 |
| Self Portrait Exaggerating My Negroid Features Adrian Piper 1981
Throughout women's art history women were either the subject of male gaze, criticized as having no talent or having less talent than that of their male counterparts. Women historically as we have noted continually throughout our discussion and readings are devalued and underappreciated in all aspects of life. Women were and are relegated to their specific roles and gender ideals. As the Twentieth Century saw the rise of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950's and 1960's it foreshadowed many other movements throughout the country. Students rights, Gay and Lesbian Rights and Women's Rights were profound movements taking hold across the nation. No where was there a more significant movement so gripping, exciting and provocative as in the art world. Many women artist were participants in the feminist movement creating works that spoke to all notions of the female body, creative awareness, bold statements of the woman's so called place, sexuality, self awareness and the plight of women across the world.
Adrian Piper, Vanilla Nightmares
1986
Conceptual Art began in the 1960's thereby aligning itself along with the ever present social activism crossing the nation. Conceptualism was about getting an intended audience or that of a non intended audience to think about more than just what they were seeing visually. Its intent was to make one wonder about the idea behind the visual art or performance one was seeing and also to challenge ones notions of the art. Adrian Piper came onto the scene in performance art where she sought to include a broad public into her work, she did street performances where she was soaked in foul smelling liquids. Piper states on her street performances, "at times...violating my body; I was making it public. I was exposing it; I was turning it into an object." (Chadwick, 369). How fascinating for a woman to expose herself as object due to an actual force of the senses. Not just because I am a woman and I am only to be looked at but because I am choosing to give you something to actually look at and in these cases smell.
Feminism tended to be autobiographical and speaking to one's own experiences. Chadwick writes, "Given feminism's focus on exploring women's lives, it is not surprising that performance and video became major media for women who, seeking to celebrate the body's rhythms and pains, build new narratives of female experience." (Chadwick, 361). Adrian Piper in her performance Food for the Spirit in 1971 took you on a journey of the physical and metaphysical changes of her body as she fast and read Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. (see link below). Piper sought to change the view of women and their bodies. She sought to embrace what they body could be and was forced to be whether that be a true narrative or not. Chadwick notes that as a black woman Piper representing herself other than the stereotypical black woman crossed the boundary of the traditional gaze. As historically in the United States pervasive images of black women were generally of the "nurturing mammy or the insatiable jezebel." (Chadwick, 362). Images of note to fully grasp the pervasiveness in popular culture would be Hattie McDaniel in Gone With the Wind and Dorothy Dandridge in Carmen Jones.
LSD Paintings 1965-1967
Definition Adrian Piper March 2007: "Feminism is that state of affairs in which women compete with men to give support and encouragement to one another, rather than competing with one another for rewards and approval doled out by men." " I consider myself a feminist, according to this definition, because I work to achieve a feminist state of affairs in my personal and professional relationships with other women." (www.adrianpiper.com). Piper also notes that up to today women are still competing for recognition and reward. Also, that women are still at the mercy of men in our familial, social and professional relationships. We all nodded our head in agreement about whether the treatment of women has changed as asked as a discussion question during the last class presentation. It was a resounding and collective yes that very little has changed for women in all aspects of life.
Adrian Piper's works are filled with notions of the body of women and the concepts of its objective in the gaze. Her LSD paintings implore you to see more than the body and to feel the subject and not just gaze at the object. The series of paintings almost give you a non physical feeling and get you to look further and consider the work at more than face value. Pipers' works evolve as her evolution as a human being evolves.
LSD Couple, Adrian Piper 1965-1967
Adrian Piper has many other notable works which ask you to see her not as just a woman but to wonder what is she has to say and is thinking. Her works travel into the present time and are very thought provoking and inherently make one not only want to understand but to want more and more. Her works in the conceptual arts are a visceral reminder that in any time and space there is something that we can find as thought provoking and profound. Her experiences and performances illuminate one's idea of woman. In her series of performances, paintings and drawings Mythic Being Adrian dresses as a man. She walks around with a camera following her spouting curses and other philosophical sayings and noting the reactions of the individuals around her. She notes that people were not so concerned as she was dressed as a man and only passing observations were made like what's the guy talking about and is he crazy.
Adrian Piper, Mythic Being, 1975
How I fell in love with Adrian Piper: In 2012, on her 64th birthday, Adrian
Piper retired from being black. Piper has a Ph.D in Philosophy from Harvard and is an ardent student of Yoga. Adrian Piper currently resides in Germany.
Bibliograhy
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson Inc., 1990. http://www.adrianpiper.com/adrian_piper.shtml
Photo credit: Bing Images
Photo credit: Google Images
|
No comments:
Post a Comment