The 1995 BFA Graduating Class Department of Visual Arts

As you consider this catalogue of works, reflect upon the variety of tasks- intellectual, emotional and technical- that have led to this visible record of ability and expression. the interdisciplinary rigors of the visual arts are present in these pages, and the breadth of the skill, ability, problem-solving and communication that have been developed and refined during the years of study are portrayed an in this presentation of accomplishment. The Graduates represented in the following pages will go on to a variety of careers-teaching, making art, starting businesses,or following any number of diverse paths that they have prepared during their undergraduate years. The work they have chosen to present here is merely a synopsis of the broad spectrum of skills and abilities they have gained during their years at grenfell college.

The Visual Arts as a Canvas for Teaching Computer Programming

We explore the relationships between the construction of a work of art and the crafting of a computer program in Java and suggest that the structure of paintings and drawings may be used to teach the fundamental concepts of computer programming. This movement "from Art to Science", using art to drive computing, complements the common use of computing to inform art. We report on initial experiences using this approach with undergraduate and postgraduate students. An embryonic theory of the correspondence between art and computing is presented and a methodology proposed to develop this project further.

The 1996 BFA Graduating Class Department of Visual arts

The work presented in this catalogue represent ten years of study, thought, practice and application. While each member of the fourth-year visual arts class has selected just one image and chosen only a few words for inclusion in this record of our graduates and the program, it is important that we understand the dimensions of experience and learning symbolized on these pages. The women and men represented here have all passed through a rigorous course of academic study,personal and professional development, and technical training. They have engaged issues and concepts from both theoretical and practical perspectives, and have been challenged to stretch their thinking about community, society and the world in terms past, present and future. These Students have translated ideas and insights into works of art in a variety of media.

The 1997 BFA Graduating Class: Department of Visual Arts.

This catalogue of works by senior students of the visual arts program continues our tradition of recognizing and recording the accomplishments of each graduating class. It Provides a historical record of those who are about to receive their bachelor of fine arts degrees from Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, as well as a contemporary reflection of the diverse array of creative talents and technical skills these students have refined and honed during four years of study - attributes and abilities that will be brought fully into play in their many future endevours.

The 1998 BFA Graduating Class: Department of Visual Arts

The exhibition of works by Sir Wilfred Grenfell College's graduating Class in visual arts constitutes the culmination of four years of intensive study and practice. our students are trained in the fundamentals of their craft and exposed tio a variety of media and styles ranging from the traditional to the avant garde. But their education has more to do with the exploration and development of their creativity, the enlargement of their capacity to see, and their mastery of the vocabulary of sight, enabling them to discover, uncover and represent. Each of the students ha sustained and nurtured an individual and unique quest over the four years of this rigorous programme.

The 1999 BFA Graduating Class: Department of Visual Arts

One of the Highlights of our academic year is the exhibition of the works of the graduating class in our visual arts degree program. Of course it is very Satisfying to see such an unambiguous evidence of accomplishments of our students.But i also find the exhibition invariably inspiring because of the works themselves,which stimulate us to see again as children, with wide-eyed curiosity and wonder, without the need to explain or reduce, with delight, with horror, with recognition. In enabling us to see again in this way, the students have learned a very demanding craft and educated themselves inthe history, vocabulary and syntax of visual expression.

The 2000 BFA Graduating Class: Department of Visual Arts

Sir Wilfred Grenfell Colleges Fine Arts Division offers two BFA programs: visual arts and theatre. They are the only BFA degree programs available in the province. The bachoelor of Fine arts(Visual Arts)program is a professional program designed to educate and train students in the history, theory and practice of the visual arts. The curriculum has been devised to produce well-rounded generalists with solid grounding in all aspects of visual arts. The Curriculum illustrates the philosophy that artistic freedom and creative expression require technical skill, intellectual awareness and personal vision, acquired through a disciplined application of effort and critical understanding of artistic issues, past and present. Academic electives are tended to provide a broad exposure to the liberal arts.

