Date of Graduation
5-2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts in Art (MFA)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Art
Advisor/Mentor
Hulen, Jeannie L.
Committee Member
McConnell, Mathew S.
Second Committee Member
Springer, Bethany L.
Keywords
Contemporary art; Feminine identity; Gender; Identity; Video art
Abstract
The Life You've Seen: The Search For Feminine Identity Ruined My Life is a video installation created through the exploration for the search for identity, specifically female, in my personal work and in the art world for over sixty years. The videos, depicting myself in costume, display twenty different personas and scenarios created to expose the futility of this ongoing search through exposing the traditional ways in which forces such as nature, biology, heredity, and cultural constructs have been used in attempts to define "self." The installation format of the work, a wall of decades old television sets, and the unending repetition of videos, symbolizes the exhaustive search for self. While the visual absurdity, and reference to past feminist art alludes to a mockery of such works. A singular TV with one unchanging face positioned behind the wall of televisions represents the understanding and conclusion that "self" is not something that can be indefinitely defined, nor will it reach a culmination.
Citation
Pierce, C. L. (2015). The Life You've Seen: The Search for Feminine Identity Ruined My Life. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/27
