OUGD501 Lecture Notes: The Gaze and The Media

OUGD501
LECTURE NOTES
THE GAZE IN THE MEDIA

According to usage and conventions which are at last being questioned but have by no means been over come- men act and women watch them selves being looked at BERGER 1972

HANS MEMLING
VANITY
1485

He is apportioning a type of moral judgement, because she is looking at her self its ok for us to look at her.

1485 is round about the time the catholic church made the statue of witches.

Gives us permission to look at her as she is preoccupied at looking at her self. Its voyeuristic, as if we are staring at her


The women in this image is partially covering her eyes, because of this there is no challenge at looking at the women, we are invited by the artist to gaze at the figure, but also the lady in the picture is also allowing us to gaze.


SOPHIE DAHL for opium

This advert was deemed to overtly sexual, there is a concentration of the hand on the breast, They turned the image to a vertical format which adds emphasis to the face rather than the hand on the breast.


TITANS VENUS OF URBINO

The look in this womens face is a flirty invitation to look at her body. There is still a motion of spying voyeurism. The position of her left hand could be viewed as the lady protecting her modesty or exuding sexual


OLYMPIA Manet

Here there is a challenge to the gaze. She is looking straight at is. In this painting there is a definite difference in the hand position as she is definitely protecting her modesty and hiding her self from us.


LE GRAND ODALISQUE

'any artist that is not in my show should rethink his career' Note use of the word 'his' 85% of the nudes are female 

BAR AT THE FOLIES BERGERES

The mirror behind the bar reflects her image but not how it should be. It reflects the paris society, something she was not what she is part of.

PICTURE FOR WOMEN Jeff Wall

Coping the look of the bar made. But what he has done is quite complex. Using thirds the camera represents Manet in the original painting. There is a complex use of space that refers to the use of space used in manets picture. Wall makes the camera return the gaze.

Coward R 1984

The camera in contemporary media has been put to use as an extension of the male gaze at the women on the streets. The model is wearing sunglasses, this is a common trait as it means the gaze can not be returned and we don't feel as though we are being watched back.

The profusion of images which characterise contemporary society could be seen as an obsessive distancing of women... a form of voyeurism. 
peeping tom 1960

Male body can also be objectified 


Marilyn: William Travillas dress from the seven year itch

Studies spectatorship in hollywood cinema. She looks at the way the bodies are chopped up during film. Making the body partial removes us from character of the film and allows us to fantasise. The female characters are also reactive and passive. Cinemas are darkened rooms inviting us to fantasise, the darkened room is sexually charged and allows us to watch with out being watched our selves.


uses it as an unusual image as the women are shown as very active and aggressive. It is referencing a more active role for a female, Griselda Pollock argues that women have been left out by art history. Her work is about repositioning women and tries to make them stand out in history.