Date of Graduation

7-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts in Art (MFA)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Art

Advisor/Mentor

Hulen, Jeannie L.

Committee Member

Drolen, Rebecca A.

Second Committee Member

Grant, Alphonso W.

Third Committee Member

Edwards, Vincent A.

Fourth Committee Member

Springer, Bethany L.

Keywords

Abject Body; Art; Art Criticism; Art History; Body; Curatorial; Experience; Sculpture

Abstract

Through curated space and abstracted sculptures that reference the viewer’s body, Gut Feeling, acknowledges the viewer’s experience as the focal point of the exhibition. I designed the whole gallery as an art object using both positive and negative space. The sculptures act as one unified system that guides the viewer through the exhibition in a counterclockwise rotation inward. The viewer follows the forms as they puncture through the walls of the gallery, while considering their own body’s relationship to the forms being seen. The viewer directly engages with the scale of the forms, sculptural placement, and sensory experience; these elements stir humbleness in the viewer by tugging on the string that connects all of us despite our difference, our abject bodies.

This paper is divided into two parts. The first part seeks to address the systems and historical factors that make up the museum’s authority such as architecture, archives, rituals, and the viewer’s role as a visual consumer. Part two focuses on my thesis exhibition Gut Feeling how it was developed and draws connections to the metaphorical body of the gallery and the viewer’s own body. As an artist I believe it is important to critique the artwork in the space it is presented in, while reflecting on how artwork is developed, constructed, and conceptualized.

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