Gaietto, Dawn Marie;
(2019)
What is happening here? [exploits of the nonhuman].
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (Univeristy College London).
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Abstract
What is happening here? [exploits of the nonhuman] is a practice-led research project introducing the proposition of anthrodecentric art as conceptual framework. I propose anthrodecentric art to be a relational logic opening a state of re-enchantment for the viewer, allowing for the emergence of visible nonhuman agencies. My development of anthrodecentric art follows two lines of enquiry: ‘How can the practice of art-work to reveal nonhuman agencies?’ and, ‘What types of representation are most revealing of nonhuman agency to a human audience?’ My practical methodology begins with my working theory, testing variations of representation through experiments, generating diagrammatic arguments, enacting these diagrams in space, and developing analytic tools to understand how works impact viewers. I propose that the resulting art objects are not representations of theory but embodiments, extending beyond representation and generating spaces of function — the revelation of nonhuman agencies. I work through modes of non-Cartesian representation, creating a system of connective tissues, conceptual fibres of understanding the relational space between the real/represented through a state of re-enchantment — a space where the real and the represented are equally present/erased. The works presented within this project are works with animate nonhumans as present and active subjects; drawing from social, political, cultural, and ecological histories with the intention to seduce the viewer into a state of re-enchantment with the present and past nonhuman. I propose the viewer is key to the entirety of this project, with the aim of changing perspectives from cultural narcissism to that of a relational and connected existence. The layering of types of representation within each installation of work is intended to de-stabilise the viewer and allow for new ideas and thoughts to emerge — to generate a space of shifting perspectives.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | What is happening here? [exploits of the nonhuman] |
| Event: | UCL |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > The Slade School of Fine Art |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10079491 |
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