While reading Linker’s article, “Love for Sale,” I noticed the images on the side of the page, and I thought that it was clever to have the images she was discussing on the side of the page rather than in the text. The image with the words “What me worry?” (28) stood out to me the most out because, as Linker mentions later, the image addressed me twice, as Kruger aimed to do. This image is different than Kruger’s other work because she uses “me” instead of “you,” which adds to the method of addressing the audience twice, personally and impersonally. The first time I read the statement, I immediately felt a connection because I worry a lot.. I worry about school, I worry about the country, I worry about the world. Some of my worries relate to the questions Kruger has in the background of her image. I also was drawn to the fact that there is only one punctuation mark in the whole image, the question mark, which was especially striking. The second addressing comes, in my opinion, when the viewer rereads the statement and notices the “me” and might feel detached from the image, the image is no longer personal. Kruger is talking about herself, not the audience. However, in my opinion, I think the use of “me” adds more to the personal connection rather than the impersonal because as I read the statement again, I think of the “me” as myself and not as Kruger.
I agree with you. The "me" seems to make this a more personal piece because I am so used to Kruger "accusing" her audience. There is a certain vulnerability to it. For once, I am sensing the anxiety in Kruger through this image, but I am also feeling my own worries. Every time I view this image, another worry pops into my head, and I think that is what Kruger wanted, to make society vulnerable. I also think she is commenting on our society. We wonder why we are all so filled with anxiety, when it is our culture to blame. The background is filled with Self-Help book titles. In a world where you can't walk past an aisle in a library or a Borders without seeing a special section devoted to our human insecurities and vulnerabilities, how are we expected not to worry, not to have anxiety. It's almost laughable, and I think that's what Kruger aimed to do with this image: to make us laugh at our worries and at our society that makes us do so.
ReplyDeleteI worry a lot, too! Another thing worth mentioning about this photo is that the centralized question in red is a "what" question, while the rest of the questions in the back are "how" questions. She could have easily said in read "How do I worry?" but I think the "what" adds her sarcastic tone to the piece.
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