Thesis
Ultraviolet monsters
University of Iowa
Master of Fine Arts (MFA), University of Iowa
Spring 2022
DOI: 10.17077/etd.006400
Abstract
For some people, monsters are not a myth. Monsters are walking, breathing entities who inspire fear and hatred for simply existing. As an African American man, I have been perceived as a monster. The works of art I create reclaim the semblance of my humanity.
Super Predator is not merely a phrase coined by Hillary Clinton, it is an example of how people of color are viewed to justify the adverse treatment and incarceration they receive. Racist connotations are placed on children at birth, who come to accept these negative biases attributed to them through popular culture, media, and the nightly news.
The concept and construct of Black Frankenstein is an attempt to reclaim the monsterification or demonization of the African American population. Originating with the film, Birth of a Nation, the American audience has been continuously bombarded with imagery that instills fear of the Black individual in any given environment, provoking multiple forms of violence against Black bodies. Frankenstein’s Monster offers a valuable framework for a being who has been misunderstood and therefore experienced multiple forms of violence. The Monster is an amalgamation of different body parts, my connection increases as a biracial individual who is forced to navigate multiple cultural contexts, often called code-switching. Like the Monster, numerous forms of violence are enacted daily on Black bodies, including interpersonal violence, structural, and institutional prejudices.
In this body of work, I address my influences from a younger age. These manifest through still images from films from Black cinematography and their influence during the developmental stage. Utilizing my firsthand experience to negative stimuli that then become internalized, the work has a secondary purpose, defining Black culture for outsiders. When films are viewed outside of their intended demographic, they reinforce expectations and stereotypes that become uniformly applied to all people of color. In my experience I accepted the notion that I would be dead or in jail by the age of eighteen, so I lashed out in several ways. After being called a monster our entire life the prideful accept it and lean into the myth. The children of Black Frankenstein accept their role at an early age, even with the knowledge that this hero always dies.
Sculpture, printmaking, and digital media merge to create installations that immerse the viewer into the environments of my youth, providing alternative perspectives and unseen forms of injustice. Alternating between black light and white light denotes a shift in cultural perspective, from the traditional western view to one highlighting the experiences of Blacks in America. What is unseen by some and visible to others. Utilizing printmaking and photography, crafting moments that embody a teleport into a familiar simulacrum of a cinematic scene. My goal is to give my viewer a glimpse into the reality of these constant encounters as a Person of Color who lives through them. In this way, the viewer might understand the divisions of race privilege better.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Ultraviolet monsters
- Creators
- Dadisi Ahoto Curtis Jr
- Contributors
- Heather Parrish (Advisor)Anita Jung (Committee Member)Terry Conrad (Committee Member)Isabel Barbuzza (Committee Member)Ashley Howard (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Fine Arts (MFA), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Art
- Date degree season
- Spring 2022
- DOI
- 10.17077/etd.006400
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- Number of pages
- vii, 22 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2022 Dadisi Ahoto Curtis Jr
- Language
- English
- Description illustrations
- color illustrations
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references (page 22).
- Public Abstract (ETD)
- Monsters are real, they aren’t apparitions in the night, they are an individual parent’s whisper about, those who are different from themselves. In the United States those monsters often become the individuals who are a part of the minority. How are these monsters identified? The answer is the same between 2022 and 1915; popular media has been used to demonize African- Americans and people of color. These depictions have and continue to contribute to the view of those as outside of other. Different, lesser, abnormal, or inhuman; a tradition exists that humanizes those involved. The difference lies in perspective.
- Academic Unit
- School of Art, Art History, and Design
- Record Identifier
- 9984271053302771
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