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On the surface of things: the organization and ideological functionality of buildings, bodies, and cash as visual surfaces
Dissertation   Open access

On the surface of things: the organization and ideological functionality of buildings, bodies, and cash as visual surfaces

Daniel Gilmore
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
Sep 2017
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/etd-7725
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Abstract

Communication Mass media and culture Culture--Study and teaching Cities and towns--Study and teaching Aesthetics
This dissertation examines the functionality of the general concept of 'the surface' as it physically exists within space. This study engages in a theoretical approach to the surface from the point of view of it being a specifically visually organized liminal space where ideological dissemination can be made to flow from and, thus, where the foundations of hegemonic control can be established. This study argues that although there are a variety of surfaces that one can encounter, that they all share these common traits of visual organization, hegemonic structuring, and the potential for ideological dissemination. In order to explore this concept and successfully make this argument, I have chosen three case studies focusing on three different aspects of the organization and utilization of surfaces from various vantage points, all of which involve these surfaces in moments of contention between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic forces. The first case study will concern itself with the visual organization of monetary design as a surface. This case study will look at the phenomenon of writing anti-regime messages on paper currency and re-circulating them as a protest tactic during the 2009 Iranian Green Revolution. The second case study will analyze the body as a surface. It will look at the feminist, anti-patriarchal protest movement known as Femen as an example of body-centric protest and its relation to the concept of the visual surface. The third and final case study will look at the built environment of the cityscape as a cohesive surface. It will focus on the series of public anti-austerity protests in London from 2010 to 2011, starting with the student protests of 2010, then looking at the riots surrounding the death of Mark Duggan in London in mid-2011, and lastly looking at the Occupy London protests in late 2011 and early 2012. This dissertation provides a review of the relevant literature, an overview of the methodological approach that will be taken for analyses, an examination of the historical context of each case study, before engaging in an analysis of the case studies themselves.

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