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.

Comments

View exhibition online: Dougal Henken, Superbland

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