Breaking Naming: The Multi-Valency of Being Human

Abstract

Violence, whether physical or psychological, is sustained by the act of 'naming' -- placing people into categories of 'the other' based on a singular difference in socio-economic, ethnic, cultural, or religious identity. Art by its very nature works best when it succeeds in breaking the categories of certainty inherent in naming, disabling the mastery of language and optical assumptions the viewer brings with them to the work. My work seeks to break the 'violence of naming' -- transforming depictions and objects of violence by undermining the ability to fit them easily into pre-existing visual categories. Through the creation of dislocating juxtapositions, visual layering, and the deployment of surrealism my work seeks to change the meaning and substance of oppositional relationships and objects of violence, and in the process explores the multi-valency of human identity and connections between people. At a secondary level, within the context of war, and specifically Western interventions in the Middle-East and Central Asia, my work is also a critique of imperialism and power. "Breaking Naming: The Multi-Valency of Being Human" consists of three large-scale oil & acrylic paintings and two smaller sculptural/interactive installations which collectively serve as my Thesis Exhibition. In the course of this thesis paper I explore my strategies for 'breaking naming' by using specific descriptions of the works as launching points for formal, thematic, and conceptual discussions of the works. In the process I also draw on examples from my research and close with an exploration of the theoretical and metaphysical framework for the pieces.