From Afar It Is an Island

Abstract

From Afar It Is an Island is an art exhibition that explores the indeterminate ontological realm of objects, their narrative potential, and taxonomic slippage. In this MFA thesis project, exhibited in the University of Michigan’s Kelsey Museum of Archaeology (2013), the visitor encounters a range of fabricated, found, and hybrid objects that resist classification; these objects, with their blurred edges, appear at once familiar and uncertain, obscure and associative. This MFA thesis documents the act of collecting, material experimentation and creative process that went into the creation of this particular body of work. In addition, this document discusses the artistic and textual references that informed the project—ranging from 17th century wunderkammer to the 19th century pseudoscience of psychometry.