Date of Award
Summer 6-3-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Graphic Design
First Advisor
Anastasiia Raina
Second Advisor
Christopher Sleboda
Third Advisor
Clement Valla, Mattia Casalegno
Abstract
"A thin wafer is placed in the mouth of a kneeling woman and becomes flesh. A man masturbates quietly in a darkened room to a 3D model of a popular film actress. A car drives through an abandoned town and decelerates as it approaches a sign reading “Slow Children Playing.” A man fastidiously mows an artificial lawn while watching the sun dip low over a vast desert horizon. Superbland opens up new paths in understanding graphic design within the realm of the hyperreal. It begins with a study of simulation in graphic design contexts, building upon established forms of meaning-making by testing and developing a variety of mapping and modeling processes. Further, it pushes against the notion of simulation as a purely digital experience and expands the definition to include a variety of physical and phenomenological events. Whereas previous studies of simulation seek to understand the technical, the singular, and even the divine, Superbland probes the use and function of simulation in more banal and unremarkable locations, raising the commonplace to a position of artistry. In this way, it pushes the reader to consider the nature of visual language less as constative fact and more as persuasive performance.
Recommended Citation
Henken, Dougal, "Superbland" (2023). Masters Theses. 1097.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1097
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Included in
Fine Arts Commons, Graphic Design Commons, Interdisciplinary Arts and Media Commons, Visual Studies Commons
Comments
View exhibition online: Dougal Henken, Superbland