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Table of Contents
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Museum Layout 3
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Statement of Intent 4
Individual Works (in sequence of display)
Life’s a Beach, Miyazaki, Japan, Martin Parr (1996) 7
Life’s a Beach, Weymouth, England, Martin Parr (2000) 8
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Small World, Pisa, Italy, Martin Parr (1990) 10
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Ain’t Jokin’, Black Woman with Chicken, USA, Carrie Mae Weems (1987-88) 11
Ain’t Jokin’, Black Man with Watermelon, USA, Carrie Mae Weems (1987-88) 12
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Absconding Papì, USA, Katherine Sullivan (2009) 14
Galileo Papì, USA, Katherine Sullivan (2009) 14
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Hiding in the City: Mobile Phones, China, Liu Bolin (2013) 16
Hiding in the City: Chinese Magazines, China, Liu Bolin (2013) 18
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Final Remarks
Exhibition Plans 20
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Book List 21
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Works Cited 22
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The exhibition space should be located on the ground level, open to the public, with the exhibition
title in large print outside. It is an open-floor layout that encourages discussion and allows the
audience to hear others’ reception to pieces. Walls should be an off-white with all writing printed in
matte black, in Futura font.
Numbers signify sequence of display, matching the order listed in this catalog; * signify placement
of artwork descriptions & analysis provided.
The statement is located on the wall directly across from the ticket desk.
The ‘gift shop’ area, where the exhibition ends, will only sell easily distributed materials. A poster
wall displays posters of all works in the exhibition, and a bookshelf with books for reading, and for
sale, with a large reading table and benches.
There will also be free post cards of selected works for pick up.
A 20% discount is offered to all education professionals & students.
Museum Layout
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
89
Seating
area
TicketDesk
4. Mass culture is often treated as a vocalization or representation of popular beliefs,
desires, and aesthetics—hoping to speak lucidly for that society. Representations are
often reduced to a singular iconic image and motif, or phrase that alludes to anything
from a singular component to an overarching idea. Any belief that permeates its
surrounding culture to such a degree that it becomes an integral component of that
community is bound to be represented in art. Art can aid us in questioning whether
the ideas are valid and relevant, or stale and antiquated. Within the gallery and
museum setting, these common social values and norms are elevated to an academic
standpoint, bringing an uncommon audience to the museum, as well as bringing up
uncommon themes amongst the upper echelons of society by making it fashionably
appropriate to discuss and examine the commonalities and differences between
community spheres.
In a large way, art has always been a testimony to mass culture and societal beliefs
of respective time periods, as the ideals of aesthetics, politics, and religion are often
captured and incorporated into artistic motifs. Within art history, we take the art and
discover historical context through stylistic components of composition, colors,
patterning, and subject matter, to understand what the ‘norm’ was and how it was
presented and idealized.
But within a relatively short period of time, mass culture and its criticisms have
become a subject of art in itself. This motivation has come about more recently as
artists gained the freedom of choosing subject matter through liberation from
commissions and guilds. As art progressed, artists achieved greater abilities to
explore the subject matter, and present their own interpretations. By the Modern
Period (18th
& 19th
ct.) the artist played the concurrent role of an intellect,
commenting on society, while also participating in a culture that embraced new social
spheres, thereby speaking on its behalf.
No longer simply a product of art, mass culture and art often work in tandem—
especially in contemporary times—to establish and confirm ideas, while using them to
act as a mirror for the audience with aesthetic consideration.
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Statement of Intent
5. The easiest example of mass culture within art is often Pop Art and Ready-Made
contemporary pieces from which names such as Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp, Jeff
Koons, and Damian Hirst emerge. However, the over-exposure of their works led
them to seem easily contrived and culturally exploitative, becoming trite statements
that are easy to confirm or deny. Contemporary art also makes it difficult for the
viewer to maintain significant thoughts and responses whilst in the museum, and can
leave those who are not connoisseurs unsatisfied. Pop Art relies on aestheticism and
reproducible capacity, the icons and style saturating art theory so that its ideas are
exasperated.
This exhibition expands upon the understanding of ‘mass culture’ within art as beyond
the Pop Art and Ready-Made movements by selecting relevant topics of the recent
past from both well and lesser-known artists. The artists within this exhibition
wholeheartedly believe in the statements they make, lest they would not take the risk
of creating the works. Many of the artists participate in larger social movements and
activism. The selection, however, hones in on critiques ranging from pointing out
fallacies of mass culture and understanding, dangers behind common practices, and
sardonic moments of layman desires and activities through straightforward symbolism
and high aestheticism.
