[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ specialty=”on” _builder_version=”4.16″ min_height=”675.3px” transparent_background=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.4″ text_font_size=”23px” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”justified” module_alignment=”justified” global_colors_info=”{}”]PhD title:<\/p>\n
\u201cMaking Beyond Nothingness: An Artistic Challenge to the Unaesthetic Language of the Public Space.\u201d<\/strong>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ specialty_columns=”2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column_inner saved_specialty_column_type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font_size=”16px” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”justified” module_alignment=”justified” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n This project constituted a practice-based research enquiry of two interrelated components: an exhibition of creative work, Nothing Matters<\/em>, and an accompanying exegesis. The creative work on exhibition comprised a range of small- and large-scale outputs that incorporate drawing, photography, sculptural work, and re-imagined \u2018found\u2019 objects, all produced between 2017-2021.<\/p>\n \u00a0The overall title of the project, Making Beyond Nothingness: An Artistic Challenge to the Unaesthetic Language of the Public Space<\/em>, embodies the paradox at the heart of the pursuit. How to create \u2018something\u2019 of conceptual and aesthetic compulsion from a language of nothingness, whether it be \u2018found\u2019 in the surrounding temper of the public space or, in art, in various manifestations of the \u2018dematerialised object\u2019: the void; the empty canvas or gallery; the \u2018invisible\u2019 work; or the detritus of the everyday?<\/p>\n The written component \u2013 the \u2018dissertation\u2019 \u2013 traces my style through points of reference in the development of Conceptual Art (Chapter 1) before turning, more generally, to examples of my previous work (Chapter 2) and, in Chapter 3, specifically to my reflections on the creative works that form the exhibition.<\/p>\n The phrase, Nothing Matters<\/em>, embodied the paradox at the heart of my endeavour. At one level, the words suggest negation; at another level, the phrase invokes a more philosophical consideration that is linked to a history of artistic thought and practice. How to create artefacts that use the language of nothing, the void, the blank, the omitted, the interpretation of nothingness, as a vehicle to oppose the \u2018unaesthetic\u2019 language of the public space? What has been called \u2018nothingness in art\u2019 suggests not so much a homogeneous movement as a trajectory that began in the early part of the 20th<\/sup> century and which has retained notable markers in various art movements, since.\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ min_height=”314.2px” transparent_background=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” min_height=”477.5px” custom_margin=”-115px|auto||auto||” custom_padding=”||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_divider color=”#ffffff” divider_weight=”1px” disabled_on=”on|on|off” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#545454″ height=”10px” hide_on_mobile=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”justified” module_alignment=”justified” global_colors_info=”{}”]”The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organised habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We’re governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of<\/em>. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organised. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. Our invisible governors are, in many cases, unaware of the identity of their fellow members in the inner cabinet.<\/p>\n They govern us by their qualities of natural leadership, their ability to supply needed ideas and by their key position in the social structure. Whatever attitude one chooses to take toward this condition, it remains a fact that in almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of per\u00ad sons-a trifling fraction of our hundred and twenty million who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind, who harness old social forces and contrive new ways to bind and guide the world<\/em>.”<\/p>\n – Bernays E.L. 1928. Propoganda. p 8-10. New York. Horace Liveright.<\/em><\/strong> “The culture industry misuses its concern for the masses in order to duplicate, reinforce and strengthen their mentality, which it presumes is given and unchangeable. How this mentality might be changed is excluded throughout. The masses are not the measure but the ideology of the culture industry, even though the culture industry itself could scarcely exist without adapting to the masses. The cultural commodities of the industry are governed, as Brecht and Suhrkamp expressed it thirty years ago, by the principle of their realization as value, and not by their own specific content and harmonious formation. The entire practice of the culture industry transfers the profit motive naked onto cultural forms. Ever since these cultural forms first began to earn a living for their creators as commodities in the market-place they had already possessed something of this quality.” – Theodor Adorno\u00a0 from “The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture” London: Routledge, 1991<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,1_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/gregstreak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_7385.jpg” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.16″ animation=”off” sticky=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/gregstreak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_7707.jpg” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.16″ animation=”off” sticky=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/gregstreak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_8383.jpeg” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.16″ animation=”off” sticky=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”right” module_alignment=”right” global_colors_info=”{}”] work in progress: “The Beginning Always Has an End 2007-2017.”<\/strong> [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”justified” module_alignment=”justified” global_colors_info=”{}”] “You\u2019re here because you know something. What you know you can\u2019t explain, but you feel it. You\u2019ve felt it your entire life, that there\u2019s something wrong with the world. You don\u2019t know what it is, but it\u2019s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I\u2019m talking about? \u2026 Do you want to know what it is?\u2026 The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work\u2026 when you go to church\u2026 when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. \u2026 That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind. \u2026 Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. \u2026 This is your last chance. After this there is no turning back. You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember, all I\u2019m offering is the truth, nothing more. \u2026 Follow me.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Morpheus: The Matrix (1999)<\/strong> [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider show_divider=”off” disabled_on=”on|on|off” _builder_version=”4.16″ height=”5px” hide_on_mobile=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,1_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” min_height=”326.9px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/gregstreak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/ignorance-matrix.mov” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_video][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”justified” module_alignment=”justified” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ min_height=”1859.7px” custom_margin=”-106px|||||” transparent_background=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,1_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” min_height=”364.8px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/gregstreak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/IMG_6096.m4v” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_video][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/gregstreak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_6099.jpg” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.16″ animation=”off” sticky=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/gregstreak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_6437.jpg” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.16″ animation=”off” sticky=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”justified” module_alignment=”justified” min_height=”240.2px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n