Examination of Sadie Bennings Video Diaries - Essay Example

Examination of Sadie Benning’s Video Diaries Thesis ment “Auto ethnography can be a form of. . . “self-fashioning” in which the ethnographer comes to represent himself as a fiction . . .” (Russell, 1998, p274). Using Sadie’s video diary as our study tool, we could see a creative work in the sense that it produce an in-depth meaning depending on the viewer of her works – that it can be viewed in a juxtapose manner. In Russell’s view of literary pieces, we could clearly see her perception on auto ethnography wherein it has to do with time, with sequence and what makes up the continuous flow of life (p.275). What could be interesting in Benning’s work is her unique perception of the world and the reality and how she expresses it through her own style and way of explaining it. We could see that Benning’s persona is constructed against the trappings of youth culture, media culture and feminism wherein her deviance to the norms could be her own way of explaining to the world her perception of real freedom. “It is a tape the victimhood, sees desire as having its own integrity, uses sex to carve out a sphere of freedom” (p. 294). Since Russell admits in her article the role of juxtaposition, irony and retrouve in filmmaking, we can assume that her view could also be not the exact point of Benning in her Video diaries and that she may interpret Benning’s action in a different manner. Thus, our aim in this study is to critically analyze and evaluate the view of Russell in relation to the video diaries of Benning – its impact to the viewer and the society during their time and comparing it in the contemporary time. We shall be seeing factors like time and changes which affect the interpretation of literary pieces through its impact as time changes. Though this is hard because it is more on a personal level of analysis wherein one’s interpretation upon the action done or committed by the other could differ from other person. In this sense, we can also put in culture, being the motivating factor for understanding the meaning of Benning’s action in her video diaries. Key theoretical text points There are many theoretical points which Russell points out in her article to prove the validity of her interpretation in Benning’s work. These would be: A Sense of self stuck in understanding and surveillance. Russell is backed by Walter Benjamin to justify that personalized experience and observation play paramount roles in auto ethnography (Ho, 12). For example Benjamin argues that “Theory the philosophy and intellectual life as inseparable from his own experience of modernity and his identity as a German Jew.” Here Benjamin does permeate his script in the form of experience as opposed to quintessence. He perceived his own life as a composition of public reality this if sensed keenly, Susan Back-moss argues that “no individual could live a resolved life in a social world that was neither.” (p.276) Dramatization of subjectivity. Russell says that it is “no longer essential to have a revealing of the essential self but a representation of self as a performance This is a position of “discursive anxiety and articulations.” It is in the text depicted that, auto ethnography is the most likely to be the truck and the strategy that shall be used for exigent of obligatory outward appearances of individuality. It is too used for exploring the discursive potential of inauthentic subjectivities Ethnography as structure of self-fashioning. Russell argues that the ethnographer represents himself as the as a “fiction that does inscribe the doublings within the ethnographic text”: “It fashion and individual with the authority to represent and to interpret and even to believe though with ironical aspects the truth that surround the discrepant world”. The other aspect includes the oxymoronic label of auto ethnography. This is announcing of the full go kaput of the colonialist teachings of the ethnography and the critical gusto for it’s variety of forms that do situate it as a kind “ideal form of ant documentary”. The richness and diversity of the autobiographical filmmaking: This is represented by the possible triple transformation of the narrator, the seer, and the seen voices. Auto ethnography as a form of identity, which is part of avant-garde filmmaking, and maker who plays the role of the “collagist and the editor.” It discloses this as the surrealist legacy of the form as well as the role that is played by concurrence and insincerity. Origin and thematic concerns are as well shown in the text. Catherine Russell explained that the autobiography emanates from perplexing background. The “culture of the film, and the video makers whose personal histories unfold within a specific public surrounding,” the markers whose “ethnicity cast their history as an allegory for a community of the culture that cannot be essentialized.” This is a mode of filmmaking that is full of displacement, and immigration as well as the exile and the Trans nationality themes. Here, the leanings of auto ethnography are shown. Straightforwardness with the aspect of storytelling and show. The particular resonant images do echo across distance and time hence giving room for the mixing of the truth in the documentary