Task 3 - Constructing the Other

The photo above is taken from Vice Magazine Volume 9 Number 12.

On the bottom of the left page we have a boy with his arms folded above his head clutching a gun, the article it supports is entitled Trivial Pursuit: Terrorism Edition. The article is about a local radio station in Elasha Biyaha, a suburb of Mogadishu, that held a children's competition based around reciting the Koran in which the 1st place prize was 'an AK-47 and £450', the runner up would receive also receive an AK-47 and £300 and 3rd place "two live hand grenades and £250'. The article continues to explain that the competition was "sponsored by Al Qaeda affiliate Al-Shebaab, which is basically Somalia's version of the Taliban' which is followed by a quote from himself reading 'Youths should use one hand for education and the other for a gun to defend Islam'.

In contrast with this on the right we have an advert for the Sonos wireless hifi system, a system that apparently allows you to play 'all the music on the earth wirelessly in every room,' this is the point at which the concept of othering or 'the other' comes in. In one case we have audible media being used to encourage violent activity and almost as a sort of enrolment in contrast with a leisure time activity of listening to music as a form of relaxation. For most people listening to the radio is relatively stress free whereas on the left it is presented as a much more sinister scenario, furthermore the point is driven home by the previously mentioned image of a child wielding a gun, a image that most of us would find very surreal but is being presented as somewhat normal. It is here that we subconsciously create 'the other' as a person, or persons, whose ideals and past times are different to that of our own. Buying a new hifi and/or sound system is not necessarily an everyday task but something much more normal or down to earth to the readers and target audience of this magazine which are likely to be student and adult consumers.

Marxism and Art

Contextual and Theoretical Studies
Marxism and Art
Friday 25th November

‘Philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various way; the point, however, is to change it.’ – Marx, K (1845) Thesis on Feurbach

Marxism is – a political manifesto, leading to socialism, communism and the twentieth century conflicts between capital and labour.
- a philosophical approach o the social sciences, which focuses on the role of society in determining human behaviour, based on the concept of dialectical materialism.
Philosopher also wrote the communist manifesto

Capitalism – control of the means of production in private hands
- a market where labour power is bought and sold
- production of commodities for sale
- use of money as a means of exchange
- competition / meritocracy

Marx’s concept of Base / Superstructure
BASE
forces of production – materials, tools, workers, skills, etc
relations of production – employer/employee, class, master/slave, etc

SUPERSTRUCTURE
social institutions – legal, political, cultural
forms of consciousness - ideology

‘The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles’ Marx, communist manifesto

base – determines content and form of – superstructure – reflects form of and legitimizes – base – CIRCULAR THEORY

See handout for three substantial quotes – Marx, (1857) ‘Contribution to the critique of Political Economy’

The State
Instruments of the State and Ideological and Physical Coercion
The Bourgeoisie
The Proletariat

Ideology
- system of ideas or beliefs
- masking, distortion, or selection of ideas, to reinforce power relations, through creation of ‘false consciousness’

What is Culture?
- ‘one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language’
- aesthetic judgement is a social faculty
- The Kantian ‘pure aesthetic’ is a stylised and mystifying account of the particular experience of the bourgeoisie
- aesthetic senses and associated lifestyles in difference to one another
- ‘taste is first and foremost the distaste of the taste of others’

Art Production – Marx on Art
see handout for more quotes but essentially only a certain class people were making art or even enjoyed it

‘Artwork as social interstice.
The possibility of a relational art (and art taking its theoretical horizon the whole of human relations and their social context, rather than an independent and private space…’

‘…anything that cannot be marketed will inevitably vanish. Before long, it will not be possible to maintain relationships between people outside of these trading areas. So here we are summonsed to talk about things around a duly priced drink, as a symbolic form of contemporary human relations. You are looking for shared warmth and the comforting feeling of well being for two? So try our coffee…’ – Bourreriard

Conclusion
Marxist philosophy sees culture as emerging from, and reflecting, economic factors and related class antagonisms – materialism
‘Art’ could be thought of as a form of ideology. That produces ‘false consciousness’ and maintains the status quo
Political Art Practices seek to challenge the ideological and institutional discourses surrounding and legitimising ‘art’

Task 2 - The Gaze

‘according to usage and conventions which are at last being questioned but have by no means been overcome - men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at’ (Berger 1972, 45, 47)

Discuss this quote with reference to one work of art and one work from the contemprary media.

