title: Seasonal rotation of a mixed sand-gravel beach

authors: Dolphin, T.J.

subjects: video

abstract: Beach rotation is the result of alternation between two prevailing wave directions in which sufficient time elapses to allow longshore sediment transport to drive sediment to one end or other of a headland enclosed bay. The key features of beach rotation are usually a bi-directional wave climate with sufficiently persistent episodes of each wave direction to alter the beach orientation, and headlands to trap the sediments transported along the shore. In this paper we examine shorelines derived from digital cameras that show a seasonal beach rotation due to changes in wave direction, but in the absence of any headlands. We speculate that the driving forces behind the beach rotation are the winter and spring wave regimes, and the presence of the adjacent sand bank. Beach rotation in the absence of headlands could conceivably result from longshore transport gradients. Coughlan et al. (2007) showed that there are steep gradients in longshore transport in the lee of the sand bank partly as a result of significant alongshore variability in wave height. The shoreline data also show longer-term responses that are likely to be connected to changes in bank position.

text: Seasonal rotation of a mixed sand-gravel beach Beach rotation is the result of alternation between two prevailing wave directions in which sufficient time elapses to allow longshore sediment transport to drive sediment to one end or other of a headland enclosed bay. The key features of beach rotation are usually a bi-directional wave climate with sufficiently persistent episodes of each wave direction to alter the beach orientation, and headlands to trap the sediments transported along the shore. In this paper we examine shorelines derived from digital cameras that show a seasonal beach rotation due to changes in wave direction, but in the absence of any headlands. We speculate that the driving forces behind the beach rotation are the winter and spring wave regimes, and the presence of the adjacent sand bank. Beach rotation in the absence of headlands could conceivably result from longshore transport gradients. Coughlan et al. (2007) showed that there are steep gradients in longshore transport in the lee of the sand bank partly as a result of significant alongshore variability in wave height. The shoreline data also show longer-term responses that are likely to be connected to changes in bank position.

year: 2011

title: The artist is present: Lynch, Mendieta and creative practices of the body on-screen

authors: Porter, Archie

subjects: Screen-production research

abstract: This thesis examines visualisations of the human body and investigates how specific creative practices influence body representation on screen. Utilising a mixed methodological approach, including practice-related frameworks and qualitative textual analysis, this study will present socio-cultural implications of body conceptualisation. To demonstrate contemporary creative practice of depicting the body on screen, this thesis has produced a creative output in the form of a short film entitled Iris (2021). The film is a central output for the research and was created in response to the analysis of selected works of artist-filmmakers, David Lynch and Ana Mendieta. Through this creative component, I demonstrate the capacity to do research via filmmaking, locating the influences of Lynch and Mendieta on my practice. This research draws on Laura Mulvey’s influential theory of ‘visual pleasure’ and the male gaze, as well as Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity.

Throughout their respective careers, both Lynch and Mendieta have continuously adopted specific techniques that challenge and subvert gender representation. Using qualitative analysis, I will examine two selected works from each of these artists: Six Figures Getting Sick (1967), Lynch’s first true experiment with moving images, and Eraserhead (1977), Lynch’s debut feature-film. This will highlight Lynch’s aesthetics of depicting gender and the body from the transition of short audio-visual practices to feature filmmaking. For Mendieta, I will analyse Untitled: Glass on Body Imprints (1972), a photography series and performance work that examines gender representation and female identity through self-portraiture. Lastly, I will explore Sweating Blood (1973), an experimental film-work in which Mendieta expands her practices and investigates the female body as a visual site of crisis and violence. Furthermore, this research is among the first to comparatively examine Lynch and Mendieta’s work, thus I will generate new knowledge and heighten awareness of these specific creative practices. As a final analytical component, I present a critical exegesis of Iris. Through this, I discuss the various phases of production and argue the necessity for the creative component as a tool for conveying and generating knowledge.

text: The artist is present: Lynch, Mendieta and creative practices of the body on-screen This thesis examines visualisations of the human body and investigates how specific creative practices influence body representation on screen. Utilising a mixed methodological approach, including practice-related frameworks and qualitative textual analysis, this study will present socio-cultural implications of body conceptualisation. To demonstrate contemporary creative practice of depicting the body on screen, this thesis has produced a creative output in the form of a short film entitled Iris (2021). The film is a central output for the research and was created in response to the analysis of selected works of artist-filmmakers, David Lynch and Ana Mendieta. Through this creative component, I demonstrate the capacity to do research via filmmaking, locating the influences of Lynch and Mendieta on my practice. This research draws on Laura Mulvey’s influential theory of ‘visual pleasure’ and the male gaze, as well as Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity.

