Abstract

Feelings are Facts.

“A Conversation to Hold | The Intimacy of Performance” is in the form of an imagined conversation between self-as-artist and self-as-inquisitor (a.k.a. my conscience).

Kellie Spano invites the reader to embrace an empathetic model through a creative practice built on the physicality of embodiment. A deep commitment to performance allows Spano to negotiate female desire, sexuality and beauty through the media of film and photography. Invoking feminist models such as Audre Lorde and Leigh Bowery alongside theoretical writing by Lauren Berlant, Hélène Cixous and Celine Condorelli, Spano asserts her claims. This thesis-as-dialogue delves into empathy through vulnerability, solidarity, and presence to awaken that within us that feels -- ultimately asking its readers to try a little tenderness.

Committee Chair

Jessica Baran

Committee Members

Jessica Baran

Comments

Permanent URL: https://doi.org/10.7936/K71R6NQP

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art

Author's Department

Graduate School of Art

Author's School

Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts

Document Type

Restricted Access Thesis

Date of Award

Spring 3-2015

Language

English (en)

Available for download on Saturday, April 19, 5000

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