https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/3307 Previously known as Department of History of Art Wed, 04 Nov 2026 19:24:04 GMT 2026-11-04T19:24:04Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/150777 Title: The orgasmic beauty of the art of reading art Authors: Schembri Bonaci, Giuseppe Abstract: This essay proposes an interdisciplinary methodology for reading artworks that moves beyond positivist formalism and reductive empiricism. It argues that form is not merely a visible contour but the manifestation of dynamic, often invisible, force fields—dialectical tensions that shape artistic creation. Drawing on thinkers such as Florensky, Pound, Adorno, Deleuze and Panofsky, the essay develops a conceptual toolkit that integrates pareidolic-apophenic perception, syntagmatic-paradigmatic analysis, parataxis and hypotaxis, and montage theory. These methodological strands enable a critical "X-ray" of artworks, revealing latent structures of meaning embedded within form, memory, and historical context. The study further situates artistic production within geo-political and socio-economic frameworks, particularly examining the tension between cosmopolitan hegemonies and insular or peripheral artistic cultures, with specific reference to Malta. It critiques vertical models of cultural domination and advocates for complementary horizontal analyses among Mediterranean and other marginal hubs. Ultimately, the essay contends that reading art is an active, creative act in which seeing becomes knowing and remembering. By uniting formal, philosophical, historical and socio-political inquiry, the proposed methodology seeks to restore art scholarship as a site of critical theory, conceptual innovation and emancipatory thought. The creative act cannot be explained by, or be constrained into, a scientifically determined equation. Thus, this essay does not attempt to give some kind of medical prescription or guide to reading art and experiencing its beauty. Rather, it offers particular milestones and anchors without which one will not succeed in truly understanding works of art. For the uninitiated, such anchorage might seem sporadic. It is not. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/150777 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/150767 Title: Stone : between quarry and landscape Authors: Thake, Conrad Abstract: For centuries, it was virtually the islands’ only natural mineral resource that could be readily extracted and used for construction. The lower globigerina limestone is millions of years old, the product of successive layers of marine sediment that gradually consolidated into sedimentary rock. Globigerina limestone is the second-oldest rock formation exposed on the Maltese Islands and constitutes approximately 70 per cent of their surface area, weathering to form the broad, gently rolling landscape characteristic of much of Malta. [excerpt] Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/150767 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/150564 Title: Escape as a visual trope : the art of Pawl Carbonaro Abstract: The decision to base my dissertation on Pawl Carbonaro and his practice emerged not only from an academic interest in Maltese and contemporary art, but also from a long-standing familiarity with the artist’s work itself. Growing up, Carbonaro’s works were rather familiar to me. His name and works surrounded me from a young age, particularly through family connections to the artist and spaces in which his paintings were present. Although at the time I did not yet understand the wider artistic or cultural significance of Carbonaro’s practice, this early familiarity perhaps established a certain degree of awareness regarding the atmospheric and emotional qualities that his paintings carry. There was (and there still is) also a sincerity and genuineness within the work itself that left a lasting impression on me from a young age, eventually developing into academic curiosity. Initially, my interest in Carbonaro’s work emerged primarily through his landscapes and abstract compositions. However, as the research progressed, it became increasingly clear that the works resisted any fixed categorisation. Paintings that do appear formally concerned with chromatic decisions gradually open to broader questions surrounding artistic process, memory, and the relationship between lived experience and a painted space. Engaging with archival material and exhibition catalogues further revealed just how layered Carbonaro’s practice is, particularly in terms of personal experience, travel, along with artistic encounter which the paintings then absorbed. Researching a living artist also presented a unique methodological experience. Unlike studies rooted entirely in archival material or historical distance, this dissertation developed through direct engagement with Carbonaro himself, alongside conversations with scholars and artists whose perspectives further contributed to shaping this research. Furthermore, the relatively limited scholarship dedicated to Carbonaro allowed this study to occupy a space that required both analytical interpretation and negotiation between biography and production but also influences and formation, along with cultural context. Throughout the process of writing this dissertation, one aspect of Carbonaro’s work remained particularly compelling to me: the way his paintings continuously move between familiarity and distance. Although deeply rooted in place and a lived experience, his works never fully settle into fixed interpretations, instead remaining open, shifting and imbued with emotion. This quality perhaps reflects what makes Carbonaro’s practice enduringly relevant within both a Maltese and a broader Mediterranean artistic context. Ultimately, this study does not seek to provide a definitive reading of the artist’s oeuvre, but rather to contribute to a deeper understanding of complex negotiations that continue to shape it. Description: B.A. (Hons)(Melit.) Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/150564 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/150563 Title: Troubling the gaze : a queer exploration of the Venus nude through intimate and ambiguous forms of representation in a fine arts project Abstract: Seeing can be coincidental. Looking is intentional. The act of looking implicates one is looking at something. This something is transformed into an object of vision, a thing enveloped within the context of the onlooker. Its boundaries are defined through the surveyor’s thoughts, preformed constructs and ideas. Looking is therefore not inconsequential. Female identity within Western culture is constantly shifting and diverse, but it may be seen as an identity formed by the look. Growing up as a woman meant constantly questioning whether the women I saw on billboards and magazines, or those found within the pages of an art book, were like me. They looked curated to a specific type of audience, and obviously well-manicured. I didn’t really think anything of their interests, ideas or personalities. The media I consumed didn’t seem to think about it either. This dissertation posits the act of looking as heavy with implications. It utilises the Venus nude painting tradition as an example of a broader phenomenon of female objectification within Western media and art history. The project attempts to survey alternative ways of representing the female body by exploring queer theories and artistic applications. The nude sessions are proposed both as a way to maintain a link to the nude painting tradition, and as a site to experiment. In entertaining close kinship with the models, allowing the pre-existing connection to take over the session and its results, the researcher explores an alternative to the traditional artist-model relationship. In the end, the project ultimately uses queer ‘’troubling’’ and ambiguity as a route towards non-extractive viewing experiences, and greater intimacy and care in female representation. Description: B.A. (Hons)(Melit.) Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/150563 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z