Date of Award

Summer 8-22-2019

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

Intermedia

Advisor

Susan Smith

Second Committee Member

Nathaniel Aldrich

Third Committee Member

Sofian Audry

Abstract

The thesis work was derived from the evolution of an artistic practice following certain inspirations and interest in a specific set of tools. As an artist I was always interested in cinema and the ways in which imagery can affect an audience. When I got into the Intermedia MFA program, I became interested in the Surrealism movement and its desire to move away from traditionally accepted logic and forms. This movement was surrounded by emerging ideas in psychology at the time perpetuated by the “fathers of psychology” William James and Sigmund Freud. Their understandings of stream of consciousness and psychoanalysis of dreams were important to Andre Breton and the Surrealist movement in trying to understand the nature of thought. Having studied these ideas and experimental techniques in video arts I sought to combine these interests into a single project. I always had an interest in stream of consciousness and wondered if there was a way to share it with others. This project sought to determine if a stream of 2 consciousness could be represented through video installation techniques using space and materials as metaphors and video as a tool for representing “thoughts.” Although the initial piece was successful on some levels, future iterations will be made to address some of the complexity of such an endeavor.

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