Supernumerary

Author/Artist Name

Ethan BestFollow

Files

Academic Level at Time of Creation

Senior

Date of Creation

Fall 12-7-2017

Artist Statement

For me, art is centered on shifting perspectives, the analysis of communication and the impact of art on our society. It is a reflection of a cultural collective consciousness; manifestations of a collection of beliefs and worldviews that function both as a time capsule and as a direct line into the world of ideas. I create work that is fundamentally founded in personal exploration and interpretation of the artwork at hand. Each piece is, in essence, a catalyst for discovery. For this reason I use a largely minimalist approach in creating objects that have a strong phenomenological presence and have any and all meaning compressed into openly-interpretable visual cues. Narrative is only determinable through heavy investigation of the piece, and even then is largely subjective. There is an emphasis on untranslatability; an inability to fully understand outside of personal experience and interpretation. While some preconceived meaning is inherited through the use of visual metaphor, the intuitive patterning of the metaphor is obscured due to its vagueness or the further layering of conflicting patterns. Furthermore, the context from which the iconography is drawn from varies greatly.

Whether it be literary and philosophical references or from TV and internet culture, all imagery is of equal of importance. They blend together creating a sense of unsure, uncomfortable half-familiarity. While the art itself is confounded and is relative to the viewer, that does not mean that it is meaningless. Meaning is instead inscribed by the context of the work from the spectator's perspective. This oscillation between investigation of predetermined meaning and objective non-meaning is meant to give the work a sense of sublime absurdity. The spectator is fully free to investigate and form their own opinions on what the work is and what it means, and, therefore, are entirely responsible for those beliefs.

Advisor/Mentor

Christopher Lavery

Description

Images of my installation work from my final exhibition.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Best, Ethan, "Supernumerary" (2017). Professional Practices (ART 399). 30.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art399/30