Minerva Elements Records
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ItemImaging mastery: applying the PETTLEP model of imagery to music performance practice( 2011)Imagery is widely reported as a tool used by elite performers to improve their performance. Despite this, there is little clear information about the integration of imagery into music performance practice. A review of the research in this area reveals that the term imagery is an extremely broad description of the ways that mental imagery is used in almost any area or performance. In this paper I have selected a specific approach, the PETTLEP model of motor imagery rehearsal that is aimed at one specific area of performance, motor imagery. The PETTLEP model is based on an understanding, from research in neuroscience, of how the brain works in relation to motor imagery. After applying the model to music performance practice, a number of findings emerged. The model is well suited for the demands of music performance practice and had a positive effect on performance outcomes. There also emerged ways in which further use of the journaling and analysis method may be improved. The clarity and successful application of this model demonstrates that it would be possible to develop specific approaches to mental imagery in music performance practice.
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ItemConnections: nothing exists in isolation( 2011)Connections: Nothing Exists in Isolation explores interrelationships between performance and computer-based technologies, investigating connections between the past and the present. Research concentrates on the evolution of music/sound design, particularly as seen from a Western perspective, and its relationship to modern computer technology. Using music as the focus, Connections: Nothing Exists in Isolation integrates aspects of modern computer-based technologies with more traditional elements of performance, such as mime and dance. Often, computer-based works give precedence to technology in their presentation. However, Connections: Nothing Exists in Isolation seeks to give a more subtle role to the technology, making it one facet of the whole presentation, rather than the dominant feature.
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ItemModelling and performance of RC frames with masonry infill under in-plane and out-of-plane loading( 2011)Reinforced-concrete moment-resisting frames have been widely used in many parts of the world. In such buildings, exterior masonry walls and/or interior partitions, usually regarded as architectural elements, are built as an infill between the frame members, namely beams and columns. It is common practice in structural design that the interaction between the frame and infill panel is ignored. This is based on the assumption that the frame and infill panels are separated. However, the behaviour of such structures observed during past earthquakes has indicated that the actual response of the infill-frame is significantly different to that of a bare frame. This research focuses on developing a generic three-dimensional finite-element model of reinforced-concrete frames with masonry infill using ANSYS. A thorough review of previous research on the behaviour of masonry and reinforced-concrete materials is presented. Also, a large number of prior studies related to infill-frames are critically reviewed. A specific strategy is proposed for modelling reinforced-concrete and masonry. Results from models using these strategies are verified by the available experimental results from the literature. Detailed discussions are provided on how the proposed material models are implemented in ANSYS. Advanced analysis features of ANSYS, which have been employed for the constructed models in this study, are discussed in detail. The modelling strategies for reinforced-concrete and masonry are further combined to construct a generic FE model of an infill-frame, at a micro level, for the analysis of such structures under in-plane and out-of-plane loading. Appropriate experimental data available from the literature are identified and utilised to verify the proposed FE model of infill-frames under in-plane and out-of plane loading separately. The advantages as well as limitations of the present model are discussed, and the reasons for possible discrepancies between the FE and experimental results are scrutinised. Detailed explanations are provided on how damage progresses as the level of external load increases. Based on the results of the constructed FE models, the reasons behind some of previously observed damage to infill panels are also given. In order to successfully implement the solution phase, a simple method is proposed in order to overcome convergence issues, which are related to the solution of the highly nonlinear models using the Newton-Raphson algorithm. Given the inherent high variability of the masonry material properties, sensitivity analyses are conducted to investigate the effect of variability of the selected parameters on both in-plane and out-of-plane behaviour of infill-frames. It is shown that the constructed FE model can be employed to predict the behaviour of the infill-frame over a wide range of drift, and to interpret its response at various stages of in-plane or out-of-plane loading. This will be a useful tool for the assessment of existing buildings against the requirements of seismic retrofit/design codes in future studies.
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ItemPleasure revolution possibility( 2011)The early work of Bertolt Brecht is relegated to an inferior position in the canon often placed in the category of juvenilia and given the deprecating description of anarchistic or immature. This thesis examines three of the early plays—Baal, In the Jungle of Cities and the Life of Edward II of England―chosen for their open form of dramaturgy and for their subject matter. The aim of producing new readings of these plays is to assess their contribution to the understanding of the discourse on sexuality, race and class the rhetoric of benevolence and the performativity of power. Judith Butler’s work which reconsiders the basis for assumptions made about how gender is constituted is apposite for this assessment not only because her work challenges foundations but because I establish that there is an alignment between the analytical frameworks used by Butler and the dramaturgical methods used by Brecht. The creative work of the thesis draws inspiration from this alignment and attempts to develop a dramaturgy, a set of practices, informed by Brecht, Butler and the demands of the material. It is my contention that Butler’s theory of performativity, and its relevance to aesthetic contexts, remains under-developed for its potential to revolutionize practice. Further, I suggest that Butler’s theory and Brecht’s early dramaturgy comprise the modality through which the particular agency of theatre can be seen to communicate the complex processes at work in the way the social world is made. The creative work takes form as a script framed by a description of the developmental process and methodology, together with a possible treatment which incorporates techniques devised to problematize and challenge key theatrical paradigms. The framing also outlines the way in which the alignment between Brecht and Butler tests and defines the limits of Brechtian Gestus—which privileges the performer—the limits of self knowledge, and consequently, knowledge of Others. The title of the thesis refers not only to the pleasure of creative thinking and play with which the theory is approached but to the way in which foundational fictions and cultural sedimentation are dissolved. The concept of revolution is used to describe the expansion of analytical frameworks used by both Brecht and Butler in their ground-breaking and sustained efforts to explicate processes such as subject formation, agency and the processes of abjection. Possibility is perhaps the most difficult of the three notions to define. I advocate for the sense of the word which focuses not on utopian fantasy or science fiction but on the pragmatics of that which is actually negotiable or achievable within the mangle of power and knowledge.
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ItemLiminality: transformation through music performance( 2011)The purpose of this thesis is: (1) to define performance in broad terms, (2) to define liminality, (3) to define silence as it relates to music performance, (4) to examine the possibility of transformation or transportation of both audience and musician through the liminal experience of performance, and (5) to present guidelines and suggestions for music teachers and students to assist them in the development of a deeper understanding and practical experience of performance. In the first chapter, important terms including silence and liminality are defined, and Richard Schechner’s Whole Performance Sequence is employed as a template for a definition of performance. This sequence is divided into three main areas: pre-liminal - concerned with the experience and development of the musician; liminal - the period of time understood for the purposes of this study, as the performance; and post-liminal - the period immediately after a performance that continues beyond the participant’s reintegration with usual social routines. Victor Turner’s definition of the liminal process as the experience of becoming, (as opposed to a transition) provides the point of departure for an exploration into the possibility that increased awareness of and in the performance experience can create an environment for transformation and transportation for performer and audience. The anthropological notion that the liminal state may be achieved through participation in traditional, ritualised performance is compared to the liminal experience that unites contemporary musicians and audiences. The final chapter suggests a series of processes for the development of reflection and strategies for the establishment of a stronger relationship between audience and musician.