Date of Award
Spring 5-30-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Photography
First Advisor
Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa
Second Advisor
Douglas Nickel
Third Advisor
Anne West
Abstract
These Inadvertent Marks is a photographic investigation of scuffs, stains, residue, scratches, holes, and blemishes as a complex set of inadvertent marks which possess an inextricable relationship to the human intention to find and make meaning in the world. Excluding marks that are clearly the result of highly substantial accidents, I look to consider those which are largely deemed trivial and peripheral as a means of renewing perception and surrendering to the unconsidered. The photographs included are the result of a process of discovery and close consideration through wandering in my local surroundings: urban streets, private homes, airports, bathrooms, alleys, and storefronts. These spaces, frequented by people, are full of inadvertent marks which are the byproduct of our intentions. Catalyzed by existential boredom as a mood that compresses perceptual discrimination, my examination considers these marks as signs that invite interpretations of past actions and human imprecision. This artistic and theoretical inquiry revolves around themes of the semiotic, autonomous, contingent, and meaningful status of these marks as they obstinately stand against the human desire for cleanliness, inerrancy, and a visual cohesion of surfaces; it asks questions of the constitution of signs, establishment of meaning, excess of intentions, and interpretive instability.
Recommended Citation
Wilder, Thomas, "These inadvertent marks" (2020). Masters Theses. 494.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/494
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.