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Valya- butter wrapper - 022413 - SideB |
Objectification is the process by which an abstract concept is made as objective as possible in the purest sense of the term. It is also treated as if it is a concrete thing or physical object. - Wikipedia
I objectify women. I digest objectified women daily through tv, internet, books, magazines, billboards, music, and my meanderings through the day. I know you see these objects as well.
I objectify women through my thoughts, beliefs, and art as well. Just by tripping the shutter and capturing the image of a woman on film or a sensor, I transfer a real human (not just women) into a 1/250th of a second capture of her and convert her to an object.
This transfer is similar to what painters, sculptors, poets, and other creative types have done for centuries. They take a full human and convert them to some sort of partial object, a mere small representation of a fiction or reality of that person.
I started an art series last year titled
I objectify women (IOW). The inspiration for the series are a string of comments/criticisms directed at me and also an internal dialogue I've been going through again and again. I wrote a multi-page journal capturing simple statements on this with each line beginning with IOW and then followed by one of these criticisms or my own internal issues (click on image below and try to decipher my scribbles). These in turn inspired individual pieces in the series. Many of my images are sexual in nature, but not all. Does the content or concept of the object make it more palatable, or even art?
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IOW Journal - 022413 - SideB |
This series is analog and touchable. It is physical, so you are seeing photos of the final pieces. Almost every piece is made as a gel transfer onto a piece of discarded packaging such as butter wrappers, cookie boxes, fast food wrappers, etc.
In a new series of posts, we are going to explore objectification of women, our roles both in creating it and being the object of it. We both have great experience in this, especially Miz B since she has been on both sides of the camera.
As with all our posts, you are the vital third party of this menage a trois. Please chime in on anything. Share your thoughts, words, poems, links to related things so we can expand this conversation beyond the sound of our own voices echoing in the shadows!
So, do you objectify women?