University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The gooey, the bloody, and just plain gross: exploring art and visual culture with an abject visual methodology

Livingston, Susan Briana

Content Files
LIVINGSTON-DISSERTATION-2016.pdf

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/90506

Description

Title
The gooey, the bloody, and just plain gross: exploring art and visual culture with an abject visual methodology
Author(s)
Livingston, Susan Briana
Issue Date
2016-04-18
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Duncum, Paul A.
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Duncum, Paul A.
Committee Member(s)
  • Kaplan, Brett
  • Hetrick, Laura
  • Lucero, Jorge
Department of Study
Art & Design
Discipline
Art Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Date of Ingest
2016-07-07T19:53:22Z
Keyword(s)
  • Abject
  • Abjection
  • Abject Art
  • Art
  • Visual Culture
  • Psychoanalysis
  • Julia Kristeva
  • Disgust
  • Judith Butler
  • Art Education
Abstract
This doctoral study concerns itself with the diverse and abundant images of disgust in fine art and popular visual culture. My study is ground in a deep understanding of disgust and the psychoanalytic theory of the abject as developed by Julia Kristeva and modified by later scholars like Chanter and Butler. However, these scholars do not concern themselves specifically with the arena of the visual. To address this lack, I have developed an abject visual methodology. This abject visual methodology is predicated on other methodological works, like Sandoval's Methodology of the oppressed, and it is designed specifically to elucidate the intricate intersections of material, process, subject, narrative and viewership in application to art which disgusts. I use my abject visual methodology to create a taxonomy of abject art, which provides a broad survey of the types of disgusting or psychological uncomfortable images found in the art world. This taxonomy also allows for a demonstration of my abject visual methodology as a tool of inquiry and analysis. Finally, I argue for the relevance of both abject art and an abject visual methodology in art education, a discipline that in general avoids the controversial. Abject art can lead to a fruitful and generative revolt that allows not only for personal expression but the construction of deep empathetic connections and the ability to manage critical thinking.
Graduation Semester
2016-05
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90506
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2016, Susan B. Livingston

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Graduate Dissertations and Theses at Illinois PRIMARY
Graduate Theses and Dissertations at Illinois