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.
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