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McMahon_Sarah_MFAThesis_Containers.pdf (58.58 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Containers:An Exploration of Self Through Pixel and Thread

McMahon, Sarah Caitlin
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1524491293446776

Abstract Details

2018, MFA, Kent State University, College of the Arts / School of Art.
In my thesis, I am investigating an understanding of self by using the unique language of textiles to translate digital photography. We construct identity via the mind-body connection, which is the mind’s processing of the body’s physical experience. As human experience is based on linear time, our notions of self depend on a constant cycle of perception, storage, and recollection. However, as memory is an unreliable source, our definitions of inner identity become highly variable. The disconnect between past and present is at the heart of the disconnect between mind and body. The imagery used of the body in the box references interior and exterior forces of influence that contribute to the fluctuation of memory and therefore self- understanding. The box is also symbolic of storage, of something meant be kept, as the picture is used to hold on to an experience or memory. Compartmentalization means an attempt at order. Thus, the imagery of containment connects to the binary nature of both weaving and digital information: the relationship of pixel and thread. Each exists due to their respective systems of order. The digitally designed weave structure both defines through its binary system and obscures through its visual effect. As the proximity to origin affects the clarity or accuracy of memory, so the physical proximity to the weavings determines the clarity of the image. This leads to a question of looking at the imagery and experiencing the sensation of tactility present in textile—looking and touching. Here lies a presentation of embodied cognition—the crux of the mind-body connection. The image/mind is held within the cloth/body.
Janice Lessman-Moss, MFA (Advisor)
Davin Ebanks, MFA (Committee Member)
Andrew Kuebeck, MFA (Committee Member)
23 p.
Design; Fine Arts; Language; Metaphysics; Optics; Philosophy; Systems Design; Technology; Textile Research
textiles; digital photography; pixel; thread; identity; mind-body connection; weaving; jacquard; memory; origin; history; memory bias; glitch; yawp; subjective reality; figure; box; system; matrix; comfort; constriction; existence; pattern; structure

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • McMahon, S. C. (2018). Containers:An Exploration of Self Through Pixel and Thread [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1524491293446776

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • McMahon, Sarah. Containers:An Exploration of Self Through Pixel and Thread. 2018. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1524491293446776.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • McMahon, Sarah. "Containers:An Exploration of Self Through Pixel and Thread." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1524491293446776

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1524491293446776
186
© 2018, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Containers:An Exploration of Self Through Pixel and Thread by Sarah Caitlin McMahon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.