Week 02 - Images and Ideologies (1) - 2 PDF

Images and Ideologies I Week 02 FA 171 Introduction to Art, Design and Culture I Ways of Seeing by J. Berger chpt. 1 - “Seeing Come Before Words...” (p. 7-34) Discussion: What is art? How is i...

Images and Ideologies I Week 02 FA 171 Introduction to Art, Design and Culture I Ways of Seeing by J. Berger chpt. 1 - “Seeing Come Before Words...” (p. 7-34) Discussion: What is art? How is it related to culture? Ways of Seeing – Chapter 1 Seeing comes before words: We see first, then explain by words. The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled - explanation never fully fits the sight. Always-present gap between words & seeing. The Key of Dreams, René Magritte (1898–1967) The way we see things is influenced by what we know/believe. To look is an act of choice. We never look at just one thing - we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves. Vision is continually active, moving, it has a reciprocal nature = If I’m able to see you, then you are able to see me, too. The Key of Dreams, René Magritte (1898–1967) Images Definition: An image is a reproduced or recreated sight separated from the place and time of its first creation. Every image embodies a way of seeing. Example: Photographs. The photographer’s way of seeing is reflected in his choice of subject. Why were images made? To describe appearances of something that was absent. To show how something or somebody had once looked.  INCREASING AWARENESS of HISTORY & INDIVIDUALITY Documentary evidences: Give clear knowledge about the past = Testimonies Mystification: Learnt assumptions about art, influence the way people look at a work of art. These assumptions are about: Beauty, Genius, Civilization, Form, Status, Taste,... These assumptions obscure the past. They mistify rather than clarify. --- to see the world as it is, one has to be objective & conscious. Mystification: explaining away what might otherwise be evident. “Regents of the Old Men's Alms House, Haarlem”, “Regentesses of the Old Men's Home”, Frans Hals, 1664 Frans Hals, 1664 Mystification: Example of such Mystification: A book of specialized art history on Frans Hals The last two great paintings of Frans Hals: Portraying the Governors (directors) & the Governesses of an Alms House for old and poor people in Holland, 17th Century... https://www.amazon.com.tr/Frans-Hals-Seymour-Slive/dp/0714867551 Mystification: FACTS: UNKNOWN: Officially commissioned portraits. if the painter had painted them in bitterness = feeling hate and Painter: very old, very poor, getting anger. help from public charity. & These people were administrators of such public charity. According to author: the paintings are remarkable, - visual analysis (p.113) not objective, because of subjective terms like: “unforgettable contrast”, “harmonious fusion”... The characterizations made by Hals seduce us: Seduction works, because we accept the way Hals saw his sitters, we accept his point of view. we also accept if the vision fits our own observations of people.  Mystification: Example of SUCCESSFUL SEDUCTION: the Regent (the man) in the tipped hat was shown in a drunken state. The author suggests this is a libel (karalama): Because: 1) tipped hat fashion. 2) medical opinion: a facial paralysis. & the Regents would refuse that painting if one of them were portrayed drunk. Mystification: explaining away what might otherwise be evident. Results: Reasons: We can’t recognize the past as it is. To protect a privileged minority, No right conclusions from the past To justify the role of ruling classes. & we can’t use the past to guide our present. TODAY, we see the art of the past in a very different way. The difference can be explained by perspective: PERSPECTIVE CAMERA was unique to European Art. The stability of vision in painting is was first established in Early Renaissance. broken, the camera is mobile, it gives many different views one after another. Perspective in painting, centers everything on the eye of the beholder Isolation of momentary appearances. (=one who sees). What you saw was relative to your The viewer has a God-like position, position in time and space. a stable position; his eyes are the vanishing point, & everything converges to him Perspective - Camera COMPARISON: Perspective in painting organized the visual field as IDEAL. Spectator was the unique center of the world. Camera demonstrated: no center. Reflections of Camera PAINTINGS became PORTABLES: experienced from any place other than their original location. PAINTINGS: the original and the reproduction. The painting now travels to the spectator. the camera destroys the uniqueness of its image; the camera changes the meaning of the paintings. When the camera reproduces a painting, the meaning multiplies and fragments into many meanings. Reflections of Camera Today, uniqueness = “original of a reproduction”. Today, unique existence = value upon its rarity. Today, the painting’s market value = reflection of its spiritual value / uniqueness.  Reproduction and Authenticity Virgin of the Rocks, two versions: Louvre - National Gallery. National Gallery has the real one. It is authentic and therefore it is beautiful. The catalog entry - 14 pages long, giving line of family origin, not the meaning of the image. PURPOSE: To prove that the painting is the genuine (real) one. To prove that the almost identical painting Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo in the Louvre is a replica of the National da Vinci, 1495-1508 National da Vinci, 1495-1508 Louvre, Gallery, London Paris Gallery version. The Power of Reproductions The National Gallery sells more reproduction of it because of its market value. Genuine: This painting became famous because, an American wanted to buy it for two and a half million pounds. Results of Reproductions The majority of the population do not visit art museums! Meaning of paintings are transmittable by means of reproductions. They can be used for many different purposes: Eg: It may become part of a film – supporting the filmmaker’s argument. Results of Reproductions Paintings are reproduced with words around them. The meaning of an image is changed according to what one sees immediately beside it or what comes immediately after it. Reproductions can be used by anybody; art books, magazines, politically and commercially, personally in their rooms… Results of Reproductions Wheatfield with Crows by VAN GOGH 1853-1890 This is the last picture that Van Gogh painted before he killed himself. Results of Reproductions: ORIGINAL VS. REPRODUCTION Original works of art are not perceived as holy relics today. Originals are silent and still, they convey the painter’s immediate gestures. This unites the time of painting the picture, & the viewer’s time of looking at it. – in this sense all originals are contemporary. Milkmaid, Johannes Vermeer, c. 1657-1658 Results of Reproductions: ORIGINAL VS. REPRODUCTION Since reproductions are too many, they have no power but marking the original. Reproductions cut the image off from its own past, and alter its meaning. Reproductions have made the original masses uninterested. Discussion: What is art? How is it related to culture? What is ideology? Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Cans, 1962. Why is original context important? How do reproductions change the meaning of image? Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937.