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West Virginia University

Otherworldly Goods

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

This thesis presents "democratic" art. As defined by the author, democratic art is work that does not bear the idiosyncratic mark of the artist's hand. It is hoped that such work remains more fully open to the viewer's imaginative involvement than work that bears a more overt trace of authorship. As an invitation to such involvement, and in addition to removing the mark of the hand, the artist also creates interactive pieces, such as large-scale slide puzzles, which can be manipulated by the viewer. With these pieces the viewer can re-organize the composition of the work and thereby take as much responsibility as the artist for the meanings that are generated. As a result, the boundaries between artist and viewer may blur, and the attitude of the viewer may shift from the passive towards the active.;All of the work invites the viewer to find connections between pieces, and to make sense of permutations within a limited range of terms. The exhibition strives to use a finite set of elements to generate infinite possible meanings.*.;*This dissertation includes a CD that is multimedia (contains text and other applications not available in printed format). The CD requires the following applications: Adobe Acrobat; Windows MediaPlayer.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
MFA
Level thesis:degree_level
Thesis
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Printmaking
Year dc:date.available
2002

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Johnson, Grant
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Segio Soave.

Subjects

dc:subject × 2

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:researchrepository.wvu.edu:etd-2299

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
West Virginia University
Base URL
researchrepository.wvu.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
related terms
citation

Johnson, Grant. Otherworldly Goods. Thesis thesis, 2002. https://doi.org/10.33915/etd.1296