Motherboard: An Exploration of Masculine Vulnerability through New Media Art

Abstract

The struggle of traumatized people is often the basis of compelling art. To transform an incredibly strenuous situation into a digestible form of media is frequently the result of creative effort. When a creative person is placed into a media based society that suppresses and discourages the skills necessary to cope, the options are to adapt or implode. Examples of this exploration into trauma and coping through the arts are important to understand the health and wellness of humankind. We will be delving into the topic of masculinity within the creative world. This is an often fragile and touchy subject because the topic of men's mental health isn’t a mainstream point of discussion. More specifically, this will be an analysis of how trauma may be coped with within the scope of male new media art forms such as CGI. This is not to say that good art cannot be made without trauma. The goal here is not to dismiss any sort of method of creation, rather to look at many forms to better understand how the masculine can effectively express and work through traumatic events.