Shared Anxiety, Shared Identity Exploring the Crisis of Subjectivity in the Art Object
Date of Award
2010
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Humanities
First Advisor
Anderson, Kim
Keywords
Pop Culture, Anxiety, Poststructuralism, Sculpture, Video Art
Area of Concentration
Art
Abstract
A poststructuralist notion of subjectivity characterizes the self as inherently decentered and discordant, problematizing the illusion of an autonomous, whole self. Such internal crisis is an apparent flaw in any foreign meaning-making system such as language, or for the sake of this project, the visual language of pop culture. This thesis project explores this crisis of identity through a series of mixed-media sculptures and installations that appropriate elements of pop and consumer culture. Each sculpture conveys this crisis of subjectivity and its conditions, such as anxiety, depression and futility, through narrative and formal paradox. Like Claus Oldenburg and Dana Schutz, bodily limitations are incorporated into the sculptures as allegorical representations of psychic, internal conflict. This project conflates elements of discarded construction materials, hunting camouflage mainstream hip hop, cartoons such as Scooby Doo and kitsch collectibles. I then attempt to subvert the familiarity of this appropriated material in order to expose an unexpected ruptures in the meaning-making system of popular culture resulting in internal discordance.
Recommended Citation
Wyllie, Misha, "Shared Anxiety, Shared Identity Exploring the Crisis of Subjectivity in the Art Object" (2010). Theses & ETDs. 4361.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/4361
Rights
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