There are no rules when it comes to writing a thesis paper for a Master's degree in Fine Art. This is the short story component of my MFA thesis paper that I wrote for the School of Visual Arts.

1. W RI T I N G A T H E S I S PA P E R
BY VICTORIA BATEY

2. embers innocuous magnanimous
quiver squabble androcentric
nectar succinct succulent ✔
relished taut fastidious
ripples corpulence dalliance
revered ineffable sycophants
fortnight cerebral treacly
congealed depreciatory sedulous
circumlocutory profundity reprehensible
inebriated demonstrative pudding

3. PHRASES TO AVOID USIN G
“I’m
“My art is
interested “zzzzzzzz”
about...”
in...”

4. PHRASES I READ SOMEWHERE THAT I
WISH I COULD FIND A PL ACE FOR
as the grease soaked
panini makes its
digestive journey from gingerly bare my teeth
my lips to rest on my
hips like a loyal friend in
it for the long haul
licking the hardened sugar
angrily thwacked
crumbs off the plate

5. DICTIONARY.COM DEFINITION OF
THESIS / MY IDEA OF A THESIS
something
a dissertation on SVA is
a particular required to
subject in which make me do
one has done in order to
give me an an
original research,
MFA exploration
as one presented
of anything I
by a candidate
am
for a diploma or
writing that is passionate
degree
a proposition art or about
stated or put references
forward for a subject for my practice
consideration, a as an artist
especially one to composition
be discussed or essay
and proved or to
be maintained
against
objections

6. making art
using the
working out
phrases from
slide #4
sleeping

7. art as personal
female identity
autobiography rituals
the influence Internet
of pop-culture meme Dolly Parton
in my life

8. PEOPLE OBLIGATED TO READ MY
THESIS PAPER
David Row
(thesis
advisor)
unknown
unknown
term review
instructor THESIS term review
instructor #2
#1
my mom

9. PEOPLE THAT WILL VOLUNTARILY READ
MY THESIS PAPER
VICTORIA
unknown future
BATEY’S THESIS SVA student
SMASHED IN A that is confused
FILE and looking for
examples of
SOMEWHERE IN thesis papers
THE OFFICE

10. 0

11. APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF DAYS THAT I LOST
WORKING IN THE STUDIO BECAUSE I WORKED
ON MY THESIS PAPER INSTEAD
7

12. CONVERSATION AT THE S TUDIO WITH
MY CL ASSMATE PRIOR TO WRITIN G MY
THESIS PAPER
• “I am obsessed with
reading these
conversations about
Judy Chicago and Eunjung
Miriam Schapiro in
your book The Power
of Feminist Art. There • “I know! I feel like we
is this whole history of have been told we have
feminism that I have moved on past those
just ignored because issues and don’t deal with
discrimination but really
of the stigma attached we do. You can borrow
to what it means to be my book anytime you
a feminist...turns out I need to look at it.”
was waaay off.”
me

13. CONVERSATION AT THE S TUDIO WITH
MY CL ASSMATE PRIOR TO WRITIN G MY
THESIS PAPER
• “I looked for that feminist art book Eunjung
at Barnes and Noble this weekend.
They didn’t have it but what was
even more disturbing was there • “I couldn’t sleep last
were only 2 books total that were night because I got so
surveys of women artists. They had angry after reading a
the basics like books on Frida Korean book about
Kahlo and Georgia O’ Keefe...I women and feminism.
can’t remember if there was a I was really upset.”
Guerrilla Girls book.”
me

14. PL ACES I WORKED ON MY THESIS:
Smuggler’s Notch Ski My apartment
Lodge
Jeffersonville, VT
My Studio at SVA
*approximated
locations
The Tea Lounge

15. • I enter the building for the first • while waiting in line a
time and am shocked that there random man touches
are at least 80 people all my shoulder and
camped out with books or comments on the
computers. gold thread in my
Thrift store couches, I slide into a sweater. the man
the cohesive buzz of perfectly gives me the creeps.
quiet conversations illuminated nook
between friends, in the corner. I
and the rhythm of notice an empty
Macbook keys powerstrip
clicking
beneath my feet
The comedian Really wishing I
just called had made copies
• 4 hours have flown by. attention to the of something I
I’m upset with how fact that I am read in Eun • I begin researching
underrepresented wearing my Jung’s book The feminism and read a
women are in all bunch of articles on
creative fields in headphones Power of Miriam Schapiro and
America. I decide to during his routine Feminist Art Judy Chicago. I
leave thanks to become obsessed with
amateur stand up these women.
comedy night.

