Naomi Miller, Public Intellectual
Since 2011, I've been exploring the idea of persona, eventually casting myself as a contemporary public intellectual, largely informed by those figures in the public eye during the mid-20th century.
While doing initial research, I realized my complicity in the creation of these personas, that some part of me wanted to be like Susan Sontag without even knowing much about her. What at first felt like an indulgent fantasy turned into an embodiment and fleshing out of a collectively created figure who refuses to be categorized and basks in the spotlight (denying it all the while).
The performance of this persona points not only to those who we make our heroes, but also to our daily performances in the social realm.
