One of the questions from the exercise is based on a statement which posits the question that Woodmans images elude to a troubled mind and we are asked what evidence is there of this in Woodmans Space2 essay
I spent some time looking at Space2 Tate. (2017). "Space², Providence, Rhode Island, 1975-1978", Francesca Woodman 1975–8 | Tate. [online] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/woodman-space-providence-rhode-island-1975-1978-ar00350 [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017].
Cooke, R. (2017). Searching for the real Francesca Woodman. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/aug/31/searching-for-the-real-francesca-woodman [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017].
Artblart.com. (2017). Francesca Woodman Space2 | Art Blart. [online] Available at: https://artblart.com/tag/francesca-woodman-space2/ [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017].
and some of space2 it could be read as being trapped or enclosed within a limited space. Woodmans images show a blurred figure moving within a glass case. By blurring the figure, Woodman has reduced the figure to an every-man, it is identifiable as a human only, the blurring demonstrates movement and speed. The figure within the glass case would elude to the figure being on display. The emphasis that the figure is naked could be seen as a show of exhibitionism within the exhibit, an act of defiance and individualism at the same time.
In space 2 by being naked, Woodman is showing that she is not hiding from the gaze of the viewer, in most of the images where we can see her eyes, she gazes directly into the camera, acknowledging the viewer and challenging them to meet her gaze on equal terms. By doing this she removes herself from being an sexual object and becomes an equal in the narrative.
The narrative within Space2 shows that she was acting within the narrative of being one with the background organically merging into it, it demonstrates surrealism with a certain nod of acknowledgement to Breton by the use of blurred figures
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Looking at the images of Space2 I could not see Brights point that the images showed a troubled mind. Is the narrative of Woodmans life influencing viewers? Are they attracted to her work due to the sense of tragedy of her short life, are they reflecting on her life rather like people reflect on James Dean, Bon Scott and Jimmy Hendrix, rather than on an interest n her actual work. If anything it shows Woodman was at odds with her period of time, she mainly uses Victorian dresses, period shoes and old backgrounds to remove her from the period of time (the 1970's) and move it into a remembered time of american Gothic. Could this be interpreted as hiding from reality, unhappiness and depression, it could but it can also be seen as someone trying to make their own shape in the world and influence it rather than the world influencing her.
In Annunciation, Verk. (2017). Annonciation - Elina Brotherus. [online] Available at: https://www.verktidskrift.se/annunciation/ [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017]. we are taken through the experiences of Brotherus as she attempts to become pregnant through IVF. The exhibition and essay takes the viewer through the failed attempts and the direct effect on Brotherus as she attempts to conceive by IVF, The IVF procedure could be considered as a mechanical method of conception rather than a physical thus drawing a comparison to the immaculate conception.
Here Brotherus is naked to show her pain and vulnerability, but again her graze is towards to viewer. With each diarised date, the images show how Brotherus felt about the process. I was strongly drawn to two particular images within the sequence. One, the image just shows Brotherus s stomach and her bruises received from the harvesting of her eggs and the re-implantation. It showed how much physical pain is caused by the process rather then the other images whose narrative is towards the mental pain.
The second image I was drawn to was the mage of the drip. The drip represents the anchor to the physical process, when attached to the drip, you cannot escape from the pain and the reminder that a medical process is being undertaken. At the end of the sequence the narrative stops, the viewer is suddenly left with no further information, did she conceive or not. The sudden halt in the narrative will make some viewers follow up on Brotherus to find out what happened, was the pain and anguish worth the processes and procedure, was she happy in the in end?
Gillian Wearing, In album. the Guardian. (2017). Gillian Wearing takeover: behind the mask – the Self Portraits. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2012/mar/27/gillian-wearing-takeover-mask [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017].
Skidmore, M. (2017). The Many Selves of Gillian Wearing. [online] AnOther. Available at: http://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/7906/the-many-selves-of-gillian-wearing [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017].
Here Gillian Wearing is making use of masks for identity; Wearing had masks of her family constructed from the same material as used by TV and film, thus making the masks very realistic but they deteriorate easily which made the process used by Wearing, one where once the mask was used it could not be used again and the images captured could not be repeated, making the images inherit a sense of both time and space.
Wearing hides her own face behind that of members of her own family, changing the perception of her, to that of own family. She is not hiding as much as taking on her perception of their personalities, and her own engagement, interaction and interpretation with them. In each image we can still see her eyes, demonstrating the even with the change of face, it is still her spirit within the body. She cannot truly hide her own identity from the world.
The use of masks can also be read in the context of protection, Wearing is using the masks to fictionalise herself, creating a question within the viewer, challenging what they see as authentic and therefore questioning reality.
Wearing use of masks can be read in the context of Kabuki or Noh theatre. Both of these styles of theatre use masks as representation. They can be heroes, villains, ideas, and spirits, by using these neutral masks, it is down to the skill of the actor to being the representation to life. In this context Wearing is trying to bring the neutral expressions of the masks into life just using her eyes and again to ask the viewer to analyse the portrait and look at both Wearing and the family member she represents..
The exercise starts to make me examine not only my own face and expressions but that of others, looking at them for similar expressions and familiarities as well as how their personalities come out through their actions. It also makes me think about how I express myself to the work through how I look and act.
