Annotated Bibliography #9, 10 ,11

 

I see a woman's face closed up. She is covered by veil except around her eyes. She has black eyes and black haired eyebrows. She is wearing black eyeliner, and she has a tanned skin color. She has all writing on her face and the veil. I also see the background, which matches her veil, white and filled with writings. Her eyes are looking directly at the camera, and her right eye kind of squeezing.

 

She is an Arabic woman. She is a Muslim. Her right eye kind of squeezing sort of tell that she is saying something. I cannot tell what she is saying since I do not understand the language the writings are written. According to the article, henna is very important to Moroccan women and their lives. Henna is associated with all the big events like puberty, attracting for husband, first child and so on. In Islamic callingraphy, the women seem to be entrapped, but it is a form of decoration that marks happiest and most important moments in their life (Edwynn Houk Gallery). She says that her works are expressions of her history, and also is a reflections on Arab women's life. She makes a good point that "art can only come from the heart of an individual artist". And she also says that her work is not a representation of Arab but an exploration because there is the range of traditions and laws in different Arab nations. Public spaces were men's possess in the culture, whereas women were restricted in private. Also, "Lalla Essaydi studied Orentalist painters who have portrayed Arab women as sexual objects for male's fantasy" (IAM). Then what is she trying to do with all her works? She says, "In my art, I wish to present myself through multiple lenses — as artist, as Moroccan, as traditionalist, as Liberal, as Muslim. In short, I invite viewers to resist stereotypes." Lalla Essaydi She is trying to break the stereotype and bring out the different images and perspectives on Arabic women. The image above is very strong and powerful in this sense. The woman is at the center of the photo, and especially the woman is huge in the photo that photo does not capture the whole body of her. Then the photo focuses on her EYES. Her eyes are looking DIRECTLY with confidence and with some pride that is shown through her right eye. She has got all the writings on her skin, veil, and background. She sends a message through the photograph. Essaydi says, "Ultimately, I wish for my work to be as vividly present and yet as elusive as "woman" herself — not simply because she is veiled or turns away, but because she is still in progress." "Converging Territories #24″ by Lalla Essaydi The word 'she is still in progress' tells that we cannot confined Arabic woman as something because they are changing. We cannot define them in our stereotype. Edwynn Houk Gallery explains that "Essaydi's photography provides a contemporary reflection on an iconography that stretches at least as far back as the Orientalist imagery of nineteenth century artists such as Ingres, Delacroix, and Gérôme". Furthermore, since the calligraphy is a decorations that mark the happiest moment of Arabic women's lives, it shows that the women have lives. They matter.

 

 

"Lalla Essaydi." Edwynn Houk Gallery -. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.

 

"The Women of Lalla Essaydi - IAM - Intense Art Magazine." IAM Intense Art Magazine. N.p., 03 July 2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

 

 

 

 

I see people kissing in a place. The person on the left from the audience side is wearing a hat, white t-shairt and a sneaker in white and pink. This person acts like a man, sitting with the legs apart, but still look feminine in over all look like skin and everything. The other person is sitting on the top of the other. This woman is wearing an earring, a women top, and shorts. She is kissing smiling. She is also wearing a dress shoe for woman. She has short-long hair. There are lots of machines.

 

This person acts like a man, sitting with the legs apart, but still look feminine in over all look like skin and everything. And the other woman looks more feminine wearing an earring and a women top and short. This place looks like either a kitchen or a work place. These two must be in love and feel pleasure from each other at this moment. They are happy together.

 

Obviously, Zanele Muholi is a visual activist of black lesbian. She was a lesbian herself, and she tries to support lesbian through her photography. However, I was wondering how it was going to work. Then, the article answered my question, "Xingwana's act of turning away from the exhibition…might serve to challenge and even overturn the conventions that govern our gaze" (Thomas 39). This kind of work can cause two different response from the audiences, positive or negative. Then, what is she trying to do through her photographs of lesbians? According to Susan Sontag, although the camera indeed captures the reality, "photographs are as much an interpretation of the world…" (39). She also made a good point that now we cannot imagine the life without a camera. The life is not alive without being taken as a photograph in our contemporary world. People make interpretations on photographs either in stadium or punctum. We make stadium judgment through education, civility, or politeness, which are made generally by everybody, especially people within the same culture. On the other hand, people also make personal interpretation through personal connection to the work, which is punctum. Then, is Muholi is trying to make a positive stimuli in people so that they can make a positive interpretation about black lesbian? She made a movement of lesbian subjectivity and brought a light into lesbian life through her queering work. However, I personally do not get a positive response from looking at any type of erotic works no matter it is homosexual or heterosexual. I believe all our body parts have to stay secret and private. Our sexuality is beautiful when it stays privately. However, I guess as he believes that the moment being captured by photo makes the lives really are alive, she captures lesbians to show the world that lesbians are real and they matter.

