Montclair Art Museum Paper

Everyone has two sides. One is constructed to adapt the society and other people, another side is the real self from the bottom of the heart. Everyone has a dark side. In order to get a sense of social approval, people try to cover up their defects and strive for a perfect self. We construct ourselves through character, race, religion, gender, education, manner and etc. As Joanne Finkelstein quoted In “Art of Self Invention”, Joanne Finkelstein said that “To participate in society, we cultivate a public persona, a manner of being in the world that works to sustain our engagements with others…the ubiquity of deception in popular culture is an invitation to consider the possibility that behind the surface of appearances these are other realities.”(Page 2) Though this quote, Finkelstein states that deception and invention are full of our lives and it maintains the relationship between people. “From a sociological point of view, society rests on assumptions of trust and reciprocity.” (Page 2)

Nobody wants to create another side for others, everyone is eager for others to identify their real side. But no one can achieve the real unity of mind and external, in order to maintain their own personal settings, people “telling lies” actively or passively. To pursue the real word and explore the difference between the interior and exterior, people pay more attention on “PSY” industries and grow interest in popular psychology. As Finkelstein stated, “the actor’s facial expressions transport the audience into the deep interior of the mind. Suddenly the interior becomes exteriorized; certain gestures and subtle movements-a tear, quiver of the lip, a slight smile- are signs from the interior of unmediated, true emotion. These fine facial movements caught by the close-up camera shot suggest authenticity, as if the realm of meaning behind the visible social surface is indeed the real world.” This quote shows that no one could totally create a “new self”, There are always details that reveal who you really are. Although people could pretend that they are better people with a great life, they’re still suffered by life. Pretending has never changed our lives, it’s kind of deception to oneself and other people in order to gain respect.

"Pretending" is sometimes out of our control, and most of the time we construct a new self for good purposes, such as protecting our own privacy. “There can never be any real connection between people. You were supposed to see the soul through the eyes, to see love through the eyes, the one place you could look at another human being and see what really went on inside.” This quote suggests that although we could never know everything of one person, we still could find some of his characters in different ways such as look into his eyes.

"Considered in its own terms, the spectacle is an affirmation of appearances and an identification of all human social life with appearances.” It is what Guy Debord quoted from the theory of "the Spectacle. It says most people are pretending to live the ideal life that the society implied you to live. For example, changing your phone because of one advertisement, buying expensive designer bags because most of friends have one and etc. People are performing an ideal life influenced by society.  

Many artworks show same concept, such as Barbara Kruger’s Untitled (Seeing through you), 2004-2005. In the artwork, a woman is staring at something with three word “Seeing through you” on her face. It’s like trying to see one’s heart clearly. She seems to see the real people through falsehood. With a smile in her eyes, it seems that she saw the hope in the process of exploring another one’s heart. The corners of her mouth rose slightly, as if to say that although people have two sides because of the influence of society, their heart are still warm and kind. 

                   

The second artwork is George Andrew Tice’s Petit’s Mobil Station, Cherry Hill, New Jersey which published in 1975. The artwork includes water towers, gas stations, diners, and even the Pulaski Skyway. There’s a pair of eyes behind the picture which is good at finding beauties in life. When we construct another one face of us for perfect, we will miss a lot of beautiful scenery along the way because we always focus on ourselves. The artwork seems like a normal place, but it contains many elements that could be appreciated.

                      

The third one is ‘Matar Mbaye’ by Kehinde Wiley, done in 2007. It’s an artwork which shows the concept of race. This painting shows a young black man gaze at something with birds and leaves surround him. It takes a long time for black people to get their own power back. The young black man seems to tell the audience that the black should have the right. Although the black sometimes black people's rights are not guaranteed, it seems like this young black man is really proud of his black identity.

             

The fourth one is Martha Rosler’s “Vanity Eye (Bathroom surveillance) from Beauty Knows No Pain, or Body Beautiful” which published in 1943. Rosler combines what she calls "the corporate house beautiful version of the American bathroom", with "big brother is watching". In the artwork we could see there’s a big eye in the woman’s bathroom. It is an exemplary of Rosler's feminist perspective. Even in the bathroom, women are observed. This shows a comprehensive focus on women. Not only want to understand women's external, but also the women's internal as well.   

              

The last one is Fahamu Pecou’s “Rock Well: Radiant, Pop, Champ” which published in 2010. It talks about the identity. In the artwork, A black male sits on a stool. As he paints himself, he is looking into the mirror. On the corner of his canvas are pictures of Ali, Warhol, and Basquiat. Finkelstein states that “we understand how art makes life and why reading the art form, be it Hollywood comedy, television sitcom, advertisement or painted self-portrait, is also about understanding ourselves, art and real life are both fictional accounts of each other, and we variously play the spectator and artist with varying degrees of enjoyment.” The process of this black male painting his self-portrait, is the process of he finding himself which means the real person from the bottom of his heart.