Week 2

This week we discussed some really interesting topics in class. Something that really interested me was the concept of the gaze. The gaze refers to interactions within art. The gaze in feminist terms refers to the way men in art look at women in art or even the way a male viewer looks at a woman in a peice of art. Historically men look at women and women look away but pieces like Mannet's Olympia and Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring counter that. The women in these pieces stare back at the viewer boldly. The prostitute in Olympia is so bold as to stare back at the viewer as if he is her client and she is not ashamed of her position.

In photographs by Sally Mann, her use of the gaze makes her photographs powerful. One of her photographs consists of her son and two daughters standing topless. They appear to be staring back at the viewer as if provoking him/her to say something. The confidence they have while topless is almost disturbing.

Alejandro Heiber

I went to see former Centenary student Alejandro Heiber present some short films. It's so inspiring to see someone from Centenary working in Hollywood and living his dream. I thought all of his work was amazing but I especially liked Pituco.

Week One

We began class by discussing the differences looking and seeing. We basically decided that looking is the physical act of seeing and seeing is looking in depth. We also discussed interpretation and how there is no meaning in a text until someone interacts with it. I thought that this was interesting. It almost sounds like the old question, if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around does it make a sound?



The reading for class basically taught us how to see. One text gave questions to ask when looking at thingss such as, What do I describe? It stressed asking these questions until it becomes habit. I think the idea of learning to see things on a different level is really interesting especially in pop culture. It's so easy to look at something like an advertisment and then forget about it but when you stare at it and ask questions it becomes really interesting. We experienced this in class with a Calvin Klein ad.