 

 

 

I see a Victorian timed/based picture that people are dressed in Victorian dressese. I see a black man in European suit placed at the center of the photo. He is looking at the camera in confidence. He is surrounded by two white women trying to get attention from him, but he does not even give them a f***. And there is a white guy on the bed touch at black man's woman's booty. There is another guy on the right bottom corner of the photo, fainted out or sleeping. I see two pairs at the back. One of the two pairs, one white guy is behind a white lady trying to have sexual pleasure, but the woman seems to be not in the same mood. She is thinking of something focused. There is a bald man standing staring. He is the only one dressed up knit with straight posture in the photo. He is doing something with his hands.

 

The black guy is the main character in this photo, seem dominant and powerful. The guy at the right bottom corner seems to be hung over or got exhausted from chasing the girl's attention next to him, who is focused on the black guy. The bald man standing looks like a servant, not involved in this situation. He is doing something with his hands, perhaps serving drinks?

 

Shonibare is focused on globalization. Reading his answers to Okwui Enwezor's questions reminded me of American Asians who do not possess much of home culture in them but is more modernized. Shonibare is the same way. He says that he has never been to African traditional villages himself that he cannot produce his home culture from his soul (167). Because when the Europeans say "The villege", it is a Western point of view for him, and it would be the same way for himself since he did not grow up in that environment; it is not his own thing. He says that when he was growing up in Nigeria, he did not choose anything, but when he moved to Europe, he had to choose his blackness. Then I see how he portrays his blackness in his artworks. He is definitely not focused on the tradition, Africa, or his condition, but in globalization, modernism, international art, and global issues (166-167). Then he pursues confusion through his art work (167). Furthermore, his work is political, and his center of his practice is 'pleasure'. ​

Annotated Bibliography #7, #8

Observation
I see a black girl wearing a sleeveless white dress. Her hair is cut short, straighten and styled messy. She has a bracelet on the left wrist, holding a steel pitcher. She is holding a plastic jug on the right hand. She is pouring out water from both pitchers. The picture has two colors, black and white. She is black, and she is wearing a white dress. She is holding a silver? color, which looks dark in the photo, pitcher and a white plastic pitcher. Everything is curvy on the left and straight on the right. She bent towards left, showing curve on the left side as she is holding the curvy shape pitcher on the left. Her dress is hanging super straight on the right. It looks like somebody pull it and made it straight. The white pitcher is straight shape too. The pitcher on the left is lower than the right one. The face is not shown in the photo.

Inference
Simpson portrays two colors in the photo, black and white. She portrays blackness curvy and shapy. The girl not facing the camera showing her back, gives impression that there is something wrong and she wants reveal it. She is pouring out water and says some mysterious words, "She saw him disappear by the river, they asked her to tell what happened, only to discount her memory." It is saying that she is willing to tell what she knows but people refuse to listen. Maybe because she is little, black, or she is a female? On page 144, "Cinema has always been the act of white boys showing off for other white boys...whiteness, maleness, and need to 'show off' the power of both account for his taking action" (Hilton). This was the trend for cinema that time, but Simpson (and Mariannes) replace this trend. "That Simpson insists on her female subjects..." (145).

Simpson knows how to control the photo. The article says, "Words, faces, bodies-these are the essential building blocks one must use t create a narrative about being" (146). And "Photographs do not speak, but they can speak volumes about what the photographer means them to say about his or her subject, living and breathing and dying in the frame" (144). These control of photo is seen on the photo that I am working on, Waterbearer. Her not including the face in the photo and also shooting the back of the girl gives stronger impression, catches attention and make the audience to care what the girl is trying to say. Then when the audience read the caption, it is very strong. Sometimes absentia delivers messages more effectively than the presence. Her other works like a shoot of a women's shoes delivers its history, the owner's history, and the owner's message.

Observation
I see a person with big hair, big black circle sunglasses, mustaches, black outfit a hand around the person's lips. The bubble contains a shocking words. The person has a smooth nice skin and the hand looks nice as well.

Inference
The model in the photo is a woman seeing nice smooth skin and hand. Maybe she put a fake mustache to look like a man? Why? and she says something what would be considered as a "men's topic"which is related to sexuality. Then, 'masturbate' is something normally men would do. We live in the time where there are more rights to the women, and piper is from the time where there was more distinctive gender discrimination. Even more, there was gender and race stereotype.
On page 233, "black women had previously created...silence...in order to counter stereotypes of black hyper sexuality" (Acting Like A Man). Nevertheless, what piper did is shocking stereotype breaking work. acting like a man challenges "normative femininity, but also reiterating the gendered articulation of blackness" (239). This photo reveals the voice of females, calls for feminists and female to reveal themselves, their identities as well as their sexualities. This photo is liberate that absolutely breaks gender and race stereotype and present shocks to the audience and to society. This shows how a woman can be powerful and have equal power as men. Actually looks like the woman in the photo seems more powerful than a man and looks very confident.

