Barbra Kruger
In her piece “My Face is Your Fortune” there are multiple points of interest in the title that are relatable to both society and the price of art and advertising.
One being the obvious ownership of the face. The face belongs to two people: One being the person born with the face and the other being the person with the camera who has captured the face. This mirrors the text across the image as the “My” and “Your” text. However, Kruger herself is making a pretty penny off of the image herself and is in a way exploiting the owner of the face for her own financial benefite, which is mirrored in the “Fortune” portion of the Text. This dichotomy that the artist brings up leaves one hanging and wanting to know an unanswerable question.
Scondly. Women have become prime target market in the advertising world. Many products and PROCEDURES can be bought to “fix” one’s face. These lotions and powders are sold by the cart load to women. Many companies are manufacturing products knowingly exploiting insecurities in woman that the companies themselves have instilled in these women through media and ads. These companies create false problems in women’s bodies in order to self unneeded products to these women just to make a profit with out even worrying about the social ramifications of their actions.
The comodification of women’s faces for the profits of another is both unnecessary and just plain mean. Aging is a losing battle, every one will age no matter how hard one tries not too, or what one bys to prevent it.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Stieglitz, O'Keeffe, body of work
Stieglitz and O’Keeffe
The photo graph of Georgia O’Keeffe’s torso by Stieglitz is a wonderful twist on the “body” of work by the two artists. I have for a long time loved the upclose paintings the centers of flowers that O’Keeffe has produced. I always thought it was odd that some people were offended by her art work. I never really saw a great resemblance between the center of a flower and a the female genitalia. Similar to the art of Edward Weston, O’Keeffe’s work could be mirroring nature and the human nude. I think it an odd idea that people would be humanizing nature, where as I would think as it more naturalizing humans. Nature is not vulgar or obscene. People’s social constructions are what governs this idea of what they think to be obscene, not the natural world itself.
That being said, I think that it is very moving that O’Keeffe’s lover documented her body. One’s body is a very intimate and personal thing and being able to capture images of it and sharing them with the world is bold and touching. I find a kind of naive sweetness in the boldness of this action, similar to the way I find young children swearing. I think that the human body is a very beautiful thing and to show one’s body and progression of aging is wonderful. It takes guts to show one’s guts starting to sag and hang feeling the weight/wait of gravity and time.
The photo graph of Georgia O’Keeffe’s torso by Stieglitz is a wonderful twist on the “body” of work by the two artists. I have for a long time loved the upclose paintings the centers of flowers that O’Keeffe has produced. I always thought it was odd that some people were offended by her art work. I never really saw a great resemblance between the center of a flower and a the female genitalia. Similar to the art of Edward Weston, O’Keeffe’s work could be mirroring nature and the human nude. I think it an odd idea that people would be humanizing nature, where as I would think as it more naturalizing humans. Nature is not vulgar or obscene. People’s social constructions are what governs this idea of what they think to be obscene, not the natural world itself.
That being said, I think that it is very moving that O’Keeffe’s lover documented her body. One’s body is a very intimate and personal thing and being able to capture images of it and sharing them with the world is bold and touching. I find a kind of naive sweetness in the boldness of this action, similar to the way I find young children swearing. I think that the human body is a very beautiful thing and to show one’s body and progression of aging is wonderful. It takes guts to show one’s guts starting to sag and hang feeling the weight/wait of gravity and time.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Rocket Science
Rocket Science
I went to see this film March 13th , once again accompanied by my boyfriend. At first it thought this film was going to be similar to the film What the Bleep Do We Know or Spellbound. I thought those other movies were okay, but I am not really good at understanding astrophysics or at spelling (see writing samples). Thus, I was really relieved that this move’s plot was about a foiled love story, and a boy learning how to live with a speech impediment.
I though that this film was really ingeniously funny. This is not to say that stuttering is funny and something to be laughed about; disabilities are serious and should be treated respectfully. What were funny were the situations that the boy, Hal, got himself into and how he responded to those situations. For example, after he through a cello in the window of the house of the girl he liked, he told the family that “now there was a cello in your house”. In my opinion I though that this statement was very poetic and funny. What else is there to say after you through a cello through someone’s house window? I felt this way about most of the lines that Hal said. I thought the raw matter of affect way he spoke was very genuine, and it felt even more so with his stutter.
Untimely, I think that what Hal learned form his debate experience as well as his dabbles in matters of the heart can best be summed up by the pizza analogy that persists through the film. Hal consciously tried to order pizza in the cafeteria and he continuously failed at the ability to make his desire for the pizza verbally know. However, in the end he did overcome this verbal obstacle at a pizza diner. This idea of continuously struggling to overcome obstacles was however than contradicted by his father. His father in sort gave Hal the bad advice that one in the end just learns to settle and be continent in matters of the heart and life. I would like to think, that Hal’s experiences helped him transcend this idea of settling and continued to fight the good fight of achieving his dreams and meeting his potential.
I went to see this film March 13th , once again accompanied by my boyfriend. At first it thought this film was going to be similar to the film What the Bleep Do We Know or Spellbound. I thought those other movies were okay, but I am not really good at understanding astrophysics or at spelling (see writing samples). Thus, I was really relieved that this move’s plot was about a foiled love story, and a boy learning how to live with a speech impediment.
I though that this film was really ingeniously funny. This is not to say that stuttering is funny and something to be laughed about; disabilities are serious and should be treated respectfully. What were funny were the situations that the boy, Hal, got himself into and how he responded to those situations. For example, after he through a cello in the window of the house of the girl he liked, he told the family that “now there was a cello in your house”. In my opinion I though that this statement was very poetic and funny. What else is there to say after you through a cello through someone’s house window? I felt this way about most of the lines that Hal said. I thought the raw matter of affect way he spoke was very genuine, and it felt even more so with his stutter.
Untimely, I think that what Hal learned form his debate experience as well as his dabbles in matters of the heart can best be summed up by the pizza analogy that persists through the film. Hal consciously tried to order pizza in the cafeteria and he continuously failed at the ability to make his desire for the pizza verbally know. However, in the end he did overcome this verbal obstacle at a pizza diner. This idea of continuously struggling to overcome obstacles was however than contradicted by his father. His father in sort gave Hal the bad advice that one in the end just learns to settle and be continent in matters of the heart and life. I would like to think, that Hal’s experiences helped him transcend this idea of settling and continued to fight the good fight of achieving his dreams and meeting his potential.
10 Questions for the Dali Lama
10 Questions for the Dali Lama
I went to see this film, Feb. 14, with my boyfriend at Centenary. This was one of the most attended films I had been to in a while, and I hoped it was because this was going to be an exhalant film. And it was. Before I saw the film, I had little knowledge of Tibet, other than students and faculty around campus had “Free Tibet” bumper stickers. There were many surprising things that I was exposed to in the film.
One of the most surprising things I learned was how much fun and funny the Dali Lama was. I had never in my life seen such an animated religious head. He had a nice sense of humor, and he brightened up every one he encountered. He has a real sense of empathy for his people, and even takes time out of his rituals to express individual care for his people as well his daily life. Watching the way he interacted with his people it was obvious that he has a big heart, and loves everyone. I though it was ironic however, that when his people showed their devotion to him in the form of festivals that he did not enjoy the festivals and became bored and restless. I interpreted his reaction as that he prefers intimate forms of interaction over public ritualized forms because while he cares about all of his people, he prefers to care for his people individually.
The second thing that I found surprising was how technologically advanced and driven the Dali Lama was. I thought it was interesting that the best way to reach him was via the internet. I think that this is a huge and important statement of our current structures of society. The fact that he is keeping up with the times is in my opinion a sign that the Dali Lama is making his religion more accessible to contemporary society. Similarly, this follows the trend seen in other third world countries where people who never had access to phones are skipping the land line step and going directly to predominantly using cell phones. This is accruing because it is more practical/cheaper to get a cell phone and cell phone tower build than putting up cables. It is easier to adopt newer technology usage in these areas than the old technological methods of communication, and it is more efficient.
The thing that I found most offensive was what the Chinese’s government did to the old Tibetan monastery. Turning a historical and spiritual place into a amusement park, is sacral gist, and disrespectful. However, I it did bring up an interesting idea. Is what China did to the monastery so different from what we have done to historical places in our country? Is it as upsetting that we sell hotdog and tee-shirts at famous battle ground like the Alamo, or at hubs of suffering like at Ellis Island? Capitalism could have a sick sense of humor that profits of the suffering of others and uses history to whore out its trivial products.
