Natalie's Blog

Sophie Calle

nd06hl — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:40:05 +0000

I have decided to write two separate posts about last week’s class because I found both components of the discussion to be very intriguing. Although they share similar underlying themes I thought it would be more effective to write about them separately. Sophie Calle is a fascinating character, before even looking at her artwork. Reading the interview alone you can immediately tell that she is not one to blend into a crowd. Why did she start art you ask? To seduce her father. Straight, to the point, no explanation; the air of mystery as well as the reader’s curiosity immediately builds. However, it’s more than just an interview that makes her such a fascinating character. The piece “Take Care of Yourself” is the ultimate piece, in my opinion, to discuss in a course examining imitation in art. Not only is this entire piece just one imitation after another, it exemplifies how each form of an original can embrace it’s individuality and take on an entirely new meaning beside that of the original. Many people think of an imitation to be an exact replica, a copy that must strive to be as close to the original as it can be. Sophie Calle introduces to us the notion that perhaps each imitation is not actually an imitation; perhaps it is its own original. Each representation of the original email holds its own meaning, and tells its own story entirely. Rather than try to create something that is already in existence, it represents over 100 women’s interpretations of this email, and embraces the idea of originality even when a single thing is the inspiration. Each time it is replicated it becomes an original piece of art, and I feel as though it shines a new light on the way that we look at imitation in art.

Duncan McDonald

nd06hl — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:20:57 +0000

I thought that the guest speaker Duncan McDonald was a fascinating exemplification of imagery, irony and imitation in contemporary art. The use of ironic juxtaposition really spoke to me, in the sense that the statement being made at first seemed so subtle, and afterwards to blatant. Creating charcoal drawings of trees, and recording the sound of a record being made were ingenious ideas that speak to imitation, and the full circle occurrences that are mimicked from everyday life. The life and death of a tree, for example; by drawing a picture of a tree with a piece of charcoal he exemplifies this imitation, and this cyclic pattern. The image of a tree from life to death is being portrayed indirectly, the art itself being created from a burnt shard of a tree’s remains. Also the recording of a record being made shows great irony in this cyclic pattern also, and a sense of mimicry and imitation is wholly evident.
However, along with what we have been discussing through class throughout the term, the original cannot ever be reached. Duncan touched upon the fact that he could never record the sound of his own record being made: It’s impossible. The same with the trees in the drawings, because he is drawing that tree alive and beautiful at that time with a piece of charcoal, the circle never quite seems to close. As much as one can try, imitation just as we have discussed, can never be tied to the original. Each imitation that is made seems to grow further and further from the original that inspired the art to begin with.

Dorian Gray

nd06hl — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:45:29 +0000

I thought that the idea of art and love both being imitations was a very interesting. All of the characters in the novel that loved Dorian had tragic ends in some way or another. Dorian never really got to experience love, and so he tries to fulfill this void in this life by looking for it, even in places where it might not exist. His relationship with Sibyl exemplifies this the most. Although she may be in love with him, or infatuated at the least, I do not believe that he actually returns these feelings, but simply would like to return them. Dorian gets caught up in the idea of love and marriage that he doesn’t realize what he is actually getting himself into.
I also think that the reference Romeo and Juliet is an important one. Sibyl can no longer act because of this true “love” that she feels for Dorian, and can no longer pretend on stage. Ironically it is because of this that leads to her ultimate death, but even more ironically is the thought that her love may not even have been that true. There have been many arguments that dissect the love between Romeo and Juliet, and imply that it was simply infatuation. I think that this argument can also be applied to the relationship between Dorian and Sibyl, theirs was just an imitation of what they thought love should be.

Cocteau’s Blood of a Poet

nd06hl — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:29:06 +0000

A very interesting issue that was brought up in discussion after the screening of “Blood of a Poet” was the strong link to the war. This interpretation could be seen in a few of the scenes, which was fascinating. The very beginning sound effects imitated those of gun shots in the background, and the lead character ignored noise and continued on with his work. This may possibly imply that the war had been long-lived, and simply a part of every day life by this point. It also may have served as a symbol that many people were ignoring the war regardless, and lead life as usual without thought to the consequences.

