SMU Photo 2 Fall 2019

Where before we looked at archives as a way of preserving the past truthfully for what it is, the Anarchivist Manifesto finds the anarchy beyond that and repurposes the past to form new ideas. This is similar to how other pieces may expose an unseen or unconsidered viewpoint but pushes it further to manufacture an entirely new narrative from the existing context. I find this interesting for it doesn't necessarily mean that the archived pieces are recontextualized to the present but instead used to create an alternate space in the original. This can maintain some the truth but builds its own fiction. I really feel like this could be used to simulate a kind of Mandela effect. Trying to make a fabrication so believable, perhaps uncannily enough, to trick the viewer into questioning their belief of the past.

When I first saw the title, "Anarchivist Manifesto", I thought it would be smart to dissect what it means. So, an anarchist is a person who believes in or tried to bring out anarchy and if you aren't sure what anarchy is, it is the absence of government and absolute freedom of the individual. Next we look at the word manifesto, which means a public declaration of policy and aims. After dissecting that, I really just thought that this piece was interesting by discussing how individuals can make a reality that they would like to live in. I found this interesting because it means that things can just change overtime and maybe stuff that you didn't really think about in the past can take a different route and mean something different in the present.

While reading "The Image-World" I felt as though it was discussing the difference of reality's. What reality is versus how we view it in an image form. Sontag explains that our society has changed drastically in a short period of time by distributing images, as well as consuming them on a daily basis. Social media as played a giant role in this change within the last few decades and it will just constantly progress over the years. Sontag concludes by saying that fewer images instead of more would make photography more delicate and I have to say I agree. 

First, in response to Soda Jerk's "The Anarchivist Manifesto," I feel like it's important to dissect the title before I begin analyzing the work in itself. The title is a pun by combining the words "anarchist" and "archivist". An anarchist is an individual who rejects hierarchies deemed unjust and advocates for their replacement with self-managed, self-governed societies based on voluntary, cooperative institutions. In addition, an archivist creates and maintains an archive, essentially controlling the past. The title pun hints at the crux of Soda Jerk's argument which emphasizes not only how much power images have over the past, but also even more so, how much power the individuals wield that derive the accepted narrative from those images. In response to this concentration of power, Soda Jerk advocates for the complete dissolution of this, by trying to stir a "rebellion" of the masses through the active interception, rejection, an...

"The point is to generate worlds differently." We each, as individuals, can twist a piece of history to create a narrative fit for the time period making it more entertaining as well as informative. (At least that is what a documentary should do). "...Image Anarchist suggests that the rational behavior of form and matter is open to infinite possibilities..." Reality itself (with images - from history or staged during a certain point of time) can be manipulated memories. "Actually, the past is ours to shape and change as we will..." I find it interesting that since the past is only touched in the present, an individual can find things in it to mean something that was probably not pointed out at the time. - Aubrey

This chapter, 'The Image-World', also continues with the topic of reality and an image of reality. Susan begins to explain that philosophers like Feuerbach and Gombrich that images on a supernatural level are somewhat real images. They even bring up that society is modern by the use of distributing and consuming images. I find this the most interesting because of our current society's use of distrubiting and consuming images. We use social media as a big part of getting our images out there.

This was a good read. I enjoyed Soda_jerk’s perspective on the juxtaposition of events and how individuals should be examining the past, present and expected future with attention to the intentions behind the display. Where there is an account of events it is the elicitation of emotion that drives the creation. Keeping this fact in mind removes ones self from confusion and into a higher perspective of possible clarity. Soda_jerk is new to me and I will be following.

The name of this reading was vague. There was no expectation or preparation given to the reader. A better title would be Historical and Cultural Beliefs Regarding Photography. The most interesting subject within the reading was the notion that tearing up and throwing away a photograph is a “ruthless gesture of rejection.” This idea was presented as coinciding with early beliefs about photography. However, it is my belief that this attitude remains true. Comparing this early belief to the digital age of photography highlights the preciousness of those early photographs. Not everyone had a camera so the photograph was taken to commiserate a person or special occasion; not to mention the monetary value of the photograph. I agree that throwing away or destroying a photograph that holds such intention would be a gesture of rejection for that time, as well as, today. Any printed photograph embodies intention. There is a reason for which every photograph is printed.

In my art history class on photography in my freshman year, I read Susan Sontag's groundbreaking essays  On Photography and Regarding the Pain of Others. Ever since reading those two essays, my perception of the medium of photography as an art form has been radically changed. Revisiting Sontag's final chapter of On Photography  entitled "The Image World" reminded me of the power of her words and her perception of photography as a medium. In "The Image World," Sontag alludes to Plato's essay "The Cave" as a starting point for her discussion on the power of the image as a representation of reality and a substitution for the real world. She claims that photographs contain an essence of reality, instead of merely reproducing it. I especially loved when she touched on the photographic process as having a kind of magic. It reminded me of Dorsky's argument for film having a "devotional" aspect. When Sontag touches on how photographs ...

