Jasmin Erichsen
Art of Self Invention: Montclair Museum
Constructing an identity happens through personal experiences, emotions, and connections/relationships. One’s identity may be influenced by family and or friends in some cases. It can also take into account race, gender, individual cultures, etc. In The Art of Self Invention by Joanne Finkelstein she says, “Popular culture [thus] functions as a toolkit for shaping identity” (Finkelstein 12). We are influenced to accept cultural normality’s in a passive manner. If we don’t, we simply break the social norm. An example of this is inflating the truth to impress people and we hide the truth in certain moments. One constructs an identity to be comfortable in their own skin.
Finkelstein states, “Much of popular culture reinforces the importance we place on physical appearance” (Finkelstein 13). In class we went over the importance of hair when talking about identity. There were multiple students that included hair in their midterm projects. In Lorna Simpson’s, Coiffure(1991) viewers looked at the back of someone’s head from a bird’s eye view. This stood out to me because the point of view was unique. She incorporates African American women’s hair into her art. Below the tryptic there are words that informs the viewer how to braid hair. In Ways of Seeing John Berger says, “To be naked is to be oneself”. Simpson shows how natural hair is eloquent in a way, she uses black and white pictures which is “monumental”.
In Dulce Pinzon’s, Bernabe Mendez (Spiderman), 2007 Pinzon represents Spiderman as a window cleaner. He shows what immigrants have to do in order to survive in the states. Pinzon represents Bernabe Mendez; Spiderman as a hero. Berger says, “Relations between conqueror and colonized tended to be self-perpetuating” (Berger 96). Being a window cleaner is an arduous job which is not to be looked down on. Many other immigrants are also stuck doing taxing jobs that get no recognition. One of the main reasons they are stuck doing awful jobs is the fact that they are immigrants. Immigrants are not given many options to better themselves in the states which is upsetting.
During class we went over Barbara Kruger’s work who is a famous graphic designer who battled the infamous Supreme label in court. In her work Untitled (Seeing through you), 2004 she uses her iconic type face. There is a woman behind the text looking upwards through the words. Kruger understood the importance of advertisement as we live in a capitalistic society. We see hundreds of ads a day. Most of the advertisements we are exposed to are influenced by our patriarchal community. Women are either objectified or the advertisements have hints of male centeredness. Berger says, “Men act and women appear” (Berger 47). He tells us that women watch themselves being looked at by men. This means that women are subconsciously objectifying themselves as a sightfor men. I believe Kruger had a feministic approach while making this piece of art. The woman in Seeing through youis not watching she is seeing.
Mel Bochner shows off her conceptualism in her art work Shore,1985. She is an avant-gardist; she challenges traditionalism. Bochner uses geometric shapes and isn’t constricted by any boundaries. Finkelstein states, “Through much of popular culture we are exposed to the tensions between truth and trickery; appearances are simultaneously everything and nothing” (Finkelstein 23). It is obvious that Bochner isn’t influenced by the popular culture which I appreciate. Bochner says that, “ [she’s] not making art… [she is] doing art”.
Larry Kagan plays with shadows in order to make a composition. The most interesting art work that used shadow play was Larry Kagan’s, Diva, 2007. This shows a women screaming, which Kagan found while reading the New York Times. Kagan was interested as well as inspired by the emotions and facial expressions. I believe the title of this piece is quite ambiguous. This is because the shadow shows a women who is clearly under stress and screaming. One can say the expression is “unladylike” but Kagan named it Diva. While visiting the Montclair Museum I was touched by many things but Kagan’s work truly had me perplexed. The complexity of each figure was thoroughly interesting.
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