Reflections on the lecture

This weeks lecture by Susanna Edwards explores ‘noticing the ignored’. Looking, seeing and capturing.

John Berger: Ways of Seeing

John Berger was an art critic, novelist, broadcaster and poet; he studied at Central Saint Martins and the Chelsea School of Art. In 1972 the BBC produced his tv series ‘ways of seeing’, it was regarded as one of the most influential art programmes ever made. A book by Berger was later published under the same name. The series asks some important questions related to art and demonstrated that the way we look at art and images depends on various factors.

The quote on the front of the book reads: ‘Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognises before it can speak. But there is also another sense in which seeing comes before words. It is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world; we explain that world with words, but words can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it. The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled.’

If we look at episode 1 ‘Context and Time’ the episode begins with John Berger cutting a women’s face from a painting. Berger notes how the reproduction of art, particularly with the invention of the camera, has impacted our perceptions. This episode revolves around how changing the context of a painting, viewing reproductions of it and only showing sections under certain circumstances can influence the way we see an image. There are a few factors Berger discusses in this episode which are supposed to change the ways in which we view art. Time is one of those factors; for example we now see paintings differently than people in earlier centuries. Context and location are also important factors. If you take wall paintings in a church for example, it is different if you look at a digital reproduction of the painting rather than actually seeing them in person surrounded by the interior of the church. If images and paintings are taken out of context and are made into reproductions that we can display in our homes their meanings ca change entirely. Berger mentions that even the tone of a TV programme you’ve watched before or after looking at a painting/image can change the meaning.

Situationists International

Situationists international is an organisation of social revolutionaries made up of avante garde artists, intellectuals and political theorists. They were prominent in Europe between 1957 - 1972. The theories adopted by the Situationists were in response to the rise of 20th century capitalism, advanced levels of consumerism and reliance on material possessions.

The Spectacle - Guy Debord wrote ‘Society of the Spectacle’ which was published in 1967. The concept of the spectacle is a development on marxist theories'; the idea that society values relationships with objects over relationships with people. Debord defines the spectacle as the ‘autocratic reign of the market economy’, though the term ‘mass media’ is often used to describe the spectacle’s form. The situationists believed that the individual was dominated by mass media and consumerism, which alienated people and damaged their quality of life. In response, they tried to fight back, and create a world where ordinary, everyday life could be celebrated and transformed into art.

Debord’s ‘The Naked City’

Dérive - The Situationists used several techniques to fight back against the spectacle. One was Dérive, this was defined as the ‘technique without a goal’. It consists of wandering through the city and being either drawn to or turned off particular attractions, allowing people to find new ways of seeing and observing, and ultimately regaining control of their surroundings. Dérive is a form of Pyhchogeography (another phrase devised by the Situationists) which is the emotional impact a geographical location can have on the individual.

Détournement - Détournement is the technique of presenting previous artistic creations in new ways, often in a way that is juxtaposed to the original meaning. They believed there could be no original Situationist art. Détournement was also used in the form of a politically driven hoax or stunt, which came to be known as ‘Situationist Pranks.’

The Naked City - Debord’s ‘The Naked City’ was created as another way to view the city of Paris, encouraging the viewer to participate in Dérive, and look at their surroundings in a new light. Although a standard map is a geometrically accurate representation of an environment, it bears little resemblance to how one might actually experience a place. So the use of the arrows shows the Situationists route and the impulses of movement between each location.

Vivian Mair

Vivian Mair was an American street photographer born in New York City but spent the majority of her life in France before moving to Chicago. Mair was a nanny and caregiver for most of her life but in her spare time ventured into photography, consistently taking photos for over five decades. Her massive unseen body of work came to light when it was purchased from an auction in Chicago, she left behind around 100,00 negatives. In 2007 the contents of Mair’s storage space was sold to several buyers including John Maloof, who has since dedicated himself to establishing her legacy. Compelled to learn more about the woman behind the lens, Maloof began to investigate the life and work of Maier, in 2014 this lead to the Oscar-nominated documentary ‘Finding Vivian Maier.’

Vivian Mair obsessively wandered the streets of Chicago taking photographs of anything, everything and anybody she found curious. Over the years the people slowly disappeared out her photographs and she started to photograph more everyday objects and scenarios. Such as: doorways, parking spots, bus stops, movie-theater box offices, suburban dead ends, train platforms, empty restaurant tables, shop fronts and newspaper stands. She photographed the in-between, unexamined places.