I recently attended a field trip with a friend of mine. She goes to Bard. She's taking a class on Decorative Arts, which is to say, in her words, "I'm taking a class on furniture." Regardless, all this meant was that she wished my company to go to the Met with her class, attempt to impress her professor with my knowledge of art history, and look at all the boring rooms while rushing through my favorite rooms. I found myself to be the oldest one the in group and also, the one telling the dirtiest jokes. Which makes me wonder if we really are innately the same people we have always been. Like since birth. Dirty jokester trouble maker.
For me, museum experiences tend to evoke all kinds of existential crises.
I only took enough philosophy in college to effectively screw me up for the rest of my life. Or at least thus far. Maybe you can help me figure out what it all means.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Nostalgia is a funny thing. Makes people all crazy like.
Sometimes I feel like we're all chasing some residue of a feeling that probably never really existed. Or at least not the way we remember it. There are those moments, though. The ones that as they are happening, you just know you'll be feeding off of them for the rest of your life.
Ima tell you about those times.
Sometimes I feel like we're all chasing some residue of a feeling that probably never really existed. Or at least not the way we remember it. There are those moments, though. The ones that as they are happening, you just know you'll be feeding off of them for the rest of your life.
Ima tell you about those times.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Conception and Context: representation and construction in Feminist Art
Dorothy Iannone's Lioness provides a personal perspective on female sexuality. In her raw, stubborn, fearless honesty, she gives a voice to the individual while Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party seeks to establish and legitimize the feminist movement by providing an altar to women and the basis for the construction of a western feminist narrative. Sexuality and spirituality overlap within these acutely different exhibitions while encouraging a discourse on gender representation.
The New Museum embodies the ideal environment to support Iannone's work. As the viewer enters off of Bowery and into the white, industrial ground floor, admission free, public space of the museum, the exhibition can be seen through large glass walls. A glance at the sign just outside the entrance warns of sexually explicit subject matter, but the airy feel of the well lit room, created through high ceilings and wide spacing of the work lends to an approachable, welcoming environment that allows the work to stand on its own, ready to receive praise or judgment with no pretense. The content of her work requires an environment such as this, ridden of any aesthetic distractions. The atmosphere of this area of the museum, surrounded by a café and an aura of causality and acceptance lends itself to discourse. Here, crowds feel comfortable talking, questioning and responding to the work. There is no air of authority, no condescension.
Iannone's work centers on her personal sexual experiences. The works included are four large scale paintings, displayed along the main wall of the exhibit confronting the viewer upon entry, small figurative sculptures encased on pedestals standing in the center of the small room, narrative drawings installed along the glass wall separating the gallery and the café, and a video box installation located on the wall adjacent to the introductory description of the exhibition.
This text panels relates the work displayed to Iannone’s long-term relationship with Dieter Roth. The large paintings depict Iannone and Roth in various sexual acts. Whereas these depictions would once seem private, her openness invites the viewer into the complexity of female sexuality. The depictions of her and her lover are used as both a means of self-expression and feminist declaration and in doing so Iannone achieves a personal feminist narrative. The works take precedence over the space. Labeling isn’t really necessary as the works must speak for themselves and the exhibition supports this by including only small white labels, which are hardly noticeable. Personal information on Iannone is provided giving a context for the subject matter of the work displayed, but the museum affectively removes itself from the equation in order to showcase Iannone’s innate ability to reveal the fluid nature of sexuality.
She manipulates gender by including testacies on representations of herself, not only in reference to the complexity and construction of gender but also as a means of socializing this symbol of masculinity; she asserts her power by redefining and challenging this symbol. Sex is no longer simply an act of lust or an act of intimacy; it is now, essentially both. Female sexuality is often constructed as an object of dangerous power, spiritual experience, or wealth to be purchased, but never some combination of all of these things. It is in this capacity that we can recognize elements of Fisher's arguments regarding the life of objects, or in this case, representations of female sexuality (436). Iannone challenges former notions of gender and sexuality, allowing for a truthful representation of the complexity of female sexuality and the re-socialization of representations of it. She is, at once, soft and harsh, feminine and masculine; she is able to be the Madonna and the whore. Each work displayed does not reference one another, but rather references Iannone’s individual experience and this simple, unassuming presentation within the New Museum allows for a neutral context that is relevant and necessary to the overall ambition of Dorothy Iannone’s work.
