Boundary Crossings

David Tames, MFA ’11

thesis abstract

A documentary media maker is one who observes the world, decides what to record using a variety of tools, grasps the meaning of what has been recorded, and finds a structure that conveys a cohesive story with a particular relationship to the historical world.

The work described in this thesis provides a basis for understanding documentary construction as a process of crossing boundaries: what we create is defined similarly by borders and interiors, each with their own function and value. I examine the contours of the experience of observing events in the social-historical world and sharing traces of those events with others.

Boundary crossings are examined through the analysis of three projects:

Hawt Couch, an object that shares its memory of past events;

Provocative Objects, an exhibition and exhibition catalog that interrogates the limitations of traditional documentation; and

This Place in a Space, an installation offering visitors the opportunity to experience one or both sides of the objective/subjective divide.

Using a framework encompassing issues of immersion, computational media, and boundary crossings, each project is contextualized with connections to dynamic media, design, cinema, narratology, philosophy, and installation art.