The great delusion

Author

Beth Johnston, Rhode Island School of DesignFollow

Date of Award

Spring 6-4-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

Photography

First Advisor

Laine Rettmer

Second Advisor

Anne West

Third Advisor

Nicole M. Merola

Abstract

The climate crisis is a wicked problem that poses many obstacles for action and understanding. This thesis is a non-linear accumulation of academic essays, interpolated with lists, anecdotal observations, data, and artwork that together explore the entanglements and complications of the climate crisis and my journey in making artwork as a response to those complications. The thesis surveys six bodies of artwork created over the course of graduate school, which use photography, sculptural installation, performance, and video to illustrate various topics and methodologies. Grounded in research on environmental justice, this essay explores temporal disjunctures, climate data encounters, the decolonization of nature, and how to visualize the imperceptible.

Comments

View exhibition online: Beth Johnston, The Great Delusion

Recommended Citation

Johnston, Beth, "The great delusion" (2022). Masters Theses. 908.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/908

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.