Consuming Ourselves to Death: Identity & Myth-Making in the Digital Age

Ben Michalsky, College of Engineering and Stamps School of Art & Design

Consulted with: Osman Khan, Professor, Stamps; Quinn Hunter, Assistant Professor, Stamps; Okyoung Noh, Stamps; Andy Thompson, Alumni; Jon Estrada, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Ben Teague, Lecturer II, Stamps

As a dual-degree student in both the Fine Arts & Mechanical Engineering department, my sculptural and artistic practice at-large are inherently interdisciplinary. In the conceptualization and realization of my sculptures, I employ engineering problem-solving when facing material and structural issues. To create large, concave, hollow ceramic forms, I have drawn on engineering coursework to identify ideal material properties and geometry for these sculptures. Additionally, I have consulted with my former ME382: Mechanical Behavior of Materials professor, Jon Estrada, to ideate engineering-informed testing methods for chosen clay bodies, as well as with Stamps ceramics professors Ben Teague & Quinn Hunter for their expertise in the subject.

Conceptually, this project is driven by academic, library research on the topics of semiotics and media theory. These research topics are common amongst students of academic units such as the School of Information, as well as Communications & Media, and Film, Television, and Media students in LS&A. This forefronting of Media Theory within my project is another element of the interdisciplinary nature of this work. I have consulted with Professor Osman Khan heavily during the conceptualization and research phase of this project.

Ultimately, I am focused on creating an experiential installation of sculptural objects and video projection. This is situated within the contemporary practices of social critique, post-internet art, and new aesthetics, and draws inspiration from a wide field of currently practicing conceptual artists. This project is facilitated in-making through my mechanical engineering background, and supported academically and conceptually through my additional academic interest in Media Theory. This work is a culmination of my three paths of scholarly pursuits as a University of Michigan student (Art, Engineering, and Media), as I seek to synthesize my coursework and independent study in this Stamps BFA thesis project with aid from many Stamps Professors.

This project is currently in progress, and needs funding support for its final realization. I have created the necessary molds for making the ceramic televisions, tested the requisite clay bodies, and created test-pieces/proof of concepts for the sculptures. Over the next several months, with support from ArtsEngine, I will procure the necessary materials to produce roughly 10 ceramic televisions, endowed with custom-printed decals, installed inside of a
video-projection installation. This work will be on view for the Stamps Thesis Exhibition at the Art & Architecture Building, open and accessible to the public for several weeks.

Additionally, I hope to exhibit this work over the summer in a gallery space local to Ypsilanti. Through these exhibitions, I hope this project will spur new insights and conversations within the community about the impact of short, data-driven, algorithmic media cycles on our conceptions of self, individual and societal identity formation, and the processes of collective myth-making.