The 2001 BFA Graduating Class Department of Visual Arts

One of the highlights of Grenfells annual Convocation is the exhibition of the works of the graduating class in visual arts. The exhibition gives us a priviledged glimpse into the accomplishments of our students as these have emerged directly out of their studies. By their nature, most other disciplines do not afford such a view. In a sense, then, the exhibition of works by our visual arts students represents by analogy what can be achieved in four years of intensive university study under the guidance of dedicated professionals, no matter what the field of endeavour. These particular students began with a natural ability to see and to imagine.During tha past four years, they have been challenged to build on that base talent and to develop and educate their visual imaginations. Significant creative development is never easy but the results can be inspiring. The works represent the accomplishments of all our students and provide a fresh energeticaesthetic framework within which to contemplate them.

Visual Navigation In The Neotropical Ant Odontomachus Hastatus (formicidae, Ponerinae), A Predominantly Nocturnal, Canopy-dwelling Predator Of The Atlantic Rainforest.

The arboreal ant Odontomachus hastatus nests among roots of epiphytic bromeliads in the sandy forest at Cardoso Island (Brazil). Crepuscular and nocturnal foragers travel up to 8m to search for arthropod prey in the canopy, where silhouettes of leaves and branches potentially provide directional information. We investigated the relevance of visual cues (canopy, horizon patterns) during navigation in O. hastatus. Laboratory experiments using a captive ant colony and a round foraging arena revealed that an artificial canopy pattern above the ants and horizon visual marks are effective orientation cues for homing O. hastatus. On the other hand, foragers that were only given a tridimensional landmark (cylinder) or chemical marks were unable to home correctly. Navigation by visual cues in O. hastatus is in accordance with other diurnal arboreal ants. Nocturnal luminosity (moon, stars) is apparently sufficient to produce contrasting silhouettes from the canopy and surrounding vegetation, thus providing orientation cues. Contrary to the plain floor of the round arena, chemical cues may be important for marking bifurcated arboreal routes. This experimental demonstration of the use of visual cues by a predominantly nocturnal arboreal ant provides important information for comparative studies on the evolution of spatial orientation behavior in ants. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Neotropical Behaviour.

An unexpected role for visual feedback in vehicle steering control

Some motor tasks can be completed, quite literally, with our eyes shut. Most people can touch their nose without looking or reach for an object after only a brief glance at its location. This distinction leads to one of the defining questions of movement control: is information gleaned prior to starting the movement sufficient to complete the task (open loop), or is feedback about the progress of the movement required (closed loop)? One task that has commanded considerable interest in the literature over the years is that of steering a vehicle, in particular lane-correction and lane-changing tasks. Recent work has suggested that this type of task can proceed in a fundamentally open loop manner [1 and 2], with feedback mainly serving to correct minor, accumulating errors. This paper reevaluates the conclusions of these studies by conducting a new set of experiments in a driving simulator. We demonstrate that, in fact, drivers rely on regular visual feedback, even during the well-practiced steering task of lane changing. Without feedback, drivers fail to initiate the return phase of the maneuver, resulting in systematic errors in final heading. The results provide new insight into the control of vehicle heading, suggesting that drivers employ a simple policy of “turn and see,” with only limited understanding of the relationship between steering angle and vehicle heading.

Gaze angle: a possible mechanism of visual stress in virtual reality headsets

It is known that some Virtual Reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMDs) can cause temporary deficits in binocular vision. On the other hand, the precise mechanism by which visual stress occurs is unclear. This paper is concerned with a potential source of visual stress that has not been previously considered with regard to VR systems: inappropriate vertical gaze angle. As vertical gaze angle is raised or lowered the 'effort' required of the binocular system also changes. The extent to which changes in vertical gaze angle alter the demands placed upon the vergence eye movement system was explored. The results suggested that visual stress may depend, in part, on vertical gaze angle. The proximity of the display screens within an HMD means that a VR headset should be in the correct vertical location for any individual user. This factor may explain some previous empirical results and has important implications for headset design. Fortuitously, a reasonably simple solution exists.