      The procedure of image making with the new digital technologies has made image processes more possible in photography. The idea of an image being a material part of ourselves is not far from the truth I believe since it has a piece of our history. I mean it won't take your soul but it's a small moment that is a part of your life. However, an image is not the reality, it's only showing a fragment of that moment in reality. Then again, an image can be staged.       Images also seem to be a way to seek proof for a certain experience, but also dig out an exotic desire. A photograph is an invention of memory; our minds take pictures and that is what creates memory then a photograph is physical replacement. The camera can also tell us a story with documented photographs. For example, photos from Vietnam or a photo of someone's last moments. Photos usually fulfill human curiosity of such painful events.       There are laws to photograph...

It is no longer the same how cultural changes have affected life in the past in comparison to the 21st Century. Anyone born in the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s and experienced the culture variations can attest to change of culture. The change of culture is best documented in television programs, music, and movies. The television programs, music, and movies offer proof to the change where there is a clear distinction from what was in the 1960s to now. The shift in television programs as experienced in the early years of sitcoms is not like today where humor is no longer top priority. The music offers a difference of how cultural change has taken effect in that the originality of music found in the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s is rarely experienced in the 21st-century music. It leaves a lot to be desired, where few artists stand out in their genre of music. Besides, there is less change in the music made from 90s and how it sounds compared to the 2000s. In terms of the movies, I find the timef...

I think what Mark Fischer is talking about can directly relate back to part of the article by Claire Bishop. Both address how nostalgia arises in the wake of future. Where Bishop paints the inherent nostalgia created by obsolescence as a hindrance to technology and art, Fischer similarly looks at how even imagining the future can create a different sort of nostalgia for the present; a "what would/could have been" which dulls the future of now. Fischer calls the result of referencing or comparing the future, "the slow cancellation of the future", which I find a bit dramatic. I don't think a disappointment that heavily weighted needs to be associated with not obtaining the outcomes of an imagination. As long as there was something enjoyed or consumed from any facet of what was imagined, there was ultimately a gain.

Mark Fisher’s “The Slow Cancelation of the Future” touches on a phenomenon that I have experienced time and time again when listening to music. When he recalls listening to Amy Winehouse’s cover of “Valerie,” it reminded me of a similar experience that I had when first listening to Leon Bridges’ single “Coming Home.” The sound of the song mimicked songs by Bill Withers and The Spinners that I had heard previously growing up; as I looked it up though, I realized that that song did not belong to that era at all, but to my own! The same instance happened when I listened to “Strangers” by the Kinks for the first time... I thought that it was an indie song from 2007 until I looked who it was by... Time and time again, artists reference previous inspirations in their music and this has happened way before the onset of the internet. This occurs in film, as well as TV shows and even fashion. I thought of the film “Back to the Future,” a film that epitomizes the “80s does 50s” nostalgia that ...

The article resonates with my current and past thoughts regarding the collapse of time. I have thought of this concept and how it relates to fashion, as well as, art and music. The digital age has created the time collapse in that artists, musicians and designers are continually influenced by the sounds and aesthetics associated with by gone eras. It is possible to find fashions that embody past eras as a mixed statement of condensed time or single items that project a certain decade. This is especially true in women’s fashion where modern styles illustrate moods of a certain decade either by how individual pieces are put together for the look or the design of a single garment.    Another way of conceptualizing the concept of the slow cancellation of the future would be to place the concept within a broader context within society. The current wave of sustainability to  recycle, reuse, and/or repurpose places a pseudo prohibition on what is new. 

 I believe that Mark Fisher is trying to say that the past affects the future like the above comment made in this blogger^. I found it interesting how he tied in digital recall like the VHS or DVD and how you are able to go back in time in that aspect. Not only does the past affect the future but the future affects the past. Another part of the paper I found interesting is TV shows are breaking in time (not going to the future or going to the past anymore) like the show Sapphire and Steel. I also found it interesting that there are themes of loss present in the cancellation of the future. He says "the cancellation of the future has been accompanied by a deflation of expectations". He also continues saying that the internet and mobile technology have altered everyday experience beyond all recognition. This article was a bit challenging for me to understand but hopefully I was along the right track.

