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Washington University in St. Louis

Fine Arts

Graduate School of Art Theses

2015

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Full-Text Articles in Art and Design

Artificial Infinite, Brandon Daniels Aug 2015

Artificial Infinite, Brandon Daniels

Graduate School of Art Theses

This thesis examines the complex history of the sublime, specifically the sublime Void of the Romantics and the newer concept of the technological sublime. From there, I examine the genre of science fiction and it relationship to the sublime, the Void and the grotesque. I use specific examples such Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker, and a few others to better understand and apply these concepts. Beginning with these examples, I start to posit what role special effects play in how these films embody these philosophical concepts.

Building on this foundation of research, I go on to …


Talking To Boxes, Hugging Robots, Vita Eruhimovitz May 2015

Talking To Boxes, Hugging Robots, Vita Eruhimovitz

Graduate School of Art Theses

Relationships between humans and technology are at the core of my artistic research. Human-machine communication is defined by the technological level of the machines, but even more so by the way they are perceived by humans. Concepts of artificial life and artificial intelligence gradually have become part of the everyday life of growing numbers of people, and while there is an ongoing effort to design an increasingly anthropocentric technology, our minds also adapt to the new technological reality. Through immersive installations and sculptural objects my practice explores this reality. My artwork is designed to communicate with and stimulate the viewers, …


"Am I Winning?", Diana J. Casanova May 2015

"Am I Winning?", Diana J. Casanova

Graduate School of Art Theses

Mesmerized by horror, my artistic practice investigates traumatic stories of history, myth, personal narrative, and fiction. The serial narratives are imposed upon two decapitated historical queens, Marie Antoinette and Anne Boleyn. Represented through opposing sides, the women’s facial planes fracture and stretch and erupt in oral infestations. Stories of rage flood the compositions, fabricating an epic battle and argument. Through influences of Catholicism, I construct disputes over the feminine body. Monstrous forms are the effect of combining oppoisiton terms, formulating humanistic and sympathetic symbology. Mirror Theory and the myth of Medusa defend a destruction of self through reflection.

Influenced by …


Presence-At-Hand, Eric Lyle Schultz May 2015

Presence-At-Hand, Eric Lyle Schultz

Graduate School of Art Theses

Abstract

The writing that follows is intended to provide a theoretical framework for the motives behind my practice. The primary concerns addressed are the reception, transmission, and physical shape of knowledge. I will discuss a human condition that exists as a byproduct of both the legacy of representation as well as the innate biology of the brain. I will argue that as a society we are governed by the residue of an extreme logic, and that this condition places severe margins on our potential for creative solutions. I will propose that our ability to create meaning is stifled by the …


Breaching, Margaux Crump May 2015

Breaching, Margaux Crump

Graduate School of Art Theses

I make objects that behave like bodies—graceful hybrids that are effortlessly cultural and natural, masculine and feminine, plant and animal. Shifting and slipping between unfixed identities, they exist as multiplicities. When these bodies touch, power and pleasure are fluidly exchanged. However, power is not structured here as a binary and pleasure is not finite; both have the potential to flow between bodies, blurring boundaries and rendering individuality delicate.

My work is primarily rooted in the relationship between desire, intimacy, and control, with the body acting as a site of power play. This body may be plant, animal, sculpture, or material. …