Intelligent Retrieval Method of Approximate Painting in Digital Art Field

With the rapid development of Internet technology and the wide application of image acquisition equipment, the number of digital artwork images is exploding. The retrieval of near-similar artwork images has a wide application prospect for copyright infringement, trademark registration, and other scenes. However, compared with traditional images, these artwork images have the characteristics of high similarity and complexity, which lead to the retrieval accuracy not meeting the demand. To solve the above problems, an intelligent retrieval method of artwork image based on wavelet transform and dual propagation neural network (WTCPN) is proposed. Firstly, the original artwork image is replaced by the low-frequency subimage after wavelet transform, which not only removes redundant information and reduces the dimension of data but also suppresses random noise. Secondly, in order to make the network assign different competition winning units to different types of modes, the dual propagation neural network is improved by setting the maximum number of times of winning neurons. Experimental results show that the proposed method can improve the accuracy of image retrieval, and the recognition accuracy of verification set can reach over 91%.

Perceptual Organisation Affects Perception and Appreciation of Abstract Art: A Case Study with Black Square and Red Square by Kazimir Malevich

Perceptual organisation is hypothesised as a key in the perception and appreciation of abstract art. Here, we investigated how relational and compositional features affected the perception and aesthetic appreciation of Black Square and Red Square by Kazimir Malevich (1915). We studied how (i) the presence and obliquity of the red square and (ii) the relative configuration of the black and red square affected the detectability of the obliquity of the black square in this artwork. Results showed that the simultaneous presence and obliquity of the red square masked the obliquity of the original black square. The likelihood of the black square being incorrectly perceived as an exact square was always maximum in the original configuration and even slight alterations in the original configuration of the work resulted in the obliquity of the black square to be noticed. The original artwork was more aesthetically preferred compared to its alternatives. We argue that the artist may have intentionally set the configuration to mask the obliquity of the black square and maximise the aesthetic preference.

Evaluation of an early implementation of the revised Opening Minds Through Art Program

The established international program Opening Minds through Art (OMA) has been revised; this presentation reports evaluation of an early implementation with Gerontology university students and Alzheimer’s nursing home patients. Ten patients were paired with student volunteers meeting once a week for eight weeks to co-create original artwork in structured one-hour sessions. Before and after art creation each volunteer recorded personal feelings and their partner’s mood and satisfaction. Findings indicate the revised program is satisfying for patients and improves their mood. Families seeing the art expressed surprise and appreciation regarding patient creative capacity. Analysis of data indicates positive outcomes for student volunteers and Alzheimer’s patients. Student volunteer reflections link program participation with expanded knowledge, insight, and especially empathy for Alzheimer’s patients and their families. The current study contributes to robust support in the literature for efficacy of arts programming for student learning and the morale of Alzheimer’s patients and their families.

A “Composition” of Color and Mathematical Content

This article includes an original artwork using geometry. Art such as this can foster understanding and appreciation of fundamental concepts across fields.

Ours until Jesus Comes!

In four case studies of congregations in Guatemala, this chapter introduces and discusses the concept of building energy: the emotional energy that groups experience when undertaking a building project. In a country with an increasing number of congregations, it discusses: a Seventh-day Adventist congregation pooling their resources to purchase land and construct a cement-block church; a Pentecostal congregation that constructed a corrugated steel building on rented land but outfitted it with white ceramic tile floor, original artwork, and an impressive PA system; a Catholic church in an indigenous town that worked through conflict to construct a new sanctuary with the help of the community; and a non-denominational church that chose to design and build a structure themselves, using the project as a means of providing work and architectural apprenticeship for its young adults. Across the cases, the building projects brought church and/or community members together, even though the projects often revealed tensions over congregational identity.

Recording Epigraphic Sources as Part of Artworks

Art history has its own demands for recording visual representations. Objectivity and authenticity are the twin pillars of recording artistic data. As such, techniques relevant to epigraphic study, such as making line drawings, may not always be the best approach to an art historical study, which addresses, for example, questions about natural context and materiality of the artwork, the semantic, syntactic, and chronological relation between image and text, work procedures, work zones, and workshop traditions, and interactions with formal structures and beholders. Issues critical to collecting data for an art historical analysis include recording all relevant information without overcrowding the data set, creating neutral (i.e., not subjective) photographic images, collecting accurate color data, and, most critically, firsthand empirical study of the original artwork. A call for greater communication in Egyptology between epigraphy/palaeography and art history is reinforced by drawing attention to images as tools of communication and the close connection between the written word and figural art in ancient Egypt.

Experiment, Inscription and the Archive: Kathy Acker’s Manuscript Practice

This chapter explores the significance of the archive to a reading of avant-garde writing, taking the work of Kathy Acker as a case study. Utilising a framework of genetic criticism, the chapter explores the relation between the avant-texte and an avant-garde politics of materiality. Examining Acker’s original artwork for Blood and Guts in High School (1978) housed in the Kathy Acker Papers at Duke University, the chapter contends that the avant-textes reveal a feminist politics of materiality at work in Acker’s compositions. Through the lens of Johanna Drucker’s work on diagrammatic writing and performative materiality, the chapter argues for the avant-texte as a site of socio-political material resistance. The diagrammatic in Acker’s work demands new reading practices commensurate with this resistance.