Mark Fisher seemed to be touching on the concept of the future is more like the past than we realize. There may be differences but the influence of the past shapes the future. Nostalgia, not the feeling though psychological, 'arises only when a sense of historical time breaks down.' According to Jameson, who Mark Fisher quotes, it's called an 'Nostalgia Mode'. He compares this to the old TV show about detectives that fix broken pieces of time and another example would be Adele that sings with nostalgia but doesn't give historical details. - Aubrey Zaragoza

Check out this essay by artist Jon Rafman about images created by Google Streetview: http://artfcity.com/2009/08/12/img-mgmt-the-nine-eyes-of-google-street-view/ See the whole project here: https://9-eyes.com/

Bishop questions the unresponsiveness to digital media by the contemporary art world. It must be kept in mind that this essay was published in 2012. Since that time, many artists began making statements about digital media through their art.  The essay discusses digital media in general terms rather than as a digital art form or just digital platforms such as social media or personal computers. In the case of a social media, curated feeds are a collection of snap shots with poor edits. In an attempt to create an eye catching feed, users manipulate photos so that the images stand out and draw attention from the viewer. This type of media should not even be considered as art.  Digital media as an art form is another matter. As mentioned, since 2012, artists have been using digital media as an art form. An example would be the art concepts of Signe Pierce. Her art confronts how digital media is creating a hyper reality. 

Instantaneous time: Nan Goldin Joey in my mirror, Berlin, 1992 A snapshot like this captures a fleeting moment of intimacy. One shared between the photographer and the subject, the subject and the viewer, and the subject and herself.  Stable Time: American Gothic ... Prom 1998 via Reddit Prom itself has a fleeting relationship being it is only one night, but the prom photos, the poses, continue to be retaken and replicated, making it a staple.

An Instantaneous Relationship to Time: This photograph evokes an instantaneous relationship to time for me personally because the photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson believed in what he called the “Decisive Moment.” He claimed that there was one moment that was meant to be captured: a moment that was truly ephemeral and spontaneous. In capturing these moments, Cartier-Bresson turns ordinary moments into visual pieces of magic. A “Stable” Relationship to Time: For me personally, a “stable” relationship to time evokes a narrative. For example, Duane Michals’ photography is a great example of this, as it aims through a series of photographs to help the viewer reach a certain conclusion. I also embedded a video of one of my favorite beauty YouTubers kidjess and her “Get Ready With Me” series, basically documenting different makeup looks that she creates. The narrative has come to be expected within the YouTube Beauty community in a sense. 

Although Claire Bishop’s “Digital Divide” is an interesting interpretation of Contemporary Art’s interaction (or for her argument’s sake: disavowal) of the digitization of the human existence, I do not wholeheartedly agree with it. I agree with her claim that the sudden attraction of “old media” for contemporary artists in the late 1990s coincided with the rise of “new media,” particularly the introduction of the DVD in 1997. But to be honest, this constant “return” to analog ways of doing things as a sort of “nostalgia” has happened constantly with the introduction of new technology. She claims that the art world has not really interacted with the issues that the new digital world has created. However, I believe that this digitized experience is so ubiquitous, so ingrained in us now that the need to explicitly reference this existence in every work would be unnecessary. Instead, what I found most interesting about her argument was her connection of the art world’s resistance to trul...

An Egyptian anti-government protester holds a defaced poster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, with the words "Mubarak, get out" written above, during a demonstration in Cairo in January.   Ben Curtis/AP Virginia at Six Sally Mann

One image I found that evokes an "instantaneous" relationship to time would be by Andrew Stawarz. I feel as though an instantaneous relationship would be "swift" or "smooth". Which even though this is a long exposure of a photo it gives a quick-moving aesthetic. Another image I found that evokes a "stable" relationship to time would be by Stefan (he focuses on high speed photographs). I feel as though a stable relationship would be "fixed" or "sturdy" in relation to time. So something that captures a moment as quickly as possible.

What I took from this article is that Claire Bishop is commenting about the lack of digital subjects, media, etc in contemporary art. We have not been able to address how forms of new media (digital age) have altered our relationships to history, social relationships, etc. An example of this is that artists started to become interested in old media for contemporary art like the 1990s for analog photography instead of working towards our technological advances like today. Claire Bishop states "contemporary art simultaneously disavows and depends on the digital revolution", which I found very interesting and true. Popular artists I find today are using old film cameras and try to create images as if they are in a different time era- but why not try to use a media that defines today. I understand the use of a certain aesthetic but I feel like our current time does not really have an aesthetic. I also couldn't find specific questions for this response so I am unsure if we h...

I definitely have to say that it seems like Claire Bishop is not the biggest fan of artists who do not take the digital era in photography seriously and possibly for granted.  It seems as though she is stating that it is strange how little artists tend to acknowledge the change that this digital era has had on photography. I like how she points out that art is still art and no matter what is changing in the world you have to stick with what you know. Everything is constantly changing and I agree that you have to change with it but keep your same ideas/values. And just for fun: