Edited Statement

What does it mean to develop a creative practice that challenges and critiques the systems that perpetuates dehumanization? What are the structures that perpetuate dehumanization? What are the strategies and tactics that directly challenge and critique dehumanization while presenting alternatives? What does it mean to develop a creative practice that re-humanizes?
The experiments, dreams, concepts, systems, tactics, and strategies that investigate these questions are what make up my practice.
My practice always formally begins with a question and seeks to find better and different questions that can reveille humanity/beauty/the sublime/meaning/love. Formally, the structure of a question is crucial; it avoids an assumed conclusion or answers. Instead it presents a glimpse at an answer while always posing another question.
Currently my practice explores the question, what links narrative to dehumanization and re-humanization. I want to first review the definitions of narrative, dehumanization and re-humanization to begin creating a common ground to build from.
In postmodern theory, semiotics begins with the individual building blocks of meaning called signs — and semantics, the way in which signs are combined into codes to transmit messages. This is part of a general communication system using both verbal and non-verbal elements, and creating a discourse with different modalities and forms.
I will say that these “modalities” and forms can be interpreted as narrative. In other words narrative can be understood as a series of “individual building blocks of meaning” joined.
Narrative’s use of point of view, genres, and fiction and it’s connection to identity, cultural identity, and memory must also be considered but lets start with the idea that narrative is constructed from and constructs meaning.
Dehumanization is a deprivation of constructive human qualities while re-humanization is a assumed reassertion of these constructive qualities. The construction of human qualities is linked to identity, cultural identity, and the construction of meaning. This is where narrative becomes an active participant in dehumanization and re-humanization. This space is also where my creative practice inserts itself to explore the links between narrative and humanity.

I think that it is funny that we are looking at Hayden White to find forms for our practice. I had been looking threw Metahistory as a way to think of narrative and its influence on the construction of meaning.