House of God: MA Thesis

Author

Michael James Cimino, Minnesota State University Mankato

Abstract

What I tried: I considered the viewer more in this exhibition that any other prior. I created this work specifically to provoke response. I strategically exhibited objects deeply rooted in personal meaning, and mass culture in the Midwest. I intended to illicit a broad range of interpretation without any supplementary didactic. I wanted to observe the reaction of the view when no answer is given. I wanted to hear your interpretation without my own influencing yours. What happens with the responsibility falls on the view to make up their own mind, rather than simply responding to a predicated statement.

Why it matters: As the artist of this exhibition, I am trusted to be the voice of it's context, purpose, and meaning. While I'm assumed to be honest in my didactic, there is, and will continue to be, abuse in the vocal and literary explanation of fine art work. Ambiguity and personal metaphor become a crutch which suspends both the work and didactic in a state of plausibility. There is no challenge, and no clout to an artist's work when there is not risk of failure. In many ways, we have stripped the viewer of their own consideration and judgement. I am not an educator, I am not a social advocate, I am not cultured or scholarly. I am not a propagandist for any material, process, cause, or belief. I am an artist. I want to make things that generate questions rather than answers. I want to entertain. I want to make you smile, laugh, maybe cringe and feel offense. I want to push your buttons with an image. I want to make something you have never seen before and probably will never see again. I hope I was able to do that.

Advisor

Mika Laidlaw

Committee Member

Brandon Cook

Committee Member

Amy Toscani

Date of Degree

2016

Language

english

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

College

Arts and Humanities

Recommended Citation

Cimino, M. J. (2016). House of God: MA Thesis [Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University, Mankato]. Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/583/

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