Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2010
Capstone Advisor
Dr. M. Gail Hamner
Honors Reader
Dr. Ed F. Mooney
Capstone Major
Philosophy
Capstone College
Arts and Science
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Humanities
Subject Categories
Other Philosophy | Philosophy | Religion
Abstract
How are we oriented toward things outside our bodies? More specifically, how are our bodies tethered by the hooks of ideology, lurched forward in the inertia of consumer capitalism, or led tacitly by state and social apparatuses? This orienting of our bodies toward prescribed action relies on the conscious recognition these (abstract) objects exterior to our selves—we must face them, to complete the orienting process. But what happens when we turn away? And what kind of objects could so capture our attention, as to divert the normative gaze from the ushers of hegemonic power? Art that exists outside of commodity production—art that is created outside the realm of surplus value production—has this special, distracting power. The properties of finite temporality, and spatial fixity in such non-commodity art frustrate the process of commodification. But perhaps more importantly, such art may lure us to frustrate this process (and others) ourselves. Given that the grounding of our orientation toward ideology may be two-fold, inwardly and exteriorly grounded, the act of resistance becomes a process that relies on a new recognition of what directs us, and how we react. Special art sites and spaces are one element of that dual grounding that demands not only where we are, but where we should be. In this way, these sites become the grounding of resistance.
How are we oriented toward things outside our bodies? More specifically, how are our bodies tethered by the hooks of ideology, lurched forward in the inertia of consumer capitalism, or led tacitly by state and social apparatuses? This orienting of our bodies toward prescribed action relies on the conscious recognition these (abstract) objects exterior to our selves—we must face them, to complete the orienting process. But what happens when we turn away? And what kind of objects could so capture our attention, as to divert the normative gaze from the ushers of hegemonic power? Art that exists outside of commodity production—art that is created outside the realm of surplus value production—has this special, distracting power. The properties of finite temporality, and spatial fixity in such non-commodity art frustrate the process of commodification. But perhaps more importantly, such art may lure us to frustrate this process (and others) ourselves. Given that the grounding of our orientation toward ideology may be two-fold, inwardly and exteriorly grounded, the act of resistance becomes a process that relies on a new recognition of what directs us, and how we react. Special art sites and spaces are one element of that dual grounding that demands not only where we are, but where we should be. In this way, these sites become the grounding of resistance.
Recommended Citation
Stansbury, Lauren Emily, "Exploring the Space of Resistance: Art as a Site of Re-Orientation" (2010). Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All. 332.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/332
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