Wilderness and Civ.
Date of Award
August 2018
Degree Type
Thesis
Department
Art
Advisor(s)
Sam Van Aken
Second Advisor
Peter Beasecker
Keywords
Ecology, Fine arts, Future, Science Fiction, Sculpture
Abstract
In this work, I will compare the ideas that ground my aesthetic practice to three critical thinkers, Jane Bennett, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Timothy Morton. I will frame the paper through Morton’s idea of the Ecological Thought, in an attempt to ground my sense, that ecology needs to be freed from its shackles as a scientific discipline, relegated to The EPA, conservationists, and hippies, and instead is a fundamental tool to examine health in our systems.
I make sculpture, installation, and video that speculates on the future of ecology. In examining the interconnectivity between seemingly disparate systems such as manufacturing, waste disposal, and our bodies, I expose them as equal accumulations of human and non-human. This critique of the proposed supremacy of human agency aims, in part, to reframe contemporary ecology with a perspective that remains hopeful without being afraid to dig in when things get weird. My work practices intimacy with our waste, presence with our extinction event, and looks for sweetness in thinking ecologically.
Access
SURFACE provides description only. Full text may be available to ProQuest subscribers. Please ask your Librarian for assistance.
Recommended Citation
Finley, Caitlin Tyler, "Wilderness and Civ." (2018). Theses - ALL. 258.
https://surface.syr.edu/thesis/258