I really like when she recognizes the difference between being whistled at and being seen by other artists and critics on page 252. Being whistled at gives an impression that a man looking at a woman calling for sexual pleasure. He is treating a woman like someone lower than him, treating with no respect, like a toy he has for a short period of time to have fun. If he does not look at a woman lower than him and see her with respect, he would dress up nice, approach carefully with a bouquet of flower, walk up to her carefully (instead of calling her with whistle like calling his pet). Ask for her consent, and get it if she approves it. Piper's work supports women's right of being on streets unharnessed and unharmed (252). Piper's work I think shows gender and race movement.

Amber McNeila/Annotated Bibliography #7 and #8

Observation:

The image is in black and white. It features what appears to be a man. He is wearing large glasses and  has dark curly hair, which seems large in circumference. His hand is by his face. The right side of his face is left in the dark, while the left side of his face is pretty well lit. his left eye is quite visible and is either looking down or the man is zoning out through his glasses as if deep in thought. His right eye is not visible  at all. The lens reflects some sort of object or image. There is a thought bubble in the left corner that reads "I EMBODY EVERYTHING YOU MOST HATE AND FEAR". The thought bubble looks like it is sketched or drawn more than the rest of the image. The man's mouth is covered by his hand. The caption at the bottom reveals that the person in the image is Adrian Piper and the title of the work is The Mythic Being.

Inference:

The article about Adrian Piper and the Mythic Being, in itself is a reflection of Piper's perception of herself: confusing. Piper, a black female, chose to dress up as a black male with glasses and a very large black afro. She would walk around her area interacting with others and would even experiment with relationships of members of the same and opposite sex depending on her persona. Her decision to "cross-dress" which does not rightly depict her act, served to help her understand what it meant to not only be a woman, but a black female, through the eyes of a black male and the observations of white males. Her depiction, however, at times came across as awkward because she could not accurately play the appropriate masculine role while trying to tap into that part of herself. Because according to Piper, people only saw the Mythic Being "--as if people saw him as they needed to--as the embodiment of certain shared anxieties about race, class, gender and sexuality" (234) she cannot fully take on this persona. The thought bubble serves to ferment the public's fear of blackness and women's dominance when they seek job opportunities to support their families. Piper wants to fully understand why this act is emasculating anyone. By taking on the identity of another she can one day understand her own identity. 

In my last post I chose a picture with a mirror to represent society's take on beauty and how that creates identity. Piper does this in this particular image the way she first, dresses as a male trying to defer and understand stereotypes, but also by leaving half of the image in the shadows and the other in the light. This technique could represent her need to shed light on gender, but also on race. Lowery Stokes Sims asserts, "While black was beautiful for some...for most white Americans black was scary" (Acting Like a Man 234). For Piper getting to the bottom of this scary persona meant understanding another part of her. Audre Lorde said it best in her piece when she states,

I speak without concern for the accusations 

that I am too much or too little woman

that I am too black or too white

or too much myself  (Acting Like a Man 239)

In a world where your identity is compromised it is best to strip yourself of any preconceived notions of who you are and explore what it means to live in someone else's shoes and identify with their lives to best learn your own. 

Lastly, I was very drawn to Piper's use of the word "performance" because she was not performing in a dictionary-based or stereotypical way, however, her decision to act and dress as a male and female and go about life as it was, is a very political because it forces those around her to think and react to her the way they would to a character in a play. "Piper's performance of identity stages a seemingly irresolvable confrontation between social conventions and the pain they cause in order to make viewers aware of how this occurs in their own lives (Acting Like a Man 242).  I think this word plays a major role in identity and perhaps could be used in my final essay. Perhaps, Piper isn't the performer, but the realist and all of us (the viewers) are characters performing in our own acts misguided by our misunderstanding of our own identity.

Observation:

The image looks like a magazine or catalogue. The person has very dark skin. This individual is crossing his or her arms in each picture and his or her hands are not very visible because they are tucked away behind the arms just below the armpits. The person is wearing either a white sleeveless shirt or dress and it features no designs. The material has a cotton-like look. There is no head or face in this image. The head is cut off just above the neck in each image. Based in the frame of the inidividual I might assume female over male. The female is in the center of each photograph. There are five mini images within the one horizontal image. It appears like a strip of negatives. Above the images are black boxes with words in a white font. From left to right the words state the days of the week starting with Monday through Friday for each day of the work week. Below the image is five more black boxes with a white font. The words are as follows (again from left to right): misdescription, misinformation, misidentify, misdiagnose, misfunction, mistranscribe, misremember, misgauge, misconstrue, mistranslate. 

