What Is It Like to Be a PNG?

In this thesis, I discuss my recent compositions from the perspective of contemporary strands within philosophical realism. In particular, I focus on the realist theme of the autonomous existence of objects, an existence independent of human awareness. I propose that while we cannot directly or fully access objects outside human perception, it is fruitful to speculate on their autonomous existence, especially within the realm of aesthetics. My objective as an artist is to inspire speculation on this autonomous existence or what I refer to as “objects performing their own existence.” I have attempted to accomplish this objective by using common, found, and simple objects and by integrating minimal aesthetic cues within an ecological context – one in which objects and spectators engage as they normally would outside an institutionalized art context. I begin this discourse by laying the theoretical framework for my practice, focusing on certain principles of realism. I then survey pieces from other artists that I believe engage these realist principles. Lastly, I discuss four of my own compositions in relation to the notion of an objects’ autonomy and irreducibility.