Week 7: Task 2 – Seeing the World

Indigenous World Views vs Western World Views

1. What is your own world view? And where might those world view ideas come from?

I think really had time to think about such matters; I feel like I am a cog in a bigger machine but at the same time, if I were to stop working, would the machine stop too? No it wouldn’t. I suppose this view comes from life experience and western philosophy.

2. How do you think your world view shapes the way you see yourself, others and the world?

I see myself as an individual and everyone else as a individual; we have our own actions to be responsible for, our own wants and needs, etc. The world is a huge place full of interesting and a variety of people with infinite number of possibilities – we only need to take those for ourselves, to better ourselves.

3. How might you connect with world view, ideology, identity and a personal perspective and/or differentiate between them?

This is turning my brain to mush, may I skip this?

4. You get your sense of belonging in relation to others who share the same set of values, beliefs and ways of being in the world, can you indentify some aspects of that collective world view that marginalize or subordinate other world views.

This is similar to indigenous world views where people stick together for resources and social interaction however, if one learns in high school or in life in general, people form cliques. People in cliques tend to be tight knitted and quick to condemn anyone who does not fit in.

5. If your world view is dominant and/or the most widely accepted and unchallenged world view, what might it be like if your world view became the marginalized, un-noticed, or a disregarded world view?

To be honest, I don’t think anyone would care. I just like to be myself and everyone else to be themselves, not be too crazy, etc

6. How might the dominant view see you and expect you to live your life?

N/A

6. Return to the Sheilagh Walker text as she offers a world view and perspective in academia. Now what would you say about the world view or her argument.

Task 4: Visual Analysis and Contextual Knowledge

Task: Demonstrate Visual and contextual knowledge in a paragraph.

Elizabeth-Louise Vigee Le Brun: A prominent 18^th century French painter, who mostly painted the aristocratic class; her major patron was the Queen Marie Antoinette. Over her years of patronage, Le Brun had done over thrity portraits of the Queen and her family; leading her to be the official portraitist of Marie Antoinette. One of Le Brun’s paintings of the Queen, Marie Antoinette in a Muslin Dress, had drawn controversy at the time. In modern eyes, Marie Antoinette’s attire is modest but casual. The casual part of the painting did not bode well with the public; Marie Antoinette simply did not look like a Queen of France. The painting was quickly replaced with a more formal portrait.
In this portrait, Marie Antoinette wears a simple muslin dress; at Petit Trianon, the Queen and her entourage wore such attire, where court protocol is not enforced. The background is possibly set in Petit Trianon (like the dress, it’s very simple and rustic). In her hands, Marie Antoinette holds a cabbage rose, a recurring motif in all her portraits.
Referring back to Mirzoeff and the power of “Majesty”, he states that this concept is built around Absolutism rule and that its monarch’s had power that centred in their very person. This impressive power, or Majesty, is visualized but not seen. With the absence of Majesty from the portrait, did it make the public uncomfortable? Did they see, within this painting, not a Queen but an ordinary woman? Without the element of Majesty, I believe this is what the public had thought at the time.

Resources:
Mirzoeff, Nicholas. “Chapter One: How to See Yourself”. How to See the World. London: Pelican, 2015. 36 – 17. Print.
Vigee Le Brun, Elizabeth Louise. Marie Antoinette in a Muslin Dress. 1783. Oil on Canvas. Schloss Wolfsgarten.
Vigée Le Brun, Elizabeth Louise. Marie Antoinette with the Rose. 1783. Oil on Canvas. The Palace of Versailles, Paris.

4B Image Selection

Toulouse-Lautree, Henri De. Self-Portrait in Front of a Mirror. 1882-1883. Oil on Cardboard. Musee Toulouse Lautrec, Albi.

Selfie with Pope Francis. 2013. Huffington Post. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

Zoffany, Johann. Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay and Her Cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray. 1778. Oil on Canvas. Kenwood House, Scotland.