In contrast to representations of the individual, Chicago seeks to construct a historical female perspective in her work, The Dinner Party. The classical architecture of the exterior of the Brooklyn Museum complimented by an elaborate, yet modern entry pavilion provide an appropriate home for the exhibition of this work. The glass entrance to the museum projects a welcoming environment that also sanctions respect. This proclivity continues on to the fourth floor of the museum where the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art is located, a venue that was designed and centered on the long-term exhibition of Chicago’s iconic installation.
The Dinner Party is, essentially a massive, triangular shaped table, which provides an elaborate place setting for thirty-nine historical female figures. When entering the space, the audience is overwhelmed by an elaborate experience of the senses. The exhibit entrance is precluded by six tapestries, which proclaim Chicago’s vision, “And She Gathered All before her And She made for them A Sign to See And lo They saw a Vision From this day forth Like to like in All things And then all that divided them merged And then Everywhere was Eden Once again” making the viewer quite aware that The Dinner Party speaks to a higher social mission of gender equality and education. It is evident by the shear intensity of the display that this installation seeks to provide “a context for the objects inside to retain their authority, where their authenticity [can] be adjudicated, and where the historical testimony of objects [can] be heard” (Conn 194). Large glass walls encompass the table, mimicking the angular shape. Resplendently rich tones of red and gold highlight the exhibition, contrasted by a black floor and dramatic lighting, which illuminate only the place settings at the table. The effect of all of these ornate details leave the viewer in a state of quiet awe, creating a ritualized, spiritual experience thereby meant to require the audience to, "internalize the values and beliefs written into the architectural script" (Duncan and Wallach 53). The elaborate treatment of this installation speaks to its audience, telling of its importance. However, as Conn warns us, we must be aware of the possibility that whereas these objects may be presented so as to “continue to retain their ‘aura’” it is also possible that the subject matter displayed endeavors to be “invested with an aura they may not have previously had” (Conn 194). In stark contrast to Lioness, Chicago's work is essentially and intentionally not personal. She wishes to show the grandeur of all that encompasses the Female. Chicago works to construct a feminist narrative by way of "staging and reconfiguring history and for producing new social subjects for that history" (Preziosi 77). Chicago is able to literally stage history through whom she has invited to her dinner table. She controls "what is given to be seen, what is seen, and what is hidden by what we see"(72). The guests sitting at her iconic dinner table are now and forever included in the narrative of feminist art. While she includes another nine hundred and ninety-nine other women in the installation, whose names are inscribed on the floor of which the table rests, she is, at once, asserting the place and importance of these historical figures. Some are dinner guests, and some fall to the wayside, clearly less important. Some now surely contain an authority they had not had prior, and some women would seem to be silenced in their lack of representation.
It should also be noted that there are great efforts to place this work within a specific context. Information is provided through text, audio and video installation, which elaborate on the exhausting efforts required to produce the work from concept to execution. There are further acknowledgement panels depicting over three hundred individuals who assisted in the project. We are taught through this of a sense of importance and community regarding the work. Whereas Lioness desires self-expression, The Dinner Party demands consideration.
