Landscapes of the Hinged Trunk: With Seams of Glass and Bone

Abstract

This thesis engages the construction of a particular kind of artwork, namely an artwork that functions as an occult device, capable of affecting the physical body of the viewer as well as the space the artwork occupies. The procedure described is a process of searching out and defining the formal, aesthetic, affective, and theoretical parameters inherent to the production of such a picture. The methods outlined reflect these defined elements, speaking to issues of materiality as they relate to the eventual dispatch of esoteric affects. The results described here and referred to in the text are a series of artworks that embody the tenets of the research carried out. These works are material, phenomenologically perceptible objects that elicit affect from physical bodies. The conclusion of these results is the definition of a model; it is the construction of a pictorial device capable of projecting immaterial transmissions.