AshARH411

David Hammons, Flying Carpet, 1990 image source David Hammons often uses his art as a commentary on racial stereotypes so it’s not surprising that when critics viewed his Concerto in Black and Blue they were quick to offer up the description of African American art. The problem with the way that critics reacted to this installation was not that they identified it as such, but that they then ironically used racial stereotypes to further describe the installation highlighting the point the artist was making. In the introductory chapter of How to See a Work of Art in Total Darkness, Darby English uses an art installation by David Hammons to illustrate the problems black artists face when critics refuse to see past racial stereotypes. Concerto in Black and Blue was a 2002 installation that consisted of nothing more than an empty gallery, some blue pen lights, and the viewers themselves. The idea was that the viewers became the art, and that the definition of blackness lies within the prec...

Jill Posener’s, series ‘ Dirty Girls Guide to London' (1987), ( image source ) In Framing the Questions: Positive Imaging and Scarcity in Lesbian Photographs, Jan Zita Grover discusses how gatekeeping positive images in lesbian photography is central to keeping the already “scarce” images from creating negative stereotypes in a marginalized subculture, but that it comes at the expense of identiy loss and exclusion within the subculture.(1) Grover begins her argument by pointing out that photographs aren’t really meant to depict reality to begin with. Most often, photographs are an idealized version of reality that exaggerates its representation and “naturalise(s) the unnatural.” Commonly, photos are trying to sell us something whether it be a product or an ideal, and by thinking of photographs in this context it would follow that lesbian photography should be no different. What matters here is not the gatekeeping, but that lesbians are being represented. It is important that the r...

 Keith Braveheart image source   “There is no Lakota Word for Art. I am only doing what I was born to do.” (1) These are the words of Keith Braveheart, the artist featured above. Words that seem to highlight one of the main points of this week's author Margaret Kovach in her article “Indigenous Methodologies Characteristic, Conversations, and Contexts.” Kovach speaks on the importance of language, ritual and metaphysics in the attempt to understand indigenous methods of research and knowledge. The colonization of the Americas created a displacement from the land, language, and culture for many indigenous people. For some, like Kovach, this has created a duality of Western and indigenous culture that is difficult to untangle so by studying indigenous epistemologies Kovach hopes to better understand her Plains Cree roots. (2) Indigenous epistemologies are like a choreographed dance between the cosmos and the people. It is important to remember that the epistemologies differ from...

Mural by Denver artist, Thomas “Detour” Evans ( image source ) This artwork is having an effect on you. It has had an effect on me, and we are affecting the artwork. The model posing in front of the mural has been affected and so has the artist. This is my understanding of phenomenology, the study of structures of experience, or conscioiusness. The essay Meaning, Identity, Embodiment The Uses of Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology in Art History by Amerlia Jones painstakingly explains the relationships of artist, viewer, and subject through the philosophical idea of phenomenology. There is a reciprocal relationship between the object (in this case subject), viewer, and artist. We have, by viewing this piece of art, had an emotional response that is defined by our past experiences and we are projecting those feelings towards this piece of art. The artist has purposely tried to communicate his own viewpoint that is informed by his own life experience. I have, by copying and pasting, had an ef...

Surname Viet, Given Name Nam , still by Trinh T Minh-ha, 1989, ( image source )   Tokenism is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as the policy or practice of making only a symbolic effort (as to desegregate). We cannot expect people of other nationalities, races, sexual orientation, or any other minority group to feel included if the intentions behind an invitation are simply to avoid criticism. The company/group should be making an effort to include minorities by building relationships, offering equal resources, and making sure the people feel valued. Out of all the articles I read on tokenism the issue that stood out most was that companies often hire minorities to appear diverse but do nothing to actually change policy. One woman shared her experience of being introduced to diverse clients but was otherwise ignored, asked to work longer hours than everyone else, and was even asked to straighten her hair to meet company standards. It shouldn’t surprise me at this point, bu...

Keith Haring and William S Burroughs, “APOCALYPSE” Plate two ( image source ) The " Death of the Author" by Roland Barthes is a concept that hinges on the idea that nothing is original. Barthes believed that the magic happened with the reader and his/her/their experience. His essay is mostly a critique on classical criticism. He believed that critics had an obsessive focus on the author and his/her/their biography rather than the analysis of the text.  He talks about Mallarme and his theory that the author is nothing more than a medium through which language speaks. Barthes further describes text as a “multidimensional space in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash.” Again, this is the idea that texts are merely an amalgamation of words that already exist. He believed that all writing was a regurgitation of something that came before therefore "Authorship" was not important.  While this theory may seem a little depressing and somewhat ...

Grace Jones by Robert Mapplethorpe ( image source ) The Oppositional Gaze, a 1992 essay by bell hooks, is an insightful look into the perspective of a black female with regards to mainstream cinema. The lack of realistic representation combined with a history of oppression has created a “rebellious desire” to look within the black female psyche. Hooks defines ‘the oppositional gaze’ as this rebellious act of looking which empowers the black female to see with a critical eye. She further emphasizes that the critical eye is how the black female finds pleasure in film. Historically, black people have not been allowed to freely gaze at white people, and punishing them for looking didn’t end with slavery. This repression not only created an overwhelming desire to look, but it also created an attitude of defiance amongst the oppressed. In cinema, to be able to look upon the oppressor and not feel any sort of relationship but rather an attitude of resistance that unites the oppressed to each ...

