Publication Date

5-2010

Type of Culminating Activity

Thesis

Degree Title

Master of Fine Arts, Visual Arts

Department

Art

Supervisory Committee Chair

Janice Neri, Ph.D.

Abstract

I see the human experience as composed of both objectivity and subjectivity. Objectivity in that science has helped us better understand our physicality, such as defining biological processes within our body. Empirical knowledge has provided a level of truth in explaining a foundation for our existence.

Subjective experiences materialize as we engage within the environment. Walking in the park or purchasing food seem to be similar experiences for everyone in that we can envision the process of doing it; however, that process is an individual process composed of unique characteristics and perspectives. A subjective experience is as unique as one’s DNA.

As a scholar, I respect the knowledge science can offer and I enjoy researching the seemingly endless information presented on the human body. As an artist, I enjoy questioning and challenging what is presented as factual. How can the human body be quantified? Though science presents data in a very systematic and determined fashion, I believe the human thought process, subjectivity, and the experiential are not considered simultaneously and this limits my understanding of the human experience. My thesis is not to argue that science should adjust its methodology, but rather I interrogate the possibility of understanding the subjectivity of the human experience through the lens of science. Cell(f) is the result of the following question: can objectivity and subjectivity merge to enrich our understanding of the human experience?

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