The exhibition ‘A different View’
tries to address two primary questions can Pornography be art and what should pornography
be in a modern setting, in particular the need for a fairer representation of
the commodification of the sex industry. The artists wanted to question the
role of gender, and representation of women and men. By having a usually
privately viewed subject matter, pornography, on public display, it allowed for
viewership and participation of discussion about the topic. The two artists
selected, had different views towards visually demonstrating their opinions
towards pornography. Reuben Paterson viewed the theme from the need to seek
pleasure and Esma Kazal wanted to identify the effect culture can have on the
significance of the porn industry.
Reuben Paterson (appendix A) uses the medium of glitter that has the
connotation of being linked to the sex industry “an act of drag and gay culture”
(Paterson 2013) but this was something he wanted to go beyond and challenge. At
first glance the glittery imagery appears quite innocent in nature, using a
kaleidoscopic pattern that is reminiscent of childhood memories playing with
this type of object. It is not until one looks closer at the patterns that a different
view can be seen. The six blue looking phallus forms come across as thrusting
towards the centre of the image. As described by Paterson as ‘symbolic of the
commodification of sexuality under capitalism’ (Paterson 2013).
This idea was influenced by the theme of pleasure and the act of
seeking pleasure the link between the generations in the past the present and the
future. The question he wanted to address was if pleasure principles are the
same in all timelines. This was an idea that came from Sir John Glube
historical book ‘The fate of empires’. It describes the different pathways of empires
and where the influence of capitalism was established. It is through the phase
of decadence that is used to explain how there is a prolific state of hedonism
of sexual practice and sexual interest. As stated by Glube in his book
“Phase V: Decadence.
[D]ecadence is a moral and
a spiritual disease, not a physical one, resulting from too long a period of
wealth and power. The citizens of such a nation will no longer make an effort
to save themselves, because they are not convinced that anything in life is
worth saving” (Wapiti 2010).
As explained by Paterson’s
blurb hedonism is identified by worship and consumption of sex wealth and food.
Decadence is at the penultimate cycle of the empire according to John Glubb, in
the Fate of Empires. It is the time of the fall of the empire and third-wave
feminism depicting the great decline in civilization (Paterson
2013).
The focus becomes on the here and now,
seeking all things of self-fulfilling pleasure. This was developed through the
Pleasure Principle, coined by Herbert Marcuse. This idea was influenced
by the development of the term ‘repressive desublimation’ which explains that
sexual liberation is not a challenge to social control but rather a way to
serve the gaps created by capitalism. The repressive desublimation becomes
operative in the sexual sphere as a by-product of the controls and constrains
of a technological reality and higher culture. It creates a situation where
instinctual energy is used through sexual desires which are supportive of
capitalism. Rather than going against it all energy is utilised. ‘Mechanization
has also “saved” libido, the energy of the Life Instincts – that is, has barred
it from previous modes of realization’ (Marcuse 1961).
This was something the Reuben Paterson wanted to highlight in his art
work. This was that rather than pornography being liberated it is conservative
and is confined by what it can and cannot be. ‘Its consumption deflects
attention from social critique, so it helps maintain the status quo’ (Paterson
2013).
In contrast Esma Kazal (appendix B) from
Iranian descent was drawn to the idea of displaying pornography from a
different point of view because of coming from the Middle East, a place where
pornography is not talked about at. The
photograph is life sized in length which engages the viewer with the women. It
allows the viewer to see the person in likeness to the real world and
life-likeness.
Kazal addresses pornography by trying to
keep a neutral view towards the subject matter. This was important to the
artist as she wanted to create a work that was about “people’s gaze on women” (Kazal
2013) and it was therefore up to the viewer’s interpretation. Furthermore Middle
Eastern women Esma believes are gazed at even more because of type of clothing
and head scarf they wear; she wanted to play with this idea in the photograph
by the complete covering of the women. “since the body is covered the viewer is
then forced to find other signifiers (points of access) into the work (such as
the text/cloth) which perhaps indirectly allude to the presence of a body or
even an object in the work”, (Kazal 2013).
The photograph also point to the idea of
sensuality versus sexuality. When viewing the photograph there is human
subjectivity, as sensuality is implicitly implying dreams, desires, dreams and
thoughts. Sexual imagery even when the women is represented clothed can reduce
the image to the few corresponding body parts, and strips the image of the
psychological content. This contrasts to sensuality, which even if an image of
women is represented nude the veils of the body can provide psychological depth
that is artistic (Moscovici 2010). That in the photograph there can be a sexual
connotation attached as the whole body form and shape is draped by the tight
covering.