Inference: 

Simpson was inspired by film. The image is most likely a female because of Simpson's use of women as her subjects. She wanted to depict their independence, yet society's view that men took on the "rescuer role" distorted the powerful role of women such as in the case of Pierrot and Marianne. "Marianne never indicates that she needs to be saved" as stated by Hilton Als. (144). The cinema often featured white males trying to demonstrate their power and show off for other white males. In this particular image the words seems to work to identify how a woman feels with her lack of identity in the filmography world. Despite the fact that some of the words are not found in the dictionary they serve their purpose. Simpson wanted to demonstrate to her viewers that, "--the best or most arresting photographs deny instant or even considered verbalization; they shut us up, just as Pierrot shuts up in the face of Marianne's cinematic being" (Als 144). By featuring a photograph without a head, the focal point depicted in most of the photographs we have studied regarding beauty, Simpson forces us to delve deeper into our psyche to question what our beliefs are and our reasoning for our actions are  embedded deep in our subconscious due to a misogynistic culture that is unintentionally brought to the surface regarding an image. The fictitious words such as misfunction and mistranscribe create a true understanding of our lack of understanding of these words as they are commonly seen (function and transcribe). We as viewers do not know how to properly function without some sort of bias, much like the cinema portraying white boys showing off for other white boys. To transcribe is to write something down in a printed form. Simpson adapted using words in her images based on her desire to  mimic the days when captions and subtitles were used in newspapers. The word mistranscribe is ironic because the action of writing the words themselves is  misleading to the image for they are representing society's misguided perceptions. As for the placement of the image in the center, Simpson wants us to "dissect" and "desire" women in their knowable and unknowable state all at once.

Annotative Bibliography #7,8

I Am the Locus, Oil Crayon Drawing, Adrian Piper

Annotative Bibliography #7

Observation:

In this picture, I see a group of people. Most of the people are facing away from the photo, except for the one man, who appears to be the subject of the composition. The man facing toward the viewer is a light-skinned man, wearing all black. He has a thick head of hair, a thick mustache, and black large black sunglasses on. At the top of the crowd of people the words, "WITH MOIST, FLESHY PULSATING SURFACES . . ." appear in handwriting.

Inference:

This is a drawing by Adrian Piper that depicts her androgenous alter-ego "The Mythic Being" walking away from a crowd of people. The article, "Acting Like a Man," goes into an in-depth analysis of this character and Piper's specific experiment involving gender roles, sexual expression, and race issues. I believe that this picture brings all of these issues into play in a simple composition. By dressing as a man, Piper believed that she was truly freeing herself to experiment with ideas involving her own homosexual fantasies. She was able to further experience masculinity in a way that allowed the public to see her as part of the self she had been experiencing in her own mind. This drawing shows the isolation of the black man obviously, but as someone who has been able to research the specifics of Piper's work, you also get to see this isolation and its effect on homosexual or sexually expressive women. I especially see the sexual context in this image in the words at the top of the picture. The words "moist," "fleshy," and "pulsating" remind me of something I believe I would find in a sex scene in a romance novel. I personally cannot find a specific connection between the words and the content in the picture; however, these words do seem to fit in well with Piper's personal beliefs about a human being's right to express themselves sexually, and without shame. Overall, this photo deals a lot with isolation or moving against the crowd - even in the opposite direction. The purpose of Piper's work was to break down barriers and test the strength of social norms, because she, herself, felt as though she did not fit the label of "normal." 

Lorna Simpson

Observation:

In this photograph there are multiple frames (five on top and five on bottom), depicting the black of a young black girl's head. She is wearing a white cotton dress with her hair styled in a variety of ways. In the middle of the frames there are multiple descriptive words including; "Daring," "Sensible," "Severe," "Long and Silly," "Boyish," "Ageless," "Silly," "Magnetic," "Country Fresh," "Sweet." 

Inference:

Lorna Simpson was renowned for her use of cinematic elements in order to create a visually captivating photograph. She also seems to have a lot of photos that depict stereotypical physical features of black women in history. For example, the white cotton dress that the subject in this photograph is wearing is something that Simpson seems to use often in her work. This type of dress seems reminiscent of a servant girl or a slave. I was particularly interested in this photograph because of its blatant disregard for social distinctions involving physical beauty as created by society and white Americans. The idea of black being "beautiful" and the struggle between the choice of falling in line or standing out and being true to yourself. The article, "Marianne Lately - Lorna Simpson and the Cinema of Feminine Illusion," says something very interesting about this idea of black being unapologetically beautiful;

"A common misconception surrounding Simpson's work is that because her photographs and videos feature black women, or the physical aspects of black femaleness - braids and so on, as in her 1989 piece Memory Knots - that the characters represented are 'oppressed' or 'dominated' by the quotidian - that is, the white boys who define cinema. But Simpson's Mariannes replace those cinema bous as the center of our attention. Simpson's women reflect out into the world with their own language and power. Simpson's women are the love objects she places center frame because they are central to her, and her need to direct them."