As supposed representations of a population, these works often have more on the
line than aesthetic differences. Their reception largely relates to what individuals
identify as the problems and peaks within a given society, as well as if they feel ideas
are properly stated.
This exhibition incorporates works that are meant to push the limits of the audience’s
minds in multiple ways, but the use of humor and aesthetics prevents feelings of guilt
and shame. Considering representations of mass culture are often denunciatory or
subversive, if the topic in question lies too close to home, viewers may feel personally
affronted. With this in mind, the exhibition offers representations of multiple cultures
and subcultures. Through ideas, representation and creation, viewers are exposed to
commentaries on a variety of ‘mass cultures’ which prompt social discussion.
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6. Part of our discomfort with the subject is its simultaneous evaluation of both low
culture and high culture, reminding us that within art ideas often move from the
masses upward. The personal nature of artwork and its reception is conducive to the
purpose of social commentary, yet jeopardizes cooperative reception—as per the
artists’ intention.
This exhibition has a dual purpose. Its hope is not only to put forth and elevate
common societal ideas, but also to challenge viewers to address their own like or
dislike for the subject matter, as well as artists’ representation and methodology.
Each piece and respective commentary should bring to mind a society beyond our
own, and simultaneously expand our horizon and understanding, and humble us.
Furthermore, this segues discussion to the strengths and shortfalls of our own
community, as we see it through mass culture.
Following the order of display, the exhibition opens with Martin Parr photography
from the collections Life’s a Beach and Small World. Through his travels Parr has had
the advantage of representing a multitude of cultures, with these collections focusing
on vacation. As a way of introducing the topic of ‘mass culture,’ Parr’s photographs
are a lighthearted, humorous take on what are popular activities of leisure and fun.
While they make obvious habits and desires of specific cultures, the motivations and
desires of each culture are easily transmittable and understood.
Transitioning to America, Carrie Mae Weems establishes a dialogue of a commonly
known problem with racial stereotypes of African Americans. While her message is
obvious, she uses humor and documentary style photography to establish a point of
conversation. Her photographs present disapproval of what is often perceived as a
negligible offense in American culture.
The next two works displayed from American artist Katherine Sullivan are a unique
perspective and representation of a highly sensitive subject of religious politics. In
approaching issues with Catholic institutions both currently and in the past, Sullivan
relies on decadent colors and strong aestheticism as if to trick the audience into
leading an important discussion.
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7. Ending back with China, Liu Bolin recreates the emotions and associations of mass
media and its influence on society through sheer volume and repetition, as well as
visual wit. While the society Bolin speaks of is dissociated from Western culture, the
media experiences he involves himself in have permeated global society, and act as
closing statements that persuade us to understand the relationship between media
and ourselves differently.
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At a cursory glance, the slight bird’s eye angle of the photo overlooks the immediate
expanse of what is clearly a popular vacation spot. The upwards, zoomed out angle
and a second look reveals that this beach is actually Seagaia, a manmade
construction, with a ceiling, fake buildings, and a fake sky—reminiscent of The Truman
Show in its manufactured perfection. The crowded ‘beach’ is an iconic and ironic
moment of relaxation for local Japanese, who fill up the scene, providing a scale that
makes obvious the space’s vastness. This scale also presents the subjects as miniatures
or dolls within a world of curious fantasy, and reenforcing the fabricated nature of
the space.
The repetition within the landscape of skin-colored forms with black circles dot image,
and evoke feelings of anonymity within the enclosure. Though, being a photograph
we are able to distance ourselves, and accept this image as conveying a common
activity of leisure in a culture different than our own—making Japanese leisure slightly
peculiar in what comes across as a willingness to engage the fantasy that Seagaia
(which holds the Guinness World Record for largest water park) created for them as
consumers of leisure. The subjects are indulging themselves in the fantasy as a way of
relaxation, very much analogous of any delusion humans engage to ameliorate
adverse circumstance. In maintaining Parr’s aim of capturing and conveying moments
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Life’s a Beach, Miyazaki, Japan, Martin Parr (1996)
3m x 3m, vinyl print, available from Magnum Photos
The Works
8. of recreation, the slight yellow tone, and grainy feature of the film photograph adds
to the ‘family vacation feel,’, meant to play off the idea that these photographs could
very well be taken from any family vacation album—this family happens to be from
Japan. By capturing a moment that implies an entire experience, Parr here creates an
iconic reference to Japanese leisure culture.