N. Hoyer, ed., Man into Woman. An Authentic Record of a Change of Sex. The true story of the miraculous transformation of the Danish painter Einar Wegener (Andreas Sparre). London: Jarrolds, 1933. Photograph: Lili, Paris, 1926, opp. p. 40.

Goldin, Nan. Greer and Robert on the Bed. 1982. Claire Raymond. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

Fig. 1: Self Portrait of a Man by Henri de Toulouse-Lautree
This painting was featured in chapter 1 and Mirzoeff talked in length about Toulouse’s self portrait. Mirzoeff talks about how the artist had done the self portrait by painting the reflection from a mirror; this conceals Toulouse’s physical disability by just portraying his head and shoulders (the rest of his body is not proportionate in real life). This relates to Mirzoeff’s idea of identity and the selfie – what is the difference of Toulouse hiding his disability in his own self portrait to someone of now angling their faces to make it more attractive in a selfie?

Fig 2: Selfie with Pope Francis
Mirzoeff talks about the idea of Majesty, that a monarch is God’s representative on Earth; thus over the course of history there are paintings that portray monarchs, or people like the Pope, as such. However here is a selfie of some people with Pope Francis taken at the Vatican. This is a departure from the history of Majesty; here the Pope is in an informal photograph (a selfie no less) and seems to be an ordinary (probably fun loving) man! This changes our perception of this person, who is seen by some as God’s representative on Earth, and totally turns it into something else.

Fig 3: Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle and her Cousin Elizabeth Murray
The chapter refers to a photographer called Samuel Fosso who visualized how his body was “Africanized” and “Racialized” by other people (and mentions the “white gaze” – how white people see people of colour). This, to me, bought in mind of old portraits of noblewomen, some who had a black child as a servant in the portrait with them, and the case of Dido Elizabeth Belle. Dido was a gentlewoman born from an enslaved African woman and a British Naval Officer; she was raised by her relatives, the Earl and Countess of Mansfield, alongside her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray. During that time, Dido was classified as a Mulatto and no doubt had to struggle with her racial identity in a time where slavery was the norm in England. Here in this portrait, she is painted alongside her cousin as near equals. I say near equals because Dido is still portrayed slightly behind her white cousin with a costume that has an air of orientalism to them. Their position hints to the differences in their race.

Fig 4: Photograph of Lili Elbe
Mirzoeff refers to Marcel Duchamp’s alter ago, “Rrose Selavy”, the LBGT scene and how gender to some is a performance. No one else is more relevant to this idea than Lili Elbe. Lili Elbe was born Einar Wegener, a painter who was Danish transgender woman and one of the first people to go through sex reassignment surgery during the 1920s to 1930s.

Fig 5: Greer and Robert in Bed by Nan Goldin
I feel that Nan Goldin has a unique look at gender, race and sexuality in her photographs in a way that is ugly, uncompromising but real at the same time. She had portrayed people such as drag queens as a “third gender”, another sexual/gender option. Along with her other themes like sex, drug use and violence, I feel Goldin not only ties in with the Mirzoeff chapter of “How to See Yourself” in terms of identity but gives another perspective of it.

Resources (Task 3E)

Selfie:
Mirzoeff talks about identity and the self and how we want to portray ourselves to the world. Thinking this topic is relevant to the essay questions, I gathered these links.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/selfie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selfie
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-fire-guilty-idUSKCN0X600X

Self Portrait:
The selfie is derived from the history of the Self Portraits of old; they serve the same purpose. The artist portray themselves in a way they want to be seen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-portrait
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/genres/self-portraits.htm
http://www.artrepublic.com/articles/475-selfies-and-the-history-of-self-portraiture.html/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rrose_S%C3%A9lavy
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2001/oct/27/art.surrealismatthevanda
Raphael. Self Portrait. 1506. Oil on Panel. Uffizi Gallery, Uffizi, Florence.
Eyck, Jan Van. Portrait of a Man. 1433. Oil on Canvas. National Gallery, London.
Elisabeth-Louise Vigee Le Brun

Identity (Sexual/Racial/Gender)
Identity is who someone is, or their name. It can also concern their qualities, beliefs, Gender or Race.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lili_Elbe
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/the-danish-girl/true-story-lili-elbe-transgender/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dido_Elizabeth_Belle

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/netherlands/12046714/Dutch-gallery-removes-racist-artwork-titles.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender
http://www.understandingslavery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=373&Itemid=236
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3424300308.html
Wiesner, Merry E. Gender in History. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001. Print.
Chancer, Lynn S., and Beverly X. Watkins. Gender, Race, and Class: An Overview. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006. Print.

