English 60A: Contemporary Critical Theory

PHOTO ESSAY

by Natasha Breen

To see a larger version of each image, just click on the image itself.

All images and text © Natasha Breen 1997

I. What is a Reader?

In the scenes shown in these images, the camera and the mirroring surface are not accurate measures of "reality," as we often expect them to be. Instead they are tools of perception and perspective that allow active, interpretive roles to both artist and audience. In the first image, a New York City sunset creates a transformation in the windows of an East Village building, reflecting the neo-classic facade from across the stress. Sunlight plays across marble and stone, caught by the camera as the sun shrinks away. As painterly colors meld, shapes skewed in reflection run into and break apart from one another, while shadows throw objects into dark, unreadable blocks.

In the second image, rows of windows in a Manhattan building create the backdrop for this postmodern vision. Green lights flickering in office windows signify life--people still at work, or perhaps only the appearance of life through technology. A mirror on a pedestrian bridge catches the glow of red brake lights--one final stop in the exodus out of the city at the end of the work day.

Perspective--how it is that we look at things--is a note of key importance in understanding theory. As Nietzsche puts it, "there are no facts, only interpretations." In looking at art, the viewer does not see a subject first-hand; rather, she is actively involved in interpreting an interpretation provided by the artist or author. In looking at "Starry Night," the viewer does not see a night filled with stars, but instead one interpreted by Van Gogh. What role does the viewer play in this? What value does her interpretation bring to the work?

Derrida provides an even more complicated juxtaposing of perspective and interpretation in Dissemination. Here he gives an in-depth reading of Plato's Phaedrus, intepreting interpretations by both Plato and Socrates, as well as a myth that has also been interpreted and reinterpreted over the centuries. What happens next is up to the reader--for she has the power to choose what it is of the previous writer or artist she wants to use in constructing or deconstructing works, either her own or by others, in the future.

The realization that perspective is what ultimately determines "reality" is crucially important in the study of theory; this realization questions the authority and activeness of the viewer as much as that of the artist. What role does the viewer play when viewing or reading works? Is she creator? Observer? Participant? Destroyer? Where and how does she fit into the overall purpose of the work?

II. Po-mo and the AIDS Memorial Quilt

AIDS is a reflection of the face of our postmodern society. In the US, the total number of reported AIDS cases (as of December 1996) is 581, 429. Globally (as of January 15, 1997) 21.8 million people are estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS. Of these, 21 million are adults or adolescents and 830,000 are children. The Global AIDS Policy Coalition estimates that "if current trends continue through the end of this century, between 60 and 70 million adults will have been infected with HIV by the end of the year 2000."

AIDS has touched members of every race, gender, age, class, and sexual orientation. As a result, every facet of our culture has been distinctly altered--from art and politics to science and education. Last October, some 700,000 visitors and 10,000 volunteers from across the globe came together in Washington DC to take part in the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. Comprised of over 40,000 individual 6"x4" panels, the quilt is a living memorial to the millions of people around the world who have died of AIDS. The following photographs were taken at the Washington exhibit.

III. Who is an Author?


Spoken, written, implied, and censored, words are undeniably powerful things. Whose, then, is the power of authorship? Who decides what words we use, which ones are proper, and which aren't said at all? Rebelling for centuries against the silence of intolerance, "minority" and marginalized peoples have striven for societal recognition through the use of the spoken and written word. As the struggle continues, questions of definition and authorship are being raised: Who are we? Who defines us? Who writes our history? As the power of words becomes more and more evident, individuals are choosing self-identification and authorship as new ways of challenging perceptions and stereotypes.

In the war against invisibility today, self-identification has become a major weapon of defense. The necessity for such has become undeniable, as Judith Butler explains: "Politically, we might argue, isn't it quite crucial to insist on lesbian and gay identities precisely because they are being threatened with erasure and obliteration from homophobic quarters?" Through self-identification, there is also the very real possibility of self-definition and self-destination. Both of these merge in the act of authorship, whic has naturally allowed people access to a far wider audience than voice alone can reach.

The appropriation of authorship by any writer is by nature an appropriation of power. Words have the ability to bring smiles as well as tears. They have started revolutions and ended wars. This is the premise under which individuals--everyone from Plato to Michel Foucault to Henry Louis Gates Jr.--have begun to read as well as to write. The individuals in the photos above are testament to the power of words. In their claims to authorship, via handwritten and mechanically reproduced statements and electronic messages--they silently, but loudly demand public attention and acknowledgment.

IV. What is Dead?


These brightly-colored pictures form a collective portrait of smiles. They stare from the ground--reflections of individuals, an artist, and a society. According to Frederic Jameson, "the producers of culture have nowhere to turn but to the past: the imitation of dead styles, speech through all the masks and voices stood up int he imaginary museum of a new global culture." The museum may be imaginary, but the culture is very real. We are a globalized society like none before. But what from the past is actually dead? Do texts die along with their authors? Does the influence and effect of individuals cease when they have died?

Obviously with literature as our primary example, the answer is no. As society changes, so does (and so will) individuals in their responses to the challenges of everyday life. Yet we continue to learn from the examples of our ancestors, from their art and literature, their successes and mistakes. As contemporary folk diva Ani Difranco sings in "Willing to Fight":

As we enter the twenty-first century, we will struggle to do so together in ways that are as varied and uniquely individual as our own faces. By taking with us and listening to the voices of the past, we will have the necessary tools that will allow us to prepare ourselves for the future.

revised September 19, 1997
mail to Natasha Breen