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Thesis Info
- LABS ID
- 00630
- Thesis Title
- Messlife, An Online DIY Warehouse Art Space
- Author
- Lee Tusman
- E-mail
- leetusman AT gmail.com
- 2nd Author
- 3rd Author
- Degree
- MFA
- Year
- 2017
- Number of Pages
- 41
- University
- UCLA
- Thesis Supervisor
- Lauren McCarthy
- Supervisor e-mail
- laurenleemccarthy AT gmail.com
- Other Supervisor(s)
- reas@ucla.edu, eddostern@gmail.com, jsteinkamp@ca.rr.com
- Language(s) of Thesis
- English
- Department / Discipline
- UCLA Design | Media Arts
- Copyright Ownership
- Languages Familiar to Author
- URL where full thesis can be found
- docs.google.com/document/d/1BzssJLw6PmJAvz68JM8IsTnoO63yo7-k_LKEUTeqOYA/edit?usp=sharing
- Keywords
- online community, DIY artspace, jamming
- Abstract: 200-500 words
- This thesis addresses the role and possibilities of online spaces to support forms of collaboration and community among artists and creative producers, and uses my thesis project Messlife as a case study.
First, the thesis proposes a model of the artist-run collaborative art space, often based in warehouses and storefronts, as a precedent for online collaboration. It investigates the philosophy and context of collectively organized DIY spaces and their relation to collage and assemblage. Then, the thesis uses the model of the DIY space as a way of reframing participatory networked communities defined by creative expression and co-production.
The creation of a new virtual DIY art space called Messlife presents an opportunity to test out such a hybrid form. I describe the framework and philosophy behind Messlife as a platform, as well as tools and principles of this event-based online art space. By combining an online platform for creative production with the ethos of DIY collaboratives, Messlife proposes a new paradigm for working together in virtual and physical space.