Date of Award
Spring 5-17-2018
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art
Degree Type
Thesis
Abstract
This thesis is an exploratory effort to bridge the rift that political and monetary powers created between art and technology. In my practice, these socio-political motivations are exposed through the creation of non-utilitarian inventions that use different technologies as charged metaphors. I research mass media language and construct interactive pieces while borrowing strategies from the entertainment industry to make environmental, social, and political issues more palatable than documentary films or raw data could. In my work, technology is regarded as a semidivine entity with supernatural powers that can both elevate and reduce the human experience. My work functions differently according to its audience: it encourages technology experts to consider the moral ramifications of their creations, and artists to recognize technology as one of the leading influencing factors in contemporary society.
Language
English (en)
Program Director
Patricia Olynyk
Program Director's Department
Graduate School of Art
Thesis Advisor
Buzz Spector
Studio/Primary Advisor
Patricia Olynyk
Studio/Primary Advisor
Zlatko Ćosić
Committee Member
Rebecca Messbarger
Committee Member
Rebecca Messbarger
Source Code
Documents Please_Jacopo_Mazzoni.mov (698085 kB)
Documents Please, video piece
Jacopo Mazzoni - Thesis Defense.pdf (13619 kB)
Thesis Defense
Recommended Citation
Mazzoni, Jacopo, "The Vanishing Line" (2018). Graduate School of Art Theses. ETD 111. https://doi.org/10.7936/K7GX4B0J.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/samfox_art_etds/111
Included in
Applied Ethics Commons, Art Practice Commons, Audio Arts and Acoustics Commons, Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Digital Humanities Commons, Fine Arts Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, Interactive Arts Commons, Other Italian Language and Literature Commons, Science and Technology Studies Commons
Artist's Statement
As a computer scientist turned artist, I find myself in a strange liminal space: a twilight zone, where the absurdities of both worlds are revealed. In my work, the fluid nature of technology - with its possibilities, obsolescence, and convenience - is exposed to include its sinister consequences that are often overlooked by the general public. My installations revolve around themes of ecology, integration, freedom of thought, and surveillance. My work is not a manifesto against innovation, but it denounces the use of technology as a system of oppression rather than empowerment.
Permanent URL: https://doi.org/10.7936/K7GX4B0J