lost pilgrimage

Thesis ABSTRACT
working version [17 October 06]

«lost | pilgrimage» is a Masters of Fine Arts : Visual Art : Social Practice thesis written in three parts or sections.

A dedication and acknowledgments page prefaces the main thesis body.

01. Our journey begins with a uniform written presentation and analysis of artist Anne Devine’s works: CROSSWALK (2005-2006), BOULEVARD (2006-2007), and ROCK & ROAR (1993-present). A single or double page format is used to describe each of these works that then become the case studies for expansion and example in the later sections.

Pilgrimage. Experimentation. Active seeking. Projects utilize simple acts such as walking. Whether drifting through urban space, drifting through virtual space, or drifting through open/agricultural/abandoned space, she reconsiders new technologies and often abandons them in favor of low-tech and no-tech methods which engage face-to-face communication and spur social dialogue in existing and appropriated, newly collaged communities.

02. In a series of ESSAYS addressing the artist’s content, context, and process, questions asked and explored include: What is the collective experience and how can it be triggered? What can be revealed in repetition? What or how do subtle changes affect perceptions, and what is the role of nuance? What will endure? How do we remember the past, things of the past, another time in time?

- On Intuition, Magic, and Destiny
- On Endurance, Repetition, and Variation
- On Persona, Personality, and Identity
- Giving and receiving are the same
- Taking care of what we have

An informal, conversational tone is used. Personal narrative may be employed.

Each essay topic is visually separate but is not necessarily contained solely under its topic heading. Overspill and intermingling of content may occur in the essay series. Sub-chapters each relate to the specific topic but are not necessarily continuous. These sub-chapters are marked by number, a method of organization denoting further unity. (see Alain de Botton The Art of Travel.)

03. APPENDIX of additional materials provides a hint of backstory and set a reference to build against/from. Letters, bookended – to visual artist and environmentalist Trent Alvey, to author and environmentalist Doug Peacock. diaristic blog entries from CROSSWALK and BOULEVARD.

In thesis exhibition, two works are presented.

BOULEVARD is a new landscape inquiry loosely springing from an experimental combination of: about 300 sheets of expired 4x5 positive film and 4x5 color and black & white Polaroid film, an ultra minimalist wooden pinhole camera loaned from a friend, and the simple utter truth that the artist fell in love with a 14 mile palm-lined boulevard in Fresno one evening. Some form of performative element is included in BOULEVARD which speaks to the grace, the elegance, of a time past. Gallery presentation may include BOULEVARD’s performance documentation, project ephemera, and/or photographic installation.

A postcard with a description and sitemap locating CROSSWALK will be available for take away.