Both exhibitions contain certain explicit elements. Each place setting of The Dinner Party references vulva imagery meant to correspond to each guest; like Iannone's imagery, Chicago has also re-socialized sex organs. However, Chicago creates an ambiguous sort of stylized vagina; one with soft folds that often resembles as much a flower or a butterfly as it does a female body part. The symbol is no longer representative of a receptacle for men, but is redefined as something more, something innately feminine, intensely complex and specific to the individual. The sacred feeling of the entire instillation quashes any sense of vulgarity, which may otherwise be attached with this symbolism. Iannone's work speaks from the first person perspective. It is fundamentally less compromised because she is only speaking on behalf of herself. Chicago is burdened with harmonizing the cacophony of the voices of all womankind. Both of these exhibitions are grounded in their desire for equality. In their recognition of the incongruity of gender representation and their recognition of the complexity of sexuality, they both reveal specifically that femininity and sexuality are mutually exclusive. Iannone achieves this through removing all sense of shame from sex, creating a personal spirituality that not only isn't afraid of sexuality, it requires it. Lioness supports this through a neutral, unbiased display of the work while the authority The Dinner Party demands cannot be denied; the splendor of the installation and the elaborate and intensive efforts that have gone into such a project are evident. Iannone embraces the explicit nature of her work while Chicago redefines it and both exhibitions achieve the harmonious and appropriate conditions necessary to support the overall mission of their work.
The New Museum embodies the ideal environment to support Iannone's work. As the viewer enters off of Bowery and into the white, industrial ground floor, admission free, public space of the museum, the exhibition can be seen through large glass walls. A glance at the sign just outside the entrance warns of sexually explicit subject matter, but the airy feel of the well lit room, created through high ceilings and wide spacing of the work lends to an approachable, welcoming environment that allows the work to stand on its own, ready to receive praise or judgment with no pretense. The content of her work requires an environment such as this, ridden of any aesthetic distractions. The atmosphere of this area of the museum, surrounded by a café and an aura of causality and acceptance lends itself to discourse. Here, crowds feel comfortable talking, questioning and responding to the work. There is no air of authority, no condescension.
Iannone's work centers on her personal sexual experiences. The works included are four large scale paintings, displayed along the main wall of the exhibit confronting the viewer upon entry, small figurative sculptures encased on pedestals standing in the center of the small room, narrative drawings installed along the glass wall separating the gallery and the café, and a video box installation located on the wall adjacent to the introductory description of the exhibition.
This text panels relates the work displayed to Iannone’s long-term relationship with Dieter Roth. The large paintings depict Iannone and Roth in various sexual acts. Whereas these depictions would once seem private, her openness invites the viewer into the complexity of female sexuality. The depictions of her and her lover are used as both a means of self-expression and feminist declaration and in doing so Iannone achieves a personal feminist narrative. The works take precedence over the space. Labeling isn’t really necessary as the works must speak for themselves and the exhibition supports this by including only small white labels, which are hardly noticeable. Personal information on Iannone is provided giving a context for the subject matter of the work displayed, but the museum affectively removes itself from the equation in order to showcase Iannone’s innate ability to reveal the fluid nature of sexuality.
She manipulates gender by including testacies on representations of herself, not only in reference to the complexity and construction of gender but also as a means of socializing this symbol of masculinity; she asserts her power by redefining and challenging this symbol. Sex is no longer simply an act of lust or an act of intimacy; it is now, essentially both. Female sexuality is often constructed as an object of dangerous power, spiritual experience, or wealth to be purchased, but never some combination of all of these things. It is in this capacity that we can recognize elements of Fisher's arguments regarding the life of objects, or in this case, representations of female sexuality (436). Iannone challenges former notions of gender and sexuality, allowing for a truthful representation of the complexity of female sexuality and the re-socialization of representations of it. She is, at once, soft and harsh, feminine and masculine; she is able to be the Madonna and the whore. Each work displayed does not reference one another, but rather references Iannone’s individual experience and this simple, unassuming presentation within the New Museum allows for a neutral context that is relevant and necessary to the overall ambition of Dorothy Iannone’s work.
In contrast to representations of the individual, Chicago seeks to construct a historical female perspective in her work, The Dinner Party. The classical architecture of the exterior of the Brooklyn Museum complimented by an elaborate, yet modern entry pavilion provide an appropriate home for the exhibition of this work. The glass entrance to the museum projects a welcoming environment that also sanctions respect. This proclivity continues on to the fourth floor of the museum where the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art is located, a venue that was designed and centered on the long-term exhibition of Chicago’s iconic installation.