Visual Texts

Zoffany, Johann. Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay and Her Cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray. 1778. Oil on Canvas. Kenwood House, Scotland.

Wegener, Gerda. Portrait of Lili Elbe. 1928. Watercolour. Iconographic Collections.

Mijtens, Johannes. Portrait of Margaretha Van Raephorst. 1668. Oil on Canvas. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

N. Hoyer, ed., Man into Woman. An Authentic Record of a Change of Sex. The true story of the miraculous transformation of the Danish painter Einar Wegener (Andreas Sparre). London: Jarrolds, 1933. Photograph: Lili, Paris, 1926, opp. p. 40.

Ray, Man. Marcel Duchamp as Rrose Sélavy. 1920-1921. Philadelphia Museum of Art.

3D Blog Task – Brainstorm

Mind map to come soon :)!

3C Blog task – Summary of a Paragraph

Original Paragraph
The seventeenth century was a period in which monarchs around Europe claimed the power of Absolutism. That is to say, they were more than just people. Kings were God’s representatives on earth, symbolized by their being anointed like a priest during the coronation ceremony. Combining secular and spiritual power, the Absolutist monarchs claimed overwhelming power that was centered in their very person.

Summarized Paragraph
Seventeenth Century European monarchs had claimed the power of Absolutism. This meant they were not ordinary people; they were representing God on Earth. This is symbolized by their coronation where they are anointed similarly like a priest. Combining secular and spiritual power, an Absolutist monarch had power that was focused on their very person. (Mirzoeff, 36)

Works cited:
Mirzoeff, Nicholas. “Chapter 1: How to See Yourself.” How to See the World. London: Pelican, 2015. 36. Print.
Rigaud, Hyacinthe. Louis XV, King of France. 1730. Oil on Canvas. Palace of Versailles.

3B Blog Post – Chapter One

The selfie, the creation of how we perceive ourselves. How do we incorporate our identities? Selfie is part of a history of the historical self portraits. Power of majesty from the absolute monarchy.
Sexual, racial, gender identity, racial gaze, male gaze and perception.
Mirrors – Aztecs attributed it to the god of war and sexual transgressions. Europeans attributed mirrors to power; mirrors were used for divination, fortune telling and contacting the dead.
Gender roles – women are submissive and men lead the action. This applies to life and media like cinema.
Mass spread of media thanks to inventions like photography, magazines, etc.
Self Portraits are drawn to how artists want to be perceived. Visual media is rich with information and integrated into conversations; twitter, vine and snapchat. Look at queer and feminist views.

3A Written Response

What is Mirzoeff asking you to think about?
How do we see ourselves? This extends to the current selfie to the history of the self portraits. How did people in the past and present depict themselves? Do mirrors have a part in how we perceive ourselves? Who are selfies and self portraits catered for? Selfies are usually shared among friends and family in social media, portraits of royalty were catered to the common people, to show power, majesty and authority. Mirzoeff also asks us to think about feminist views, the male gaze (especially in cinema), gender roles, stereotypes, race and sexuality and how they incorporate into our identities.

Do you think it might be important we know about it, think about it or consider it or research it in more detail? Explain why?
I feel it is very important to know, think, consider and research it in more detail because the topics Mirzoeff explains are relevant to the present. I have never thought about the selfie in depth as it is so integrated into our society/thinking; why even think about it indepth? And the fact that the selfie can be a window to our sexual/racial identity is intriguing. Another thing to consider in the same vein is how do people see us/how do we want them to see us? Also the history of Absolute Monarchy and the laws of “Majesty” are interesting – something I would like to research more.

