Date of Award
5-2021
Degree Name
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)
Restricted/Unrestricted
Unrestricted
Abstract
The Sublime
The sublime lies in the collision between the outside world and ourselves. The sublime is a mental process that presents the limit of human understanding to the infinite majesty and the unreasonable silence of the world.
The Absurd
The absurd lies in the conflict we have within ourselves. I cannot outgrow my own senselessness in the universe, or the inadequacy I feel when I compare my life to the sublime of the universe. I constantly act irrationally. I have very little control over my feelings and very little restraint over my actions. I’m at the mercy of myself, of my absurdity.
Mythologies --- To Cope with the Sublime and the Absurd
Every culture constructs its own reality through mythologies. Mythologies are human’s self-gratification in order to make sense of the incomprehensible and unreasonable.
Fantasies as Self-gratification
My works are my self-made mythologies. They are my fantasies, my self-granted purpose to cope with the sublime and the absurd.
Foreverness
Reality is cruel. My artwork allows me to rewrite it, or to frame a certain instant permanently. Through my works I live out my fantasies, forever.
Sorrow
The constant senselessness I feel is sad. The hopeless insanity is sad. This subtle somber naturally penetrates every piece I make. It’s the rather slight bitter sting of uneasiness upon the tip of one’s tongue that I chase.
My World
My works are plays of reality and fantasies. Without grounding reality, fantasy would not excite me. Without fantasy, reality is not worth living. Eventually, fantasies become conflated with reality and together form my world. There could be three thousand realities, but there’s no other world than mine.
Mentor/Primary Advisor
Michael Byron
Recommended Citation
Zhang, Ziyi, "No Other World than Mine" (2021). Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers. 87.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/bfa/87