As science progressed, the understanding of optical perception developed. Today, our understanding of how we see turns upon the notion that light is reflected off an object, penetrates the eye and is then processed through rods and cones. This information is then sent to the brain where it is interpreted. Our intellectual interaction with the outside world is based upon a firm boundary between ourselves and an object. In the Middle Ages, things were more fluid. The boundaries between the self and the object were blurred. The reason for this was that the optical mode accepted at the time was intromission. This mode consists of a process where an object be it actual or artistic representation physically penetrates the eye and then, like a wax seal, imprints itself onto the brain. This created an embodied, intellectual experience. When the contemporary view studies Medieval Art they must somehow adopt this older lens. This project explores the concept of intromission through the presentation of Illuminated Manuscripts, Altar Pieces, and Painted Crosses. It considers the short falls of today’s science in regards to this older, more sensual experience of sight.

Darkness is the focus of many works of art. In this essay I compare two artists works and their exploration of darkness. In How It Is, Miroslaw Balka asks the viewer to enter into and explore an environment in a physical and figurative sense. In contrast, Maya Lin beckons the beholder to examine literal and cultural darkness through a historical context, in her Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Though very different spaces, these works also take up a huge amount of space, which makes these experiences unforgettable. Each is deeply and intimately visceral, putting the viewer in a space where they must come to terms with either a corporeal experience or historical sense of darkness. I compare the use of darkness to understand the ways that these works explore themes of loss, fear, death, and strangely, comfort. I will comment on my own experience of these works to dissect these large sculptural installations. Balka’s sculpture creates an environment where a viewer must blindly walk forward into a dark void and discover the work through their other senses, while Lin’s memorial provides space to contemplate the darkness of war and to grieve for those lost. From their appearance, these spaces seem focused on negative emotions connected to darkness but I found that they create a sense of comfort when experienced. The intense emotions connected to experiencing these works lead me to a place of comfort where I have fully come to terms with each work. In this presentation, I will discuss the notion of safety in darkness, bring in more ancient understandings of the concept, and state how these works re-engage the concept.

This project discusses Hans Haacke and Christo’s works and the limiting effects of landlords. Haacke’s Shapolsky et al. Manhattan Real Estate Holdings, a Real-Time Social System, as of May 1, 1971 (1971) documents the expansiveness of the Shapolsky et al. Manhattan Real Estate Holdings. At the time, this group owned the largest concentration of real estate in New York, primarily in under-privileged areas. Through a series of images accompanied by supporting data, Haacke exposes the exploitation of the slumlords. Furthermore, the exhibition scheduled for the Guggenheim was cancelled shortly before the opening (involving a separate type of landlord—the Museum director, Thomas Messer). In contrast, Christo, the artist himself, recently pulled his proposal for Over the River. Christo and Jeanne-Claude, his late wife, designed the outdoor gigantic fabric canopy to span over forty-two miles of the Arkansas River in Colorado. They began planning the project over twenty years ago and, to date, have invested fifteen million of their own funds. Their carefully selected location, however, resides on federal land. Due to the recent presidential election upset, Christo abandoned the project. He refuses to allow President Donald Trump, his new landlord and antagonistic statesman against the arts, any form of ownership over the work. In this project, I explore the relationship between art and politics and the importance of artistic independence.

The sheer number of people living on the planet has led to an increase in the burning of fossil fuels and the use of industrialized animal livestock. We are now forceful agents and have caused much of our current planetary ecological crisis. In this project, I use Dipesh Chakrabarty and Timothy Morton to outline key issues within the current debates on global warming and the politics of anthropocenic influences. Chakrabarty rebels against treating the environment simply as a silent and passive backdrop. His aim is to end the age-old humanist distinction between natural history and human history. Morton takes up Chakrabarty’s discourse to show how ecological thought can be used to transcend disciplinary boundaries. He argues that art can help us deal with many of the complex issues that arise from destabilizing environmental conditions.This project focuses on the importance of learning from nature and bio-diversity. Tomas Saraceno uses structures found in spider webs and patterns seen in bubbles to create ecological interactive installations and, in doing so, brings the environment to the foreground. In Cloud Cities, he enables the viewer as participant to experience new forms of habitat and envision possibilities for a sustainable planet. Saraceno’s radically open use of intelligent design is clearly what Morton has in mind for his work suggests ways that our global community can become a more productive and less destructive ecological agent.
 

Marcus Rothkowitz (or, Mark Rothko) was a hightly influential painter of the Abstract Expressionist period in American art history. He is most well-known for his large, consuming color field paintings. Rothko invested deep, emotional and spiritual feelings in to each of his pieces; creating a specific experience he hoped his viewers would have. Because of his own emotional investment he became increasingly concerned with his audience’s reaction to his art. In 1958 Rothko was commissioned for the Four Seasons restaurant in the Seagram Building in New York City-a project which he would eventually leave unfinished. Six years later Rothko was also commissioned for his contribution to what would later become known as the Rothko Chapel. Both of these commissions were for large works focused around public audiences experiencing his art in site-specific environments. In this essay I aim to explore Rothko’s dedication to finding specific environments for his work to be experienced in the emotional, physical and spiritual senses. I explore his successes and failures in his endeavor by comparing these two incredibly influential works. The lasting legacy of Rothko gives us a greater understanding of the relationship between audience experience and site-specific artwork through the craft of the curator and artist's own vision; a relationship in constant change in the art world of today. 

