In Linker's article, "Love for Sale", and Barrett's article, "Criticizing Photographs", Barbara Kruger is mentioned as this Post-modern feminist who fights and argues against the masculine, usually negative, aspects about the society. Kruger was especially popular in the 1970s when women were starting to fight for their voice in a patriarchy society with patriarchal ideas about women. This woman spoke loudly to the world without even speaking out loud.Kruger was all about abolishing the stereotypes and "ruin the misinterpretations" (Barrett 98) of women as plain, submissive objects. She was known for using language that made the viewer actually think if they were the ones being accused of stereotyping, or if Kruger was on the side of the "victim." According to Linker, Kruger would use photographs of women in the "socially inscribed" submissive pose (Linker 27) and then later break the original sexual meaning behind the picture and add "embarrassing" language (Linker 29) to show that man does not have power over that particular woman anymore.
Linker made it clear, as did Barrett, that Kruger's art pieces were political and redefined the "human subject" (Linker 27) by giving the powerless and stereotyped a voice, and bringing the one's with power back down to the same level as the powerless by making advertisement-like art work. What Kruger did with the "Surveillance" piece was show to the world that men take advantage of the fact that they have power over people's lives (Barrett 104) and use their power to "sneakily [watch] over others to protect and maintain their privilege and status" (Barrett 105). Another example of Kruger accusing the white man trying to control the whole world is when she changed the pronoun in the text "Your manias become science" to "Their manias become science" into Spanish, and then posted on billboards in the subways of New York (Barrett 100).
Kruger says that the meaning behind her images "shifts according to each spectator" (Barrett 99). Therefore, I chose the image above because I feel like she is trying to portray that the white man, who looks like he has quite a bit of power, who could have control over the sales of cigarettes (which could ultimately kill someone) is the criminal along with the cigarettes. The man is creating and allowing for there to be a killer.
What do you think?
Lidia
ReplyDeleteI think your analysis on Kruger's picture of the man smoking the cigarette is very interesting... When I first saw the picture, I assumed it had something to do with feminism. More specifically, I feel like the man is trying to seduce a woman by looking "cool" smoking a cigarette and possibly telling her she is the "perfect crime", if that makes sense.
I really appreciate your interpretation on the image that you have included. At first glance, like Douglas, I tried to spot the feminist undertones. I didn't exactly come to the same conclusion as Douglas, but I did feel like "the perfect crime" is the powerful man. It's a crime that he, who is our equal, is so powerful when we have no power. That was my first thought; however, your interpretation is an intriguing double-meaning that I also can see.
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