Index Catalog // Scholar@UC

The Dual Representation of Apsaras in Indian Culture: Raja Ravi Varma’s Subversion of Traditional Patterns

Type:: Student Work
Description/Abstract:: Raja Ravi Varma’s representation of apsaras is a cultural shift from the traditional Indian visual culture that focused on their bodies and promiscuity. Ravi Varma emphasizes the spiritual significance of apsaras in Hindu mythology and uses cultural symbolism to demonstrate their individual impact. Apsaras in Indian temple art are objectified and depicted as passive objects, which misrepresents their significance in Hindu mythology and spiritual enlightenment. The evolution of apsara representation is caused by cultural shifts and mythological research that centers women as independent subjects. Ravi Varma combines European and Indian art traditions to normalize the Indian culture of nudity and sensuality. He rejects the visual tradition of objectifying apsaras to emphasize their spiritual significance in Hindu stories.
Creator/Author:: Bhalerao, Gargi
Submitter:: Gargi Bhalerao
Date Uploaded:: 05/21/2026
Date Modified:: 05/21/2026
Date Created:: 2026-02-15
License:: CC0 1.0 Universal

Ethical Implications in Marina Abramović’s "Rhythm 0"

Type:: Student Work
Description/Abstract:: “In my opinion, wherever there is a public, there is a sacred place. When there is no public, there is no performance because there is no dialogue,” claimed Marina Abramović (b. 1946) in conversation with Italian art critic and contemporary art historian Achille Bonito Oliva. For Abramović, the presence of an audience is constitutive to performance. Performance art has frequently been defined by its provocative impulse, functioning as a responsive and unstable form that artists have turned to when engaging with political, cultural, or social pressures, and when seeking to unsettle the conventions of more established artistic disciplines. These sentiments are conveyed by her first performance works, The Rhythm Series (1973-1974). Over the course of two years, she completed five separate performances that explored the physical limits of the body and the relationship between performer and audience. Abramović performed Rhythm 0 (1974), the fifth and final work, at the gallery Studio Morra in Naples, Italy, from 8 pm to 2 am. She placed seventy-two objects on a table that could cause the human body extreme pleasure or pain, including but not limited to objects like a comb, lipstick, paint, a feather, a bone of lamb, cake, and a gun. Instructions posted on the wall declared: “I am the object. During this period I take full responsibility.” This experiment used the art space to expose what audiences are capable of when social inhibition is suspended and moral responsibility is left unguided. This paper asks, in her performance Rhythm 0, how does Abramović's deliberate surrender of bodily agency transforms the audience from passive observers into ethically implicated subjects, forcing an intersubjective encounter with the artist that exposes unconventional, if not revolutionary, social conditions governing the art space?
Creator/Author:: Penix, Sadie
Submitter:: Sadie Penix
Date Uploaded:: 04/26/2026
Date Modified:: 04/30/2026
Date Created:: 2026-04
License:: CC0 1.0 Universal

Dancing with the Devil: Salvator Rosa’s Manifestations of Witchcraft in Seventeenth Century Italy

Type:: Student Work
Description/Abstract:: Throughout the seventeenth century, ideas of the occult and mystique of witchcraft consumed public interest in artistic circles in Florence, Italy. Salvator Rosa (1615-1673), an Italian artist from Naples, participated in this movement from 1640 until his death. As interests in the occult heightened during his time in Florence, he participated in suspicions of witchcraft through his Scenes of Witchcraft (1645-1649). Located at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the series consists of four tondi, each portraying a witch with harrowing spectators at different times of the day. However, to ensure his esteemed prominence, he returned to Rome and produced religious works. The macabre interests that captivated Rosa in Scenes of Witchcraft (1645-49) became a vehicle of undermining the church through The Shade of Samuel Appears to Saul (1668) when the artist returned to Rome. In this paper I propose that through shared iconography, The Shade of Samuel Appears to Saul is a painting of witchcraft, and serves to undermine the authority of the church. Witches or other necromancing subjects were accepted solely to elevate the morality of biblical characters. By giving the witch of Endor agency, Rosa is offering an alternative subject that serves to rival the power of God.
Creator/Author:: Banks, Claire
Submitter:: Claire Banks
Date Uploaded:: 04/26/2026
Date Modified:: 04/26/2026
Date Created:: April 26, 2026
License:: CC0 1.0 Universal

BUILD TO ADAPT: HOW E.D.E.N. REIMAGINES CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT FOR NONSTOP OPERATIONS

Type:: Student Work
Description/Abstract:: This capstone report presents E.D.E.N. (Every Day, Every Night) — an original continuous improvement framework designed for nonstop, high-dependency operations in industries such as logistics, aviation, digital infrastructure, and healthcare. Drawing on principles from Lean, Six Sigma, high-reliability organizations (HROs), and data-driven decision science, the paper introduces four interlocking pillars: Engaged & Empowered Teams, Data-Driven Continuous Feedback, End-to-End Alignment, and Nonstop Adaptive Resilience. Through detailed analysis of recent global disruptions — including the 2025 CrowdStrike outage, Boeing’s manufacturing failures, the Red Sea shipping crisis, and Taiwan’s semiconductor challenges — the work demonstrates how organizations can embed real-time adaptability, resilience, and continuous improvement directly into their operations. The E.D.E.N. framework is proposed as a new model for achieving operational excellence and resilience in an era where downtime is no longer an option.
Creator/Author:: Agoba, EJ
Submitter:: EJ Agoba
Date Uploaded:: 07/16/2025
Date Modified:: 07/16/2025
Date Created:: 2025-04-10
License:: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International