PhD \"Arctificial Territory\", 2015, Abstract

“Arctificial Territory”, Abstract (PhD by Gudrun Bielz, University of Reading, UK, Department of Art)   This   practice   based   PhD   examines   obsessive-­‐compulsive   disorder,   psychological   space,   models   of   consciousness,  artwork  by  selected  artists,  ideas  of  posthumanism  and  transhumanism,  immortality  and   afterlife   fantasies,   and   the   philosophical   concept   of   the   other   (the   stranger   to   ourselves).   My   thesis   and   practice   posit   a   new   psychological   space   for   art   called   Arctificial   Territory.   Arctificial   is   a   neologism:   a   combination  of  artificial  and  arctic.   The   parameters   of   this   thesis   are   set   by   an   exhibition,   Arctificial  Pandemonium,   accompanied   by   a   text   derived  from  theoretical  research,  literary  texts,  images,  videos,  and  links  to  music,  all  published  online.   Users  can  add  comments  and  expand  on  the  thesis  itself.  The  aim  of  this  format  is  to  encourage  a  creative   process   that   continues   to   generate   material   accessible   with   no   end   point.   Feedback   loops   (Norbert   Wiener),  the  rhizome  (Paul  Deleuze  and  Felix  Guattari),  and  Paul  Feyerabend’s  concept  of  non-­‐monistic   methods   are   deployed   to   describe   my   methodology   and   to   frame   my   practice.   Artwork,   philosophy,   literary  text,  and  theoretical  theories  -­‐  all  are  interlinked.   The   form   itself   apes   the   interconnectivity   of   linked   systems.   Obsessive-­‐compulsive   traits   are   informed   by   repetitions  and  rituals,  which  are  covering  up  fear  and  chaos.  Non-­‐linear  methods  are  not  chaotic  and  not   repetitive,   so   they   allow   for   branching   out,   feeding   back   and   forward,   and   communicating   in   a   poly-­‐ directional  way  that  leads  to  Arctificialism,  as  proven  in  this  thesis.   This   work   explores   the   creative   potential   of   obsession,   compulsion,   and   control   mixed   with   ideas   of   artificial   intelligence   and   immortality.   Experiments   through   video   making,   research,   and   writing   have   led   me  to  invent  the  term  “arctificial”  and  create  Arctificial  Territory  which  in  itself  is  the  embodiment  of  a   psychological  space.     Arctificial  Territory  as  a  space  has  produced  artwork  that,  over  the  course  of  this  research,  has  developed   into  the  idea  of  an  art  movement,  Arctificialism.  Works  by  VALIE  EXPORT,  Steina  Vasulka,  and  Park  Chan-­‐ wook   are   considered   in   relation   to   my   own   practice,   as   I   argue   they   inhabit   a   complex   and   apparently   dysfunctional   psychological   space   that   is   similar   to   my   idea   of   an   “arctificial”   space   that   demonstrates   some  obsessive-­‐compulsive  traits.     Arctificial  Territory  is  recognised  by  VALIE  EXPORT,  who  I  had  invited  to  inhabit  Arctificial  Territory  and   introduced  to  the  concept  of  Arctificialism.  EXPORT’S  response  was  to  employ  Arctificialism  as  a  means  to   undertake  her  dream  journey  to  the  Arctic  and  the  Antarctic,  as  exhibited  in  my  accompanying  exhibition.   This   thesis   thus   invents   and   explores   a   new   artistic   psychological   space.   The   creation   of   the   terms   Arctificial   Territory   and   Arctificialism   gives   art   such   as   EXPORT’s   and   my   own   a   new   context   and   terminology  in  which  to  discuss  our  art  practice.