Luke G. Sumpter

Hello, my name is Luke. I am a third-year student at the University of Texas at Austin, and I am studying philosophy and history. I am, broadly, interested in aesthetics and philosophy of art. More specifically, I love learning about philosophy of film, philosophy of literature, philosophy of history, causality, literary theory, film theory, memory, ego, illusion, chance, and coincidence. You could say I’m really narrow in my interests.

Recently, I have done work on digital art and authenticity, using work by Linda Hutcheon and Gilles Deleuze to look into whether the digitization of art, both born-digital and physical-turned-digital, carries the same essence and humanity that we see in traditional forms of art like painting or literature.

When I am not forced by society’s pressure in my mind to create things like websites for my academic career, I love watching movies (specifically going to the movie theater), reading (only gay classic fiction), and talking to myself (I get lost). I’m trying desperately hard to think if there is anything else beyond this sad attempt at humor that best describes me, but I think that’s about it. I also have an unrelated obsession with wind and circles.

In case you are dying to know, my favorite movies are Arrival (2016), her (2014), God’s Own Country (2017), The Power of the Dog (2021), and The Red Shoes (1948). My favorite recent film is probably TAR (2022). My favorite books include Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin, The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck, My Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, and A Boy’s Own Story by Edmund White. Though, I am currently reading In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust and I would consider it my favorite of all time (so far). As for music, I like anything Imogen Heap or Adele.