The image primarily questions the role that
women have and the impact of cultural settings. It frames the idea about how
two cultures can collide. This is shown by an Arab person living in a Western
culture which is more sexuality liberated. There is a link that although the person is fully covered there is
a connection to a particular culture, gender and religion. In Muslim culture
there is the idea that women are dominated by man, but in the photograph the
women is making an active choice to be surrounded in a sex shop. This makes it
is a controversial piece of art work as the background of the lady puts the
image in context.
It
is about the relationship between the positive and negative spaces, one of
association- the lady positioned in what appears to be a sex shop. The two
different views; one of protection-the ladies body being completely covered in
the silk and the other of exposure; unveiled to the surrounding sex products
beside her. There is a questioning of cultural boundaries of what a ‘good’
Muslim would do and if this would be a demonstration of a cultural conflict
(Killoran 1998). This is because a woman’s sexual desires are meant to respond
to that of her husband’s wishes in Islam (Killoran 1998).
Another idea that comes across is women
affected by violence- and the vulnerability as the lady is posed hugging her
self- builds upon the idea of being uncomfortable and needing support. “”Exploring
female sexual vulnerability – the threats of molestation or assault entailed
merely in having a female body – Esma Kazal invokes the female subject’s
habitual need for tactics of self- protection with a covering of satin and
text,” (Kazal 2013). Often the victims of violence and sex abuse will hug
themselves, as a self-soothing exercise to encourage support. The covered body
also comes across as a metaphor for protection and secretism that sexual
violence is shrouded hiding the shame of the acts. Shame a feeling that is seen
prevalently in Muslim and Asian cultures. Nothing in this photograph is by
accident as everything is placed purposefully- everything down to where the
lady is positioned in the middle to be confined by the sexual objects on all
sides a display of enclosure- fully effected by something ‘othering’ to her own
cultural submissiveness to sexual identity.
Kazal tries to engage with the ideas of
representation what it means to be your own self within a culture that try to
demonstrate how Muslim women should be. “She shows how markers of identity can
be anchored in various ways to the female body, which in this context, for her
as a young Iraqi female, has become a contested site” (kamal 2013)
The two artists in the exhibition, ‘A different view’ try to convey their
idea towards what pornography is in modern day society. They have both tried to
display the effect of capitalism and consumerism that has had on the need to
seek pleasure and at the same time the constraint it has put upon individuals.
Paterson has acknowledged that although the need to seek pleasure has come
about because of the rise of capitalism it is at its best a by-product. Kamal
has touched upon issues of women’s representation sexuality and that all women
still live in the fear of sexual abuse by men due to the way they are seen. The
lines are offered blurred there are aspects of pornography that can be art, and
aspects of art that can be pornography. It the end it is down to interpretation
and how the message is portrayed through the imagery.
Appendix A: Reuben Paterson, Obsession Sexual 2012, glitter on canvas, 1190 x 950mm. Courtesy of Nellie Castan, Melbourne.
Appendix B: Kamal, Esma Two untitled photographs
mounted on satin laminate, 2000 x 1370mm.
Bibliography
Kamal, Esma. 2013.
Sexual politics now, Raising questions
about pornography and beyond. [Youtube video clip]. Accesed 29 October 2013
at:
Kamal, Esma. 2013.
Outline of exhibition artworks with label text. A Different View: Artists address pornography. 24 August – 12
October Gus Fisher Gallery. The
University of Auckland .
Killoran, Moiran. 1998.
Good Muslims and "Bad Muslims," "Good" Women and Feminists:
Negotiating Identities in Northern Cyprus (Or, the Condom Story). Institute of
Noetic Sciences, Sausalito, California. Ethos 26(2):183-203.
Marcuse, Herbert.
1961. One-Dimensional Man Chapter
3 – The Conquest of the Unhappy
Consciousness: Repressive Desublimation [online book]
Moscovici, Claudia.
2010. Sensuality in Art: The erotic
versus the pornographic. [website]. Accessed at http://fineartebooks.wordpress.com/tag/art-versus-pornography-debate/
Paterson, Reuban. 2013
Sexual politics now, Raising questions
about pornography and beyond [youtube video clip]. Accessed 29 October 2013
at:
http://www.sexualpoliticsnow.org.nz/exhib_biog/reuben-paterson/
Paterson, Reuban. 2013.
Outline of exhibition artworks with label text. A Different View: Artists address pornography. 24 August – 12
October. Gus Fisher Gallery. The
University of Auckland
Wapiti, Elusive. 2010. Article Review: The Fate of Empires by the spearhead- Sir John Glubb’s Fate of Empires and Search for Survival.
Copy right for article 2013 Nicola Tickner, Auckland, New Zealand
No comments:
Post a Comment