 Juliana Huxtable was born intersex, raised male and eventually transitioned to female after moving to New York. Huxtable studied art, gender studies, and human rights at Bard College, afterwards working as a legal assistant for American Civil Liberties Union’s Racial Justice Program. She also worked a string of odd jobs to make a living, including being a DJ, and a model. In her art, she engages race, gender, being queer, and identity. Rather than prioritizing one issue over another, she makes them fluid in her work. Her photographs highlight the importance of representation and how valuable it is to the public eye. Through cultural analysis and identity politics, this project looks at how Huxtable transcends gender and sexuality roles and expectations by embracing her body in highly eroticized photographs. I also delve into issues in the black and the queer communities, as well as the combined and adverse issues of being black and queer. By challenging the way we perceive images as representation, Huxtable opens the gates to change our preconceived notions on the queer community while celebrating her own identity.

In 1988, 19th century realist painter Gustave Courbet's The Sleepers made its first public debut since he painted it in 1866 and was rejected from the Salon, a show for upcoming artists in the 19th century. Since then, in popular culture the work has reached a cult-status. However, it represents a hetero-normative view of Sapphic relationships. This hetero-normative depiction of Sapphic women has been exploited continuously for the view of primarily heterosexual men. To reclaim these images for the Queer community, artists must depict their own interpretations of deviant sexual intimacy. This often means subverting the dominant narrative, for example in Je, Tu, Il Elle, Chantal Akerman's depicts an intensely physical portrayal of intimacy. In contrast, Nicole Eisenman's Good Morning Studio, illustrates distorted non-gendered figures melting into each other, resonating with Courbet's The Sleepers and offers a divergent sensuality. When Queer artists portray deviant sensual narratives, they transpose hetero-normative views and make them more relatable to Queer identifying people. In this presentation, I will discuss these works and contexualize diverse artists use of 'deviant' sexualities to expose new narratives. I also plan to evaluate how Queer artists depict their expressions of intimacy compared to how a heterosexual man, such as Courbet, portrays Queer intimacy. This research will further how society interprets Queer imagery, using a Queer Theory and Semiotic methodology. With this work, I hope to expose these narratives and increase interest into the study of LGBTQ+ visual art.

Robert Morris’ steam undermines more traditional sculptural artworks. His Untitled Steam Work for Bellingham (1967) is the best remaining example of his innovative exploration into alternative media. In the piece Morris uses an intangible, anti-sculptural medium — physically tentative, and exuding indefinite permanence. It is located at the remote, northeastern end of Western Washington University’s campus. When activated, steam, seemingly inexplicably, rises from the earth’s rolling landscape; in cold morning air, steam expands skyward and perpetually dissipates into a hazy fog. More specifically, the nature of Morris’ elusive sculpture resists definition and, in definitive ways, is contrary to the works of his contemporary minimalist counterparts. Morris’ rebellious fascination with steam informs his philosophical approach to anti-form. He once wrote that he favored “change over continuity” and that his aim was “to shatter the unity of a given subject.” Steam resists physical form. Moreover it changes with the local ecology: the outside temperature, time of the day, and the humidity in the climate continually impact the composition of the sculpture. His Untitled Steam Work lacks permanence, only viewable at certain times of the day, as its vapors quickly dissipate. While Untitled Steam Work was not Morris’ only anti-form sculptural installation – he explored chance in his 1968 Scatter Piece, using blocks in random forms — Untitled Steam Work’s ephemeral qualities became Morris’ best example of anti-form. This essay explores Morris’ rejection of art that lasts. It compares Morris’ various explorations of anti-form to his more known minimalist artworks. It makes a case that Morris’ ephemeral, provocative medium of steam is the truest example of his indefinable anti-form. The site-specific sculpture resists its chronological placement, as it moves beyond the prevailing minimalist hard form materials.

Amongst the graffiti blanketing the cities of Athens and Berlin, depictions of children stand out as a solemn reminder of the dire nature of the current refugee crisis in Europe. Due to the large number of refugees passing through, or settling, in various European states, governments have reduced individuals to statics. This data-driven approach, focused on the number of people and the cost of providing basic resources, dominates the news and international discourse. Combating this statistical discussion, artists have created works that demonstrate the humanity of the crisis. Because paint and printers are easily accessible, street art portrays a broader public sentiment towards the crisis, countering the governmental narrative. This project examines graffiti in Athens and Berlin, and the insights it provides on the refugee crisis that cannot be derived from the official discourse. Using images of children, artists in both cities have manufactured an alternative narrative articulating the challenges facing the individuals involved in the crisis and highlighting their struggle in Europe. Because Athens and Berlin function as endpoints of the refugees’ journey, as many enter through Greece before traveling northwest to Germany, a study of the graffiti responding to the migration in these cities is of particular importance. After collecting hundreds of images in-situ during July of 2016, using geo-tagged web-based content and information from locals on hubs of graffiti, several themes emerged, the most prevalent being representations of children. The lack of scholarship on graffiti pertaining to this refugee crisis necessitated the use of art historical images of children in conjunction with current graffiti scholarship to create a methodological framework. Employing the iconographic, semiotic and socio-economic methodologies, I conclude that the works promote the humanization of the crisis and force recognition of the refugees as individuals, thereby opposing the governmental narrative.

I have completed a series of 16 multimedia collages inspired by and in reference to Beethoven’s 16 string quartets. My project can be understood as a visual prose – a colloquial yet refined exploration of major themes such as layers of abstraction, data structure, and emotional processing. My work aims to respond to the popular concept of humans as high powered computational machines by emphasizing how computers simultaneously mimic and record human thought processes. I am inspired by the way these metaphors juxtapose human spontaneity, creativity, and emotion with the human tendency to build highly structured and explicitly organized environments. I have chosen Beethoven as my muse because of the expansive volume of existing literature on his life and work, in both English and German, and because of the deeply embedded cultural references and acquired connotations that surround his life and music. My ultimate problematic is to demonstrate the power of sets, collections, and standardized forms as indispensable aspects of creative innovation, and to apply these insights to a well-known and generally accessible body of classical literature.