Date of Award
Spring 5-19-2017
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art
Degree Type
Restricted Access Thesis
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.
Language
English (en)
Program Director
Patricia Olynyk
Program Director's Department
Graduate School of Art
Thesis Advisor
Richard Krueger
Committee Member
Zlatko Cosic
Committee Member
Zlatko Cosic
Committee Member
Jonathan Hanahan
Committee Member
Buzz Spector
Recommended Citation
Huang, Wei, "The Approaching Singularity: Toward the Ongoing Extinction of the Individual" (2017). Graduate School of Art Theses. ETD 79. https://doi.org/10.7936/K7HT2MR7.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/samfox_art_etds/79
Artist's Statement
Permanent URL: https://doi.org/10.7936/K7HT2MR7