Student: Nora Chellew
Graduation date: May 2017
Type: Area of Interest (double major)
Date approved: November 2015
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Summary
My concentration explores the significance of object-based ontology within the spheres of fine art and interdisciplinary scholarship. I am specifically using sculpture as an exemplar of modern and contemporary fine art, and environmental discourse an exemplar of interdisciplinary scholarship. I am defining object-based learning as the use of site-specific objects to synthesize topics of concern. While the object-oriented focus of this study indicates the micro and macro qualities of conceptual dialogue, the loaded phrase “site-specificity” must be dissected. In my definition of object-reliant learning, I target “site-specificity” as a term encompassing problematization; a term than can be broken down into various expressions. While these subsequent phrases (including geographically-specific, audience-specific, and context-specific) are not entirely sufficient, they indicate the variability of their “site-specific” root (Kwon 2004). After initially providing this clarification, I will not differentiate between objects and site-specific objects. A truly grounded individual object, within this study, must have the potential to be described by material, historical context, and physical or thematic location.
Object-orientation, in the context of site-specific object learning, is prevalent in many disciplines. Learning models based on object-specific-studies have already been implemented in various educational programs (University College London, 2015; BBC, 2015). Object-oriented research is broadly expanding across many fields including, but not limited to, computer science and social theory. Many social theorists, are using objects to expand ideas of action and purpose within social systems. In both artistic and ecological contexts, objects may be analyzed for their intent, as somewhat autonomous actors in the anthropocene. Propositions of object intentionality employ ideas of new empiricism theory, and the theoretical method of constructing actor-networks (Latour 2005). The idea that objects are “actants,” or “protoactants” within these networks gives us more freedom to think of objects as agents affecting and being affected by the world around us (Bennet, 2009).
I will be examining the intersections of object-oriented learning in the contexts of sculptural art and environmental scholarship. I will explore the ways in which object-learning is divided and united by these two disciplines. Paul Robbins and Sarah Moore propose that object lenses are the most efficient medium through which to study environmental themes. While objects alone may not inspire ecological concerns, they are certainly capable of addressing geographically-specific themes and plausible modes of reaction (Robbins et al. 2015). Sherry Turkle believes in the centralizing power of objects, asserting that they offer clarity to those dealing with murky problems. Within the realm of art, objects are aesthetic and necessary; ultimately presenting themselves as necessarily aesthetic. The unique utility of an art object is derived from its inherent and thought-provoking uselessness (Turkle 2007).
In artistic and academic setting, objects are understood and synthesized by virtue of their relevance to known topics (Crockett 2012). The reverse of this structure is true, in that we can stream analyses of vague concepts through the focused lenses of known objects. An object may appear to be intrinsically artistic or inherently academic, in reference to its utility and location. Additionally, a singular object may be synthesized through artistic and academic means. In drawing from these two distinctive frames of reference, the study of a single object may yield similar or dissimilar results. I will consider the plausibility and power of such analogous cross-disciplinary results.
I can potentially place my object-oriented study in three pairs of situated thought experiments. The first thought experiment pair deals with diamonds. The first topic to be studied in the first pair would be the contemporary diamond industry. I would study the diamond industry by utilizing environmental studies methodology to politically analyze its production stages (Robbins et al. 2015). The comparative partner of this industrial analysis would be a dissection of Damien Hirst’s diamond-encrusted skull, For the Love of God, created in 2007, during the age of the Young British Artists (Hirst 2012). Diamond mining, unregulated before 2003, remains a dangerous practice in many African countries, including Angola, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Smillie 2014). In stark comparison to the end of line (cut, priced diamonds), the beginning of this production story employs risky, exploitative labor (Allen 2010). The second set of topics I would pair are New York-based artist Kara Walker’s work “A Subtlety: or the Marvelous Sugar Baby” and a historical perspective of the sugar industry (Creative Time 2014). I would analyze the way that the European colonial sugar demand affected the cultural, social, and physical landscapes of Africa and the Americas (Sidney 1985). The last pair would compare the light-based work of contemporary artist James Turrell to Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology’s “solar ivy” product, in order to analyze the ways in which we do and do not consider light to be an object of learning (SMIT 2011).
Works Cited
Allen, Michael. 2010. “The ‘Blood Diamond’ Resurfaces.” The Wall Street Journal, June 19.
BBC. 2015. “A History of the World: The 100 British Museum Objects.” Accessed October 5 2015. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/about/british-museum-objects/.
Bennett, Jane. 2009. Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. North Carolina: Duke University Press.
Creative Time. 2014. “Create Time Presents.” http://creativetime.org/projects /karawalker/.
Crockett, Clayton. 2012. “Quentin Meillassoux: After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency.” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 71: 251–55.
Damien Hirst. February 2012. “Damien Hirst: Biography: Read more about the artist.” Accessed October 28 2015. http://damienhirst.com/biography/read-more-about0theartist.
Kwon, Miwon. 2004. One Place After Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity. MIT Press.
Latour, Bruno. 2005. Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mintz, Sidney W. 1985. Sweetness and Power. New York: Viking Penguin Inc.
SMIT. 2011. “Solar Ivy Profile.” Accessed November 11 2015. http://solarivy.com/the_idea#profile_target.
Turkle, Sherry, editor. 2007. Evocative Objects: Things we Think With. London: MIT Press.
University College London. 2015. “Object Based Learning Research.” http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/research/object-based-learning-research
Robbins, Paul, and Sarah A. Moore. 2015. “Teaching through objects: grounding environmental studies in things.” Paper presented at the Symposium on Status Quo, Conflict, and Innovation in the ESS Curriculum in Madison, Wisconsin.
Smillie, Ian. 2014. Diamonds. Wiley. EBL.
Questions
- Descriptive: What does the process of object-based learning look like? What are the basic propositions of object-based learning models? What does it mean to claim that an object has intention? What are some American cultural preconceptions regarding intangible material (e.g. light)?
- Explanatory: Why has there been a recent shift towards object-based learning in environmental scholarship? In what ways does object-based theory employ actor-networks?
- Evaluative: How does object-based theory help to focus broad, interlaced, multidisciplinary concepts? How does the educational value of an art object overlap with the educational value of an object in the context of academic research? Who would benefit from an analysis of this disciplinary overlap? Is object-oriented ontology an effective theoretical guide for individuals, or does it rely on strong institutional development?
- Instrumental: How can the intersection between sculptural object-based learning and environmental object-based learning be effectively utilized? How can we support, emphasize, and experiment with the overlap between fine art sculpture and environmental scholarship?
Arts and humanities courses
- PHIL 215 (Philosophy and the Environment, 4 credits). Pre-approved A&H course; no justification required.
- Maryland Institute College of Art Transfer Credit: "Climate Change and Sustainability for Artists and Designers" This class, approved by the ENVS Steering committee, was a combined studio and lecture course. I completed three sculptural projects while enrolled in this course; one piece regarding contemporary food dialogue, one piece regarding energy, and one piece regarding a topic of my choosing. The purpose of this class was to understand various contemporary ecological concerns, and situate them within our own artistic practices.