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Gallery

Movie: A Bold Transmeation (wmv, 17 MB)

David Jarred
Xavier University

Subject Listing - Studio Art
Advisor: Kimberly Howes

Friday, Visual Art Session 4, Presentation 2, University Gallery

DISCULTURE: AN EXAMINATION OF AMERICAN CULTURAL IDENTITY

Disculture is a body of work consisting of a sculptural installation containing three life-size figures inside a prison-like cell. For the bodies of the figures thrift-store clothing is sewn together over foam armatures with pieces of the cloth molded into heads and hands. The prison cell is made of two wooden 10'x10' squares forming a base and cap connected with 8'h. x 2" diameter PVC posts. The posts' surfaces are covered with magazine fashion ads in a photo-montaged format. Viewers can actually enter the cell and become part of the installation, experiencing how advertising and fashion affect one's identity. Other work is a short video entitled A Bold Transmeation, which combines stop motion photography and live action video to tell the story of a young woman who is compelled to cut all the hair off of her head. The young woman then experiences a brutal struggle to liberate her individual identity from her cultural identity. This piece is typically shown on an LCD monitor while it plays in a continuous loop from a DVD player. As a body of work Disculture explores American habits and ideas that acculturate biases. This idea is significant to interactions between various cultures in the world. This work reflects the continuous flux of American culture, a sea of ideologies and intricacies that can be endlessly explored.

David A. Jarred
Advisor: Kimberly Howes
Department of Art
Xavier University
Cincinnati, OH

Advisor:  Kimberly Howes, Assistant Professor, Department of Art, Xavier University, cincinnati, OH