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Seniand ipienis quatum ulpa ped et et offictem covering sam, quis sam, quia doloreiusam nos di quid magnatecae id ut prori non perchitis voluptatias sinum fugit, eos athem ra the eossit harum que pa volorum voluptiaest, tenda preperum quam que odicitae post harum andis maximenti blab fghm hfget fugiajjjkjghjjj cuptuskkk record eh conse nam facipic tureghj rferum vite susjjest qugje nihicitis delennimi,g jut velis un voghlorum Devin Henry a ditatu MFA Thesis r, unjgjto tem. enim estis 2019 gjghjghjkfgjdhfdgdjfjtfgjhgd2019jhgf THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK covering the record MFA Thesis in New Media by Devin Henry April 20th - 23rd 2019 Thesis Statement 7 Obscuring American Values 9 Untitled (information in plain sight) 17 Undoing Progress and Redacted 25 Walled Fenced In/Out 33 Thoughts and Prayers (an exercise in verbiage) 37 Trend Line (is this enough data?) 51 Postscript 57 Citations 59 Photo and Technology Credits 61 PUBLIC NOTICE Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed MFA THESIS EXHIBITION tin- cidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat vo- lutpat. Ut wisi enim COVERING quis nostrud exerci THE tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip RECORD commodo consequat. Duis eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et ac Lorem ipsum DEVIN HENRY cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euis OPENING RECEPTION: APRIL 20, 7:00 - 9:00 pm aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis ARTIST TALK: APRIL 23, 11:30 am pmnostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lo- bortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo conseq Lorem ipsum ROBERT C TURNER GALLERY consectetuer SCHOOL OF ART & DESIGN adipisc- ing NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE of CERAMICS elit, sed diam nonummy HARDER HALL fhjds df- gjfdgj ALFRED UNIVERSITY nibh euismod tincid- unt ut t dolore. Approved for release April 9th, 2019 – twitter.com/DevinHenry_art Covering the Record A lady asked Dr. (Benjamin) Franklin ‘Well Doctor, what have we got – a republic or a Monarchy?’ ‘A republic,’ replied the doctor, ‘if you can keep it.’ From the notes of Dr. James McHenry, published in Te American Historical Review, vol 11 (1906), p. 618 Covering the Record is a body of work refecting upon and challenging the current state or afairs within the United States, specifcally its current governing administration. Te title is a play on two opposing defnitions of cover: one being an act of protection and the other an act of concealment. Te works exhibited either demonstrate an act of hiding, obscuring, or outright destroying foundations of our society, or make eforts to preserve and present it. Tis ofen requires an active efort on the individual’s part akin to how gleaning actual information in our current media landscape usually needs more resources than a television remote. Te 21st century has been one of triumphs and tragedies. It has seen the development of the HPV vaccine and the deadliest act of foreign terrorism on US soil. Marriage equality shared the same space as two illegitimate presidential elections. A lot has happened in the span of twenty years, yet it feels like the past two years have been the most dynamic, and not necessarily in a positive way. We fnd ourselves in a time where the fabric that holds the country together is tearing apart. Our rights and values are being eroded through acts of aggression and apathy while the fourth branch seeks to entertain and ignite rather than check and inform. Sound policy has given way to sound bites, and compromise has become synonymous with weakness instead of cooperation. Te central message I hope to convey is to pay attention and think critically. Our rights and laws may not collapse in one giant spectacle, but while the actors are out putting on a big show, we may not notice things dissolving line-by-lin 8 Obscuring American Values Obscuring American Values is a series of four prints with contradictory Finally, behind the sign reading NO WHINING lies the text of Title messages woven into a single sheet of paper. On frst approach all one IX, part of Te Education Amendments of 1972, enacted by the 92nd US can see is bold white text on a black feld with negative commands. NOT Congress, which sought to eliminate discrimination based on sex by any WELCOME. NO SOLICITING. NO LOITERING. NO WHINING. Like a public institution receiving Federal funding. To this, the bold text on the sign posted on a door these aggressive texts are literally spelled out in black front of the sign dismissively says “suck it up.” and white to present a message with no room for interpretation. But what if we are looking at these messages backwards? What is the If one examines the prints more closely another message begins to bolder message? Te black and white text sits on the paper, yet their two- emerge. Embossed into each print is its outward message’s antithesis. word declarations can be rendered temporary. In less than a minute’s Behind NOT WELCOME lies Te New Colossus, the sonnet written by time someone could change these messages or cover them up entirely. American poet Emma Lazarus in 1883 which sits at the base of the Statue Te embossed text, the more powerful messages from our history, would of Liberty greeting immigrants and citizens alike with its most famous line remain. Walls may be built and laws changed, but the foundations and “Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breath principles of the country will remain if we take the efort to assure they are free.” not destroyed entirely. Behind the letters reading NO SOLICITING is a section of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech given in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington. Dr. King’s bold cries for equality clash with a dismissive message, “I have a dream” is met with “I don’t want to hear it.” NO LOITERING obscures words written by the Founders themselves, the First Amendment from the Bill of Rights, with the section guaranteeing “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances,” emphasized. In the summer of 2018, the National Park Service put forth a proposal to charge for permits to hold demonstrations on the National Mall, among other restrictions.1 Tese demonstrations are the embodiment of the Founder’s text, but the sign says “get out.” 9 10 11 12 13 14 Te idea for Obscuring American Values sprung from the contradictory Te other texts selected follow a similar logic to the frst print. ideas of the Founders and the current administration. More specifcally, NO SOLICITING contradicts Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s march on welcome vs. not welcome – like the mats you can buy and put outside your Washington and his famous I Have A Dream speech, NO LOITERING front door (the latter usually as a novelty). Tis led me to investigate how to goes against the 1st Amendment’s protection of the people’s right to get two contradictory ideas into one form. peacefully assemble, and NO WHINING being a dismissal of the fair and impartial promises of the Title IX guidelines in federally funded education Having observed it done a few times in the print shop, I decided to try programs, which many in the world of politics (and sometimes education) embossing as a means to this end. Te frst piece was NOT WELCOME ofen bemoan. with the poem Te New Colossus by American poet Emma Lazarus being the embossed text due to its placement on the Statue of Liberty and theme Each print was foated of the wall using magnets taped to the back of being one of welcoming visitors and immigrants alike into New York each print to attach it to thumbtacks embedded in the wall. Spot lights at Harbor and, by extension, the US. a steep angle were used to light each print individually to emphasize the raised text in each print by creating longer shadows. Te print itself is a mostly hand carved wood block printed on the ofset press (the laser was used to etch the outlines of the letters so they would be as sharp as possible). Te ink was a 2:1 mixture of Hanco Process Black and Refex Blue lithography ink. Te embossed text was produced with a 3/4” plywood block etched about a quarter inch with the laser cutter at a very low speed and high power – the cut time with the new laser module was around fve hours per block. Arnhem paper was chosen for its heavy weight and sizing, both of which helped it take the embossing well and not warp too severely. A series of each print at a smaller size was also produced in this manner using the same paper and slightly shorter texts for the embossing except the Toshiba digital printer/copier was used to set the main text onto each print as opposed to hand printing with the ofset press. 15 16 Untitled (information in plain sight) Tis piece was inspired by a single quote from Donald Trump, “Get rid have been if they found these coded messages and assumed them to just be of the fucking Braille. No blind people are going to live in Trump Tower. bumps on a page. Just Do it.”2 Tis is an exchange between Mr. Trump and an architect upon So what is something we trust with little question in our society? seeing the Braille text during the construction of Trump Tower in New Information in general, especially the news.