Date of Award
Spring 5-22-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Digital Media
First Advisor
Mariela Yeregui
Second Advisor
Leah Beeferman
Third Advisor
Stephen Cooke
Abstract
This thesis explores the middle ground as an unstable and continuously negotiated condition rather than a fixed point of balance or compromise. Beginning with the idea of rabbitness—not as an image or symbol, but as a mode of sensing characterized by sensitivity, immediacy, and constant adjustment—the research investigates how perception operates within moments of uncertainty, hesitation, and instability.
Drawing from Slavoj Žižek’s notion of the Real as ruptures within symbolic structures, this project considers experiences that resist complete articulation: moments of anxiety, hesitation, and unresolvable tension. Rather than treating these moments as interruptions, this thesis approaches them as productive spaces where new forms of experience can emerge.
The slider becomes both a conceptual framework and an artistic method. Moving beyond its conventional role as a graphical interface element, the slider is redefined as a gesture of modulation: a continuous process of adjusting, responding, and negotiating between states. Through sensation logs, instruction-based experiments, and interactive systems developed in digital environments such as TouchDesigner, this research examines how micro-adjustments and unstable conditions shape perception.
The resulting artistic practice does not aim to lead viewers toward fixed outcomes or stable meanings. Instead, it creates situations that invite ongoing adjustment and prolonged engagement with transitional states. Through this process, the middle ground is understood not as a destination, but as a temporary space that emerges through continuous interaction.
Recommended Citation
Liu, Yiyun, "Not Reaching the End" (2026). Masters Theses. 1572.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1572
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