Zone Zero: Black Womxn Assemblaging an Artful Life

Abstract

Have you ever had the experience of watching yourself being watched? Maybe you changed how you walked or ate your food as a result. This behavior demonstrated the internalization of surveillance. The purpose of my project is to explore this process in an attempt to learn how to break the habit of self-surveillance. Specifically, Black women whose movements are surveilled by both the inner and public eye. How can you move more freely in a world blinded by light as a dark human being? This thesis pivots to conjure how Black womxn can live in a world without choosing select spaces where they can express subjectivity. The goal is not to develop a toolkit to help Black womxn subvert the system that continuously rejects their humanity. Instead, the goal is to create sovereignty in all places, free of restrictions, and eradicate the self-discipline of self (and thus state surveillance) as a whole. As a result, this exploratory thesis will utilize a womanist framework to deepen the analysis of visual art interventions and offer holistic takeaways to society.