Anti-Semitism and caricature-propaganda are historically bound together. Jews have often been depicted within this propaganda as vermin--pests, insects, rats, etc. While these images are most prominently associated with Nazi Germany, such representations are still used today to depict Jews negatively. Fascinatingly though, Jewish authors and producers who have published work after World War II and the Holocaust have also depicted Jews as (or associated them with) mice. Examples of this are Maus (1980) by Jewish author Art Spiegelman, and An American Tail (1986), produced and directed by Steven Spielberg--these two compositions are the inspiration and foundation for this project. Ultimately, this research project argues that post-WWII Jewish authors are not depicting Jews as mice as a direct response to vermin caricatures of Jews, but as a subconscious response to this political propaganda. It will explore the psychological implications of caricatures and political propaganda and discuss how these implications have permeated the work of Jewish intellectuals in the last several decades. Furthermore, the research project will discuss the intent behind Jewish authors using mice to represent their own people through interviews concerning their work. Finally, the project will discuss the ramifications of this depiction to general audiences by exploring whether or not these depictions are perpetuating or countering Jewish stereotypes. 

I examine the aesthetic representation of autism in two contemporary Spanish graphic novels that successfully counteract the typical medical presentation of disability: María y Yo (2007) and María Cumple 20 Años (2015), both written and drawn by Miguel Gallardo with his daughter Maria. Each text incorporates purposeful visual techniques in order to present the peculiar characteristics of Maria’s autism as well as her father’s preoccupations with her future. I share how their presentation facilitates educational discourse, empowers the disabled and their families, and reflects the capability of the graphic novel to give authority to groups who are often overlooked.

As computational processing speeds and algorithmic models for machine learning continue to advance, depictions of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) in science fiction (SF) have accordingly increased in production. Such fictional narratives typically anthropomorphize A.I., which brings into question whether intrinsically human concepts, such as gender, can legitimately be mapped onto A.I in the direct manner said fictions tend to portray. If “true” A.I., defined here as any technology that accurately replicates a human consciousness, is created, but gender is a social construction derived from strictly biological sex differences, then can the idea of “gender” be said to maintain any relevance to artificially intelligent beings? This paper intends to investigate that question by first cross-examining convolutional neural network theory with models of consciousness from M.I.T. theorists to establish a working model of how a true A.I. could learn, and then using said model, alongside feminist SF critical theory, as a lens through which to compare several SF works which depict gendered A.I.s. Understanding the relation—or lack thereof—between the human concept of gender and A.I.s is highly relevant to the ongoing discussion concerning the rights of A.I.s as intelligent non-humans.

Since its introduction in the 1980’s, digital artists have adopted the animated GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) as a means for artistic production, turning it into an internet mainstay. GIF’s afford artists the ability to connect and communicate with their viewers in a way that is unique to other forms of visual communication. Los Angeles based digital artist Kristyn Janae Solie (aka kyttenjanae) creates perplexing GIF-art that is comprised of glistening, highly affective forms. In Too Much, Not Enough (2015) and It’s Never Cathartic When You Want It to Be (2015), for example, she digitally fabricates vacant, mannequin-esque human figures. She then alters her figures, manipulating their anatomical structure, pulling and pushing their features to create distorted, otherworldly bodies. In other works such as Overstimulated (2015) Solie focuses on just a head; its bulbous shape dominates the frame and seems to undulate in a wavelike fashion, as goo pours from its mouth. She alters the figures in her work just enough to create a sense of discomfort in the viewer. Using Brian Massumi’s affect theory I will evaluate the ways in which the work of Solie is successful in eliciting an unsettling response and how she uses digitally altered forms to speak to the human condition associated with our physical senses.

This essay explores the work of new media artist, Tony Oursler. Beginning his career in video art during the seventies and eighties, his work has evolved into a mashup of techniques and mediums. He uses digital imagery, project, sound, paint and photography to create his provactively orchestrated scenes. For example, in his installation Face to Face (2012), Oursler displays twenty works in which each character of his creation consists of mismatched faces, distorted heads, and alien-like features.Additionally, the mutated forms spew moronic babble broadcasting senseless chatter through their unnerving glistening smiles and disconcerting puckered lips. Intent on tempting us, illuminating our vulnerabilities and desires for affection, the characters in Face to Face utlimately enterain us with their humorous antics. However, further scrutiny shows that Oursler's humor is a tool that unmasks discomfort. In the majority of his artwork, Oursler criticallly, paradoxically and humorously explores the connection between human and machine. In "Oursler's Laughing Machine," I compare his work to other digital artists' installations in order to deconstruct how Oursler uses altered forms of language, babbe and laughter, to elicit a diversity of emotive and highly fabricated states in the minds of his prospective viewers.

In Life of Phyllis (1979), video installation artist Tony Oursler uses a low-tech and “home-made” recording style. Emulating the “accidental” aesthetics of reality television, the artist includes his shadow, his hand, the camera and, even, a microphone. Oursler, however, is critical of this popular genre. His miniaturized set is constructed with everyday objects such as toys, strings and various craft supplies. And the camera awkwardly moves across his subject — a doll ironically meant to represent comedian and TV personality Phyllis Diller. The doll acts out horrific and grotesque news headlines. His 55-minute candid video acts as a hysterical response to and raging critique against reality television and the media personalities it produces. Referencing Baudrillard’s “Ecstasy of Communication,” I use a comparative and historical analysis to argue that advancements in technology have transformed our society into an invasive and penetrating screen in which celebrities unflatteringly act out their daily routines and relationships. In particular, I use Baudrillard’s ideas to comment on the presentation of virtual celebrities, from Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian to the spate of other such Instagram and Snapchat personalities. My research highlights the degree to which social media and commodity culture invade everyday life, transforming our social interactions into reality-like programs. Maybe not as viciously and exaggeratedly as Oursler has it, but nonetheless we become “overexposed,” or as Baudrillard states, “switching center[s] for all the networks of influence.”

In this paper, I explore transgenic art created by SymbioticA co-founders Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr, and transgenic/bio artist Eduardo Kac. I begin with a discussion on Catts and Zurr’s biological art project Tissue Culture & Art, which deals with semi-living cells. Their central approach is through the use of tissue technologies and how tissues can be used as a medium for artistic expression. Catts and Zurr depict transgenic art as a complex organism that can live as something outside of the body. They emphasize an interest “in the new discourses and new ethics/epistemologies that surround issues of partial life and the contestable future scenarios they offer” from something being seen as semi-living. In comparison, I look at some of Eduardo Kac’s genetically modified transgenic pieces, in particular his work Edunia. In this transgenic work, Kac presents a genetically engineered flower that is a hybrid of himself and a petunia. Exploring the idea of what it means when a work is defined as semi-living, I present various criticisms. I focus on bioethics and controversy regarding of what can be defined as a bioethical practice of art.

For many people in the public sector, science fiction serves as their first exposure to scientific innovation, making it an important medium for science communication and exploration. In my project, I take advantage of this by writing my own science fiction novel, which frames neurotechnology development as a movement in scientific research worthy of both excitement and critical debate. My novel explores memory and identity among a group of characters unknowingly participating in a research trial for memory prosthetics. My goal as a writer is to encourage my readers to question their own positions on what it means to be human and to be alive, as well as the ethics of manipulating these seemingly simple ideas through technology. My literary work is built upon research I have undertaken around current day development of memory-specific technologies, the ways in which they work, and the philosophical underpinnings of manipulating memory through technology.