The Dinner Party is, essentially a massive, triangular shaped table, which provides an elaborate place setting for thirty-nine historical female figures. When entering the space, the audience is overwhelmed by an elaborate experience of the senses. The exhibit entrance is precluded by six tapestries, which proclaim Chicago’s vision, “And She Gathered All before her And She made for them A Sign to See And lo They saw a Vision From this day forth Like to like in All things And then all that divided them merged And then Everywhere was Eden Once again” making the viewer quite aware that The Dinner Party speaks to a higher social mission of gender equality and education. It is evident by the shear intensity of the display that this installation seeks to provide “a context for the objects inside to retain their authority, where their authenticity [can] be adjudicated, and where the historical testimony of objects [can] be heard” (Conn 194). Large glass walls encompass the table, mimicking the angular shape. Resplendently rich tones of red and gold highlight the exhibition, contrasted by a black floor and dramatic lighting, which illuminate only the place settings at the table. The effect of all of these ornate details leave the viewer in a state of quiet awe, creating a ritualized, spiritual experience thereby meant to require the audience to, "internalize the values and beliefs written into the architectural script" (Duncan and Wallach 53). The elaborate treatment of this installation speaks to its audience, telling of its importance. However, as Conn warns us, we must be aware of the possibility that whereas these objects may be presented so as to “continue to retain their ‘aura’” it is also possible that the subject matter displayed endeavors to be “invested with an aura they may not have previously had” (Conn 194). In stark contrast to Lioness, Chicago's work is essentially and intentionally not personal. She wishes to show the grandeur of all that encompasses the Female. Chicago works to construct a feminist narrative by way of "staging and reconfiguring history and for producing new social subjects for that history" (Preziosi 77). Chicago is able to literally stage history through whom she has invited to her dinner table. She controls "what is given to be seen, what is seen, and what is hidden by what we see"(72). The guests sitting at her iconic dinner table are now and forever included in the narrative of feminist art. While she includes another nine hundred and ninety-nine other women in the installation, whose names are inscribed on the floor of which the table rests, she is, at once, asserting the place and importance of these historical figures. Some are dinner guests, and some fall to the wayside, clearly less important. Some now surely contain an authority they had not had prior, and some women would seem to be silenced in their lack of representation.
It should also be noted that there are great efforts to place this work within a specific context. Information is provided through text, audio and video installation, which elaborate on the exhausting efforts required to produce the work from concept to execution. There are further acknowledgement panels depicting over three hundred individuals who assisted in the project. We are taught through this of a sense of importance and community regarding the work. Whereas Lioness desires self-expression, The Dinner Party demands consideration.
Both exhibitions contain certain explicit elements. Each place setting of The Dinner Party references vulva imagery meant to correspond to each guest; like Iannone's imagery, Chicago has also re-socialized sex organs. However, Chicago creates an ambiguous sort of stylized vagina; one with soft folds that often resembles as much a flower or a butterfly as it does a female body part. The symbol is no longer representative of a receptacle for men, but is redefined as something more, something innately feminine, intensely complex and specific to the individual. The sacred feeling of the entire instillation quashes any sense of vulgarity, which may otherwise be attached with this symbolism. Iannone's work speaks from the first person perspective. It is fundamentally less compromised because she is only speaking on behalf of herself. Chicago is burdened with harmonizing the cacophony of the voices of all womankind. Both of these exhibitions are grounded in their desire for equality. In their recognition of the incongruity of gender representation and their recognition of the complexity of sexuality, they both reveal specifically that femininity and sexuality are mutually exclusive. Iannone achieves this through removing all sense of shame from sex, creating a personal spirituality that not only isn't afraid of sexuality, it requires it. Lioness supports this through a neutral, unbiased display of the work while the authority The Dinner Party demands cannot be denied; the splendor of the installation and the elaborate and intensive efforts that have gone into such a project are evident. Iannone embraces the explicit nature of her work while Chicago redefines it and both exhibitions achieve the harmonious and appropriate conditions necessary to support the overall mission of their work.
