North of the Heart East of Victory

Author

Joel Hansen, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Abstract

Just as music can be described as colorful and text can provide texture, art has a voice. That voice can scream, whisper or babble incoherently. It can also sing. Making art sing is the overarching goal of all my work. There are no formulas or templates, of which I am aware, on how to accomplish this but if I think of individual pieces as songs, a series as an album and exhibits as concerts art can become sonorous. Shadows and highlights act as rhythm. Color and composition behave as melodies and arrangements. If I've done my job correctly the art will transcend mere ink on paper and become broader than visual. It should resonate without making a sound.

The overlooked spaces and mundane objects of everyday life are the subjects that capture my attention. A brief glimpse gives way to pause, pause gives way to contemplation, and soon I am studying a doorjamb, finding art in it somewhere. The familiar and the forgotten views can convey art.

It's easy to make art from that which is already beautiful, making a shower curtain interesting, meaningful, musical, academic, proletarian, poignant, portable, prophetic and beautiful is where the challenge resides for me.

Advisor

Brian Frink

Committee Member

Alisa Eimen

Committee Member

David Rogers

Date of Degree

2017

Language

english

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

College

Arts and Humanities

Recommended Citation

Hansen, J. (2017). North of the Heart East of Victory [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/738/

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.