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Originally from his series ‘Think of England,’ Parr incorporated this photograph into
his series for exhibition and photo book printing of Life’s a Beach. A droll take on the
photographic faux-pas, Parr’s blurred out central figure replicates the funny accidents
experienced the world over by well-intentioned parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents,
or general vacation-goers. What is almost dismissed as a badly taken photo is, upon
second consideration, an intentionally directed layout to feature the ironic vacationer
relative to the larger, English coastal landscape. The unfocused nature both pulls our
eyes to the woman as a blip in our periphery, but also calls our attention to the crop
clarity of the background. The simple aesthetics of ocean blue and white stripes, and
the blinding white frames of the central subject act as a drily witty remark on the
fulfillment of the normal British experience of inactivity: dress, drive, eat, walk, swim,
repeat. Similarly to the photo of Miyazaki, this image purposefully establishes
understanding of repetition and commonality within its stereotypical context.
From their placement in the greater collection Life’s a Beach, we deduce that the two
photograph represent the quintessential experience of that culture, without being able
to confirm this ‘fact,’ as a consequence of the photographic medium. Abolishing the
possibilities of misconception, the purpose of the collection is not to provide a
generalization of the society, rather, to expand the horizon of human-ness, to de-
conventionalize what it is to have fun and relax, and make them relative terms.
As a photographer who began experiments and education in photography at a point
of history in which photography was relatively irrelevant to mass culture, he has
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Life’s a Beach, Weymouth, England, Martin Parr (2000)
0.5m x 0.5m, ink on paper, available from Magnum Photos
9. clearly aimed to remedy this by capturing succinct images of mass culture throughout
the globe, connected by decided themes. However, this motivation should not be1
confused as an attempt to give a voice to a culture, but rather to connect all cultures
in shared desires.
Our reading of a photograph does not occur as an unadulterated experience, but
instead with an entire lifetime of assumptions and pre-existing notions regarding
images and figures, and how they code. Featuring beach vacations throughout the2
world, Parr’s photographs take on a wry tone that gently mock the joy citizens find in
what audiences identify as peculiar and foreign behaviors, but are clearly normal
and enjoyable when they exist within context. And so, in compiling photographs
taken over an extended period of time and travel the world over, Parr avoids
criticizing a singular culture, instead pointing to both the similarities and differences in
the mild and relatable subject of vacation, and begging us to view more images.
By offering a variety of perspectives on a common experience in contemporary
society, the luxury of leisure, Parr’s work achieves a goal of photography “to probe
and suggest larger conditions, which underlies the notion of an image’s potential
‘universal’ appeal and international language.” In doing so, he provides a social3
commentary on the level of discussing the weather: trite and repetitious, yet
enjoyable and satisfying in its own right.
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Left: ‘Spain, Benidorm,’ originally from
Common Sense (1997)
Right: ‘Italy, Lake Garda’ (1999)
10. While not belonging to the same collection, his photograph Pisa, Italy from the Small
World series has a similar intention and effect as Life’s a Beach, and does well to
exemplify the comical tone that is so well achieved within much of Parr’s
photography. Featuring four primary subjects: three tourists and one tower, the image
capturing the common impulse to push or hold up the falling tower from a hilarious
third-party vantage point, exposing the cliché action for what it is. In doing so, the
photograph reveals the duplicity of attaining a genuine experience in a tourist
location as popular as the leaning tower of Pisa. Travel, similarly to leisure or
vacation, is a privilege that allows anyone to feel part of the elite on some level, be
that intellectual, cultural, spiritual, or financial. Yet, by divulging the ‘dirty secrets’ of
travel that we carefully hide from our friends and family back home, he undermines
the strange feeling of what is best described as accomplishment attained when
brandishing a photo documenting your experience.
Within the image, the presence of three figures at different distances create depth
and visual irony that mimics the exposure of a desire to present a common, typical
experience as genuine or authentic. While a frequent and relatable experience—as
we have all undoubtedly enacted this behavior—it is far easier to smile at another’s
travel faux pas than to admit our own. By visually commenting on the irony of mass
travel culture that extends across cultures through the iconic tower of Pisa experience
Parr facilitates our admittance and acceptance of embarrassing moments as real and
human. The use of humor in composition provides relief, presenting an opportunity to
redeem our stereotypical behaviors in admitting we all do them.
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Small World, Pisa, Italy, Martin Parr (1990)
0.5m x 0.5m, ink on paper, available from Magnum Photos
‘Milan, Duomo’ (1986)
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Dealing with the highly politicized and ingrained racial stereotypes that prevail within
21st century America, Carrie Mae Weems turns a detrimental image of what it is to
be Black in America into a humorous anthropological documentation. In the simple,
black and white photography that captures a clearly planned, but intentionally bland
image, she utilizes photography as a medium of truth and validity—a frank statement
of ‘reality,’ that holds more meaning authority than other mediums of representation.4
Intentionally displaying the statement and title in a simple font with all capital letters
she confirms this photograph as a fact of evidence, a captured moment of truth of our
contemporary society. The African American woman as its central and singular
subject, holding only a piece of fried chicken is a representation of the stereotype
often perceived as benign ( idea that all African Americans like fried chicken is a
popular comedic thread of racial understandings.
In presenting solely the woman, and solely the piece of chicken, the combination of
the straight-forward imagery and its accompanying title captures the experience of
being reduced to a singular characteristic. Weems presents to us what she describes
as “the simultaneous feeling of being in it and of it” as an African American woman
in present day. Furthermore, she places a face and expression, dissatisfied, to the5
person who lies behind the misconception, empowering them. The phrase, acting as a
signifier, therefore transforms the image into what we initially believe to be a
satirically anthropological representation of what it is to be an African American
according to the non-Black perspective. Similarly to how traditional anthropology and
documentary photography treated non-Western cultures and peoples, often resulting
in objectification. However, through knowledge of the political activist, Weems’,
greater message this document transforms into an anthropological image of a racial
stereotype, a document of the category placed on African Americans, undermining
the purpose of the stereotype, while simultaneously calling to mind the implications of
a narrow Western history.
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Ain’t Jokin, Black Woman with Chicken, USA, Carrie Mae Weems (1987-88)
50.8cm x 40.6cm, gelatin silver print
International Center of Photography, copyright Carrie Mae Weems
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With the same aim of exposing “racist vernacular tropes” within her collection,
Weems brings up the topic of another supposed food-of-choice: watermelon. A racial6
stereotype with little basis that has prevailed from the era of slavery and colonialism,
the belief that African Americans have a particularly strong taste for watermelon is,
above all, demeaning and often used to portray the group as goofy and simian.
While it is often dismissed as innocent or foolish, thus inoffensive, it transforms within
Weems’ photograph to become another presentation of evidence for how any
stereotype, even one as laughable as the appetite for watermelon, distills an entire
existence of complicated hopes, thoughts, pains, and wonderment into an animalistic
need for food making it difficult to see them as a whole person.
This time a man holding an entire watermelon stands before a plain white sheet,
looking beyond the camera presumably to the photographer for instruction, with a
slight expression of distaste or impatience. Again, the photographic document is
presented with a statement and title in the same style. When viewing the images in
tandem, their messages build upon and strengthen each other in reiterating the
message, and in recreating the documentary style through repetition and uniformity.
The stylistic motivation for providing her audience with documentary evidence is a
way to “engage the rhetoric of records and evidence” making her audience face the
reality of stereotypes with gritty honesty, at the expense of their own feelings of
confirmation and completeness. For whether or not viewers have actively engaged7
the food-based stereotypes here presented, we still must acknowledge their
persistence, and the greater implication that if innocuous ones still exist and confine
our view then, presumably, detrimental ones still exist, as well. This realization
undeniably begins to undermine its basis within society, which is not that it is true
(which stereotypes are ironically often recognized as false or incomplete), but that
they are harmless.8
The combination of methodological documentary-style photography and basic
undeniable aesthetic quality is the central focus of praise for Weems’ work, and for
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Ain’t Jokin, Black Man with Watermelon, USA, Carrie Mae Weems (1987-88)
50.8cm x 40.6cm, gelatin silver print
International Center of Photography, copyright Carrie Mae Weems
13. good reason. Not only does she surpass the limitations of anthropological form, but
she successfully incorporates wit and humor in order to broach the subject of race.
