Hannah Wilke

Within the daily ritual I was confronted with question do I want the performer to be naked or not? This lead me to the work of performance artist Hannah Wilke, various of her pieces were questioned due to the nude content allowing the viewer to question whether or not this was objectifying the female form or expressing it? This idea of the nude can lead us back to Berger’s theories implying the awareness of being viewed as naked. Luckily my performer had given me the option that if I had wanted her to be naked she would have done so. After much consideration and asking various women in what state they do this ‘ritual’. I decided that it would be best to dress the performer in her underwear and silk dressing gown. As an artist I also had to bear in mind that I wanted the performer to be as comfortable as possible in order to make the piece relatable and genuine.

Clar, A. (2006) Ana Mendieta. Toledo: Clamor Magazine. Available from: http://clamormagazine.org/issues/38/people-web.php (Accessed 2nd June 2014)

Ana Mendieta

When researching into ritual within performance I came across Ana Mandieta, her work usually forms in an autobiographical nature to which she focuses on identity in a cultural origin. There is an interesting feel to observing a ritual permitting the viewer into a sacred ceremony usually unseen unless participating. This idea of sacred rituals can be appropriated to the daily ritual of the morning schedule. To which as women we awaken and do our hair and makeup (a creation of identity) within the comfort of our homes or rooms. Vibrate allows a insight into the development of medias influence on identity and its progression into what could be deemed as a sacred ritual of women.

 

Manchester, E. (2008) ‘Marxism and Art: Beware of the Fascist Feminist’[online]. London: Tate. Available from: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/wilke-marxism-and-art-beware-of-fascist-feminism-p79357/text-summary (accessed on 1st June 2014)

John Berger, On the Female Nude, Ways of Seeing, 1972

John Berger’s On the Female Nude, Ways of Seeing, 1972.

Berger talks about how from early stages women has always been portrayed to be vain, this was illustrated through paintings. Within early European Oil paintings women were often shown to be nude, looking at themselves in a mirror or with men watching over them. He discusses the speculation that the mirror was used as a symbol for vanity and it helps to show how women were taught to survey themselves. Expressing further that every glance represents a mirror, reminding ourselves of how we should look.

With regards to how Berger influences my piece, is when assessing the development of vanity to contemporary society, this isn’t just subject to ‘the male gaze’ this development of the need to look a specific way is also down to the media and its pressures on body image. These pressure’s suggest that as a woman you have a duty to wear makeup in order to be pretty, and be recognised (becoming a social norm). We are taught that we must enhance certain aspects and hide other in order to be beautiful and sexy. Vibrate helps to explore this ritual behaviour of beautification.

 

WAYS OF SEEING Episode 2: The Female Nude. 2014. John Berger.

Rocio Boliver – Sex

As already discussed in my initial proposal for Sex Lies and Videotapes, Rocio Boliver is an artist who also challenged censorship and the forbidden. Through the use of performance she uses these as a tool to deconstruct her own beauty through the elements of pain and sex. Alike my practice, Boliver feels that by having the ability to discuss and express these views she can empower her own self, however then awakening others from the monotony of contemporary society. Although in some sense the public may question whether or not her performances are made to shock, Boliver explains how it is simply an interest in this iron curtain that is created and how if it were another subject that were censored then that’s what she would explore.

Rocio Boliver, la congelada de uva. 2014. rocio boliver, la congelada de uva. [online] Available at: http://www.rocioboliver.com/ [Accessed: 15h May 2014].

Edward Kienholz – On Exhibit 1966

When realising the importance of the curation of my piece and how this affects the audience, it is relatable to research of Edward Keinholz video On Exhibit, 1966. Within the video Kienholz references how we as an artists and curator can provoke a viewer to feel a specific way, and example of this is the piece Back Seat Dodge ’38, 1964. The piece itself captures to teenagers making love in the back end of a car, the placement of beer bottles and other objects allows the viewer to speculate the goings on. Within the video we can view the audience reaction to this piece, as at the time this was very shocking and the piece had ended up being censored to 18+. At this stage the exhibition was deemed pornographic however this is subtle compared to content in contemporary society. The installation of Vibrate takes this ideal into consideration, the video piece references sexual apparatus in a subtle way, through the ritual of make-up. This is not in any way an attempt to shock the viewer but it suggests a consideration of the acceptance of these apparatus.

Steel, J. 1970. Keinholz On Exhibit. Available at: https://archive.org/details/kienholz_on_exhibit [Accessed: 10 May 2014].