visual sociology 2007 ivsa conference session new york …€¦ · proto image of woman‟s body...

Visual Sociology

2007 IVSA Conference Session

New York University

New York, New York, USA

August 10, 11, 12

Panel: Private and Public Body

Representations in Art and Science Chair: Ben

Baruch Blich, Bezalel Academy of Art and

Design, Israel

Alternatives to the Lost Body

By: Dr. Michal Popowsky

Teachers College of Technology,

Department of Design Studies

Tel Aviv, Israel ©

Introduction

Defined as „the knowledge of the structure of the body‟ (Littré), “Anatomy” has made the human body an object of investigation. As such, it has had a great influence on the perception of bodies inside but also outside the field of medicine. Thus, during the 20th century, Culture, Art and Psychoanalysis, interpretating human anatomy, have produced what Leo Bersani has referred to

[i]as the “Freudian body”.

Leo Bersani , the “Freudian Body”,[i] 1986

What is the “Freudian body”?

The “Freudian body” is a cultural

item. It discloses the image a

whole population of men and

women have had of their bodies as

a result of the impact of Freud‟s

sexuality and sexed bodies'

theories in the 20th century in

western culture.

What is the “Freudian body”?

In the 5th conference entitled which he presented in , i][“Femininity”

1933, Freud divided human sexuality into two categories: the positive [+] category and the negative [-] category. Referring respectively to man and to woman i.e. to male and to female, Freud asserted that male/man are to be referred to as [+phallus] and female/woman as [-phallus]. For, according to Freud, men have what women do not have.

th conference entitled “Femininity”, 5Sigmund, Freud,[i]1933

The “Freudian body”

Freud theoretical assertions had two

main consequences.

The first one was of a biological order

and indicated that if on the one hand

man/male are a [+1] and have a

complete entire and full body, on the

other hand woman/female are a [-1]

and have an “incomplete” body.

The second consequence was of a

symbolic order and indicated that only

man/male could and did detain the

symbolic Power.

The “Freudian body”: Modern Bodies- Modern Anatomies

Men‟s & Women‟s Freudian Body

Thus, 20th century Modernity

produced two types of sexed bodies:

the „strong‟ sexed bodies defined by

the penis/phallus and the „weak‟

sexed bodies characterized by their

lack of penis/phallus.

The “Freudian body”: Modern Bodies Modern Anatomies

1. the „strong‟ straight vertical ascending penis/phallus bodies…

were represented by…

Anton Raderschteidt, Self Portrait, 1928

Modern Bodies Modern Anatomies

1. the „strong‟ straight vertical ascending penis/phallus bodies

Richard Hamilton“Just What is it that Makes Today's

Home so Different so Appealing”, 1956

Karl Hubbuch, Hilde Twice,1932

Helmut Newton- Modern female Body-

Helmut Newton [2 visuals]

Helmut Newton- Modern female

Body- Sumo7

2. the „weak‟ lacking penis/phallus bodies….were shown in….

The “Freudian body”: Modern Bodies Modern Anatomies

work [i]in Hans Bellmer‟s

[2 visuals]…………….

So powerful and dominant was the signifier „lack‟ that, 20th century iconography translated it into a proto image of woman‟s body defined by the hole or orifices.

1975-1902born French artist, -Bellmer, Hans, German[i]

Hans Bellmer, Tête de mort.

Modern Bodies Modern Anatomies 2. the „weak‟ lacking penis/phallus bodies

Hans Bellmer-« Oeillades Ciselées en

Branche » de Georges Hugnet

… Marcel Duchamp‟s “Etant Donné”…

…and Egon Schiele‟s Reclining Woman, 1917

Confronted to the claim of their anatomic and symbolic deficiencies, modern women chose, as early as the beginning of the 20th century but merely since the 20‟s, to fight for their right to Symbolic Power - mostly by the means of a reproduction of corporeal signs of Power. They therefore redesigned their body by reducing the volume of their breasts, of their belly and of their buttocks and adopted a flat linear silhouette which they uplifted by putting on high heels stilettos.

[1 visual].

