Abjection: A Study of Kiki Smith’s Artworks

• Main Authors: Ying-Chun Liu, 劉盈君
• Other Authors: Jen-I Liao
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/n6es3s

碩士 === 國立臺北藝術大學 === 美術學系碩士班美術史組 === 101 === Most of Kiki Smith’s, (1954-) U.S. modern artist, works emphasize on the connections between body and spirit. She is convinced that through observations and processes toward flesh, inner spiritual world can be expressed. By means of processing human beings and animals on the same scale, moreover, she means to extend human inner spirit to be able to communicate with universal concept. There are three genres in her works: characters, excretions, and combinations and transformations of human body and animal body. Divisions of creatures combined and transformed by humans and animals are appearing, obscure, and reversed. Human subjects and animal objects exchange and replace with each others.With respect to the subject matters, mediums, presentations and exhibition modes, and from directly demonstrating objects’ physical boundaries to mutually exchanging symbolizations or breaking through boundary rules, the writer Julia Kristeva considers challenging boundaries, concepts and attitudes toward confrontations in between situations, circumstances and meanings of physical and mental conditions has always been Kiki Smith’s personality in creating up to present. Her works are discussing private ego in an attempt to express common situations for all mankind. By making her privacy public, it also gently reflects her self-identity at the same time. In the process of constructing I/subject established by Smith and her viewers, it is like a self-projection of narcissism. Julia Kristeva discuss the text is conversation field of subject and”mother”, the abjection means infants push off mother, abandon unclean things attached to mother. The process of excrete and vomit is push off self, it is made subject entering Symbolic Order. Most of critists using Julia Kristeva’s Abject theory to analyze Kiki Smith’s works of the human bodys, and focused on theme of body material. This ariticle tried to analyze all of the Kiki Smith’s works(until 2009), how does she employ abjection’s concept in her creation ideology, and interpreted what is Kiki Smith’s style of abjection from forms, themes, artist’s identity.