Due to the fact that our reading of an image is influenced by prior experiences and
assumptions, the intended audience will likely meet these photographs with a smile as
we identify with it as evidence of humor. Though, through qualifiers within the body of
work, such as the series name, Ain’t Jokin, and the serious expressions of her
subjects, Weems establishes the idea that this, in fact, is not funny nor harmless,
though ironic. Rather, she capitalizes on anthropology’s past in order to completely
reverse its purpose, and truly provide a voice to the subjugated. She answers
demands of the discriminators, and those discriminated against, by making blatantly
clear that such systemic behaviors have a real, emotion-based outcome. She has
pointed out the fallacy in attempting to establish the self by limiting the Other to a
singular characteristic. In Karen Jacobs’ words, Weems has adopted this practice in
order “to move beyond the perceived opposition between its politically reformist and
aesthetically subjectivist identity in order to restore its potential for political and social
critique;” in doing so she enables both the African American subject, as well as the
audience to ascend to a higher standard of being.9
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From Ain’t Jokin (1987-88)
14. As an artist with a strong rhetoric for political activism through aesthetically charged
pieces, taking advantage of the vibrant color capacity of the gouache medium,
Katherine Sullivan is no stranger to creating statements. Exploring tensions of
hierarchal structures, she aims to display the faction between systems expressing an
ideology to protect and guide, and the consequent displacement of power under their
oppressive regimes.
A strange form that confuses in its being undefined, the figure’s identity emerges upon
connection to its title. Absconding, meaning to escape or evade punishment, Papì, the
slang Spanish word for ‘father,’ typically used in a personal conversation, now used
in place of Papa or Pope, morphs the form in our minds to a being whose dress
resembles the rich red of papal robes, the creases and placement of what must be its
head form the impression that it is stealing away with the sun and moon tied to its
back. The black form that almost seems to have a rubber texture cinched with green
ropes must be its face, distorted and hidden, while at the bottom left of the robes a
trunk pokes out, wrapped around a sharp object and to the right the wisp of a black
devil’s tail follows behind as the figure makes its escape. At the bottom, rather than
having feet there is a murky cloud of black, establishing an air of mysticism and
illusion. Set against the delicate background of stars, the figure floats off into the
distance. Eerie and sinister, as a representation of the Catholic Church and its Pope,
this image is far from what we desire to see from the religious institution, and nothing
like their modes of self-representation.
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The second image, a theme in variation, takes on a more literal representation. A
cape incorporated with the same blue night sky and stars, dissolve to reveal the red
robes and emerging trunk, yet this figure’s bottom is evaporating more quickly and
mysteriously, blurred into a watery state. Rather than a conspicuous facial form, we
see a hooded figure with what seems to be eyes peering back at us through a slit
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Absconding Papì, USA, Katherine Sullivan (2009)
76cm x 56cm, acrylic and gouache on paper, copyright Katherine Sullivan
Galileo Papì, USA, Katherine Sullivan (2009)
76cm x 56cm, acrylic and gouache on paper, copyright Katherine Sullivan
15. sporting the Pope’s distinct mitre (ceremonial hat or turban), while a malformed
shape lies below. Optically elusive, what could be a hand appears to be pulling a red
cloth close to the figure’s face. The being’s bundle of objects and tools stick out from
its side, curving metal and straight edges of wood that replicate astrological and
mathematical tools disrupt each others’ paths to form a cross.
Within these two images, it is her combination of visual components and well-thought
titles which contextualize Sullivan’s statement. While she is presenting a commentary,
rather than alluding to contemporary issues surrounding the Catholic institution, her
intention is to rehash an old issue surrounding the church at its height of power and
domination: 15th & 16th century Europe, at which point their crusade against
knowledge, science, and astrology led to the persecution and subjugation of many
great scientific leaders, such as Galileo Galilei (Italian scientist and astrologist), the
lyrical inspiration for the second title. Following Foucault’s explanation of history, art,
and culture, there is no context external to history. We are, as humans, attached to
our past as a very result of being born into the human construction of time.10
Sullivan’s perspective is unique in creating a highly contemporary display to demand
acknowledgement and reparations of the religious past. Sullivan constructs an
alternative storyline that comments on the strength of Catholic mass culture that
worked to stalwart scientific and cultural development for centuries, an endeavor
many believe to be a veil for maintaining the “Roman Catholic excesses” so many
leaders enjoyed.11
In creating works that focus on ideas of foucauldian philosophy Sullivan’s accounts
center most largely on the displacement and absorption of power, thus she chooses
topics of history where there exists or existed oppression and limitation. Within these
two images she addresses the suppression of knowledge and education that became
part and parcel of the aim to abolish heresy.
