Date of Degree
2010
Document Type
thesis
Degree Name
MFA (Master of Fine Arts)
Department
Art
First Advisor
Anita Jung
Abstract
This paper revolves around the idea of the infra-thin, a concept coined by Duchamp, which describes paradoxes and/or phenomena that are not easily defined with words but instead sensed. The infra-thin is illustrated throughout the paper by discussions revolving around scars, bruises, birthmarks, dust, fog, lint, and other similar "things" that are, in some definition of the term, objects. The afore listed entities are used as examples:
1. To initiate a dialogue that starts with Minimalism, bounces back to Duchamp and explains how he influenced the Minimalists, places Warhol in context, describes how Minimalism moved forward from the show at the Jewish Museum, and puts the rest of us working post-1966 in perspective.
2. To begin a conversation about readymades. A readymade being an anonymous, neutral object that we take for face value as "work of art" simply because of an artist's deeming it art. Because it exists as a neutral object, it is seen out of the corner of the viewer's eye, recognized as this anonymous thing that equals art object, and is then forgotten about and only recollected by memory as a readymade as opposed to the object that it resembles.
3. To introduce the idea of attempting to explain through language paradoxes that are sensed and/or attached directly to memory. I start with readymade but then there are other things. Bruises, scars, birthmarks are a few examples. Others include fog, dust, fuzz. Still others are shadows and stains. A few more are vapor and evanescence. Also, things inherently human, like emotion.
Pages
iii, 29
Bibliography
28-29
Copyright
Copyright 2010 Crystal Lyn Roethlisberger
Recommended Citation
Roethlisberger, Crystal Lyn. "This is not my funny Valentine. This is the science of sleep.." thesis, University of Iowa, 2010.
http://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/588.