This thesis explores the early modern coffeehouse and its bourgeois clientele in Europe in the form of a case study on Dutch coffeehouses in Amsterdam in the 17th and 18th centuries. The chosen...Show moreThis thesis explores the early modern coffeehouse and its bourgeois clientele in Europe in the form of a case study on Dutch coffeehouses in Amsterdam in the 17th and 18th centuries. The chosen inquiry seeks to elucidate how a new social category – the bourgeoisie – developed over altered drinking habits, materials and the corresponding aesthetical codes within the social institution of the coffeehouse. Rather newly, the coffeehouse as an institution of publicness and consumption in the Enlightenment is researched from the angle of visual and material history. On the whole, this thesis contributes to the cultural historical field of early modern consumption. One result is that the consumer goods coffee and porcelain created a balance between rational forms of conduct and individual attitudes within the public sphere of coffeehouses. A multifarious historical approach by the means of visual and textual sources towards the early modern consumption of both coffee and porcelain considers the correspondent material qualities and suggests that porcelain from China has been remarkably suitable for the coffee ritual which entered Europe from the Middle and Near East. The thereby evolved tastes were groundbreaking for the rise of the bourgeoisie. This is demonstrated by the analysis of the design and arrangement of the vessels required for the individual and collective display of the tastes around coffee-drinking, on the basis of inventories and images. From a postcolonial perspective, the present thesis outlines which associations around the historical concept of luxury accompanied the adoption of Asian coffee and porcelain coffee ware into European consumption habits, while the world of coffee has always been represented as an oriental theme in travelogues, recipe books, medicinal treatises and fashion plates. Furthermore, the thesis describes how these ideas and values associated with coffee-drinking enabled the consolidation of the social construct of a specific regional group of the urban middleclass bourgeoisie, while locating the coffeehouse in the unique historical environment of early modern Amsterdam.Show less
This research discusses an in-depth analysis of the novel entertainment-based institutions coined as Instagram Museums, in terms of the aesthetic art experiences and play driven interactions that...Show moreThis research discusses an in-depth analysis of the novel entertainment-based institutions coined as Instagram Museums, in terms of the aesthetic art experiences and play driven interactions that they provide. By differentiating between two distinct types of Instagram Museums, the gallery-like and the museum-like, the analysis is led through two case studies, the Museum of Ice Cream and the Museum Voorlinden. While these institutions have a strong social media component shaping their exhibitions, they use separate business models based on the contrasting cultural status retained. Most importantly this includes original approaches to the experience obtained within the space by growing visitor engagement both through the aesthetic appeal and the participatory nature of the exhibits. Instagram Museums aim to provide entertaining experiences that can be beautifully captured with a phone and become Instagram bait, bringing in increasingly more visitors. In doing so, the spaces feature installations that offer high levels of immersion and interactivity, turning the often passive engagement encountered in traditional museums into veritable acts of play. By bringing in some online conducted interviews alongside the theoretical analysis of the topics, this thesis argues for the reconfiguration of the (traditional) museum experience through the construction of more aesthetically appealing interactive encounters.Show less
This thesis explores the position the artwork Autonomy Cube (2014) by Trevor Paglen and Jacob Appelbaum takes in what Gilles Deleuze has termed the “Society of Control”. Deleuze specifically...Show moreThis thesis explores the position the artwork Autonomy Cube (2014) by Trevor Paglen and Jacob Appelbaum takes in what Gilles Deleuze has termed the “Society of Control”. Deleuze specifically discusses this society by outlining a development from a disciplined society, constituted by enclosed spaces, to a control society characterized by a more fragmented sense of space. Departing from this spatial theorization of the society of control by Deleuze, this thesis takes the spatial tension between the bordered territory of the nation-state and the borderless realm of the internet as a starting point for thinking about the (public) space that this society provides. Autonomy Cube’s position within this space is analysed by looking at how the artwork, through the online Tor network it gives access to, engages with the complex spatiality that forms the core of the society of control. From there on it is argued that this artwork does not limit itself to a (critical) representation of the control society, but that it positions itself at the center of its logic in order to rebuild and modulate it from within. As such, this thesis aims to shed light on the extent to which art can be consequential for real life in times of the increasing digitalization of society and, more specifically, of the modes of surveillance and control that structure it.Show less
Architectuur is, meer dan elk ander cultureel medium, een uitdrukking van haar tijd. Aangezien duurzame ontwikkeling en duurzaam design naar voren zijn gekomen als een niet te stuiten fenomeen in...Show moreArchitectuur is, meer dan elk ander cultureel medium, een uitdrukking van haar tijd. Aangezien duurzame ontwikkeling en duurzaam design naar voren zijn gekomen als een niet te stuiten fenomeen in de architectuur van onze tijd, zowel in de maatschappij als in de politiek, is het belangrijk om de veranderingen die hebben plaatsgevonden in het architecturale werkgebied te onderzoeken. In dit onderzoek zal allereerst worden besproken wat de termen “ecologisch”, “duurzaam” en “groen” betekenen in de architectuur. Naar aanleiding van deze duurzame ontwikkeling zal worden besproken wat de rol van architecten is in dit fenomeen en hoe zij kunnen bijdragen aan een groenere toekomst. Voor dit onderzoek heb ik besloten om de architectuur en visies van de zogenaamde “stararchitects” te analyseren, omdat zij dé grote spelers zijn in de huidige architectuurwereld. Naast sterarchitecten zal ik ook een aantal wat minder bekende, maar zeker niet minder belangrijke architecten bespreken. We zullen zien dat deze groep architecten de basis heeft gelegd voor het verkennen van grootschalige milieuvriendelijke bouwtechnieken. Tot slot zal worden geanalyseerd of er sprake is van een bepaalde esthetiek binnen de concepten ‘ecologisch’ en ‘duurzaam’.Show less
