Lynn Hershman

Phantom Limb #2

Lynn Hershman is one of the most influential artists working in the areas of gender, technology and identity today. Hershman works in photography, video, photo-collage, and multi-media interactive installations. Issues surrounding female identity are at the forefront of Hershman’s work and she links these issues to our continued relationship with technology. Another key theme is the notion of privacy in the era of surveillance, a topic well-illustrated by her Phantom Limb Photographs.

More work of Lynn Hershman

http://lynnhershman.com/

water woman

Her works are more relevant to the relationship between female identity rather than nudity itself, however as female representative as myself, her series of art inspired me to think about how I can reflect my personal view of female body visually. For instants, I can explore how I can represent myself in visual communication in a form of peice of art and then if I do, what message would I want to get across to people? What am I trying to say on the whole in my investigation of studies of nudity?All this can be included in my conclusion for my dissertation, too.

Context tutorial feedback

Short presentation on dissertation

I've made a brief presentation to Andrea when we met and it definitely helped to explain my ideas more clearly and easier for him to add a feedback as he could just fix some quotes/images and rewrite straight on to it. Some of my images were used not appropriately in some cases and some case studies needed to polished up. 

These are some of really important feedbacks that I had from Andreas;

• Don’t explore differences in terms of what’s “best”. Be critical. No classification.
• In conclusion you can be personal and compare the results of your research into art and nudity with your feelings and thoughts (and your social position) as a female visual communicator.
• Don't try to write perfect. Just start writing all the thoughts and research first and smooth it later.
• The successful dissertation will be a collection of your thoughts with communication. Not collection of references.
• Your final piece doesn't have to a nude of yourself or naked body, think more how to deliver your view of nudity visibly and by not necessarily using human body.

Brain storming for tutorial group session

brain storming on dissertation

size A1 

It was shame that I couldn't turn up today's crit since my cold was getting worse...

Anyways, by doing this exercise (although it is something that I always do anyways before I start any projects) it helped me to open up to some of the subjects that I haven't thought about and raised more questions to consider in my dissertation. At the moment, the topic of nudity is such broad content, since it has such deep history in background, my thoughts are all over the places and I feel like I need to narrow some of things down so I booked appointment with Andrea(my personal context tutor) for more help in the afternoon. Hopefully, I can be more clear of the arguments after a talk with him..! Fingers crossed! :)

Performance nude-Fiona Banner

Almost Fluorescent Nude

2007

Indian ink on wall

1340x2090mm

British artist Fiona Banner explores the limits and possibilities of language in text-based drawings, sculptures and installations. Best known for her laborious, handwritten descriptions of war films and epics such as Lawrence of Arabia, Banner has also used the art-historical genre of the nude to explore issues of violence, vulnerability and voyeurism; and has used sculptures of punctuation to investigate breakdowns and gaps in communication.

 – Excerpt from Artinfo interview, 2006.

Performance Nude

08.08.2010

Film

The process of 'performance nude', particularly in relation to the history and development of Banner's art to date, relies on the meticulous balancing of literary and visual language. Banner's use of writing, language and text is both verbally and sculpturally poised.

As in Banner's use of descriptive text and transcription, the effect of the language is to relay a sense of real time-thus becoming as does the medium of writing in Banner's 'performance nude' both commentary and commemoration.

In her interview, she defines nude in the following terms;

'Nudes are not painted for who they are, but for what they are, and what they offer the viewer'

'Nude is always an act or performance in one way or another.'

LIGHT OF THE BODY (segment)-by Amy Greenfield

YouTube allows nudity from TV and film, but not from artists and amateur videographers. This from the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

“Today EFF and the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) wrote to YouTube, asking the video hosting giant to reconsider its removal of the work of internationally recognized video artist Amy Greenfield.

Amy Greenfield received notice from YouTube that her works, which contain some artistic nudity, did not conform with YouTube’s “community standards.” Under YouTube’s policies, “films and television shows may contain [full nudity]; however, videos originating from the YouTube user community must abide by the YouTube Community Guidelines and are not permitted to include such content.” (emphasis in original). The Community Guidelines purport to allow nudity with “some educational, documentary and scientific content, but only if that is the sole purpose of the video and it is not gratuitously graphic,” but does not recognize the value of nudity in art.

When video artists present works that have clear artistic, political or educational merit, YouTube should allow the artist to post the material with at least the same freedom as major studio films and television. If a user community video is flagged as inappropriate, YouTube should at least have an appeals process to allow an artist to explain the artistic merit. While we understand YouTube’s desire to keep pornography off its servers, it must also understand that not all nude art is pornographic.” —EFF

• What is the difference between nude art and pornography?
• How do we distinguish in terms between two?

New key words- censorship, definition between pornography and art

(plate 1)

(plate 2)

Richardson Magazine returns with Issue A4, featuring its guiding theme on the feminine take on sex and pornography as well as gender issues. At this point, I would like to focus on plate 1 on the image of it itself, which triggered my inspiration somehow. The placement of 'A4' on the female body recalled myself to think of nudity as a subject for art. 

A picture provokes thousands words and there is no such term as 'just looking'. 

We see things because we have all seek to know. 

Even when I look at blank page of a sketchbook, I'm not looking just at 'whiteness' of a page but further beyond that. It sounds strange but the emptiness of it excites me whenever I buy/start a new page of a empty page. As art itself can be viewed differently by different person, this can be effected by their different culture and backgrounds, whether they understand the true meaning beneath the art piece or not, any piece of art will provoke questions of morality. The question of which argument is right or wrong is never be solved. Especially, since nude art is the most traditional subject used in Art history, it is inevitable to acknowledge that we need to know more deeply into the subject before we even talk about Nude in art. However, rather than going deep into history and how nudity in art has changed from books, I thought about just to think of Nude as 'subject' for inspiration like any other object we find for our inspirations. 

• What if we don't feel any desires(eg. sexual) when we look at ourselves naked? 
• What would happen if we have been naked like any other animals? 
• What would it be like to have no artificial tools around us?
• How can it be translated into just as an object for inspiration visually?
• By twisting my questions, what if nude body turns into a canvas and something else to be an inspiration instead?

Body art

http://fun.ql4.org/weird/unusual-body-art.html

Emilio Gomariz

(click for a link)

Somehow (like any other people), the form of human body always has been a subject for inspiration in my work. Especially like Emilio Gomariz, I have done similar works collaborating the shape of body substituted in nature around us.

Personal work on human body

Human and nature-1

2008

Human and nature-2

2008

Book design

'Fractures from anxiety'

2009

When we were told that our dissertation could be about anything that interests me, the first thing that I wanted to explore was about nudity but during summer holiday, I questioned whether it is good idea to take on its topic  since I thought there might be a chance of my work becoming too cliche. I was worried if I am sticking in to one thing too much and not taking a risk and experiments which might thought would be a problem in the end when I sum up my works for portfolio.

This is the reason why I spent time (wasted) writing a whole new topic about 'money and art' which I handed in the beginning of this term. I had serious talk with Andrea and he thought it would be a good idea to go back to my original topic. I thought it too so here I am back to nudity and art. I guess this is my final year at CSM and if I think through, this means it is my chance to do whatever I want. So if I am so interested in it..I thought why not explore it as much as I want?