School of Art - Theses

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End date: 2009 × Start date: 2000 × Type: Masters Research thesis × Subject: art installations ×

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    Prosthetic propulsion: mechanistic sculpture and interactive installation
    WOODWARD, LAURA ( 2008)
    This paper elucidates upon the research processes undertaken and artistic outcomes developed throughout the Masters of Fine Art project, accompanying the exhibition Pulse, held at Bus Gallery, Melbourne in November 2008. This project has focused primarily on interactive art and the role of the machine within works of art. The machine manifests as both an actual, kinetic element and as a symbolic means to explore the relationship between humankind and technology. The first chapter discusses interactive art, its potentials and difficulties, and relationships between interactive art and installation art. It explores the work of artists such as Jean Tinguely and OIafur Eliasson. At the end of the chapter, the term 'multi-motive' is proposed as a replacement for 'interactive art', to better encompass the work developed during the project. The second chapter deals with the machine within works of art, and in the broader social context, as both an emancipatory and threatening force. The machine is defined throughout as a prosthetic device. Artists that deal with machines and prostheses are discussed, including Jean Tinguely, Stelarc, Louise Bourgeois, Rebecca Horn, Richard Goodwin and OIafur Eliasson. It also briefly covers concepts such as the machine as parasite, the amputated prosthesis, visualisations of the human body as a machine, and the contemporary cyborg, looking at the work of relevant theorists such as Peter Weibel and Donna J. Haraway. These considerations lead to a discussion regarding the use of kinetics within this project, and the potential of kinetics as a means of exploring human nature, the human body, and its inter-relationships with technology. The final chapter explores artistic considerations encountered throughout the project, and experimentation and decisions made in light of these considerations. These include materials, processes, sound, lighting and exhibition within a gallery, referencing artists such as Jean Tinguely and Mona Hatoum. The investigations put forward throughout the paper bring numerous ambiguities to light. The concept of 'multi-motive' artwork blurs distinctions between artist, artwork and viewer. The machine as prosthesis is considered as an ambiguous symbol, destabilising the roles of prosthesis, parasite and host, thus bringing the pre-eminence of the human body into question. The decisions made in regards to artistic considerations also embrace ambiguity, particularly in the notion of twilight as a state of indistinctiveness. The use of these concepts in artwork created throughout the project led to a final body of work that embraces ambiguity, bringing the nature of humankind and its relationship with technology into question.