PhD Oral Exam - Oonagh Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Individualized Program in Fine Arts

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

This dissertation describes the development of my transdisciplinary international law-arts research-creation (TILARC) practice for decoding and encoding international law through art and performance. This practice is based on a critique of the body of international law that developed from the 1945 Charter of the United Nations. It uses art and performance to imagine renewing this planetary charter to address the environmental, technological, humanitarian and human rights crises of our times. This is not a law reform project, but an imaginative and creative project aimed at engaging a broader audience in thinking and making art and performance about international law relevant to contemporary crises.

TILARC was developed from my desire to make art and performance while contemplating international law unbounded by the confines of legal practice. It is a reflective practice of decoding international law and a creative practice of encoding values more suited to addressing contemporary crises. The dissertation provides an overview of the international law system and identifies its defects and potential for addressing contemporary issues. Through diffractive reading of critical literature about the language of law and international law’s foundations, and cultural and philosophical critiques, the dissertation explores how law interacts with the crises of the posthuman cyborg anthropocene.

Fuelled by these insights, research-creation provides a thoughtful, embodied means to explore and deepen transdisciplinary practice, by mingling artmaking, performance and law in a continuous productive flow. Autoethnography, grounded theory, practice-led research, critical studies and relativism provide ethical guidance for developing experiential, data-driven, performative, embodied knowledge combining the arts and international law.

The dissertation documents TILARC projects of reimagining through art and performance values that are more suited for our times. These include exploring identity through painting masks; using sketching to reflect on war and peace; artivism, artmaking and lawmaking to envision a future without plastic pollution; and political, academic and artistic projects seeking to uncover and encode shared values to support collaborative co-creation. TILARC produces practical and scholarly contributions to knowledge about how the arts can be used to gain deeper understanding of international law crises and strengthen individual agency in seeking to contribute creatively to possible solutions.