Vigée Le Brun, Elisabeth Louise. Self-portrait with Her Daughter. 1789. Oil on Canvas. Louvre Museum, Paris.

 

Select a Visual Text from the chapter that base exemplifies your understanding of Mirzoeff’s ideas and explain why you have selected this in view of your understanding.
I chose Elizabeth-Louise Vigee Lebrun’s self portrait with her daughter (circa.1789) because Mirzoeff had pointed out in the chapter that Le Brun had put a contemporary spin to the iconography of Madonna and Child. Le Brun makes the portrait very informal (akin to a modern family photo), and shows herself as not only as an artist but as a mother. During the painting’s time, professional women artists were looked down upon and were expected to follow a strict doctrine of domestic home life, caring for children and not having a professional career. I feel that the painting exemplifies Mirzoeff’s idea of “the self” – Le Brun paints herself as an artist and as a mother while challenging social norms of her time.

2A Blog Task Word Cloud

How to See the World: Introduction

The two key points I will identify from Nicholas Mirzoeff’s work, “How to See the World”, from his introduction. These key points are

• The entire world’s population is connected to the World Wide Web, or the internet. More than a third of it’s population are connected and online daily.
• The internet makes information, particularly visual information, easily accessible; this visual information helps us form a vision of what the world is like or what we think is like.

“In 2012, more than a third of the world’s population had access to the internet, up to 566% since 2000.”  (Mirzoeff, Pg.5)
The internet is, at it’s heart, a global system of interconnected mainframes, personal and wireless computer networks that uses something called the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to connect to billions of devices worldwide.
By the time the internet (or then called the World Wide Web) had been released for personal use all over the world, not a lot of the population had home access. But slowly, but surely, people had easier access whether they had personal computers, use a friends or go to the library. However it makes me think;
Lets go back in time, to lets say between 300 BC to the invention of the telegram in the 1800’s; people had a way of staying connected though a bit of a slow and tedious process. Information wasn’t readily available however it makes me wonder;
Because we have such easy access to information, people, and services through the net, has our lives have gotten easier since people had to send letters or telegraphs? I feel like because of the advanced technology that had made our lives easier, we maybe taking stuff we can easily overlook for granted. because we can get it faster than ever.

Fig.1. Girl. Scene Still. Dir. Hibiki Yoshizaki. Studio Khara. 2015. Different Seasons. Web. 22/10/2016

We connect to people easier but are we actually “connected” to them through an emotional level? Or do we just see them as a profile picture on our smartphones? Is easier connectivity for the best or is it disconnecting us from what is important?
Is it disconnecting us from reality? These are questions you should think about.
(Or maybe I am rambling on nonsense….)

“Like it or not, the emerging global society is visual. All these photographs and videos are our way of trying to see the world. We feel compelled to make images of it and share them with others as a key part of our effort to understand the changing world around us and our place within it.” (Mirzoeff, Pg.6)
Since the invention of the selfie and viral videos, we are seeing a lot more visual information everyday. Some of it good, funny, bad, misleading or informative. In a time where people feel self important and the need to assert their place in the world; selfies are a common thing to see. However; is this an act of vanity or a way of identifying ourselves?
Social Media sites such as Facebook and Instagram have over a billion users, who upload hundreds to the thousands of images everyday. These platforms are another way of creating an identity using visual images like the selfies. However I cannot help but wonder;

Fig.2. Me! Me! Me!. Scene Still. Dir. Hibiki Yoshizaki. Studio Khara. 2014. Zero Gravity INQ. Web. 24/03/2015

Are we creating a false image or representations of ourselves using visual information? Or more like create a representation of ourselves that we want people to see just like how fashion magazines want people to see “beautiful” women who are actually altered digitally. Depending on someone’s standpoint; we either see the real world through visual information or we see a false, disjointed reality.

Resoures
Mirzoeff, Nicholas. How to See the World. London: Pelican, 2015. Print
Ghost in the Shell. Scene Still. Dir. Mamoru Oshii. Production IG. 2004.  Deviantart. Web. 2014