Themes of the liminal, the absurd and the unstable in the sculpture of Eva Hesse
Date
2017
Authors
Sears, Antoinette Louise
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Abstract
The creative component of the research project explores, through the medium of sculpture,
the notion of the liminal, with a particular focus on themes of the absurd and the unstable as
characteristics of liminality. These themes may be useful for investigating and providing a
valuable source for critical assessment, so as to allow for the opening of and extending of
debates on reading and thinking about art regarded as ‘in-between’ the poles of a binary
opposition. Broadly, it seeks to explore the historical trajectory of the 1960s artist Eva Hesse
in relation to these themes, and how it resonates with my own sculpture-making and
development. The aim of the written research is, therefore, through engaging with a close
critical and theoretically informed reading of selected examples of Hesse’s work, to identify
themes and approaches which may inform and advance the understanding of my own work
produced in the context of this study. Connections will be drawn to the way in which these
themes facilitate a favourable space in which the making of art flourishes. As far as viewers
are concerned, such work may encourage the viewer to be an active participant in a
dimension of human experience potentially not yet encountered, thereby liberating viewers’
fixed and rigid perceptual constructs. Entering into a discussion of the themes of liminality,
the absurd and unstable, serves this aim.
Description
Research submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of
Master of Fine Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, March 2017
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Citation
Sears, Antoinette Louise (2017) Themes of the liminal, the absurd and the unstable in the sculpture of Eva Hesse, Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <https://hdl.handle.net/10539/24454>