I believe that this quote says a lot about the personal beliefs of Simpson. The fact that she is not allowing herself or her subject matter be personally victimized by the pressures of society to conform to a certain standard of beauty, and simply shows the beauty in the natural form of the black woman is incredibly thought provoking. The words in the photo depict a child-like appreciation for the beauty in the natural hair of a black woman - something that throughout history has been criticized for not living up to these ever-changing "standards."



Works Cited

Als, Hilton. "Marianne Lately - Lorna Simpson and the Cinema of Feminine Illusion." (n.d.): 143-47. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Bowles, John P. "“Acting Like a Man”." Race, Gender, and Embodiment Adrian Piper (2011): 229-56. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Lyndsay Tipton - Bibs #7 & #8

Bibliography #7

Observation: The Mythic Being, I Embody (1975) is oil crayon on a black and white photograph. The image is focused on the bust of an androgynous figure. The person is wearing large glasses and has big, curly hair. They are holding a cigarette between two fingers and up to their lips. The gender of the person pictured is not obvious. There is a speech bubble stemming from their mouth that has the words, “I embody everything that you hate and fear” written inside of it. There is not much light to the photography, with nearly half of the person’s face shaded in from the darkness. The brightest/whitest section of the picture can be found in the speech bubble.

Inference: Adrian Piper began her career as an artist back in the 1960s but is still quite relevant today. Although her art has evolved over the years, one of her main focuses to have remained has been the idea of focusing on raising consciousness, specifically of social injustices (Cotter). Much of her work focuses on race, racism, and how that connects to gender and social class. This particular piece stuck out to me immediately simply because of the contents of the speech bubble. It seems to me that Piper’s use of words within her work is highly effective, as it makes the piece more appealing even at first glance. After reading more about Piper, the piece began to make a lot more sense to me. For The Mythic Being, Piper essentially created an alter ego for herself. This alter ego has been described as that of a black or latino teenager who appears relatively androgynous, although many more people view the figure as male than female. They have their hair styled in an afro and wear a mustache. When she would become this alter ego, Piper would often act out behaviorally, smoke cigarettes on the streets, “cruise” women, and even at one point staged a fake mugging (Cotter). The fact that the speech bubble makes the statement “I embody everything that you hate and fear” seems to say a lot in my opinion. This alter ego that appears in the photograph is a lot of things: black and/or latino, androgynous, appearing to be lower class. These are all characteristics of people that society as a whole has ostracized or othered. Piper seems to be shedding light on this issue which is so often swept under the rug by calling out society (any person that views her photograph) for their prejudices.

Works Cited:

Cotter, Holland. "Adrian Piper: A Canvas of Concerns -- Race, Racism and Class." The New York Times on the Web. The New York Times, 24 Dec. 1999. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Bibliography #8

Observation: Lorna Simpson’s Double Negative contains four photographs which are arranged vertically. Each photograph is of the same thing in very slightly different positions. It is a braided hair piece that is tied in a knot so that it is in a circle. Beneath each of the photos is a word. Put together the words are: “not, not, noose”.

Inference: Simpson’s Double Negative may appear simplistic at first glance but it actually has a lot to say. Perhaps the most interesting aspect is the addition of words to the artwork. In the same way that Adrian Piper utilizes words, I believe that in this case, they are incredibly effective in drawing the viewer in. First off, the words “not, not, noose” are a play on the child’s game “duck, duck, goose”. This is definitely something that makes the viewer pay attention to something that has much deeper meaning than its “childish” language may entail. Simpson was known for emphasizing hair in her pieces because of how important hair is to the African American community, particularly the black women. She adds this in as the hair pieces which are shown in each of the four photographs. The shape of the hair pieces, however, is the important part. They each resemble that of a noose which relates to the lynchings that African Americans endured for many years, even well after slavery. I think all in all, Simpson seems to be a very political artist. She focuses on issues of race and gender and often combines those, focusing on the struggle of black women in particular, which I believe is made known in this specific piece (High).

Works Cited:

"Lorna Simpson." High. High Museum of Art Atlanta, 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Annotated Bibilography no. 7 & 8 -- Alex Deliso

Observation: The two images are drawings that are rendered almost like comics. There is a single figure depicted in both images—presumably the same figure--and his/her gender and race are indistinguishable in this particular set of images. The words “Let’s  have a talk/To bring us closer” are rendered in print above the character, surrounded by ‘light.’  The top image features the figure smoking a cigarette, and the bottom image features the figure turning to the reader with a glare crossing their glasses. Shadows cover the majority of the figure and almost all of the background, except for where the aforementioned ‘light’ appears to help accent the appearance of the words.