Helmut NewtonModern female Body

Cyber women- Sumo8

Against the “Freudian Body”

1. Boaz Tal

2. Pamela Levy

3. Rei Kawakubo

4. Vivienne Westwood

1. Boaz Tal

It is in the context of the “Freudian body” that I first became interested in Boaz Tal‟s photograph of Keren Grass. Tal took his picture of Grass for a project which aim was to photograph breast cancer women who underwent breast surgery. The idea of the initiators of the project was to help women restore their self esteem by the picture.

Boaz Tal, 1997, Keren Grass

To the question: “Why did you accept to participate to the project?” Tal‟s answer was: “Because my youth was haunted by my mother‟s breast cancer, the removal of her breast and her shame. “ Tal‟s adds: “Women frighten me even when they are dressed. I wanted to know what frightens me. I also wanted to overcome my fear.” [Interview by the author – Tel-Aviv, 10/05/07]

Against the “Freudian Body”- 1. Boaz Tal

Looking at the photography, I was

asking myself what were Boaz

Tal‟s intentions when he told this

feminine woman to lie down under

the orange colored shadowed light.

For, lying on a sofa and looking

straight at the camera, she shows

the front part of her body which

has one breast only, the other

being a plain plane surface.

The woman's body bears a scare.

It is an altered body.

However, commenting upon

the photography, Tal said

that “what we see is not the

scare which is the outcome of

the breast cancer surgery but,

the smile of the women, the

woman's joy and her

vitality.”

After Boaz Tal, 1997, Keren Grass

It is true that the women‟s smilecatches the eye and prevents it from directing itself towards the incomplete breast and the scare which is the trace of the lack.

The smile shows that the woman communicates with the photograph. It is the sign of her free will not to submit to the sufferings caused by the missing breast as if this missing breast was still alive and she – her body -, still complete, entire and full.

The smile reinforces the idea that the photograph is facing an exceptional body.

This is a body of exception wherein the scare and the „lack‟ recall and sustain the basic primary complete body.

Thus, when Boaz Tal said that “what I wanted to show was not the [altered] body of the women but the women herself”, he implicitly suggested that, for him, the lacking body [-1] which leads back to the Freudian body, is not but the other body, a body of exception which does not represent women. For, according to Tal, women and women‟s body are not of the order of the lack.

2. Pamela Levy

The Israeli artist, Pamela Levy, a

contemporary of Boaz Tal, was

born in the USA. At the end of

1980, she started painting the

“Bathers” and showed men and

women standing on the beach, in the

water or on the sand and under the

Wearing bathing suits, the

“Bathers” are gathered

together. They are talking.

Some are gesticulating.

They are all full of joy.

Their gestures reflect their

„joie de vivre‟.

Against the “Freudian Body” - 2. Pamela Levy

Pamela Levy‟s painted bodies of

men and women show a full and

complete anatomy wherein limbs are smoothly knotted to one

another and, wherein flesh and

muscles shape a corporeal set of

softly curved lines.

After Pamela Levy’s “The Bathers”

Pamela Levy‟s female painted bodies have no hole, no orifice, and no missing organs. They do not even show „erogenous zones‟ such as the „lips‟

[i]referred to by Luce Irigarayin relation to female women‟s body. (in 1985 (b):20).

Irigaray, Luce, This Sex zhich is not One[i]

Levy‟s men are represented by long

brushed curved lines. Seen through

the eyes of a woman – Pamela

Levy –their masculinity

acquires…………..

2. Pamela Levy

After Pamela Levy‟s “The Bathers”

…a soft spiritual aura.

Against the “Freudian Body”- 2.Pamela Levy

Levy therefore asserts

that men‟s and women‟s

sexuality can not be an

act of violence and

is necessarily a reflection

of their mutual reciprocal

“relations”.

For, “Relations”

transform menand women into „subjects‟.

“Relations” modify the implications of the Freudian conception of sexuality. They show that, through links of connivance, camaraderie, friendship and love, through nearness and proximity, men and women are no longer strangers.

[i])2006(See: Michel Onfray,

2006, Onfray, Michel, Sculpture de Soi[i]http://littera05.free.fr/sculpturedesoi.htm

Against the “Freudian Body”- 2. Pamela Levy

Thus, Levy‟svisual translation

of the concept of

„Relations‟ involves

the bodies of men and

women who are now

close to one another.

Against the “Freudian Body” 2. Pamela Levy

Nearness and proximity

• transform men‟s and women‟s bodies into sexed bodies- but not according to Freudian processes or to the Freudian concepts of „phallus‟ and „lack‟.

• eliminate Freud‟s conception of a binary sexuality and its alleged differential rupture based on the difference between the two sexes.

• show that, conversely to Lacan‟s stand, relations cannot but be sexual[i].

Lacan‟s stand that relations are not sexual as it appears in [i]

Encore, Seminar XX, p:14

Against the “Freudian Body” 2. Pamela Levy

Nearness and proximity

• can not reiterate the metonymic reduction of men‟s and women‟s body to the „penis/phallus‟ and to the „lack‟.

• can not define men‟s and women‟s identity in terms of a symbolic „phallus‟ and a symbolic „lack‟.

• relocate men's and women's body in terms of „fullness‟

• relocate men's and women's generic identity in terms of „proximity‟.

For, according to Pamela Levy, both male and female

anatomies are embedded in identical similar curved

lines and share a smooth fluidity. They both are

full and complete.

Thus, men and women share common corporeal features and symbolic features.

43Pamela Levy, “The Bathers”,1989

3. Rei Kawakubo 1997-2007: Knots, Lumps and fullness

It is in the context of these new anatomies that already in 1997, Japanese born fashion designer –Rei Kawakubo started designing garments for her women‟s collections reproducing neither the straight line nor the smooth homogeneous surface proper to modern clothes.

Against the “Freudian Body”- 3.Rei Kawakubo

Fashion is a conservative field. It does not change easily. As a cultural phenomenon which associates itself to other phenomena of culture in particular in its relation to bodies; Fashion changes are quite scarce. Colors, fabrics, length and accessories undergo so to call “superficial” changes or surface changes. Deep changes however, are often of the order of garments' structures. They convey new concepts and often initiate new radical sartorial proposals.

, in 1952, 24Gaultier, J.P., is a French fashion designer born April [i]Arcueil, Val-de-Marne- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.P. Gaultier

Towards a new

perception of the

body and new

sartorial proposals

Kawakubo‟s creations do not follow women‟s body lines. They have their own “life”. Experimental but at the same time ready to be worn, Kawakubo‟s fits were noticed by the fashion community because of their newness. They had many distinctive features. For example, they were based not on straight lines but on diagonals and their many pieces were not sawn but linked together by knotting techniques.

Knotting soon became a very

important component of

Kawakubo‟s work. By

exploring different knottingmodes, Kawakubo created

different types of knots. With

their curves, their circles and

their spherical volumes, these

knots reflected a new idea of

clothes and of bodies.

Thus, the new „sartorial units‟ Kawakubo started producing looked like “balls”. They were presented to the public with no name.

Since referred to as “Lumps"they were placed on different parts of the body -from bottom to top, front and back, on the waist, the hips, the belly, the buttocks and the shoulders.

The “Lumps" had no precise function.

However by breaking the linearity of the

modern female body and implanting a new

corporeal fullness, they created a new

silhouette of the female body.

The " Lumps " are the translation of the

idea of “fullness” into “new sartorial

units”. They are not the result of the

designer‟s whim but the reflection of what

French designer Gabrielle Chanel used to

call “L‟Air du Temps”. This ”Spirit of the

Time” leaving modern “Freudian Body”

aside, has inaugurated a new postmodern anatomic image.

4.Vivienne Westwood2003-2007 : Men with no pants

Against the “Freudian Body”- 4.Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood designs garments for men. She too uses knotting techniques to knot together the many pieces her men‟s garments are made of. However, the radical aspect of her men‟s collections resides elsewhere. For, since 2003, Westwood has presented men‟s outfits which included no trousers or pants.

Eliminating the trousers from men‟s wardrobe was

and still is a revolutionary act.

Let us remember that trousers, which are still considered as the dominantgarment of men‟s wardrobe, bear a masculine symbolic value.

As a representative of male man masculinity, trousers were exclusively reserved to men. By the same token, they were -by law-strictly forbidden to women until the 20‟s when, with the “help” of Chanel, western modern women appropriate them for themselves.

Thus, for decades, pants‟ symbolic value and function remained unchanged and quite clear: it defined the masculinity of male men and men‟s exclusive „right‟ to Power.

The absence of pants in men‟s wardrobe could not go unnoticed, mostly because it indicated a weakening of Freudian male men phallic symbolic value.