I went to see this film, Feb. 14, with my boyfriend at Centenary. This was one of the most attended films I had been to in a while, and I hoped it was because this was going to be an exhalant film. And it was. Before I saw the film, I had little knowledge of Tibet, other than students and faculty around campus had “Free Tibet” bumper stickers. There were many surprising things that I was exposed to in the film.
One of the most surprising things I learned was how much fun and funny the Dali Lama was. I had never in my life seen such an animated religious head. He had a nice sense of humor, and he brightened up every one he encountered. He has a real sense of empathy for his people, and even takes time out of his rituals to express individual care for his people as well his daily life. Watching the way he interacted with his people it was obvious that he has a big heart, and loves everyone. I though it was ironic however, that when his people showed their devotion to him in the form of festivals that he did not enjoy the festivals and became bored and restless. I interpreted his reaction as that he prefers intimate forms of interaction over public ritualized forms because while he cares about all of his people, he prefers to care for his people individually.
The second thing that I found surprising was how technologically advanced and driven the Dali Lama was. I thought it was interesting that the best way to reach him was via the internet. I think that this is a huge and important statement of our current structures of society. The fact that he is keeping up with the times is in my opinion a sign that the Dali Lama is making his religion more accessible to contemporary society. Similarly, this follows the trend seen in other third world countries where people who never had access to phones are skipping the land line step and going directly to predominantly using cell phones. This is accruing because it is more practical/cheaper to get a cell phone and cell phone tower build than putting up cables. It is easier to adopt newer technology usage in these areas than the old technological methods of communication, and it is more efficient.
The thing that I found most offensive was what the Chinese’s government did to the old Tibetan monastery. Turning a historical and spiritual place into a amusement park, is sacral gist, and disrespectful. However, I it did bring up an interesting idea. Is what China did to the monastery so different from what we have done to historical places in our country? Is it as upsetting that we sell hotdog and tee-shirts at famous battle ground like the Alamo, or at hubs of suffering like at Ellis Island? Capitalism could have a sick sense of humor that profits of the suffering of others and uses history to whore out its trivial products.
Monday, March 3, 2008
male gaze
The Panopticon prison is a prison that has its residents act as both the jailer as well as the prisoner. The prison is has such visibility that the prisoners feel the affect of the jailors gaze causing them to act as their own jailors by regulation their own behavior. This same concept of people regulating their behavior with out any formal rules can be seen in how women regulate their own behavior and practices of gender ideology that perpetuates gender inequality.
However, it is not a jailor who’s gaze that women are responding to but the male gaze. The male gaze is the dominate gaze of our patricidal culture. The male gaze has the power to say what is beautiful, worthy, and socially acceptable. Women see media images in the fashion of the male gaze and use that to construct their gender ideologies. Women are bombarded by ads and magazines of stick thin white women who are revered by the male gaze as the ideals of feminine beauty. Thus, women strive to achieve this unrealistic body, and white features. When these women do achieve, to some degree, these ideals, they feel a since of power and satisfaction. This sensation is called repressive satisfaction. Repressive satisfactions is born from the way conforming makes one feel good. Thus women construct their ideas of what it means to be feminine by how well they can conform to the ideals of the male gaze and how they good feel from be in accepted/sense of power after conforming. This allows for the cycle of repression of women to continue, by falsely giving women a sense of control/power. This allows for women to remain repressed, but not be aware of their repression because they feel that they made their own choices. If women are too busy trying to conform and feel good, they will not try and rebel and turn they patriarchal system upside down.
However, it is not a jailor who’s gaze that women are responding to but the male gaze. The male gaze is the dominate gaze of our patricidal culture. The male gaze has the power to say what is beautiful, worthy, and socially acceptable. Women see media images in the fashion of the male gaze and use that to construct their gender ideologies. Women are bombarded by ads and magazines of stick thin white women who are revered by the male gaze as the ideals of feminine beauty. Thus, women strive to achieve this unrealistic body, and white features. When these women do achieve, to some degree, these ideals, they feel a since of power and satisfaction. This sensation is called repressive satisfaction. Repressive satisfactions is born from the way conforming makes one feel good. Thus women construct their ideas of what it means to be feminine by how well they can conform to the ideals of the male gaze and how they good feel from be in accepted/sense of power after conforming. This allows for the cycle of repression of women to continue, by falsely giving women a sense of control/power. This allows for women to remain repressed, but not be aware of their repression because they feel that they made their own choices. If women are too busy trying to conform and feel good, they will not try and rebel and turn they patriarchal system upside down.
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