Week 10 Phenomenology


“Meaning. Identity, Embodiment,” by Amelia jones is the exploration of the issue of identity in relation to art.  The example used in this is the painting, “The origin of the World,” by Gustave Courbet.  In the essay Jones argues clearly in the essay her viewpoint on issues of gender and sexuality.  Jones expresses strong enmity toward the interpretations of Courbet’s painting.  Through this essay we can see that Jones believes that we can make a better sense of the painting or artwork through the creator.  In the essay Jones says, “It is not enough, to understand the social and cultural effects of visual imagery purely in terms of disembodied structure of the “gaze.””  To me this meant that even though there is a that level of interpretation missing from a piece despite giving information based on what we see.  Which is interesting because in our discussion of the oppositional gaze and visual pleasure, there is the argument of sexualization in a work of art.  The visual pleasure is more about film, but I believe that according to Jones’ argument on issues of gender sexuality, this is relevant.  When I think about this article in comparison to, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” the focus from Laura Mulvey was in the representation of women in cinema.  Arguing about power between men and women and even in Jones’s essay there is this argument again on power.  The oppositional gaze article by Bell hooks however was the discussion on racial power within the gaze upon specifically black women as a focus in the article.   My point is that I think that the argument of power can be made in almost any relation toward the discussion of art and the creator. 


 

To understand what phenomenology, it is the theory or thought that elaborates information within the cultural and physical experiences viewed within art.  Another way that I interpreted this was that phenomenology is the study of an individual’s lived experience of the world.    I think that this essay is touching on the aspects I briefly stated earlier in the gaze or view we as individuals have.  The art we view is how we determine it in an individual level, and I think that is what this essay really is about.  That there are and will always be a level of art that is not viewed as art to others.  Then there is art that’s challenged within society.  This is a stretch as an argument, but I think comic book covers is an example in this relation.  I chose to use the comic book cover done by Mirka Andolfo for the comic book Unnatural published by Image comics.  Now, I understand that this cover can be determined as sexual, or even provocative.   Based on this essay I wanted to challenge the idea using something modern.  This comic is popular, and is also considered art.  So, to what degree is something not?  To what degree is something considered specifically sexual?   I am curious though; do you think this is considered art?  Why? Why not?




https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/unnatural-1

https://lms.hypothes.is/lti_launches


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