Date of Award
Spring 5-31-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Jewelry and Metalsmithing
First Advisor
Tracy Steepy
Second Advisor
Lauren Fensterstock
Third Advisor
Peter S. Dean
Abstract
'Ontology of the Discarded' proposes a methodology for conferring existential legitimacy on everyday objects that are easily cast aside by turning them into jewelry. By projecting my own experience of once having been abandoned onto these trivial, voiceless things, the work offers consolation and a path to overcoming neglect. The thesis philosophically analyzes the human〝object relationship and the value judgments humans impose on objects, and, through research on related artworks, demonstrates how jewelry-fying quotidian items transforms both their value and their relationship with viewers. Each piece examines the object's inherent properties and, through strategic jewelryification, elevates it with a distinct approach. Through this thesis, I seek to deliver a message of comfort and to affirm that beings once despised possess the right to exist in this world.
Recommended Citation
Kwon, Hae Young, "Ontology of the Discarded" (2025). Masters Theses. 1382.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1382
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Included in
Art and Materials Conservation Commons, Art Practice Commons, Metal and Jewelry Arts Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons