In the novel, Everyone to the Front, Layne Millen is a 37-year-old adjunct teaching a foundational art survey class at a reputable college in New York. Having failed to launch her own career as an artist, she funnels all her creative energy into designing an impressive and at times provocative course curriculum for her Gen Z students, meanwhile taking on various other odd and often humiliating part-time jobs such as digital sex work and even a weekend stint at a Renaissance Faire to get by. Drawing from her personal belief that art should be shocking rather than beautiful, after having been profoundly affected by Andres Serrano’s transgressive piece Piss Christ when she herself was fresh out of college, Layne’s course material focuses on subversive images and radical performance art with an emphasis on feminist body horror. Believing artists, or in this case “art enthusiasts,” to be morally and intellectually superior, Layne does not question the potential harm in exposing her students to violent spectacles, both real and simulated, that dominate modern and contemporary art—at least not at first. But as her students’ behavior grows more and more bizarre, she begins to question whether they are capable of engaging critically with such material, or if instead they might be driven to mimic the violent images through their own cruel acts, with herself as the target. What if the artist's power to destroy is just as strong, if not stronger, than the desire to create?
","abstract_html":"<p>In the novel, <em>Everyone to the Front</em>, Layne Millen is a 37-year-old adjunct teaching a foundational art survey class at a reputable college in New York. Having failed to launch her own career as an artist, she funnels all her creative energy into designing an impressive and at times provocative course curriculum for her Gen Z students, meanwhile taking on various other odd and often humiliating part-time jobs such as digital sex work and even a weekend stint at a Renaissance Faire to get by. Drawing from her personal belief that art should be shocking rather than beautiful, after having been profoundly affected by Andres Serrano’s transgressive piece <em>Piss Christ</em> when she herself was fresh out of college, Layne’s course material focuses on subversive images and radical performance art with an emphasis on feminist body horror. Believing artists, or in this case “art enthusiasts,” to be morally and intellectually superior, Layne does not question the potential harm in exposing her students to violent spectacles, both real and simulated, that dominate modern and contemporary art—at least not at first. But as her students’ behavior grows more and more bizarre, she begins to question whether they are capable of engaging critically with such material, or if instead they might be driven to mimic the violent images through their own cruel acts, with herself as the target. What if the artist's power to destroy is just as strong, if not stronger, than the desire to create?</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Corso, Kristin M."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Joanna Howard","Roddy MacInnes","Patrick Cottrell","Kristy Ulibarri"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-06-15T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-06-15T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:01:48Z","subjects":["Women's lit","LGBTQ+","Artificial intelligence (AI)","Immersive theater","Deepfake","Arts and Humanities","Creative Writing","Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","Fiction","Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies","Women's Studies"],"languages":["English (eng)"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author. Permanently suppressed.
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"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Everyone to the Front"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Joanna Howard","Roddy MacInnes","Patrick Cottrell","Kristy Ulibarri"],"dc:creator":["Corso, Kristin M."],"dc:description.abstract":["In the novel, Everyone to the Front, Layne Millen is a 37-year-old adjunct teaching a foundational art survey class at a reputable college in New York. Having failed to launch her own career as an artist, she funnels all her creative energy into designing an impressive and at times provocative course curriculum for her Gen Z students, meanwhile taking on various other odd and often humiliating part-time jobs such as digital sex work and even a weekend stint at a Renaissance Faire to get by. Drawing from her personal belief that art should be shocking rather than beautiful, after having been profoundly affected by Andres Serrano’s transgressive piece Piss Christ when she herself was fresh out of college, Layne’s course material focuses on subversive images and radical performance art with an emphasis on feminist body horror. Believing artists, or in this case “art enthusiasts,” to be morally and intellectually superior, Layne does not question the potential harm in exposing her students to violent spectacles, both real and simulated, that dominate modern and contemporary art—at least not at first. But as her students’ behavior grows more and more bizarre, she begins to question whether they are capable of engaging critically with such material, or if instead they might be driven to mimic the violent images through their own cruel acts, with herself as the target. What if the artist's power to destroy is just as strong, if not stronger, than the desire to create?
"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2383"],"dc:language":["English (eng)"],"dc:rights":["Copyright is held by the author. Permanently suppressed.
"],"dc:subject":["Women's lit","LGBTQ+","Artificial intelligence (AI)","Immersive theater","Deepfake","Arts and Humanities","Creative Writing","Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","Fiction","Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies","Women's Studies"],"dc:title":["Everyone to the Front"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:01:48Z"}