Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Buyssens, Ryan

Area of Concentration

Art

Abstract

We are surrounded and defined by objects: a vessel to brew coffee, the scissors with which we cut our hair, or identification documents which record our face, height, and sex. These items can be meaningful facets of identity, or they can be the source of categorization and marginalization. Especially for individuals with non-normative identities, objects can represent the experience of being consistently misrecognized, with uncomfortable or debilitating repercussions. Through glittering and disorienting 3D-modelled compositions, I examine how objects can disguise or obscure identity. exuberant viscera aestheticizes, depersonalizes, and takes control of the experience of misinterpretation. This project considers the synthesis of objects and personhood, guided by Sara Ahmed’s framework for the relations between space and bodies. I am also influenced by the work in queer archiving theorized by José Esteban Muñoz and the art of Emmett Ramstad, as they explore the tension between intimacy and anonymity created by the public display of personal effects. At its core, this project seeks to represent that which cannot be represented. I appropriate themes from Martin Jay’s characterization of the baroque, in combination with Judith Butler’s notion of incoherent beings, to conceptualize the embodiment of unintelligible personhood.

Download

Share

COinS