An Arbitrary Formation of Unspecified Value is a collection of photographs, letterpress, and a book-length essay concerned with notions of decay. The concept of decay is interrogated through meditations on memory, place, and body. Decay is examined through the different forms it takes; the erasure of memories, the impermanence of bodies, and the disintegration of structures. The complex nature of decay necessitated the inclusion of multiple mediums and it is important to note that these notions of decay are presented with an underlying view of time which is fragmented and nonlinear in nature. This nonlinear view of time is then reflected in the form and structure of the project which has no chapters or section breaks and which echoes the central theme of decay.
","abstract_html":"<p><em>An Arbitrary Formation of Unspecified Value </em>is a collection of photographs, letterpress, and a book-length essay concerned with notions of decay. The concept of decay is interrogated through meditations on memory, place, and body. Decay is examined through the different forms it takes; the erasure of memories, the impermanence of bodies, and the disintegration of structures. The complex nature of decay necessitated the inclusion of multiple mediums and it is important to note that these notions of decay are presented with an underlying view of time which is fragmented and nonlinear in nature. This nonlinear view of time is then reflected in the form and structure of the project which has no chapters or section breaks and which echoes the central theme of decay.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Quartararo, Jennifer K"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Matthew Gavin Frank"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:23:47Z","subjects":["creative nonfiction","decay","memory","Arts and Humanities","Creative Writing","Nonfiction"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/143","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Matthew Gavin Frank"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Quartararo, Jennifer K"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2070-04-07T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["creative nonfiction","decay","memory","Arts and Humanities","Creative Writing","Nonfiction"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/143"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["An Arbitrary Formation of Unspecified Value is a collection of photographs, letterpress, and a book-length essay concerned with notions of decay. The concept of decay is interrogated through meditations on memory, place, and body. Decay is examined through the different forms it takes; the erasure of memories, the impermanence of bodies, and the disintegration of structures. The complex nature of decay necessitated the inclusion of multiple mediums and it is important to note that these notions of decay are presented with an underlying view of time which is fragmented and nonlinear in nature. This nonlinear view of time is then reflected in the form and structure of the project which has no chapters or section breaks and which echoes the central theme of decay.
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