Marianna Maruyama: The Crack As A Flaw Or Evidence Of A Move Towards Perfection: The Crack Of The Earth, Of A Wall, And Of A Bell

Thesis Supervisor: Jorinde Seijdel

Thesis: The Crack As A Flaw Or Evidence Of A Move Towards Perfection: The Crack Of The Earth, Of A Wall, And Of A Bell

June, 2014

Abstract

Are cracks flaws or evidence of a move towards perfection? In this thesis, I analyze the crack of the earth, of a wall, and of a bell to show that cracks are the results of invisible forces. If artists can understand the forces that cause cracks to appear, the idea of the crack itself can be a valuable creative model. Deleuze and Guattari's writing on stratification, territorialization and reterritorialization forms the backbone of my theoretical argument, refuting distracting moralistic interpretations of the phenomenological qualities of cracks. Making generous references to literature and artworks, I have found ways that some artists have found methods to benefit from the idea of the crack, while others still try to control it, unsuccessfully. I make a point of trying to understand the world as force not form, with the intention of one day being able to  gracefully accept the inevitable cracks that appear in work and in life. 

Author: Marianna Maruyama