Irrespective of the time period, religions require commitment to the experience of
being part of the religious institution from its member, meaning that “religion has
been and is itself a form of popular culture.” In displacing and adapting the image12
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16. of the Catholic Church and its papacy in paintings, a medium which the Church has
long celebrated, Sullivan establishes a voice and narrative to counteract the dark
history that affected societal development. Her works here do not present a rebellion,
or call to action and revolution, instead they demand we recognize the influence of
religion on greater history and humanity, while pulling her audience in with artistic
appeal, and repetitive compositional elements. Preventing the past from escaping our
memories, Sullivan wants to begin the conversation in a more substantial, relevant
context.
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The wall of cellular phones before us is slightly warped—a figure simultaneously
blends in and emerges from the background as the colorful screens produce a rich
variation of color and movement. The artist Liu Bolin, also known as the ‘Invisible
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Hiding in the City: Mobile Phones, China, Liu Bolin (2013)
3m x 3m, vinyl print, available from Klein Sun Gallery
‘Papì Totem’ (2009)
17. Man,’ has coyly placed himself within his own composition in a game of hide-and-
seek. Once we identify him within the image, there is no way to erase him from our
minds, as an integral part of the scene we are constantly made aware of his
presence.
During contemporary times, in which the excessiveness of media and communications
often overtakes our immediate attention and diminishes the importance of what
occurs around us, the screen has an identity in itself and by association provides us
(their possessors) with an alternate identity. We exist in a world where more people
have cell phones than toilet access in lesser-developed nations like India. Where
demand for new technology is inexhaustible, and production happens at the expense
of social justice. Where the screen is so commonplace it is a necessary appendage
for proper functioning, and justifies the extraordinary demands made by producer
countries on their citizens.
The variety of cellphones within the image evokes the idea that there are a lot of us
(those who consume), who strongly believe that our consumption is individualized,
unique—this cellphone is my cellphone, one I chose, one I use it is unique once in my
possession and use. And yet, these behaviors and beliefs are actually commonplace,
and product of mass culture and consumption. The different phone models speak to
the patterns of use inherent to man’s presence and domination on Earth, while also
expressing an ironic tone of monotony. Technology culture guides the world, but the
phone is also a highly politicized image within Bolin’s home country, China. As a tool
of resistance, the cellphone has often allowed citizens to bypass the regulations and
oppressions of their state by using messaging apps and non-wifi communication to
avoid controls and continue their activism during demonstrations and protests. A call
to the opportunities and downfalls of modern technology, Bolin’s hidden existence
yearns to be discovered and recognized, as often so many of us do. He takes
advantage of the concurrent monotony and individuality of the handheld devices, a
quick symbol of automated diligence to the technological postmodern society, but
also of opportunity and promise.
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18. Continuing his experience of disappearance and emergence, Bolin stands here as
part of printed mass media. A form of culture, creation, and curation, the magazines
and newspapers here speak to the censored press of the Chinese state—a press that
aims to represent an idealized China to its people, that demands a positive outlook
through the newly established consumer culture. A press that presents foreign
languages, though not foreign ideas. One that demands attention and belief, but
resists questioning. Presented in another colorful and impactful display, the action of
becoming one with media is not new, but instead re-imagined. The disposable
material of mass culture, similar to cell phones, reference the temporary nature of
contemporary consumerism which now burgeons in developing nations as a middle
class forms. In creating, consuming, and believing this cultural production we support
its outcomes, often ignoring the negative consequences.
After the destruction of his studio in 2005, which was a part of the artistic
cooperative Suo Jia Cun in Beijing, Bolin looked towards a greater experimental
space, and broke ties from all limitations of a canvas, instead involving himself in the
‘natural’ landscapes and cityscapes of industrial China. An outspoken activist, Bolin
openly acknowledges the intent of his works as a way to speak of the ‘purging’ of
Chinese minds, and ideological restructuring to fulfill the aims of the leading
communist party in the name of material production.13
The processes and motions of Bolin’s method, the experience of intentional, pensive
creation, is a vital aspect to his work. Having selected a motif or pattern for his
background, Bolin patiently stands as part of his composition while he is literally
painted into it. The process can take hours, and no attention to detail is spared as the
piece comes together. He explains that his adamance in completing the task acts as a
literal way of standing for his principles. Bolin makes himself part of the statement,14
thus representing the result of our engaging in such cultural norms as our identities
blend into what we learn our identity should be, at the expense of what it is or could
become.