Inference: What interests me the most about this particular pair of images is that the person in the picture is completely obscured, so we cannot tell her gender or race through these images by themselves—it is only through the context of her other pieces of work that we are able to infer those pieces of information. The indistinguishable features seem to be deliberate, and that is somewhat confirmed in the article Acting Like a Man, where it talks about the Mythic Being. Some may interpret it as a lacking or hidden identity, but it may also be a case of an identity that blurs together. The irony of the bottom image is that its caption reads “To bring us closer,” but the image of the person is actually farther away from the ‘frame.’ This may indicate that an attempt to draw people together ends up pushing them apart and counterintuitive results may happen through these attempts.

The article Acting Like a Man brings into focus the idea of a ‘change’ based solely on a change of appearance, and how it has a psychological effect on not only how others perceived Piper, but also how Piper perceived herself. She not only started to act like a man, but also regarded herself as a man with male features, and called into question how race and sexuality are affected by a simple change in thought:  “Piper’s work engaged feminist calls for women to familiarize themselves with their bodies and liberate their sexuality, but it also broached what feminist literature identified as taboo of gendered discourse” (254), but at the same time looked at the opposing angle in order to seek justification for certain mindsets. Not so much that it was seeking literal justification—more so that it was taking ideals that are prevalent, looking at them from an ‘inside’ perspective, and using them in a way that allowed for more diverse ways of thinking about these subjects. In relation to the images, the search for these methods of thought are symbolized in the obscuring shadows, but has a figure that is willing to travel through these conflicting ideals even when the answers are not readily apparent.

Observation: This is a series of photographs taken of a single person dressed in a white outfit. Each photograph is framed with a thick, bold black outline, and the backdrop of the photographs is similar to a gray studio photo. The photos themselves take pictures of the person from differing angles, and the captions underneath give a narrative that is organized almost like a poem. The narrative reads as the following:

“So who’s your hero—

me & my runnin buddy

how his runnin buddy was standing

when they thought he had a gun

how Larry was standing when he found

out

when Buck was being himself

and on saturday when Calvin pretended

he was that famous football player

he could get into any club or

anywhere he wanted

for the past 6 months

work this week is temp.

high risk or low pay

Mr. Johnson walks out

say girl—

ain’t you color film at least?

Cecile with hands on hips got angry &

told him about himself in the kitchen

he stood by the refrigerator

whenever he hears Biko

the way he walks down any street

sometimes Sam stands like his mother”

Inference: This series of photos almost reads like a comic in the way that it’s structured. If photos are still shots of a single moment, then the panel-esque juxtaposition of the images creates still shots of time that flow in sequence. It makes use of juxtaposition in both the photos and in the captions by the way that they’re broken up—the choppy flow of the captions in particular creates an effect that reads like a genuine human voice that’s full of pauses and has personality etched it by the way it is organized. The poses themselves, out of context, may look defiant, but the captions add a defeated outlook to the overall message of the piece.

Although the photos do not appear to be in any specific order, the juxtaposition between them is far from accidental. It is important to note that none of the images feature the woman’s face, and the only one that gives a full shot of the front of her body features her crossing her arms. As stated in Marianne Lately—Lorna Simpson and the Cinema of Feminine Illusion, “Photographs do not speak, but they can speak volumes about what the photographer means them to say about his or her subject, living and breathing and dying in the frame” (Als 144). In essence, the photos here hold the power not in what they mean individually but what they mean when they are placed together. The first set of images almost look like she is walking away from the situation, but then the actor turns around and returns to the scene. When paired with the story that the captions tell, it creates a piece that appears to be about a cycle that is difficult to break and how that cycle is inherited to someone new whenever it circles around again. 

Andrew Heller's Annotated Bibliography 7

Annotated Bibliography 7

Observations

In this close up photograph Piper is photographed from the neck up. From the caption and the reading we completed for this week I know that she is dressed in her Mythic Being costume and has taken the appearance of a man. The image here has her in big circular glasses with a big and curly afro on top of her head. She is also smoking a cigar. The lens on the right side has the reflection of the letter "A"and an air bubble to the left of her face reads "I embody everything you most hate and fear". 

