How to win friends and influence people

Abstract

My thesis work developed out of a specific book: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. The book is one of the best-selling self-help books of all time. Every part of the book was material for my project: The words. The author. The style. The physical object. I also use myself, the reader as a material. These materials can be manipulated like paint or clay or wood. But materials have limitations and resistances. That's what makes the whole thing interesting. In fact, it was my material resistances - my shyness, my nervousness - which led me to begin working with How to Win Friends and Influence People in the first place. My thesis project, How to Win Friends and Influence People is an animation and series of sculptural props that examines Dale Carnegie's book. The written thesis will explore notions of performance, humor, anxiety, and the self as they appear in this project and my previous work completed here at MIT. It will also explore my art in more general way. What is my process as an artist? How do I make decisions? Who do I make them for? And here it is. I hope you like it.