This theme is carried on in the ‘hotel’ with the execution of the Mexican man. He is repeatedly gunned down over and over for the audience to see; but only when they choose to look. A very voyeuristic tone is set by peeking into the key hole and seeing this scene. In my opinion this represents the unnecessary and anonymous death that was a constant occurrence due to the war, and the fact that it was very easily overlooked unless one made the decision to look, or care.

Another example of this possible symbolic representation of the war effort could be interpreted in the outdoor scene in two places. The boy dying under the table was very dramatic to begin with, but for the man to acknowledge that he was there and continue to ignore his pain made quite a statement. Along with the audience sitting above, as if the entire goings-on were simply a show for their upper-class entertainment, the snowball scene made for another example of how violence and pain were occurring at the time. These things were known and acknowledged but nothing was done about it. It served as a form of mild entertainment for those who were not directly involved.

The Uncanny

nd06hl — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:18:29 +0000

One aspect of Freud’s essay “The Uncanny” that was very interesting to me was the dissection of the word itself. Although originally not in English, his intent was still clear. When we look at the word “uncanny” there is still the word “canny”, which is familiar to us. From this the feeling of uncanny is brought about as this one word that was once familiar to us is now unfamiliar as it takes on a completely new meaning. Rather than a sense of dread though, as discussed in class I agree that anxiousness, or anxiety is a much better description of the feeling that arises from these situations.
Another issue that was raised that I found to be very interesting was that of the “Return to the Repressed”. With the description of the uncanny being anything in adulthood that reminds us of earlier psychic stages, in the Sandman we see that the eyes seem to be a gateway or a trigger for Nathaniel much later on in life. These memories of the horrific stories of the sandman, and the associations he makes between that sandman and Coppelius are both tied to the eyes. These seemingly repressed memories are brought to light again, and this uncanny horror arises alongside them. This resurfacing of bad memories from childhood ultimately brings the demise of Nathaniel; so maybe the feeling of uncanny really is dread, and I just have yet to experience it in a proper way according to Freud.

Library of Babel

nd06hl — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:21:59 +0000

The Library of Babel seemed to raise a lot of very significant questions concerning imitation. All of the pods, the floors, or levels we identical. An identical layout, the same placement of shelves and mirrors, yet I could not distinguish between the imitative and the real as the story progressed. For everything to be identical makes me think that it is all just an imitation, but an imitation of what? This raises even more issues that will no doubt be discussed later in the course as to whether or not there is an original. However, I am lead to believe that perhaps it is not an imitation after all because every book is different in some way.

At the same time, even though every book is different (so an original), many books are identical except for one comma, or one letter. Perhaps then, the books are in fact imitations of each other, just differing very slightly. Not every imitation has to be perfect as we have seen in other readings, such as Genesis with Adam and Eve; God creates man in his likeness but ends up with something entirely different. I feel that the books in the Library of Babel are just that: an imitation gone wrong. Even though two books may seem completely different in everyway when you compare them, Book A one is just one comma, or letter off from the next the next, and so on until you reach Book B. I think the Library of Babel symbolizes that the world is just one imitation after another.

Blog #2 — Alberti

nd06hl — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:44:42 +0000

An important issue that was raised for me in the Alberti text this past week was that of “istoria”. By following the conventions that Alberti lays out for us will we automatically achieve istoria in our artwork? It is interesting that once again we are given conventions and directions (as we saw with Aristotle) and faced with the question of Truth. Istoria and Truth seem to be very similar in the sense that we as artists and human beings are striving for both as an end result. Aristotle tells us that it is philosophers that can achieve this Truth, because they have been trained in certain ways and similarly Alberti tells us this; a good artist must be well rounded knowing geometry and liberal arts. And as Aristotle argued not every philosopher can achieve the Truth, nor can every artist. Beauty and the notion of the whole was another topic discussed in class, and I feel that this is very related to the idea of istoria. A piece of artwork cannot achieve this istoria, the overall feeling without overall beauty. The whole of the artwork must reach this point, not just some of it. The idea of istoria fits in very nicely with the idea of beauty as taught by Aristotle.
On imitation Alberti’s thoughts are very interesting. He states that something that is painted can never appear truthful, also that man portrays god in his own image, and everything is from our memory of nature or our own origins. Art is imitation regardless if it is conscious or unconscious as we discussed in class. I feel that Aristotle and Alberti agree on the idea that imitation is a teaching tool, a tool that we still use today.