: instructional Media and Technology, Ohio State University. Extensive course work in the humanities. 1988 MA Urt>an Anthropology, City University of New York Graduate School. 1981 BA International Communications, The Elliot School, George Washington University. 1982-1995 Leaming Therapist, Occupational Trainer, Public Health W orker 1997-2000 Graduate Teaching Associate, Ohio State University PUBLICATIONS 1. Kafaia, Todor (2000) "Yoichiro Kawaguchi Retrospective: a visual study of form in 3D computer animation."Enculturation, 3(1 ) http://www.uta.edu/enculturation (a special issue on (post-)digital studies). HELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Educational Policy and Leadership Cultural Studies in Education Studies in Instructional Media and Technology VIII TABLE OF CONTENTS Page A b stract....................................................................................................... i D edication................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgments...................................................................................... vii V ita ...............................................................................................................

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