Hans Memling - Vanity,
'The Gaze' is often thought as the objection of women, making them an object within art as opposed to a subject of art, this reinforces the prescribed power given to me and the that they are allowed and/or supposed to look. As stated in Berger's quote above 'women appear' and this implies that it is fine for men to look at them, however the women in these works do not look at themselves but 'watch themselves being looked at.' In saying this Berger is reinforcing power of man as somebody that is entitled to look, by objectifying herself and letting herself be looked at the women is succumbing to the concept of ownership and mans control over woman. In Vanity the subject is holding a mirror and looking at herself and thus reflecting 'the gaze' and taking pride in her own presentation as something to be looked at, essentially this is confirming 'the gaze' as opposed to questioning it. Essentially I would argue that this picture not only represents the gaze but reinforces it in the way the subject is obviously watching herself and has no qualms with this.


Ryan McGinley - Lily (Black Eye) 2005
Here we have a photo by Ryan McGinley in which the subject is obviously a naked woman lighting a cigarette, upon closer inspection we can see that she has a black eye. It is obvious that she is appearing in a certain way however here it can be said that McGinley is challenging the idea of 'the gaze' as we are looking at her and find ourselves questioning the location and context of the image, not necessarily her nudity. One of the most important factors of this is the way she is looking, obviously she is avoiding eye contact and this implies that she knows she is being watched and thus is refusing to return 'the gaze', however the fact that she has a bruised eye is also a comment towards the gaze. Her facial expression and bruised eye imply that she is a victim, both of 'the gaze but also of something else, this may be from a friendly play fight that went wrong or could be something far more sinister but given the scenario we cannot tell. I feel this picture questions the role of 'the gaze' as the nudity of the subject is far less important then other aspects of the image, obviously the subject is aware she is being looked at but it is not for her nudity and thus it could be argued that this image would have the same affect be the subject a man or a woman.
looked at - presented
black eye, smoking, nude, location - set up scenario - presenting herself
showing she doesnt care- knows shes being looked at but dismisses this

Popular Culture

Richard Miles

Aims
Critically define ‘popular culture’
Contrast ideas of ‘culture’ with ‘popular culture’ and ‘mass culture’
Introduce Cultural Studies & Critical Theory
Discuss culture as ideology
Interrogate the social function of popular culture

Keyword definitions - Raymond Williams
culture - ‘One of the two or three most complicated words in the English language’

popular -
well liked and wins the favour of the public

popular press vs quality
popular cinema vs art cinema
popular entertainment vs art culture

Caspar David Friedrich - Monk by the Sea, 1809
Jeremy Deller & Alan Kane Folk Archive, 2005

Matthew Arnold - Culture and Anarchy 1867
defines culture as -
‘the best that has been thought & said in the world’
seeking ‘to minister the diseased spirit of our time’

Collapse of traditional authority comes at the same time as mass democracy - anarchy
Popular culture offers addictive forms of ditraction and compensation

Frankfurt School - Critical Theory
Theodore Adorno
Max Horkheimer
Herbert Marcuse
Leo Lowenthal
Walter Benjamin

Adorno and Horkheimer
define culture industry as 2 main products - homogeneity & predictability
- 'all mass culture is identical'
- ‘As soon as the film begins, it is quite clear how it will end, and who will be rewarded, punished or forgotten'

Marcuse
popular culture vs affirmative culture

Authentic culture vs Mass culture
authentic - real, individual, imagination, european
current contemporary - hollyoaks, x factor, che guevara t shirts

Williamson - Decoding Advertisements, 1978

Walter Benjamin - The Work Of Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction, 1936

Concluding points
- culture emerges from anxieties about social and cultural tension
- Frankfurt School emerges from Marxist tradition
- ideology masks cultural differences

Task 1 - Panopticism

In 300 words describe one aspect of contemporary society that you consider to be panoptic or influenced by panopticism.

I feel that the most obvious example of Foucault's theory of panopticism in current society is that of CCTV, it is forever present and we are constantly aware of it, it takes the ethos of the Panopticon and brings it to our streets. Foucault states 'surveillance is based on a system of permanent registration' and this is exactly the case, in a public place we are constantly aware of CCTV and feel conscious to act in a certain law abiding way, even if that is our unaltered nature.

This links directly to another of Foucault's points about the Panopticon, he states that 'power should be visible and unverifiable'. In this scenario he is talking directly about the centralized towers within the Panotpicon, they are the symbol of power and they are constantly visible, however due to the nature of the lighting and the blinds there is no indication as to whether or not the station is manned at any time.

The concept of CCTV is, in theory, for our own safety but it leaves us in a state in which we feel 'perfectly individualized and constantly visible', making us feel that 'visibility is a trap'. It makes us feel that we are secure but also that we cannot act how we may want to due to fear of being seen, this is because 'surveillance is permanent in its effects'. Although we all know that there isn't somebody constantly watching the feed from every CCTV camera we do not know when they are, thus resulting in a constant awareness that we may be being watched.

This brings me to a fairly succinct conclusion that CCTV is the most apparent example of panopticism in our society as it is the exact process of the Panopticon but applied to the general public.

