Simply Butter (one pat at a time)

Author

Maddie McSweeneyFollow

College

Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences

Date of Last Revision

2024-02-22 09:23:09

Major

Art

Honors Course

ART

Number of Credits

3

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Date of Expected Graduation

Spring 2024

Abstract

Simply Butter (one pat at a time) is an investigation of food and intimacy through sculpture, installation, performance, printmaking, and recordkeeping. In this series of Happenings, I explore themes of love, loss, and empathy while dealing with emotions related to grief and mental health issues. I look to cultural phenomena and art history figures who are concerned with similar sentiments to make conceptual connections and inform my choices when creating this project. Drawn to silliness and the absurd, I use the rudimentary yet familiar form of a stick of butter to act as a monolithic stand-in for the emotionally, mentally, and spiritually difficult and indescribable. Over a seven-day period, I changed the elements of the space, object, and prompt to examine how participants functioned and interacted in different controlled contexts. By changing position, sensation, sound, and exchange, the project focused on the body and its ability to blur boundaries between physical and emotional interaction. The presence of or reference to a body, real or imagined, is significant to the audience’s ability to connect to self and others in an intimate way and to ultimately develop a deeper sense of empathy.

Research Sponsor

Matthew Kolodziej

First Reader

Kate Budd

Second Reader

Charles Beneke

Honors Faculty Advisor

Elisha Dumser

Proprietary and/or Confidential Information

No

Recommended Citation

McSweeney, Maddie, "Simply Butter (one pat at a time)" (2024). Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects. 1782.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/1782