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Hiding in the City: Chinese Magazines, China, Liu Bolin (2013)
3m x 3m, vinyl print, available from Klein Sun Gallery
19. The artworks selected were purposefully non-aggressive in their delivery, and I
veered away from selecting works that aimed for shock value over quality of
message. Rather, I searched for and selected what I believed to be a representative
body of works that discuss issues surrounding contemporary culture. I especially
aimed for pieces that somehow incorporated humor and visual wit, which I find to be
fantastic facilitator which eases the discussion of difficult topics.
While the works do represent viewpoints or experiences from around the world, I
recognize that a large influence of my selection is my American nationality. However,
these works do not have to speak only to the specified social cause or injustices of a
given country. Across all societies there exist dissociations between ideology and
practice, between exclusion and the impulse of identifying ourselves as part of a
group to resolve the desire to be included.
It is my full intention for this to be an experience of discovery, both of art and of the
self. This exhibition should be viewed with an open heart and mind—it is not an
intention of the artists nor mine to actively hurt, but that can be an unintended
consequence of conveying hurt felt, be that in the present or past. Instead, the
exhibition and discussion area should be viewed as a place to find consolation in the
fallacies, incongruities, ironies, and hilarities of being human. Moreover, it should be
a space where we are willing to accept that we all engage and need mass culture in
some way, shape, or form as it aids in creating identity—a concept that can exist as
either individual or collective.
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Exhibition Plans
notes from the curator
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Book List (Suggested)
Entry for book access is free.
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The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture
by Theodor W. Adorno
Ways of Seeing
by John Berger
Liu Bolin (The Invisible Man)
by Liu Bolin, eds. Sarah McNaughton, Elizabeth Misitano, Elena Parasco
Philosophy for Dummies
by Martin Cohen
The Photograph
Graham Clarke
Bitches, Bimbos, and Ballbreakers: The Guerrilla Girls’ Illustrated Guide to Female
Stereotypes
Guerrilla Girls
The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art
Guerrilla Girls
Pop Culture Freaks: Identity, Mass Media, and Society
by Dustin Kidd
50 Art Movements You Should Know: From Impressionism to Performance Art
by Rosalind Ormiston
Life’s a Beach & Mexico
by Martin Parr
Martin Parr: the Non-Conformists
by Susie Parr
Aesthetics and Its Discontents
Jacques Rancière
Culture & Imperialism
by Edward Said
Humans of New York
by Brandon Stanton
The Hampton Project
by Carrie Mae Weems
Constructing History
by Carrie Mae Weems
Spatial Matters - Art Architecture and Activism
by Ai Weiwei, eds. Anthony Pins & An Xiao Mina
Van Gogh On Demand: China and the Readymade
by Winnie Wong Yin Wong
21. Alliez, Éric, and Peter Osborne. “The Materiality of the Immaterial: Foucault,
Against the Return of Idealisms and New Vitalisms.” In Spheres Of
Action. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2013. Pp. 98-106.
Considering quintessential questions of Foucault’s philosophical endeavors,
Éric Alliez and Peter Osborne outline reasoning and potential answers to the
dilemma of assimilating art, power, and aesthetics as a method of revolution or
rebellion. Comparing the differences between literature and art, they lead us
through a systematic debate of philosophical concerns. The deliberation of
power structure and its influence on aesthetics creates a space to understand
Sullivan’s work as an expression of limited liberties, and put it in the
perspective of an irrevocable and inescapable reality of the nature of history.
Clarke, Graham. “How Do We Read a Photograph?” In The Photograph.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. Pp. 27-40.
Clarke’s second chapter “How Do We Read a Photograph?” offers vital
answers to understand how audiences receive, code, and interpret different
types of images, while including a semiotic and cultural discussion of the
photograph and its history. By explaining the authority photography holds as a
medium, his text is useful for analyzing both Parr and Weems’ works by re-
focusing the viewpoint from which we take on their message. His chapter on
documentary photography aids in reading Weems’ work, specifically, by
verbalizing the intent and result of a documentary-stance through a multitude
of examples that span throughout photographic history.
CUTLER, JODY B. "Carrie Mae Weems: Three Decades of Photography and
Video/Carrie Mae Weems: The Museum Series." Afterimage 41, no. 6
(May 2014): 34-35.
A generalized discussion on Weems’ oeuvre, this is a reaction and
commentary on her exhibitions, as well as a review of the retrospective stated
in the title—a summation which is also captured in the book featuring Weems’
photography. While brief, it offered insight into the purpose and intention of
the artist, and explained the higher goals, aims, and actions of Weems as a
celebrated activist through art and photography. The review also established
specific ideas in relation to the series included within this exhibition, and
sparked questions and ideas relative to her works.
