Barbara Kruger Readings - PK

Linker:

It seems to me that Kruger was lucky to live at the time that she did. That time period had its particular issues, which she was lucky to use in her artwork and make a difference by being a woman doing so. At this point I feel like there are no more original ideas or thoughts, everything is just recycled ideas, therefore making it much harder for artists to come up with new things. Kruger, with the issues of sexuality and feminism, was working at the perfect time for self-expression, and for making a change in the society. With the piece “we have received order not to move,” I feel she is making such a big statement. One, the subject is a woman pinned to a wall, which is very sexist, very bold and very dramatic. I feel like she is sending a message that women are submissive, or shouldn’t be submissive to men. Her work with the feminist movement is very strong and like the article said, she is the “barometer” for feminism, making change possible through the messages in her artwork (59). She stands out not by creating images of powerful women, but actually following the stereotype with pictures of submissiveness, powerlessness and counteracts them with a message that provokes you to think about the way things are in the world. It’s really amazing how strong a message a photo and a few words can make, obviously not any words, but the right words.

Barrett:

Reading Barrett was much more straightforward. I appreciate that I can now get actual quotes from the author and try to understand her motivations for creating the artwork, instead of reading the guesses of other people. What intrigued me about this is that Kruger wants the viewers to get a message that is relevant to them. There is a central message, but it is not overwhelming, and from it we can take it as we want to and apply it to our lives. She is very powerful in her work and very condescending upon the culture we live in and the commercialism of our times. It is funny, however, that she makes such commentaries, yet her artwork is displayed on t-shirts and shopping bags. She is, in a way, feeding this consumerism, yet at the same time is able to send her message further and to more viewers.

Barbara Kruger

Barbara Kruger focuses on something specific when it comes to her photographs. When there is a person or people in her photographs, it is all about the pose. I could clearly see through the images provided that the body language played a major role in projecting the message. As seen in daily life, you can tell about a person's mood and even what they're like by body language. Projecting power is also very important through posing and Kruger makes clear who has the power in each photo. It is similar to how we were looking at the older photograph of the nude woman and how she was looking at the camera as if to say "I know you're watching me." In that photo, her pose made her have the power even though she was in a vulnerable state by being nude.

Another major goal of Kruger's is to poke and prod at social norms and stereotypes; things in our culture we have grown accustomed to, but may not actually be right. This is clear when it comes to her photos that revolve around woman. Gender roles are assumed and men are pictured as dominant. I find the "We have received orders not to move" photograph to be the most effective at displaying this.

Then there is Kruger's infamous pronouns, which can make a person feel humiliated or included. Like Terry Barrett said, you are either the "victim or the victimizer." It definitely makes the image more intense and emotional. The enforcement behind it is similar to the way media is characterized as being repetive and enforcing. However, instead of making you do something like media does, Kruger makes you think something you most likely have not thought of before.

I'd like to end on the note that I thought it was very interesting how Kruger's photographs were compared to socialist propaganda. I can see the resemblances between style, but was Kruger really a socialist? Were her photos protests and outcries against capitalism? Hmmm...

Barbara Kruger uses photographs with language that tends to shock people. I found this photo titled "Street execution of a VietCong prisoner, Saigon" by Eddie Adams to be shocking in a visual way. It was even more disturbing at the time of the Vietnam War when the U.S. was torn in pieces.