Mari Katayam, ‘ bystander #014’ , 2016 ( image source ) The 1975 essay, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema by Laura Mulvey, is a look at the sexual politics that drive the cinematic experience. She argues that traditional Hollywood films were a response to male scopophilia, or the sexual pleasure involved in looking, and that female characters were nothing more than objects used to satisfy male desires. She backs her argument that women are objectified passive players while men are the active heroes by citing Jacques Lacan and Sigmund Freud. Mulvey uses Lacan’s mirror theory to explain how cinema creates an illusion so deep that a person gets lost in the space and darkness of the theater while also projecting themselves onto the actors. There is both a loss of ego and a narcissistic gain of ego involved. Freudian psychoanalysis comes into play when the active male gaze, in the form of the libido, is set upon the passive female object which brings about the castration complex. The cas...

Jenny Saville, Propped, 1992 ( image source ) The essay Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists by Linda Nochlin, written in 1971, discusses why women have been unable rise to greatness in the world of art. The emphasis Nochlin puts on the question does not take away from the fact that there are (and have been) great female artists, but challenges the reader to examine the social hierarchy that has validated the question.(1) Throughout art history, the white Western male viewpoint has both controlled the narrative and oppressed anyone different than themselves. Therefore, we can conclude that the criteria for greatness has come from this school of thought. The notion of genius, for one, is something that needs to be scrutinized. According to Nochlin, even Piaget has confessed that genius is something that is built over time, practice, and hard work, not something magical that springs up in a vacuum. How then, could a woman achieve genius when she has neither the means nor the oppor...

While perusing the internet for an adequate painting for this week's topic, I realized that what I wanted to write about was the very thing that I was doing. As I sit here looking at art from the comfort of my home, trying to decide which piece among the thousands will suit my needs, I wonder how strange it must have been before any type of mechanical reproductions were made. Art would have been left to either the wealthy or the religious, and since my social status would have been on par with a peasant, I can’t imagine that I would have been traveling around on my donkey looking for art. As funny as this sounds, it is quite literally what life would have been like for most people - devoid of art. Mechanical reproduction has made it possible for all of us to not only enjoy great works of art, but to also learn about distant cultures through space and time. I don’t believe that reproduction diminishes art, but enriches it by making it available to all. In the essay The Work of Art ...

Keith Haring, 1989, Retrospect ( image source ) A painting has the power to engage the public politically, socially, and religiously. This is a powerful responsibility that various religious, political, and corporate institutions are not only aware of, but also utilize in order to promote their agendas. Norman Bryson, author of Semiology and Visual Interpretation, believes that paintings are discursive by nature and that interpreting paintings through signs is a social endeavor that moves beyond the narrative. Semiotics is the interpretation of each element as a historically determinate sign of the culture that generated it. Therefore, Bryson believes that we are automatically giving meaning to hidden signs rather than interpreting the painting through visual perception. It is a collective societal effort which in the hands of the power structure can fundamentally sway our behaviors in the direction they so choose if the artist agrees to participate. (89-101) Retrospect , the Keith Ha...

Debbie Harry by Robert Mapplethorpe, 1978. (image source) The essay, “Every Man Knows Where and How Beauty Gives Him Pleasure: Beauty Discourse and the Logic of Aesthetics” by Amelia Jones, is rebelling against the patriarchal idea and authority of beauty as set forth by a modern group of art critics. Throughout the paper Jones works to abolish the notion that any one person, especially the white male status quo, can be an authority on the subject of beauty. She believes each of us should make that choice based on our own subjective criteria. She has focused her essay on the art critic Dave Hickey and his (and others) “...hubris in the matter of claiming absolute personal authority for aesthetic judgment…” Jones believes that Hickey is being irresponsible with his influence as an art critic and would like to suggest a new way of evaluating beauty that is less patriarchal and more inclusive. I agree that beauty is subjective and that each of us are the final authority on what we perceiv...

  Boris the Butler photo by Ashley Martin c2021 Hello. My name is Ashley. You can call me Ash if you would like. I took a photo of my butler, Boris, as a stand in. I usually use my dog, but he's tired of having his photo taken. I am a fine arts major who has spent my life working in the creative arts from tattoo artist to photographer. I have been a photographer for about 23 years. It sounds awesome on paper, but is extremely boring in real life. There is little creative freedom when you work for "the man." I did enjoy tattooing, but I found it to be a difficult and restrictive medium. I did that professionally for about 10 years. Now, I just want the freedom to produce my own ideas. I went back to school to gain further knowledge and to explore things I would never think to on my own. Daddy Longlegs of the Evening-Hope by Salvador Dali ( image source ) As a self proclaimed anarchist, I will never answer to someone else's claim of what's beautiful. Unfortunately, ...