MACS

The Gaze:

"The Gaze" explores how the act of looking is inextricably linked to power dynamics, identity construction, and social hierarchies in art and architecture.

Core Concepts of the Gaze

• Definition: The "gaze" refers to looking in terms of power and desire.

• The Male Gaze: Developed in the 1970s, this concept highlights voyeurism, objectification, and the use of stereotypical fantasies.

• Identity: Portraiture is discussed as a tool for creating rather than just revealing identity, questioning whether gender is an essence or something a person "puts on".

Conceptual Definition of The Gaze

• Power and Objectification: The "Gaze" describes the relationship between looking and being looked at, which often involves power imbalances and the objectification of the subject.

• Fluidity of Identity: Using Claude Cahun’s 1928 self-portrait as an example, the notes suggest that identity is not fixed. Cahun’s use of mirrors shows two sides of a face that the subject themselves cannot see, illustrating the complexity of the viewer/viewed relationship.

• Types of Gazes: The document identifies several specific frameworks for the Gaze, including:

  • Absolutist (Royal) Gaze

  • Orientalist Gaze

  • White Gaze

  • Male Gaze

The Absolutist Gaze: Versailles and Louis XIV

The Palace of Versailles serves as a primary example of how architecture and landscape are engineered to affirm absolute power.

• Control of Nature: The gardens use a geometric layout and mathematical symmetry to reflect the "Sun King’s" dominance.

• Linear Perspective as Power: The use of la grande perspective creates a vanishing point at the horizon, directing the eye to affirm the King’s authority.

• The Hall of Mirrors:

  • Contains 357 mirrors across 17 arches.

  • Every view is intended to reference the King’s glories and victories.

  • It functions as a "reception hall" where the Gaze signifies that relations of power are constantly at work.

Subverting the Gaze in Art

The document highlights two paintings that manipulate or challenge traditional power dynamics:

Diego Velázquez – Las Meninas (1656)

• Complex Perspectives: The artist includes himself in the painting, placing the artist, the spectator, and the monarchy in the same viewing position.

• Appropriation of Power: By occupying the same position as King Philip IV, the artist symbolically appropriates royal power.

• Reciprocal Looking: While the spectator gazes at the painting, the figures within (like the King’s daughter) fix their gaze on the viewer, making the spectator both the "viewer and the viewed".

Sylvia Sleigh – Turkish Bath (1973)

• Gender Reversal: Sleigh references Ingres’ 1862 painting of the same name but replaces sexualized, provocative female bodies with men in classical poses.

• Challenging the Male Gaze: This work disrupts the historical norm where women are passive objects and men are active subjects.

The Male Gaze Theory

Originating in 1970s feminist film theory, this concept posits that:

• Active vs. Passive: Men act as the "active subject" and the "gaze-holder," while women are relegated to the "passive object".

• Objectification: Historically, Western art has objectified female bodies specifically to satisfy the male viewer.

• Structural Power: In this framework, men look at men, while women are only looked at and remain subject to male power.

Orientalism:

Orientalism and Colonial Logic

• Western Perspectives: Following the theories of Edward Said, Orientalism is described as a Western style of art and literature that centers on European fantasies regarding the "Orient".

• Geographical Reductionism: The term "Middle East" is critiqued as colonial language; for example, Egypt is described as the "Middle East" only in relation to London.

• The "Othering" Process:

  • Non-Western subjects are treated as inferior yet exotic and enticing.

  • The "Orient" is framed as pre-modern.

  • Men are stereotyped as violent, lazy, or feminized, while women are sexualized.

Artistic Case Studies

• Jean-Léon Gérôme:

  • The Snake Charmer (1870): The painting uses a "veneer of realism"—such as accurate Arabic script—to mask the sexualization of a child.

  • The Bath (1880–1885): This work depicts a power dynamic where a white woman is the central focus while the labor and exposure fall upon a woman of color.

• Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres:

  • The Turkish Bath (1862): The circular format acts as a peephole, positioning the viewer as a voyeur.

  • La Grande Odalisque: Features an anatomically impossible elongated spine and luxury "Oriental" props (peacock feathers, hookahs) to heighten eroticism.

• Sylvia Sleigh: Her 1973 Turkish Bath challenges the tradition by using a rectangular "window" frame rather than a peephole, though the document questions if the work remains tied to racist tropes.

Orientalism in Modern Technology

• The Yellow Filter: This is identified as a modern "Orientalist technology" used in cinema for locations like Mexico and Southeast Asia.

• Stereotypical Impact: While meant to suggest tropical heat, the filter often creates a "jaundiced" or "grimy" appearance, subconsciously linking these regions to pollution, poverty, and war.

Landscapes:

The Anthropocene and Visual Perspectives

• Defining the Epoch: The "Anthropocene" is defined as a new epoch marked by collective human activities that have begun to alter the Earth’s surface, atmosphere, oceans, and nutrient cycling.

• Etymology: The term combines the Greek anthropos ("human") and cene ("new").

• Modes of Seeing: Nicholas Mirzoeff argues that technology and climate change do not just impact the environment; they alter our "modes of seeing".