Implication of the visual system in the regulation of activity cycles in the absence of solar light: 2-[I-125]iodomelatonin binding sites and melatonin receptor gene expression in the brains of demersal deep-sea gadiform fish

Relative eye size, gross brain morphology and central localization of 2-[I-125]iodomelatonin binding sites and melatonin receptor gene expression were compared in six gadiform fish living at different depths in the north-east Atlantic Ocean: Phycis blennoides (capture depth range 265-1260 m), Nezumia aequalis (445-1512 m), Coryphaenoides rupestris (706-1932 m), Trachyrincus murrayi (1010-1884 m), Coryphaenoides guentheri (1030 m) and Coryphaenoides (Nematonurus) armatus (2172-4787 m). Amongst these, the eye size range was 0.15-0.35 of head length with a value of 0.19 for C.(N.) armatus, the deepest species. Brain morphology reflected behavioural differences with well-developed olfactory regions in P.blennoides, T.murrayi and C. (N.) armatus and evidence of olfactory deficit in N. aequalis, C. rupestris and C. guentheri. All species had a clearly defined optic tectum with 2-[I-125] iodomelatonin binding and melatonin receptor gene expression localized to specific brain regions in a similar pattern to that found in shallow-water fish. Melatonin receptors were found throughout the visual structures of the brains of all species. Despite living beyond the depth of penetration of solar light these fish have retained central features associated with the coupling of cycles of growth, behaviour and reproduction to the diel light-dark cycle. How this functions in the deep sea remains enigmatic.

Abnormal Visual Activation in Parkinson`s Disease Patients

Among nonmotor symptoms observed in Parkinson`s disease (PD) dysfunction in the visual system, including hallucinations, has a significant impact in their quality of life. To further explore the visual system in PD patients we designed two fMRI experiments comparing 18 healthy volunteers with 16 PD patients without visual complaints in two visual fMRI paradigms: the flickering checkerboard task and a facial perception paradigm. PD patients displayed a decreased activity in the primary visual cortex (Broadmann area 17) bilaterally as compared to healthy volunteers during flickering checkerboard task and increased activity in fusiform gyms (Broadmann area 37) during facial perception paradigm. Our findings confirm the notion that PD patients show significant changes in the visual cortex system even before the visual symptoms are clinically evident. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the contribution of these abnormalities to the development visual symptoms in PD. (C) 2010 Movement Disorder Society

Predictive factors for the development of visual loss in patients with pituitary macroadenomas and for visual recovery after optic pathway decompression

Objective: To investigate clinical and MRI findings that are predictive of both visual loss in patients with pituitary adenomas and visual recovery after treatment. Design: Cohort study. Participants: Thirty patients (60 eyes) with pituitary adenoma. Methods: Patients underwent neuro-ophthalmic examination and MRI before and after optic chiasm decompression. Visual field (VF) was assessed using the mean deviation in standard automated perimetry (SAP) and temporal mean defect, the average of 22 temporal values of the total deviation plot. Tumour size was measured on sagittal and coronal cuts. Results: Visual loss was found in 47 eyes; 35 had optic atrophy (subtle in 9, moderate in 14, and severe in 12). Before treatment, the average SAP mean deviation and temporal mean defect were -11.78 (SD 8.56) dB and -18.66 (SD 11.20) dB, respectively. The chiasm was 17.3 (SD 6.2, range 10-34) mm above the reference line on the sagittal and 21.8 (SD 8.3, range 12-39) mm on the coronal images. Tumour size correlated with the severity of VF defect. VF improvement occurred in 80% of eyes after treatment. The degree of optic atrophy, visual loss, and tumour size were significantly associated with improvement after treatment. Conclusions: The best predictive factor for visual loss was tumour size, and factors related to visual recovery were the degree of optic atrophy, the severity of VF defect, and the tumour size. Diagnosing pituitary adenomas before optic atrophy becomes severe may be related to a better prognosis in such patients.