Chapter 1 & 2

Nancy Burson, Androgyny, 1982

Digitally layered photographs of men and women to create a composite face with unknown gender; considered philosophical, ethical, and emotional effects of morphing identity

Catherine Opie, Chicken, 1991

Lesbians in drag project; viewers not certain if subject is male or female

Post Modernism

a late-20th-century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism that separates from modernism and has a general distrust of grand theories and ideologies

theory

a set of knowledge and ideas that can be used in analysis

identity politics

a term used for refer to the beliefs and activities of those who target racism, sexism, homophobia, or other forms of prejudice, and work for social rights and parity

gaze

a term used to refer to how categories of people are stereotyped in visual representation by race, gender, sexuality, etc

deconstruction

a type of analysis that involves taking apart or disassembling old ways of thinking; developed by Jacques Derrida

appropriation

an approach to using ready-made objects and materials; using found materials, styles, images, etc

Relational Aesthetics

analysis of art focused on interhuman relations; example is Cai Gui- Qiang's Cultural Melting Bath

Kehinde Wiley, Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps, 2005

appropriates iconography that served to reinforce masculinity in different periods; recasted black men in the place of original paintings white men; subjects dressed in street clothes; challenged eurocentrism and class privelege

sound art

art practices that take listening and hearing at the main focus; example is Susan Philipsz's Lowlands

activist art

art with a political agenda

Amalia Ulman, Excellences and Perfections, 2014

artist uses fictional identity on instagram; stages herself to seem like model looking to start her career; critiques self improvement obsession

Nikki S. Lee, The Ohio Project (6), 1999

artists insinuates herself into over a dozen subculture groups to pose for photos showing identity is fluid

postidentity

catch-all term used for artists who identify as post-black, postfeminist, etc; artists who no longer adhere to their traditional collective identities; Trecartin and Fitch

theme

clustering of ideas around a particular topic

Hung Lui, Judgement of Paris, 1992

composition painting of painted historical images of Chinese and European women; two Chinese prostitutes on side, two exposed goddesses in middle; references 18th, 19th, 20th century culture clashes

Do Ho Suh, Karma, 2003

could symbolize some giant of privilege crushing the masses;

Santiago Sierra, Workers who cannot be paid, remunerated to remain inside cardboard boxes, 2000

critiqued capitalism

formalism

emphasis on form rather than content when creating and interpreting art

Guerrilla Girls

feminist group working anonymously that worked against the patriarchal power structure of the art world

carnivalesque

having the qualities of a carnival

James Luna, Artifact Piece, 1987

installation in anthro museum; artist laid on display for several hours; showing reality of present day native Americans

neoexpressionism

international art movement dominated by oversized canvases and emotional gestures; big consumer market in the 80s

iconography

interrelated, conventional set of symbols

polyphony

multiple voices expressing multiple perspectives without merging into one

reinscription

reversal of hierarchy; such as between men and women

Shirin Neshat, Women of Allah, 1992-93

series explores the ideology of women during the Islamic Revolution; layers Farsi, guns, and black veil; challenges western notion of Islamic women being weak

Lyle Ashton Harris, Memoirs of Hadrian, 2002

series of 12 unique polaroids; showed dynamics of blackness

Wilfred Prieto, Apolitical, 2001

set up 45 flags for countries represented by the UN; authentic flags in detail expect all grey; questioned the relevance of national identity in time of globalization

Will Wilson, Autoimmune Response, 2005

seven large scale, digitally-manipulated photos; addresses impact of colonialism on natives; refers to 1979 radioactive waste incident that affected artist's reservation

Carrie Mae Weems, Kitchen Table Series, 1990

some women appears in many photos at a kitchen table with different props and people; shows how identity is shaped by many variables

other

someone singled out as different in comparison to members of a dominant group

syncretism

synonym for hybridity; minglying of people and cultures

hybridity

synonym for syncretism; mingling of peoples and cultures

essentialism

term applied to statements and images that conveyed generic notions of identity

Rhizome

term used to describe non-hierarchical knowledge networks that allow for multiple entry and exit points; example is the internet

Post-structuralism

the concept that the underlying structure of a language or other symbolic system is not fixed or permanent

alterity

the practice of constructing the identity of cultural others through negative comparison

semiotics

the study of signs

postcolonialism

theory concerned with cultural interactions among people of different regions and communities

Feminist theory

theory that critiques hierarchical structures that contribute to male dominance and values

public art

visual art created for public settings

Kerry James Marshall, Better Homes, Better Gardens, 1994.

works using intense color (usually black) to show how blackness is fundamental to the African American culture; themes of identity, place, memories