Author

Rebecca Miles

Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Anderson, Kim

Area of Concentration

Art

Abstract

Redivivus is an intricate installation set hundreds of years in the future that questions our role as humans within the spiraling cycle of life. A fictional character named Syl inhabits this future world, collects all the items displayed in the room and creates drawings of what she sees. This future is set within a post-apocalyptic timeline, with endless indications of hope and wonder depicted throughout the installation, evoking a powerful dichotomy between destruction and renewal. Biblical references, futuristic video games such as Fallout 3 and Horizon Zero Dawn, as well as the novel Dune by Frank Herbert informed my process. My artwork reflects increasing millennial and post-millennial concerns about the future of humanity and the end of our human-constructed world.1 Further inspiration comes from 19th Century landscape paintings by Thomas Cole, as well as 20th and 21st Century installations by Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, Edward Keinholz, and Roxy Paine, which explore humanity’s deeply complex relationship with the environment. Redivivus questions our role as humans within the world around us.

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