Artistic Production

En esta tesis se aborda la obra fotográfica de Steven Meisel (1954–), caracterizada por un posicionamiento activista dentro del mundo de la moda, en el que se inscribe, que lo hacen singular. En la hipótesis principal se señala cómo un discurso subversivo como el suyo aúna el enfoque comercial propio de la fotografía de moda y el artivismo. De este modo, en el análisis en profundidad de su producción se incluye un cuestionamiento sobre los impulsos que le han motivado a adoptar un discurso de este tipo, y se aborda comparativamente, entre otras, obras de LaChapelle, Knight, Leibovitz, Weber, Toscani o Avedon. También se alude a las teorías de Crane o Gans, que muestran la desarticulación de los modos de producción cultural, al tiempo que se compara las posiciones sobre el concepto mismo de arte en Krauss y Becker.
En el trabajo, estructurado en dos partes, se ha empleado una metodología inductiva y
correlacional que rastrea las correspondencias dadas entre las praxis plásticas revolucionarias y la fotografía de moda en una horquilla cronológica que va desde el invento del medio hasta la actualidad. Esto ha permitido identificar las connotaciones activistas, definir su dimensión plástica y creativa, además de estudiar su influencia sociocultural. Como conclusión, se afirma que su imaginario y estrategias creativas, cargados de crítica social, cultural y política, rebasan la mera función comercial propia de la fotografía de moda para establecerse en una alternativa creativa insurgente. Igualmente, el análisis semántico e iconográfico de su producción destaca el modo en el que sus imágenes interaccionan con conceptos y valores culturales diferentes según las temáticas que este autor trata.
This thesis deals with the photographic work of Steven Meisel (1954–), characterized by an activist stance in the fashion world, to which he belongs, making him unique. In the main hypothesis, we signal how a subversive discourse as his own brings together the commercial approach, characteristic of the fashion world, as well as artivism. This way, the in-depth analysis of his production includes a reconsideration of the impulses that have driven him to embrace such a discourse, and there is a comparative approach of, amongst others, the works of LaChapelle, Knight, Leibovitz, Weber, Toscani or Avedon. There is also an allusion to the theories of Crane or Gans, which show the dislocation of every mean of cultural production, whilst comparing the stands about the very concept of art of Krauss and Becker. The paper, structured in two sections, uses an inductive and correlational methodology that traces the correlations arising between the ground breaking aesthetic praxis and fashion
photography in the time spawn ranging from the invention of the medium up to presentdays. This has made it possible to identify the activist connotations, defining its plasticand creative dimension, as well as studying its sociocultural influence. To conclude, it’s claimed that its imaginary and creative strategies, loaded with social, cultural, and political criticism, surpass the mere commercial function intrinsic to fashion photography to stablish themselves in an insurgent creative alternative. Likewise, the semantic and iconographic analysis of its production outlines the way in which its images interact with concepts and cultural values that vary depending on the topic discussed by the author.

The notion of prelude, in my proposal of use, stands a conceptual frame to address two fundamental questions related to the production of art, as well as the production of thought: the question of beginning, and the question of finitude. In a way, my reflection on prelude is an attempt to identify an autonomous structure of measurement for the work of art and the work of thought, outside and against an horizon of both efficiency and productivity, on the one hand, and endless postponement, precarity, fragmentation, and continuous deferral of actualization, on the other.

Introduction. This article aims to identify the different themes explored in the comic strips published by the Basque newspaper Egin (1977/98) during its first year of operations. This nationalist newspaper had a great impact on the Basque society during the Spanish transition to democracy because it was the first left-wing publication in the Basque Country and because it devoted a whole page to graphic humour. Method. The study is based on the thematic analysis of the comic strips published in the entertainment section of the aforementioned newspaper throughout 1977. Quantitative techniques were used to identify and measure the frequency of occurrence of the diversity of issues and themes. Results and conclusions. The results show the clear preference of cartoonists for issues related to the promotion of democracy, as well as the existence of an opposition within the premises of traditional Basque nationalism against the new form of nationalism promoted by leftist movements.

This is a case study of a class of university students who learned to use paint system software. The results indicate that any descriptions of computers as either controlling student production processes and ideas for imagery or as just another art medium are incomplete. Specifically, the research indicated that: (a) there was a general shift during the learning process from a focus on production to ideation in the students' responses about their image development; (b) students' images developed interac- tively in both production and ideation, indicating that the students controlled the computer and the computer influenced changes in their images; and (c) social inter- actions among the students were important to their compu