By eliminating the pants from her men‟s collections, not only did Westwood show that she rejected Freudian based phallic masculinity and its idea of a phallo-centric Power but that she was willing to relate to a new masculinitywhich foundation was no longer the „penis/phallus‟ and its metonymic generic corporeal image.

Westwood new sartorial proposals

wrap the waist, the hips and the legs.

Resembling “skirts” – a term which has

been refused by the male men community,

they are dedicated to men whose „male‟

and „masculine‟ image does not in any

way suit a phallic identity.

Westwood does not suggest that male men have lost their

anatomic organ but that the signifier „penis/phallus‟ can

no longer be considered as a basis for male men identity.

Thus, according to Westwood, male man

masculinity and its symbolic values are

changing.

The new masculinity which is no more

of the order of the phallus, leads

to another order wherein men

getting close to women, nearness

creates common zones, common

areas, common spaces, common

values, common clothes and a

common corporeal look.

Conclusions

Alternatives to the Lost Body….Postmodern Bodies

The rupture between women and men proper to

Freudian theories- is now at stake.

Lacan has integrated the concept of “phallus” to the

register of the Symbolic and stated that "there is no

Indeed, . [i])13, p:XXwoman" (Encore, Seminar

there is no "woman" when the lack which is the

signifier on the basis of which the signifier 'woman'used to be defined, is no longer operational.

13, p:XXIl n'y a pas la femme", Encore, Seminar "[i]

Conclusions

Alternatives to the Lost Body….Postmodern Bodies

Present-day men‟s and women‟s bodies are no longer modern bodies. They are nolonger defined by the penis/phallus- the dominant referential symbolic organ-or the hole but, by a logic based on……

64Yves Klein, ANT63

Conclusions---- Alternatives to the Lost Body:.Postmodern Bodies

1. Relations

..of limbs,

bodies and

subjects

65Keith Haring

2. Proximity

…of bodies and

subjects

Henri Matisse,The Dance, 1909/10

3. Similarity

…of bodies and subjects

Eric Fischl

4. Fullness

Men, women now have a full complete entire body.

Women‟s anatomy is no

longer a „hole‟ and their

symbolic position is no

longer inferior but identical

to men‟s. As for men, their

identity is no longer of the

order of the phallus.

Francis Bacon…..

5. Roundness

Hans Bellmer, Le Centre

de la Poupée, 1935-1936

Men and women proximal~ related

bodies have created a new

corporeality. This corporeality is

characterized by……

….the fluid round, full, complete curvilinear corporeal image has eliminated the Freudian metonymic linear vertical ascendant image of bodies…..

Hans Bellmer, Objet Mobile, 1954

1. fluid, round, linked, knotted

together limbs

….and inaugurated a

rhizomorphic postmodern

body of related units

Hans Bellmer, Les Marionnettes

2. a decentralized

corporeal structure

Hans Bellmer, The Spinning Top, 1944-4

3. a corporeal

rhizomorphic [1]

structure …of knotted

[1]G. Deleuze & F. Guattari

Conclusions---- Alternatives to the Lost Body:. Postmodern Bodies

Fransceco Clemente, Untitled, 1984

rhizomorphic

Rhizomorphic corporeality

….dominant cultural understanding of bodies.

is not a new proposition for it was already present

in within „Modernity‟. However, its status has

changed for although its image is not yet the image

the majority identifies with, it nevertheless reflects a

new ….

Quoting Jameson [1], we shall say that rhizomorphic postmodern corporeal image has

become a “cultural dominant”.

[1] Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, 1991

Rhizomorphic corpo- image

Richard Prince, Untitled, 1996

It is in that context that

Genetics has acquired its

symbolic value.

As the science of cloning, transplants and

DNA, Genetics sees the body as a set of

knotted replaceable limbs~ organs and has

become able to replace most of the limbs~

organs of the human bodies.

David Reed, #349,1996

Thus, Genetics acts in within the frame of postmodern bodies.

David Reed, #349,1996

Rhizomorphic corpo-image

What, then, will be the visual translation of the

postmodern anatomy in the field of

advertisement?..............If sexuality continues to be

“what sells”, advertisement will be compelled to

invent new rhizomorphic postmodern corporeal

image. What will they look like?

Thank You.

visual sociology 2007 ivsa conference session new york …€¦ · proto image of woman‟s body...

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