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