Inferences 

From the reading I gathered that the main point of Piper's dressing up as the Mythic Being was to liberate herself from the preconceived perceptions of race and sexuality at the time (in her case being a black female), while forcing others to assess their own ideas of race and sexuality. That being said, I chose this picture because I feel as though it is a perfect exemplification of her goal for the viewer. While she doesn't appear to be too controversial at first in the picture, the caption on the side speaks largely to the viewers beliefs. By including it I feel as though it forces the viewer to look at the Mythic Being and then analyze whether or not the picture truly does embody what they hate. The article by Bowels noted, "The artist has staged herself as an object for inspection but in a way that ultimately reveals less about the artist than about the viewer’s attitudes toward race, gender, and sexuality." Here he is agreeing that the picture entices the reader to think about their own preconceived notions about race, gender, and sexuality. However, while I understand Piper's tactics from the reading, I feel as though it is hard to make a distinctive claim on those three things from this photograph alone. For starters, since Piper is in costume, one is not immediately aware that she is cross-dressing to prove a point. At first glance it simply looks like a man (whose race in indistinguishable) smoking a cigar. However, the caption on the side suggests that this man is portraying something that people hate and the afro being worn by Piper could suggest that this quote is meant to shame those with hatred towards African Americans. The man's ambiguous gender might also indicate that the caption is referencing the fear of non traditional gender roles and sexuality that many people had during this time period. Overall, I feel that Piper was attempting to change opinions on sexuality and race by mirroring stereotypes and attempting to embody pride in the face of oppression. 

Annotated Bibliography 8

Observations

In this photograph, a black woman is pouring water out of a plastic jug and a silver pitcher. She is holding the pitcher in one hand and the plastic jug in the other. The plastic jug is being held higher than the silver pitcher. She is wearing a white sleeveless dress and has short dark hair. Additionally a caption is placed below the picture that tells a part of a story. 

Inferences 

After reading the assigned article I have a better understanding of what Simpson is doing in this picture. At first, the picture appears to be very vague with an unclear message. It could be argued that the different heights of the picture and the plastic jug represent some theme of sustainability and wastefulness, but the text at the bottom of the image discounts any environmental theme. However, after reading about Simpson in The Cinema of Feminine Illusion I've received a greater insight as to what she could be saying here. In the article, Als asserts that Simpson insisted on her female subjects remaining absolutely still in her photographs (145). Additionally, Als focused largely on Simpson's cinematic style of photography that places women in the central frame along with text to create a narrative (145, 146). With this knowledge in mind I was then able to see the image more like a still-framed story that draws on the viewer's interpretation to create a story, regardless of what Simpson intended. Therefore I believe that the text is meant to represent the discredit that is given to the girl based on her African ethnicity and female gender. This seems to be a common theme between Simpson and Piper, and I think that the water jugs being held at different heights symbolize how its easier for society to give in to the cheap, mass produced stereotypes (the plastic jug) as opposed to the true beauty that lies within these discriminated persons (the silver jug). Ultimately, the water jugs, combined with the text and the fact that the woman has her back turned remaining faceless, tells a story of the discriminatory belittlement that society has imposed on African and African American women. 

Annotated Bibs #'s 7 & 8

Observation:
- This photo is a self-portrait of Piper. She titled the photo, "Self-Portrait Exaggerating My Negroid Features". Piper uses shading on the skin which distinguishes that she is a woman of color. The face is defined from the jawline to her forehead. The woman shows exhaustion with the bags below her eyes and she has a "mug-shot" type look on her face as well. Her hair looks like it was just straightened, but it is not as straight as a white person's hair and she shows this with the curls and the parts in between. Her hair has "nappy" features since its knotty and uneven in certain areas. Looking into her eyes gives me the feeling that this woman has been through a lot.

Inference:
- Piper used this self-portrait to display her feelings on black women being represented in art. In the article, "Acting Like a Man" Piper is quoted, "Perhaps I'm driving myself to schizophrenia" (230). The woman in the photo has this look of someone experiencing this disorder, and that she struggles with self-identity as a Black woman in America. The straightened hair stands out to me as well because to this day black women still believe their hair should be straightened all the time to appear more "white". The article also includes, "The Mythic Being is the first instance Judith Wilson can find of an African American artist depicting an Afro that is clearly not a sign of essential blackness" (231). Throughout the 70's and 80's the Afro was a symbol for black culture and it was consistently used to represent black art. Piper's photo above shows that you do not need a black woman with an Afro for the photo to have a significant meaning.




Observation:
-  There is a black woman with her back turned towards the camera. She is wearing a white nightgown and her hair is rough looking as if she just woke up. In her left hand she is pouring "water" out of a metal pitcher, and in her right hand she is pouring a clear liquid out of a plastic bottle. The woman is thin since her back is defined by her bone structure. The black background is darkness that could lead to anything. Below the picture it says, "SHE SAW HIM DISAPPEAR BY THE RIVER, THEY ASKED HER TO TELL WHAT HAPPENED, ONLY TO DISCOUNT HER MEMORY".