Identity

James Beighton
James.beighton@leeds-art.ac.uk

Theories of Identity
Essentialism – biological make up makes us who we are
- an inner essence that makes us who we are
Post Modern Theorists disagree – anti-essentialism

Physiognomy VS Phrenology
Cesare Lombroso, 1835-1909 – founder of Positivst Criminology – the notion that criminal tendencies are inherited – ‘Luomo Deliquente’
Physiognomy legitimising racism

Historical phases of identity
Douglas Kellner – Media Culture: cultural studies, identity and politics between the modern and the post-modern, 1992
Pre modern identity - personal identity is stable and defined by long lasting roles
Modern identity – modern societies begin to offer a wider range of social roles, possibility to start ‘choosing’ your social identity rather than being born into it, people are aware of ‘worry’ about who they are
Post-modern identity – accepts these changes?

Pre-modern identity – institutions defined identity
marriage, the church, monarchy, government, the state, work, patriarchy

‘secure identities’ – related institutional agency with a vested interest
farm worker – landed gentry
the soldier – the state
the factory worker – industrial capitalism
the housewife – patriarchy
the gentleman – patriarchy
husband and wife (family) – marriage/the church

Modern Identity, 19th and early 20th centuries
Charles Baudelaire – The Painter of Modern Life, 1863
Thorstein Veblen – Theory of the Leisure Class, 1899
Georg Simmel – The Metropolis and Mental Life, 1903

Baudelaire introduces the concept of the ‘flaneur’ – gentleman-stroller
Veblen – ‘conspicious consumption of valuable goods in a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure’
example – Gustave Caillebotte, 1876 – Le Pont de L’Europe
Simmel – The trickle down theory
- emulation
- distinction
- the ‘Mask’ of Fashion
example – Gustave Caillebotte, 1877 – Paris Street, Rainy Day
Georg Simmel
‘the feeling of isolation is rarely as decisive and intense when one actually finds oneself physically alone, as when one is a stranger without relations, among many physically close persons, at a party, on the train, or in the traffic of a large city’
Simmel suggests that because of the speed and mutability of modernity, individuals withdraw…

Post Modern Identity – ‘Discourse Analysis”
Identity is constructed out of the discourses culturally available to us
‘a set of recurring statements that define a particular ‘object’ and provide concepts and terms through which such an object can be studied and discussed’
- age, class, gender, nationality, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, education, income etc
Class
Nationality
Race/Ethnicity
Gender and Sexuality – All considered as otherness

Class
Bourdiou – talks about the idea of classes and the notion that one can have class, implying they are upper class
the concept of ‘taste’ and the history of it – essentially a history of distaste and the need to distinguish ones taste from another

Martin Parr, Ascott – 2003
‘”Society”… reminds one of a particularly shrewd, cunning and pokerfaced player in the game of life, cheating if given a chance, flouting rules whenever possible”
Think of England/Berlin/etc Documentary photography of a place

Alexander McQueen, Highland Rape Collection, Autumn/Winter 1995-6
McQueen claims that the rape was of Scotland, not the individual models, as the theme of the show was the Jacobite rebellion
Vivienne Westwood, Anglomania Collection, Autumn/Winter 1993-4

Las Vegas – 73% of americans don’t have Passports
Victor Papnek – ‘I didn’t’ like Europe as much as I like Disney World. At Disney World all the countries are much closer together, and they just show you the best of each country…”

Chris Ofili – No Woman, No Cry – 1998 (Stephen Lawrence)
- Captain Shit and the Legend of the Black Stars - 1994

Gillian Wearing – ‘Signs that say what you want them to say and not signs that
say what someone else wants you to say’, 1992-3

Emily Bates – dress created using her own hair
‘hair has been an issue throughout my life…it often felt that it was nothing more than my hair in other peoples’ eyes’
Gender and Sexuality
masquerade and the mask of femininity
Cindy Sherman – Untitled Film Stills, 1977-80

Sam Taylor-Wood – Fuck, Suck, Spunk, Wank, 1993
Sarah Lucas – Au Naturel, 1994
Tracy Emin – Everyone I have ever slept with 1963-95, 1995
Wonderbra – I can’t cook. Who cares?
Gillian wearing – I can’t cool but I’ve got great breasts

The Post Modern Condition
Identity is constructed through our social experience
Erving Goffman – The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

Zymunt Bauman – Identity, 2004
Liquid Modernity, 2000
Liquid Love, 2003

‘Introspection is a disappearing act’

Darley, 2000 – Visual Digital Culture
Tom Hodgkinson, 2008 – ‘With friends like these…’ Guardian, 14/10/08
Second Life Marriage story
Charles Handy, 2001 - ?
Bauman, 2004 – Identity
‘”Identity” is a hopelessly ambiguous idea and a double edged sword.”