16. A DOLLY PARTON SONG PLAYS INTO MY
HEADPHONES

17. verse 1:
I can see you’re disappointed
By the way you look at me
And I’m sorry that I’m not
The woman you thought I’d be
Yes, I’ve made my mistakes
But listen and understand
My mistakes
are no worse
than yours
e 2: e
Just because vers at m
ul ook lf
I’m a woman n yo urse
So whe for yo
sorry ham
e
’t feel lt he s
Don of al
think t hav
e
Just migh else
You e body this
som ou
ro ught me tell y re w
e
b le t whe
Just know
both nd
we’ll sta
Then

18. TOPIC I COME ACROSS WHILE
LIS TENIN G TO DOLLY’S SON G AND
READIN G UP ON FEMINISM
in 2010 only 37% of the books
published by Random House
were written by women, and only
17% of the books reviewed by
the practice, conscious or The New York Review of Books
otherwise, of placing male human were written by women.
beings or the masculine point of
view at the center of one's view
of the world and its culture and Of the top 250 grossing films in
history 2007, 82% had no female writers
and only 6% had a female
Androcentric director. 70% of all film reviews
published in the USA are written
by men.
(according to wikipedia)
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
described androcentric practices
androcentrism can be
in society and the resulting understood as a societal
problems in her investigation on fixation on masculinity
The Man-Made World; or, Our whereby all things
Androcentric Culture, published
in 1911 originate

19. SMUGGLER’S NOTC H SKI LODGE
JEFFERSONVILLE, V T
Somewhere
in this general
vicinity

20. I’m the only one on the ski trip
that didn’t come here to ski. I only
came to Vermont to go somewhere
with trees and nothing else for me
to do except work on a thesis
paper.

21. I decide the ski lodge is a good place to work on
my thesis since our hotel is a shithole and there
is really no where else to go.
A picture I got from googling “shitty motel” that
kind of looks like a better version of where we stayed:
Smuggler’s Notch
ski resort entrance:

22. I walk around for a while to find a
good spot and then settle into the
cafe and purchase a $4 cup of
coffee and a $3 bottle of water
since mine is frozen in the car. I try
to access the internet and find out
from a worker that it costs $10.

23. And I’m just like..
WTF!?!?

24. I JUST SPENT $17 TO
WORK ON MY THESIS

25. The housekeeping girl that told me how to get
internet decides to chat with me for almost an
hour. I now know that she has 2 kids, is a single
mom, lives in a small house in the woods, pays
$300/month for rent, and is really into painting
and photography. She hates her job but can’t quit
right now. I also found out that my group will
have to sneak into the hot tub later since our
crappy hotel down the road doesn’t have one.
I paid for the internet 3 minutes before she
began talking to me.

26. THIS IS WHAT MY FRIENDS ARE
PROBABLY DOIN G:

27. AND HERE’S WHAT I’M DOIN G

28. THIS IS HOW I’LL FEEL WHEN I’M
AHEAD OF EVERYONE
That’s right
bitches...my
thesis is halfway
finished

29. Time to get serious for a minute
because I really like this quote. I
was thinking about it when the
housekeeper was telling me her
life story.

30. EXCERPT IN MY NOTES FROM THE BOOK THE SOUTH THROUGH
TIME: A HISTORY OF AN AMERICAN REGION
BY JOHN B. BOLES .
"No other region of the nation has been as concerned with and as compulsive about
understanding its identity as has the South …Rural, defensive, and comparatively
homogeneous for generations, the South’s people created unawares a folk culture,
an identification with place and family and religion and even gastronomic
preference, whereby they understood and defined themselves without
premeditation. Rural isolation and loneliness led the southern people to prize
kinship…hardship and dislocation caused them to romanticize home and place;
evangelical religion offered meaning and hope…simple, spicy fried foods provided
sustenance; conversation, song, and folk recreation such as hunting and quilting that
combined practical results with pleasure in the process brought joy into otherwise
humdrum existence. …these values, habits of mind, and cultural preferences have
long outlived their folk roots and become an integral part of a southern
consciousness that persists even in the modern urban South. … Southerners still
greet newcomers by asking where they are from, revealing that they expect others’
identity, too, to be somehow intertwined with their home place.… Quilting, military
reenactments, a fascination with genealogy, and a rich variety of family and church
homecomings with dinner on the grounds, are but representative activities that offer
contemporary southerners a connection to what is perceived to be a past that
provides stability and meaning to their lives."

31. DAYS L ATER AT THE TEA LOUNGE...

32. I spend 3 hours reading from
The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader

33. I S TOP READIN G SO I C AN WRITE MY
THOUGHT S ON DOLLY PAR TON
It was only recently that I realized that she is my ideal feminist icon. I initially began painting
Dolly because her music was like comfort food to me. For every emotion I encountered I was
able to find a song to match. Making a few paintings about Dolly and of Dolly came
naturally. I grew up listening to country music and the seemingly simple stories told within
the five-minute timeframe.