Throughout their respective careers, both Lynch and Mendieta have continuously adopted specific techniques that challenge and subvert gender representation. Using qualitative analysis, I will examine two selected works from each of these artists: Six Figures Getting Sick (1967), Lynch’s first true experiment with moving images, and Eraserhead (1977), Lynch’s debut feature-film. This will highlight Lynch’s aesthetics of depicting gender and the body from the transition of short audio-visual practices to feature filmmaking. For Mendieta, I will analyse Untitled: Glass on Body Imprints (1972), a photography series and performance work that examines gender representation and female identity through self-portraiture. Lastly, I will explore Sweating Blood (1973), an experimental film-work in which Mendieta expands her practices and investigates the female body as a visual site of crisis and violence. Furthermore, this research is among the first to comparatively examine Lynch and Mendieta’s work, thus I will generate new knowledge and heighten awareness of these specific creative practices. As a final analytical component, I present a critical exegesis of Iris. Through this, I discuss the various phases of production and argue the necessity for the creative component as a tool for conveying and generating knowledge.

year: 2021

title: The Application of Critical Discourse Theory: A Criterion-Referenced Analysis of Reports Relating to Language Revitalisation in Australia and New Zealand

authors: Lewis, Roger Brian

subjects: te reo Māori

abstract: The discipline of language policy and planning (LPP) is often proposed as a viable tool for language revitalisation. However, the conventional paradigm upon which LPP is based is inadequate for such an inherently political, contentious and problematic area of social policy, and does not address the hegemonic and counter-hegemonic discourse that is at the very core of language revitalisation efforts. It is therefore argued here that LPP needs to be explicitly underpinned by critical discourse theory (CDT) if it is to be of genuine use to those involved in language revitalisation efforts, particularly to grass roots language activists. Following an introductory chapter which provides a background to the research and a rationale for it (Chapter 1), there is a critical review of selected literature on LPP and CDT, a review which ends by proposing a list of criteria which, it is argued, can be used to determine the extent to which discourse that is intended to be counter-hegemonic adheres to the principles of effective counter-hegemonic discourse as outlined in the literature on CDT (Chapter 2). In the following three chapters (Chapters 3, 4 & 5), these criteria are applied to the analysis of three recent reports that have a direct bearing on indigenous language revitalisation in Australia (Our Land Our Languages) and New Zealand (Ko Aotearoa Tēnei and Te Reo Mauriora). The first of these reports is found to adhere very closely to the criteria; the second less so; the third almost not at all. The different ways in which each of these reports has been received would tend to support the hypothesis that, other things being equal, the more closely a text of this type conforms to the criteria - that is, the more closely it is aligned to the fundamental principles of effective counter-hegemonic discourse as outlined in CDT - the more likely it is to be positively received and, therefore, to represent an effective challenge to the existing hegemony. The overall conclusion is that CDT can not only assist language activists by providing a basis for determining how successful counter-hegemonic discourse is likely to be in achieving its aims but has the potential to provide LPP with a secure theoretical foundation (Chapter 6).

text: The Application of Critical Discourse Theory: A Criterion-Referenced Analysis of Reports Relating to Language Revitalisation in Australia and New Zealand The discipline of language policy and planning (LPP) is often proposed as a viable tool for language revitalisation. However, the conventional paradigm upon which LPP is based is inadequate for such an inherently political, contentious and problematic area of social policy, and does not address the hegemonic and counter-hegemonic discourse that is at the very core of language revitalisation efforts. It is therefore argued here that LPP needs to be explicitly underpinned by critical discourse theory (CDT) if it is to be of genuine use to those involved in language revitalisation efforts, particularly to grass roots language activists. Following an introductory chapter which provides a background to the research and a rationale for it (Chapter 1), there is a critical review of selected literature on LPP and CDT, a review which ends by proposing a list of criteria which, it is argued, can be used to determine the extent to which discourse that is intended to be counter-hegemonic adheres to the principles of effective counter-hegemonic discourse as outlined in the literature on CDT (Chapter 2). In the following three chapters (Chapters 3, 4 & 5), these criteria are applied to the analysis of three recent reports that have a direct bearing on indigenous language revitalisation in Australia (Our Land Our Languages) and New Zealand (Ko Aotearoa Tēnei and Te Reo Mauriora). The first of these reports is found to adhere very closely to the criteria; the second less so; the third almost not at all. The different ways in which each of these reports has been received would tend to support the hypothesis that, other things being equal, the more closely a text of this type conforms to the criteria - that is, the more closely it is aligned to the fundamental principles of effective counter-hegemonic discourse as outlined in CDT - the more likely it is to be positively received and, therefore, to represent an effective challenge to the existing hegemony. The overall conclusion is that CDT can not only assist language activists by providing a basis for determining how successful counter-hegemonic discourse is likely to be in achieving its aims but has the potential to provide LPP with a secure theoretical foundation (Chapter 6).

year: 2014