Artificial aesthetics

© 2013 Vivienne MillerThis practice-led research project interrogates the concept of what I have termed an ‘artificial aesthetic’ in painting. The research explores how the aesthetics of synthetic and technologically inspired forms, produced in our contemporary environment, can influence the methodology and visual style of contemporary painting. The concept of an artificial aesthetic provides a useful means to address my art practice and to identify some of the key conceptual ideas and artistic discourses from which it emerges. The ‘artificiality’ explored in this thesis refers to the industrialised, urbanised material environment, with its associated array of factory made goods, plastics and digital and screen based media. The research explores a range of visual properties and processes in painting that draw in the appearance of these technological and commodity products. The research explores: • The visual characteristics of an artificial aesthetic in painting. • The place of the handmade in generating a range of ‘natural’ expressions in painting, and how developments in digital technology impact upon this. • How concepts of nature and artificiality bear upon the lineage of abstract painting. • How painting can variously absorb and critique the aesthetic properties of factory produced commodities and screen based media, particularly through an emphasis on surface and superficial formal structures. This thesis proposes that an emphasis on surface and a teasing at the withdrawal of the artist’s hand characterise an artificial aesthetic in painting, forming a strategy to address some of the products and images associated with the contemporary environment. I address the elements of my paintings that draw towards this aesthetic, discussing their use of plastic textures, grids, patterning and colour gradients. The practice based component of this research involves the production of paintings and works on paper and acetate. The outcome, a selection of works made during the two years of this research project, will be presented within a cohesive exhibition. This thesis aims to compliment the creative works, addressing the formal visual language they share