34. FOR THE LOVE OF DOLLY...
Dolly is able to write songs that are indeed sentimental at times but
entirely true to who she is. She exemplifies a personal narrative of
determination, overcoming obstacles in life, being sexy, and keeping
her faith all while not hiding the fact that she has undergone many
cosmetic surgeries. Dolly IS a work of art and in some of her recent
concerts she has said she may be “externally artificial, yet
emotionally authentic.” There is genius not only in her song writing
but also in her ability to step outside of herself and evaluate how she
may be perceived.

35. AND THEN I DECIDE TO MAKE THE
UGLIEST SLIDE EVER

36. Dolly Parton
Ranked by Billboard
magazine as the #1
female country artist of all
time
7 time Grammy
winner
has written over 5,000 songs

37. “BACKWOODS BARBIE”
I grew up poor and ragged, just a simple country girl.
I wanted to be pretty more than anything in the world,
like Barbie or the models in the Fredricks’ catalog.
From rags to wishes in my dreams I could have it all.
I’m just a backwoods Barbie, too much makeup, too much hair.
Don’t be fooled by thinkin’ that the goods are not all there.
Don’t let these false eyelashes lead you to believe that
I’m as shallow as I look ’cause I run true and deep.
I’ve always been misunderstood because of how I look.
Don’t judge me by the cover ’cause I’m a real good book.
So read into it what you will, but see me as I am.
The way I look is just a country girl’s idea of glam.
I’m just a backwoods Barbie in a push-up bra and heels.
I might look artificial, but where it counts I’m real.
And I’m all dolled up and hopin’ for a chance to prove my worth,
And even backwoods Barbie’s get their feelings hurt.
I’m just a backwoods Barbie, too much makeup, too much hair.
Don’t be fooled by thinkin’ that the goods are not all there.
Yes, I can see where I could be misjudged upon first glance;
But even backwoods Barbie’s deserve a second chance.
I’m just a backwoods Barbie just asking for a chance,
just a backwoods Barbie.

39. ANNOYANCES THAT OCCUR WHILE WRITING A
THESIS PAPER
the amount constantly
the dogs
of Sudafed losing my
getting need a walk
taken over 4 train of
days causes texts thought
and keep
a cold severe brain thanks to
trying to play
fetch
cloudiness other people

40. TEXT MESSAGING WITH MOM
Mom (Mar 11, 2012 2:01 PM):
“Got my hair done. Red violet and caramel streaks. Layered up with sidebangs.”
Mom (Mar 11, 2012 2:06 PM):
“The highlights r subtle to start breaking up the black. Next time a little chunkier.”
Me (Mar 11, 2012 2:37 PM):
“umm hope it looks good. “streaks” are really 2002.”
Me (Mar 11, 2012 3:00 PM):
“ I’ve got a cold and am trying to write a thesis paper that is at least 10 pages”
Mom (Mar 11, 2012 3:40 PM):
“good luck.”
Me (Mar 11, 2012 3:40 PM):
“I’ve been bratty all day. sorry bout the mean comment about your hair...you are pretty no matter what mommy...love
you xoxo”

41. S TUDIO 802 AT THE WES T 21 S T S TREET
SC HOOL OF VISUAL ART S BUILDIN G

42. First day back to school since spring break. I still have a cold and the only reason I
go to school is to uninstall my work at the SVA gallery.
I decide to work on my paper in my studio to make the trip from Brooklyn worth it.
My nose won’t stop running. I’m trying to pretend I’m not still sick.
My studio is a mess and Patrick needs his drawing table back so I spend 2 hours
cleaning and rearranging my studio in order to create a conducive writing space.
Studio is clean but I’m still not getting any writing accomplished so I go to the office
to look at Michelle Lopez’s thesis paper.
After quickly flipping through Michelle’s paper (without reading too much because I didn’t want
to be influenced by the content) I remember a chapter in a Jennifer Egan book I read a few
months ago that had an entire chapter written in powerpoint slides.
I decide to write the rest of my thesis in powerpoint.

43. ONCE AGAIN WORKING AT MY
APARTMENT IN BROOKLYN

44. conversation with Luke before falling asleep
do you think my
slide show idea no
is dumb? there’s not really
any guidelines..
umm...so yeah..
you should do it...
do you think
it’s kind of but do you really think I
funny?
can get away with making
a bunch of slides that are
yes.
about the process that
went into trying to figure
out how to write a thesis? I just wasn’t
that sounded
apprehensive sure if you knew
...you think how to use
it’s stupid powerpoint
don’t you?
umm rude.. I had to my point
use powerpoint in exactly
back in the 90’s for
business computer
class.

