Thesis Supervisor: Jorinde Seijdel

Thesis: The Death of Identity - The New Image of People Art in the Age of Biopolitics

June 2014

ABSTRACT     

In the age of biopolitics, the political order's "consensual" system fell. The traditional identity system based on hierarchy and political control has fallen. Contemporary identity became based on a shared constitutive power that will lead to transnational forms of citizenship. In contrast, contemporary surveillance technology, such as DNA surveillance and biometrics, instigated a new identity crisis. Marginal population groups such as refugees, immigrants, non-­-whites and women are standing in the centre of politics and the fight surrounding citizenship, facing situations in which political action exists in every aspect of human life. This research into "the death of identity", brings up the urgent duty of artists: to build an new image of citizenship beyond the realm of identities based on racial, ethnic, or national common characteristics.

Author: Louis Liu