• Inequity: Mirzoeff further suggests that human responsibility for environmental changes is not universal, as impacts are inequitably distributed across different populations.

Evolution of Landscape Traditions

• Neo-Classical (17th Century): These works, such as Poussin’s Landscape with Saint John on Patmos (1640), emphasized mythic stories in timeless settings. They featured ancient ruins (Egyptian, Greek, and Roman) and were often mythic rather than real locations.

• Contemporary Realism (19th Century): John Constable’s The Hay Wain (1821) depicted a real farm in Sussex. Though it appeared serene, the countryside was actually a difficult place to make a living; the painting served as a nostalgic image for the wealthy.

• The Sublime: JMW Turner is noted for capturing the "Sublime"—moments where humanity is overcome by its own fragility at the mercy of nature. His work Snowstorm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps used historical themes to embed contemporary political critiques of Napoleon.

Landscapes and Political Power

• Canadian Identity: The Group of Seven focused on "uninhabited" environments, but these depictions become complicated when acknowledging the history of Indigenous persons.

• American Expansion: The notion of "wildness" was a false settler construct used to suggest landscapes were untouched and uninhabited. This helped justify Manifest Destiny, the belief that settlers were divinely ordained to control Western territories.

• Indigenous Reclamation: Contemporary artist Kent Monkman uses the "2-Spirit" trickster figure, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, to place Indigenous people back into the historical narrative. His work History is Painted by Victors references the Sioux defeat of General Custer to reclaim suppressed history.

Industrialization and Modern Critique

• Edward Burtynsky: Burtynsky creates "abstracted" industrial landscapes that are visually stunning but force the viewer to confront the grim reality of man-made environmental destruction.

• Human Extraction: His work explores the relationship between man and nature, specifically how humans enter natural spaces to take what they want or need.

• Environmental Impact: The notes highlight how specific industrial processes, such as the oxidization of nickel tailings, are directly harmful to the Earth.

Post-War Perspectives and Postmodernism:

Postmodernism and its relationship to art history, consumer culture, and technological warfare.

Key Artistic Movements and Concepts

• Superflat: A movement founded by Takashi Murakami that blurs the lines between high art and commercial culture. It references Japanese "flat" aesthetics, manga, and the "kawaii" (cute) culture.

• Pastiche: The mixing of disparate styles, such as the AT&T Building in NYC, which combines a 20th-century modernist structure with an 18th-century Chippendale flourish and Rococo ornamentation.

• Avant-Garde vs. Kitsch: The notes contrast the "advance guard" of art that leads society forward with "Kitsch" (or rear-guard), which is described as cheap, mass-produced, and sentimental.

Featured Artists and Works

I. Theoretical Framework: Modernism vs. Postmodernism

The notes trace a shift from the rigid definitions of Modernism to the fluid, inclusive nature of Postmodernism.

• The Greenbergian Ideal: Critic Clement Greenberg proposed the "ideal avant-garde," arguing that art should be self-referential—specifically that a "painter should paint painting."

• The Rejection of Kitsch: Greenberg defined "Kitsch" (or rear-guard) as the opposite of good taste, describing it as cheap, sentimental, and mass-produced (e.g., Bob Ross or Elvis velvet paintings).

• Postmodern Rebellion: Postmodern artists rejected these hierarchies, intentionally mashing "high culture" with "low brow" or kitsch elements.

II. Key Concept: Superflat and Pastiche

Two major Postmodern techniques are highlighted as ways to bridge the gap between fine art and commercialism:

• Superflat (Takashi Murakami): This movement mixes styles, combining Japanese and Euro-American traditions with "brand culture." It refers to a history of flat aesthetics found in manga, anime, and "kawaii" (cute) culture.

• Pastiche in Architecture: The AT&T Building in NYC is cited as a prime example of "ironic citation." It takes a 20th-century modernist structure and applies 18th-century decorative ornamentation, such as the Chippendale flourish, to create a mixing of styles.

III. Artistic Appropriation and Parody

The document details how Postmodern artists borrow and recycle imagery to challenge traditional notions of "originality."

• Roy Lichtenstein: He collapsed the distinction between high art and popular culture by appropriating 1950s comic book pages. His work Brushstroke (1965) specifically parodies the "gestural" style of abstract expressionists like Jackson Pollock.

• Andy Warhol: Through his Death and Disaster series, Warhol used repetition to suggest that a picture can lose its emotional effect, leading to a "desensitization" to violence in print media.

• Jeff Wall: His work A Sudden Gust of Wind (After Hokusai) is a "cinematic image" composed of over 100 photos. It serves as a metaphor for history: appearing whole, but actually made of fragments and partial seeings.

IV. Art as a Response to Warfare

A significant portion of the notes connects contemporary Japanese art to the trauma of technological warfare.

• Murakami’s References: The work 727 references the American B-29 bomber plane.

• Atomic Metaphors: Flower Matango references a horror movie of the same name, which itself is a reference to atomic bombs and "mushroom heads."

Cultural Response: These "manga + anime" responses are framed as a way of processing the history of war and its impact on the post