Ta-Wen Huang

Abstract

I have thought about the essence of human life ever since I witnessed the impermanence of people's lives through a near-death experience I had when I was nineteen years old. Life is a given amount of time, space, and memory, and every person, event, and object in the universe is stored up in time, space, and memory. These three factors combine to create the unique experience, character, and life of each individual person.

A number of experts from different fields, as well as international celebrities, have publicly expressed various thoughts on life. However, most of their theories are explained with difficult words or equations. As an artist and architect, I want to depict the appearance of human life via my understanding of these theories as well as my own experiences. In my eyes, the complex world in which we live is composed of geometric patterns. Every object, every room, every person, and every living creature, from the micro to the macro, is defined by a form derived from a geometric pattern. Nature itself is full of geometric patterns that define and redefine every structure, each moment, and all events as they unfold.

In this thesis paper, I discuss my main influences as an artist and the inspiration behind my thesis topic, as well as the background of each piece in my body of work. I want to use my artwork to signify, through these patterns, that the present moment is the most important point in time of a person's life. The present moment is the only thing that people can change; yet, people are constantly regretting their pasts and planning their futures. Neither the past nor the future is changeable: we cannot turn back time and the future does not yet exist. Therefore, the present moment is the only point in time that matters. In this moment, people exist as they are; in the next moment, they will be different. Our lives will be led in other directions as time moves forward. This is a major theme in my pursuit of art.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Art metal-work--Themes, motives; Life in art; Time in art; Geometry in art

Publication Date

5-2014

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Metals and Jewelry Design (MFA)

Department, Program, or Center

School for American Crafts (CIAS)

Advisor

Leonard Urso

Advisor/Committee Member

Juan Carlos Caballero-Perez

Advisor/Committee Member

Alan Singer

Comments

Physical copy available from RIT's Wallace Library at NK6498.H83 A4 2014

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

METAL-MFA

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