VES 2016 Senior Thesis: Fabricated, Normally

For many Visual and Environmental Studies students, the Senior Thesis is the capstone experience in the department. Students conceive their theses in conjunction with the department and work closely with faculty members as principal advisers. Throughout the yearlong process, students develop and refine their ideas into a thesis work, concluding with its presentation in this annual exhibition. 

Fabricated, Normally is the title students have crafted for their group exhibition. Collectively students are questioning and challenging what is considered “real” today, as so much of our culture is increasingly fabricated. The uncertainty of authenticity is commonplace, from digitally-constructed versions of landscapes on television and film, to the news media determining singular worldviews, to the unrequited promise of “all natural.” This uncertainty remains ever-pervasive. 

The Department of Visual and Environmental Studies is home to a range of studio and theoretical studies in the arts at Harvard University. It offers courses in painting, drawing, sculpture, film, video, and animation, as well as photography, film history, the built environment, and contemporary art. The academic experience transpires in the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, where thinking and making intersect to enable students from a variety of disciplinary studies to be aware of their visual environment.