Given the feminst critique of body art in the 1960s, how do we deal with the narcissism of Hannah Wilke's performative acts? Do we agree with Amelia Jones that there is a radical potential in such reenactment?
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The course will focus on the relation of art and emerging technologies for art production since the 1960’s. Through examining different forms of media art -- such as video, television, performance and digital art, we will address the ways in which such technologies have transformed the production, reception and interpretation of art.
Antonio Muntadas, The File Room
I agree that this work talks about loss, for example, both of the ugly girl’s breast and the predictable, approaching loss of the girl herself; however, I argue that Wilke’s representation of that woman in the nude with a removal breast contributes to an artistic project that points to gender identity as a sequence of performative acts. In losing one breast, the ugly girl has also lost the hidden function that two breasts activate. In other words, the loss of a breast describes concentration of how that breast was once viewed as a primary important of sexuality and femininity that masks the compound behind the body parts.
ReplyDeleteI think what Wilke tried to accomplish through her work is not necessarily narcissism but a definition of herself and identity through repetitive performance. As a whole, I think Wilke also wanted to redefine what it means to be a "woman" at a time were women were still largely viewed as objects. Through representing her body as she saw it and using herself as material for her work, she assumed the roles of both subject and object and established herself as both a woman and an artist. We've discussed in class that people might've had a problem with Wilke because she was a beautiful girl enjoying herself and having fun with her body instead of assuming the role of rigidity. However I believe Hannah established her power as a woman through portraying her ideas through nudity. I found the most radical potential for Hannah's work was in her portrayal of herself as a cancer patient and a middle-aged woman losing her beauty to sickness and still being empowered by her body till the end. Similarly, the picture posted above of her alongside her ill mother serves to show the feminine identity regardless of the body.
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