Jonas Burget, Suchtpuls/Addicted to Pulse, 1969
In this piece, there is a tone of theatricality, imposed on the viewer through the characters who exist within an implied narrative. There is the implication that the characters are performing for the viewer, and there is yet another layer of interpretation and deception within the piece. The image recites an event that has just happened, and the viewer is shown a quiet moment in the aftermath. Several elements are combined to create a sense of chaos – the bright colour, the wide lens, the considerable depth between foreground and background. Berget looked into the interplay between our internal and external selves, and what we use to identify ourselves.
“For we are not simply instinctive beings. The ensuing uncertainty leads to a need to embed ourselves. We disguise ourselves, subordinate ourselves to a culture, a ceremony, a rite, a fashion, a religion.” – J. Berget in H. Dietz, ‘Rubble and Fodder’.
Berger identifies culture as a means of disguising oneself, and this can be directly compared to the culture of femininity that women use to disguise aspects of themselves they are ashamed of. If one can be the perfect female, they have nothing to be ashamed of. It is the inevitability of failure in this pursuit, and anxiety that the perils of such a pursuit will be revealed that causes eating disorders in women.
Johnathon Meese, Django’s Blitzpimmel Heisst Nill, 2011
Johnathon Meese “addresses uneasy aspects of German political history and seeks to adopt ideological symbols and empty them of meaning.” – David Nolan.
Attempting to unpack means of identification, he inserts his likeness into the paintings, alongside other characters such as demons. His works act within a series, and create narratives that the viewer can follow along, aided by his use of text. His works certainly have a linear, drawn quality to them – the space is very short within the piece. He also makes variant use of opacity in order to bring the eye to certain areas of the canvas. The piece has an endearing childlike quality.
Johnathon Meese and Albert Oehlen, Situation, 2003
This piece is particularly interesting to me because Meese and Oehlen are humorously reducing the female figure to breasts and a brain. This is parallel to what I intend to do – reducing complexities to recognisable motifs.
Woman with a Bag 1915 Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
Die Brucke German expressionists, such as Karl Schmidt Rottluff, depict the misery of war through dark colours and gaunt expressions. This anxious woman is headed out the door.
Henry Darger, At Jennie Richie the Belgians Stay Under the Shelter
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