Self invention, to me, is the construction of one's self identity, the representation of them as a human being. As human beings we learn as we live through this crazy thing called life. Life gives us many tests to see how we will come out of it. In the end those tests can shape us into different and unique people. What's really amazing is how people choose to show others their identities. I have learned that artists have been masters at expressing the concept and themes of self identity in their artworks.
Throughout the semester I've learned that the idea of the self has more deeper meanings to people, especially to artists. Orlan has used the idea of beauty and body to bring about the message of the pain of beauty. She out herself through painful operations of plastic surgery while still awake, many have seen her as controversial, but I see a woman who has shown us the reality of what beauty means to woman and society. To be beautiful can be painful, especially if it's for society. "A woman must continually watch herself. She is almost continually accompanied by her own image of herself"(Berger, 1972, pg 46). Woman are under constant watch and scrutiny to society, the pressure to look beautiful and be graceful is a sad thought, but Orlan challenged that notion, her glittery demon horns are proof of it. I look at her demon horns as a beautiful. Only woman can tell themselves that they are beautiful.
Beauty is one of the things I love to look at in self portraits, I love the beauty in things, even if others see it as ugly or an eyesore. Society, especially men, are always the ones to judge for beauty, woman are always under their gaze. "Men survey women before treating them. Consequently how a woman appears to a man can determine how she will be treated"(Berger, 1972, pg 46). Woman must always act or look a certain way if they want to have proper treatment, otherwise they're seen as dirt. I hate the fact that woman are seen this way, I myself have been treated this way in the past, to the point where I actually saw myself as ugly, but thankfully I've moved on from that and have realized I am beautiful. When I learned about Cindy Sherman, I made a connection with her. She herself knew what it's like to be under the male gaze, to want to keep to yourself in a safe place away from the male gaze.
Cindy Sherman has a very interesting and awe inspiring with expressing self portraits. Her Untitled Film Stills series shows herself as different kinds of woman, I asked myself "Is she showing us how society see's the ideal woman?" I think that Cindy Sherman in a sense, showed this sense of so called beauty. What amazed me more about her that she became a major artist in the art world that others soon tried to follow in her footsteps. "And she played it out incredibly, and then she just used that as a stepping stone to take it further, further, and further out. So much of her work is performance, so much is improvisation, so much is theater. I am sure there are all kinds of people who see Cindy as their God"(Cindy Sherman Effect article, paragraph 13). Cindy had taken the art world by storm with her photographs, and that in itself is an amazing contribution to the theme of self identity.
To me, identity is one of the most precious things a human can have. It's there to remind us of who we are, and what will we choose to become, it's hard for some people to express it, or they just don't know how. I was dependant on the world to see what kind of person I'd become. Eventually pop culture helped shaped my identity. "Much of popular culture reinforces the importance we place on physical appearance as indicative identity"(Finkelstein, 2007, pg 13). Comics, movies, cartoon, anime, and manga, all these things I was passionate about and became highly invested in. But also made me a target for judgement, which at the time I feared. But pop culture and art have shown me who I am and that my identity was mine and mine alone.
Our identities will always be challenged at. There are people who see our selves as different that don't conform to society's norms. It's hard for us to form relationships if people don't wish to be with us. Marina Abramovic is an artist who I learned use relationships in her work. In her performance art she has used her audience as parts of the piece, and even her own lover to convey themes of identity and relationships. Marina's "The Artist is present" made me think of how people can be close to each other. She wouldn't know anything about the person who would sit across her, she probably wouldn't care, all she wanted was for them to sit with her. It challenged the norms of relationships. Our identities are all different, and are unique, but it can be so much more meaningful if we choose to share them with others, despite our differences, and maybe we can see how meaninful and beautiful people's unique identities are.
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London, British Broadcasting Corporation, 1972.
The Art of Self Invention. New York, I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2007.
Hoban, Phoebe. "The Cindy Sherman Effect." artnews.com14 Feb. 2017. Accessed 28 Nov. 2016.
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