Friday, October 16, 2009
I am Alive.
School is hard. Really, really hard. Turns out that I'm kinda stupid and don't really know how to read. I'm working on these things. Limping along really. But I've started research on my paper which is (attempting) to address the construction of a feminist narrative in both in The Dinner Part and The Lioness exhibitions. So, that's pretty cool I guess.
Also, dating in New York is fun.
Also, it's getting cold and I am so not ready for that.
I'll be home for Christmas. You can plan on me.
Also, dating in New York is fun.
Also, it's getting cold and I am so not ready for that.
I'll be home for Christmas. You can plan on me.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
How do I feel?
It's incredibly strange being totally disconnected from everything. I certainly thought I'd miss my old life a hell of a lot more than I do. Because I honestly don't miss it at all.
I feel so calm.
In other news, I'm loading up my dad's SUV this morning with all that is left of my personal possessions and preparing to make the long drive to New York City. My apartment is there waiting for me and I could hardly sleep last night due to how excited I am to arrive. I guess part of me always thought I may return to Florida, but now I can honestly say that ain't happening. So, you know, see ya St. Pete. It's been grand.
I feel so calm.
In other news, I'm loading up my dad's SUV this morning with all that is left of my personal possessions and preparing to make the long drive to New York City. My apartment is there waiting for me and I could hardly sleep last night due to how excited I am to arrive. I guess part of me always thought I may return to Florida, but now I can honestly say that ain't happening. So, you know, see ya St. Pete. It's been grand.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
For Your Viewing Pleasure
My pictures are up on my flickr now: flickr.com/pammy_pam
Still recovering. Starting next week I begin the search for my new apartment and squaring away things for school. I plan on sitting down shortly to outline some of the better stories from my last weeks abroad, as well as current unfolding events as I assimilate to the big apple. Stay tuned.
Still recovering. Starting next week I begin the search for my new apartment and squaring away things for school. I plan on sitting down shortly to outline some of the better stories from my last weeks abroad, as well as current unfolding events as I assimilate to the big apple. Stay tuned.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Home Now.
I am back now. I ran out of money a week before my return to the states. I'd like to say that being homeless, broke and alone in Paris was romantic and added a certain layer of depth to my traveling experience. More likely though, it simply added a layer of dirt and a level of exhaustion that will surely seem more nostalgic once I've received a weeks worth of rest, a hot bath, a pedicure and a deep tissue massage. But, I survived. And survival is, after all, entirely the point. Henry Miller would be so proud.
In case you were wondering, the cold marble floor of Charles De Gaulle International isn't a particularly comfortable place to sleep. Standing in a phone booth outside of the Piere Lachaise cemetery on the phone with my mother, she told me about how as a child, just when she had turned her back for a second, I would be playing chicken in the middle of the highway with the cars. She feels like I am living my life in that same manner 20 something years later. So be it. It's strange when you realize how much you are the same person you were when you were young. Same plot, different characters. I gather you've plenty of evidence of my character at this point to view me as a mischievous child playing in the street.
I will be posting all my pictures and telling some back stories which include my ability to cook frozen pizza with a hair dryer among other interesting tid bits.
xo
In case you were wondering, the cold marble floor of Charles De Gaulle International isn't a particularly comfortable place to sleep. Standing in a phone booth outside of the Piere Lachaise cemetery on the phone with my mother, she told me about how as a child, just when she had turned her back for a second, I would be playing chicken in the middle of the highway with the cars. She feels like I am living my life in that same manner 20 something years later. So be it. It's strange when you realize how much you are the same person you were when you were young. Same plot, different characters. I gather you've plenty of evidence of my character at this point to view me as a mischievous child playing in the street.
I will be posting all my pictures and telling some back stories which include my ability to cook frozen pizza with a hair dryer among other interesting tid bits.
xo
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