Dawber, Stephen. "Martin Parr's Suburban Vision." Third Text 18, no. 3 (May
2004): 251-262. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed
May 10, 2015).
In a critical take on Parr’s use and directorship in photography, Dawber
mentions photographic realism and its effect on the expressivity and
photography as a natural method of communication. Specifically taking on
issues of British photography, implying the ‘complications’ being sourced in
post-colonial guilt, Dawber explains how photography exemplifies a
transformation of England since its immediate and distanced past. While not
the most useful text, it did offer an alternative viewpoint by discussing ideation
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Annotated Bibliography
22. and reasoning’s existing within Parr’s photography aside from the generalized
discussion surrounding his works, and offered a new perspective on what it is
to be an ‘objective’ photographer—ultimately questioning Parr’s works and
intentions, rather than adulating them.
International Business, Times. "Liu Bolin: A Conversation with the ‘Invisible
Man’ [PHOTOS]." International Business Times, January 2012., Regional
Business News, EBSCOhost (accessed May 10, 2015).
Interviewing the artist, this feature in the International Business Times provides
direct answers and quotes from the artist, providing primary documentation
and facilitating clear understanding of his works. In asking questions
specifically related to the series from which the photographs in this exhibition
were sourced, the answers offer successful understanding of each scene as a
way of speaking for the entire body of creation in which Liu Bolin ‘disappears.’
Discussing the implications of existing and practicing creative production in a
state-communist society, Bolin explicates his frustrations with censorship,
destruction, and the limitations that result. Further, Bolin describes how the
process of creation is, in itself, the source of his message as much as the final
result.
Jacobs, Karen. "Flies in Amber: Documentary Objects as Subjects in Carrie
Mae Weems." English Language Notes 50, no. 1 (Summer2012 2012):
55-66.
Discussing a different body of work created by Weems, Jacobs focuses on the
politically charged project entitled From Here I Saw What Happened and I
Cried, a project she pursued after her creation of Ain’t Jokin. A resurrection of
anthropological and documentary photography featuring African women with
an overlay of phrases such as ‘You became a scientific profile,’ the collection is
meant to provide a voice to the objectified women of ‘cultural’ study of colonial
roots. This article acts as a way to incorporate commentary on the Weems’
general methodology as a vehicle for political activism in the museum and
gallery setting. Additionally, Jacobs incorporates Rancière’s theory on art as
action to the purpose of the photographic medium in light of Weems’ greater
activism.
LANE, GUY. "Photography from the Photographer's Viewpoint, Guy Lane
interviews Martin Parr." Art Book 13, no. 4 (November 2006):
15-16. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 10,
2015).
Similarly to the interview with Liu Bolin, this longer, more in-depth discussion on
the photographic medium and its history places Parr in a strange position of
evaluating and commenting on the presence of photography in the gallery and
museum setting. Once Parr evades the demand for negative commentary, the
interview refocuses to his specific chosen act of creation in the photo-book, and
how that impulse is based in his own experiences as a student of art.
Expressing ideals of education, and dissemination of ideas, Parr is able to
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23. convey the importance of his tendency to photograph in a serial nature, and
his reasoning for compiling photos into collections for presentation. While the
photographs presented are detached from their entire series, his motivation
and justification establish the individual photograph under a new pretense, and
allow us to view them differently.
Marsh, Clive. "'High Theology'/'Popular Theology'? The Arts, Popular Culture
and the Contemporary Theological Task." Expository Times 117, no. 11
( A u g u s t 2 0 0 6 ) : 4 4 7 - 4 51. A c a d e m i c S e a r c h C o m p l e t e ,
EBSCOhost (accessed May 10, 2015).
A discussion on the relationship between art, theology, and culture as part one
of four, Marsh takes on a theological perspective with a message of intent and
necessity. In discussing modes of representation and art as a vehicle for
theological discussion, Marsh considers theological academia in light of the
newly developed modes of representation and mass culture, as well as
opportunities for communications. While Katherine Sullivan’s pieces take on a
clearly atheological tone, understanding the perspective of a theologian and
reviewing his explanation for the relationship between art and religion in the
contemporary context is a way of placing Sullivan’s work relative to their
commentary, as well as hers, putting forward a necessary perspective.
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