45. THE BOOK THE POWER OF FEMINIST ART
FINALLY ARRIVES FROM AMAZON.COM
or checking
I’m worried I’m going facebook
to spend more time
reading this book
instead of making
slides
My paper isn’t really I’ve been needing this
about feminism so I book for days.
don’t know why I think Especially when I was
that I’ve been needing just hanging out doing
it nothing in Vermont.
I immediately flip to
an article I already
read on p.68
“Conversations with
Judy Chicago and
but if I’m constantly Miriam Schapiro”
referencing strong
women in society by Norma Broude
then maybe it
actually is about
and Mary D. Garrard
feminism

46. THINGS I STARRED IN THE “CONVERSATIONS WITH
JUDY CHICAGO AND MIRIAM SCHAPIRO” ARTICLE
• JC: That’s the question, isn’t it? Who gets to decide, and what standards do we use? I
NB/ would say the person who has done the most work in this area is Lucy (Lippard). In
her book Mixed Blessings she is the first person to try and come up with another
MG: standard of how you measure quality. I would say the issue of quality needs to be
How do connected to the question of authenticity. For example, how can a white man
we decide functioning within a Euro-American curatorial and art-historical structure evaluate the
what’s authenticity of a black woman’s painting? And, because his standard of measurement
quality? does not apply, it throws him off balance, and he falls back on, “It’s not quality.”
Whereas, in actual fact, his standard of measurement may be inappropriate.
NB/MG: However, the
rule of authenticity
• JC: Of course, one would have to accept the diversity of all
would only work if
human experience as potentially valid. But we have all been
everybody’s experience
raised to believe, implicitly or explicitly, that some human
is given equal validity.
experiences are more important than others. Challenging that
Yet how can standards assumption is at the root of feminism. I believe standards can
of quality emerge when
and do emerge from dialogue, but the dialogue has to be much
what is art for person X
bigger than it is now.
is not necessarily art for
person Y?

47. NORMA BROUDE AND MARY D. GARRARD
SAY:
For many feminists, it’s the
patriarchal oppression that’s at
the root of the problem for all
these multiple identities.

48. MORE STUFF JUDY C. SAID...
There are Patriarchal
feminism, even oppression is
women as well
though it starts
as men who with f-e-m, does not connected
are addicted to not mean female entirely to
gaining power only gender
over others
by casting the
. Feminism is a set of The spirit of my
dialogue entirely
around gender and principles and a way of work grows out
looking at the world
not values we set the
that, for me, is rooted in of the redefinition
stage to alienate men
who could have been a redefinition of power- of power.
our friends from power over others
to empowerment

49. THE SMARTART GRAPHIC FROM POWERPOINT
THAT MADE ME THINK OF JUDY CHICAGO
*smartart is what powerpoint calls the little charts
I’ve been using to make these ridiculous slides
**little red squiggly lines show up under the words
smartart and powerpoint because the powerpoint
program is too dumb to recognize itself as a word

50. THE GRAPHIC I DREW IN POWERPOINT THAT
REPRESENTS JUDY CHICAGO

51. I REALIZE THAT TOMORROW IS THE
THESIS ROUGH DRAFT DEADLINE SO I TRY
TO PUT ALL THESE RAMBLINGS INTO
POWERPOINT FORMAT TO SHOW DAVID
ROW

52. DAVID ROW LIKES IT BUT HE HAS
SUGGESTIONS
figure out
a way to
push the sum it up
idea of
parody
more pop-
culture
references
my thoughts: I should have just made
this whole thing about Dolly Parton

53. SINCE I’M ON THE TOPIC OF DOLLY...

54. ISLANDS IN THE STREAM IS ONE OF MY
FAVORITE SONGS...
Dolly sang it as a duet with I hate the Bee Gees
The song was released in
Kenny Rogers, but the
1983 which is also the year My mom is obsessed with
song was written by the
I was born the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
I can’t help but also think
of the 90’s song Ghetto
Islands in the Stream is Supastar (that is what you Warren Beatty was
also the title of a work by are) exceptionally sexy in the
Ernest Hemingway movie Bonnie and Clyde
from the movie Bulworth
featuring Warren Beatty

56. THEY FILMED MOST OF THE MOVIE CLOSE TO PLACES
I’VE LIVED
they filmed in
Ponder & I own a house that
Pilot Point I rent out to college
students in Denton
as well as
Red Oak
and
Waxahachie
I was born
in Waco
*icon of house not to scale
**map is not intended to be used by those
needing directions

57. POP -CULTURE S TUFF THAT POPS INTO
MY HEAD...
the producers
Jean-Luc of course
originally approached next they
refused because of
François Truffaut but approached Jean-
his skepticism
he passed to make Luc Godard
towards Hollywood
Fahrenheit 451
Bonnie and Clyde is
stylistically very
influenced by French
New Wave cinema

58. After thinking momentarily about my love
for French New Wave I realize that my
entire thesis is based on the idea of just
jump cutting a bunch of ideas and putting
them together which is also how I make art

59. THE END