Inference:
- This photo represents the typical stereotypes for black women in America. The white gown could symbolize that she is a server or some type of maid. She is pouring out a pitcher of "water", and a clear liquid from a plastic bottle that resembles some type of cleaning material such as "bleach". She could be pouring these two objects out because it is a sign that she and other black women are more than just cleaners and servers and its time for bigger things.
- The quote at the bottom of this photo gives me a different inference on its meaning. This quote reflects another stereotype for black women being "promiscuous", used as sex objects, and being single mothers. The quote insists that the woman experienced some type of loss with, "SHE SAW HIM DISAPPEAR BY THE RIVER". She could have just been waking up to seeing the man she once loved leaving her . The man could be deceased an turned into ashes, in which were placed to "disappear" in the river.

Kaitlyn Bavuso Annotated Bibs # 8 &9

Observation: 

There is a man/woman looking directly into the camera. He/she is holding and smoking a cigarette. He/She has a afro, and is wearing iconic style sunglasses. The left side of the face is illuminated, while the right side is faded into blackness. There is a quote attached stating “I embody everything you most hate and fear”.

Inference:

After analyzing this photograph, it spews off several connotations as to what Piper is trying to display in this simple photograph. During the time of black feminism, the African American woman was not seen as individuals. They were mistreated by both white feminists and women, as well as emasculated by the African American men. Piper uses the The Mythic Being in a somewhat humorous way of displaying African American woman struggles in finding their place in society. Fanon comments in the article, Acting Like a Man says “to articulate oneself outside of the normative ideology you must embrace madness” (232). Piper follows this pattern in crossing dress between a man and a woman. As a way to demonstrate her masculine qualities, Piper uses a “Afro” which was to utilize the idea of “natural” or stereotypical past-time African American hairstyles. She is also smoking a cigarette, and is wearing icon-style sunglasses, which is also associated with male stereotypes. What is striking is the quote settled off to the left corner, stating “I embody everything you most hate and fear” demonstrates the threats possible perceived by the Mythic Being. The Mythic Being caused not a controversial statement on sexuality, but also the fear of African American power. In terms of sexuality, this photograph was  a way to break the silence on ignored sexual expression, but was fearsome in that it was ruining black women stereotypes. In terms of power, because it affected the authority of male superiority. It degraded traditional gender roles and emasculated black men. Lastly, what was appealing was the contrast of light to darkness on the subject’s face. One the left side it was white, while on the other it was dark, it could demonstrate Piper’s “whiteness” complexion, as she appeared fair-skinned in most of her photographs, or it could represent the the two sides of the Mythic Being, a man and woman.

observation: 

There is five shots from the torso and up of a African American woman. She is wearing a white make-shift dress. Her arms are folded against her dress. There is a short-time lapsing of photographs being taken as each pose is slightly different than the last one. Above each of the five poses, is the days of the week listed in order. Underneath is various negative words beginning with prefix “mis”.

Inference: 

Simpson was notoriously known for using cinematic techniques of using multiple frame shots. She references Goddard’s technique, but decreased the shot frames from twenty-four to one, two or twelve (145). This photograph is taken in a short-time lapse, as each pose of the woman is slightly different from the last one. The way in which she holds her arms against her chest signals to the audience annoyance, defiance, or she is a very guarded woman. What is compelling is the plaques above each frame shot as it take the place of the woman’s face. Each plaque lists the days of the week, and the position of the each photograph suggests a sort of journal entry of each day of the week. The structure of this photograph could relate to the mistreatment of African American woman that they had endured daily. The plaque placed in the position of her face, could also suggest vocal repression.  What gives away a negative connotation is the words on the  plaques listed as the bottom, all beginning with the prefix “mis”. All the terms listed below reference some sort of dismal attitude towards African American women's identity

Annotated Bibliography Assigment #9, #10, and #11

Annotated Bibliographies #9, #10, and #11 on the works of Lalla Essaydi, Zanele Muholi, and Yinka Shonibare will be due (you are responsible for researching the works of these photographers online, after reading the following articles, in which some reproductions of their works appear, and selecting a respective photograph for each for your annotated bibliographies). The readings are available to you in your photocopied packet: Kylie Thomas’s “Passing and the Politics of Queer Loss Post-Apartheid;” Okwui Enwezor’s “The Joke Is on You,” and Enwezor’s interview with Shonibare: “Yinka Shonibare: on hedonism, masquerade, carnivalesque and power,” as well as Lalla Essaydi’s artist statement. I expect information from the readings to be quoted in your inference statements. They are due to be posted on the blog by midnight Monday November 2.

(Don’t forget to post your Annotated Bibliography #7 and #8 on the blog by midnight this Monday, respond to a classmate’s blog entry this week, and email me a draft of Paper #2 by Friday October 30 by midnight.)