Abstract
The discourse of liberal humanism set up a classical paradigm that understands a human subject as a consistent, inherent, integral, independent, and unique entity. By revealing the cultural and historical context that legitimized this paradigm, this thesis rejects the universality and permanency of this classical model of human subject. Within the new context sustained by information technology, late capitalism, cybernetics, and post-structuralist theories, this thesis understands the self as a dynamic shaped by various forces, which are generalized as heterogenization and homogenization. The former highlights an individual’s uniqueness and independence—diversifying the community—while the latter facilitates a collective unity and obscures noisy multiplicities. As the power of homogenization grows exponentially with the advancement of information technology in late capitalism, this thesis predicts a techno-capitalist singularity where heterogeneity will be largely erased and such models as individual, subject, and ego will become almost meaningless. Since this thesis is in partial fulfillment of the author’s degree of Master of Fine Arts, the mentioned content will be correlatively discussed with the author’s artwork.
Committee Chair
Zlatko Cosic
Committee Members
Zlatko Cosic
Degree
Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art
Author's Department
Graduate School of Art
Document Type
Restricted Access Thesis
Date of Award
Spring 5-19-2017
Language
English (en)
Recommended Citation
Huang, Wei, "The Approaching Singularity: Toward the Ongoing Extinction of the Individual" (2017). Graduate School of Art Theses. ETD 79.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.7936/K7HT2MR7
Comments
Permanent URL: https://doi.org/10.7936/K7HT2MR7