DOI

https://doi.org/10.25772/RQ5D-4518

Defense Date

2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Department

Sculpture

First Advisor

Kendall Buster

Abstract

In questioning the very nature of a thing, at its most basic level, a new assessment can be made of what the thing in question truly is. When we ask ourselves, what is a weed, we begin to pull the word apart - to decrypt the word from the cultural baggage that has collected around it over the course of the history of language.The cultural connotations of 'weed' cling to it like barnacles, removing the word from its true value. We reevaluate meaning, chronicling all the possible constructions of a word, all the possible varieties, where it came from, what its uses are, etc. We can then begin to develop an aggregate meaning based on an inherently more textured meaning, nuanced and built to sustain an elaboration of new information within the word itself. Weeds may serve as a successful metaphor for humanities quest for value, but it should not be assumed - we must first plot a course before we set sail.

Rights

© The Author

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

June 2008

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