seminar.
'Men act, women appear' (Berger, 1972) In western culture men have been presented as those who act, whereas women appear, this has been acknowledged but is a long way from being changed. Women are seen more as objects than people, treated as a subject, rather than an individual. Broadly in our society visual representations are skewed. Visual culture broadly represents the attitudes of men. Women are commonly objectified in western culture.
Hans Memling (Vanity)
Artists were mainly men and those who bought art were mainly men, this was because society was patriotic, Men were in control of the business, property, means of production, they had the financial and economic power. Exploitation and domination of women by men. Not created for beauty, created to make money, created for the man.
The woman is constantly on display for you to look at and posses, to own in a way that you can never own a real women, it is a fantasy that never challenges you. She never confronts you or meets your gaze, she stares away and glances at you through the mirror to check that you are still gazing, encouraging the men.
Makes comedy out of women for being innately vain, sexualising a women then laughing at women for them caring about how they appear.
Birth of Venus (1863) and Olympia (18)
To be an artist at this time, you had to exhibit your work in the salon, your work had to be approved, the public saw it and critics judged it. This was the most popular picture.
Olympia was in the same salon and caused scandal. Both depict female nudes but they are entirely different. Birth of venus is passive, allowing you to gaze at her, whereas olympia offers you a challenge and confronts the gaze. The birth of venus is also seen as a flirtatious character. Her fully body is on display whereas olympia forces her self to cover up the conflict the mans gaze. Both are goddesses of love, however Olympia is a prostitute, BOV is a fantasy and the other is sorded reality, the sexually availible female that you have to pay for in reality, the reality of sexual relations. This is also not as stable as you would like, she is not a sexually available as you would like to fantasise. The black cat is a symbol of independence, Titans venus of urbino, there is a dog, a much more loyal pet in society. Olympia stands to be a much more feminist piece. Looking at BOV and TVOU paintings is in no way wrong, however it is, it is sexual it is voyueristic. Pigeon holes women into certain roles, ways of acting and behaving, they are here to serve the men. It is a woman job to look good for the man, to create space to nurture the man.
Men dream of women, women dream of themselves being dreamt of. - John Bergers, ways of seeing documentary.
Contemporary representation of this:
The way she appears to men is crucial and is thought of as the success of her life - John Bergers, ways of seeing documentary.
A nude has to be seen as an object in order to be a nude. A nudist is art, to be naked is to be yourself, but nude is being seen naked by someone else, and not realising you are being seen in this representation, not knowing you are a subject.
Analysis, using 5 quotes from the text.
No comments:
Post a Comment