Echoed Sites and the Unknowable Object

<p>This thesis will discuss the expanded field of sculpture, simulacra, digital technology, and two terms I’ve devised: the <em>unknowable object,</em> and <em>echoed sites.</em> Within these two terms, I’m concerned with the complicated relationship between humans and geology and how we extract material from the ground without reflecting on the geologic history of the site. In <em>echoed sites</em> I create sculptures with and without a geologic site or object, by way of digital technology. These forms display two states paradoxically in balance, where what’s presented leaves more questions than answers. Thus, as part of <em>echoed sites</em>, exists the <em>unknowable object.</em> Whereby the transmutation of two forms or materials creates uncanny objects. Ultimately, through both of these terms, I want you to realize that the machine processing of stone mimics geological processes, but at a faster rate. I’m critiquing our processes of excavating material because it’s occurring in juxtaposition to the millions of years rocks take to form. <em>Echoed sites </em>connect to the origin of geologic materials in contrast to their present state.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Graduate School of Art

Year dc:date.available

2022

Author dc:creator

• Canizales, Joseph

Contributors dc:contributor

• Arny Nadler
• Amy Hauft
• Patricia Olynyk

• geology
• sculpture
• land art
• anthropocene
• monument
• the natural environment
• the built environment
• weathering and erosion
• limestone
• sculpture in the expanded field
• American Art and Architecture
• Art and Design
• Contemporary Art
• Geomorphology
• Interdisciplinary Arts and Media
• Sedimentology

Language dc:language

English

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7936/ts9d-0609

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:openscholarship.wustl.edu:mfa_visual_art-1010