with other corrupt aspects such as the telling of stories and performances. More so, the Autobiographical filming and the creation video are based on the testimonial affirmation. This is because there is no necessity of validating information beyond the viewer’s faith in the influence of the text. This due to the fact that, the authoritarian subjects do offer themselves for inspection just as the anthropological examples. Journeys of the filmmakers. The journeys that the filmmakers undertake are both temporary and geographic and they sometimes tend to move towards the epic proportions. For instance, the diary form does involve the movement from hooting and the editing duration. The traveling aspect is part of the synergy with the filmmaker confronting him or herself as the tourist and ethnographer, in addition to being exile and an immigrant. This kind of the film- makers are not a representative of the extraordinary personal diversity and auto ethnographical forms of the films. These do instead cover a range of techniques and the strategies that are set to merge self-representations and cultural critiques Auto ethnography as the avant-garde film form. Russell argues that “Subjectivity cannot be denoted in so simple ways in the film such as the write form of “I” but it is split between times.” This means that the appearance of the filmmaker in the diary film is taken to refer to another cinematographer or a tripod that is a denotation of the empty and technologies gaze. In addition, the splitting of prejudice between the filmed bodies and seeing is used o give more emphasis. It is argued that the ethnographic subjectivity, which is a self that does comprehend itself as culturally constituted, is in basis composition split along the autobiographical mode. The Idea that I am most interested with The idea that I am most interested of would be the statement of Russell “factuality is already a theory” (p.275). In this sense we could say that an auto ethnography or a compilation of events in a person’s life and its effect to himself and to the society could be consider as a theory on how other people would improve their life. In here, they become an inspiration to other. Auto ethnographer like Sadie Benning uses their life as a tool to depict reality and suggest ways through compilation of the events or happening of their life as well as to their surroundings. Through this, they allow people to inspire to their ideas and cater new perception of the world which will eventually help individuals to have a stand in their society. This is a perspective that is major in Auto ethnography and is revolves around the perceiving one’s life as a metaphor that is set for social reality. This after a keen evaluation, it is justified that no individual is able to live a resolved and an affirmative existence in a world that it is social which neither existed. This meant to say that, the filmmakers ought to live in the real existing world of auto ethnography making other people being a part of it. For example, in a film situation, I am able to gauge the cast and the character to get a clarified picture of the performances and exclude the third tripod bystanders who are picked by the camera as they gaze at the technology of filming and auto ethnography. This is a very critical skill to me and its significance to my ability and analytical skills, mind unfolding, and open-mindedness is a critical. Analysis of Sadie Benning’s video diaries Sadie Benning in his work done in 1980s depicts a lot of individual experience and observation. Through Fisher price, children video is availed to the market and except for the extreme close ups the pixels of the digital image were readily visible. This did provide a very highly meditated from of ethnography filming which was characterized by experience of the filming crew. The pixel vision was restricted to a certain level of close up detail and it is a medium that is deemed to be inherently reflexive and in a greater way, appropriate to the experimental ethnography. The tapes that are done by Benning to show that individuality is not only inscribe in history, but they are as well in the technologies of portrayal. She does many of her tapes in the bedroom and she portrays herself and various messages as secret to viewers. She tapes full part in the shooting of the films, which makes it reasonable and realistic as far as what Catherine Russell advocated for in actual participation is concerned. Russell argued that there is a variation in role-play as fiction and actual presence, which Benning here does depict in most of her tapes. This is very practical as far as auto ethnography is concerned. Benning tapes are characterized of the first person narration, which is used to refer to the truthfulness of her tapes and filming. The undertaking and her involvement to varying magnitudes makes her to be taken as observing subjectivity in greater magnitude. As auto ethnography is concerned, Benning tapes are able to produce the subjectivity that does evade authenticity, just as Catherine Russell argues in her article. Traditional undertakings are out dated and tapes that are avoiding the authenticity are what Russell advocated for, and which Benning tapes stuck. Benning argues against queerness by saying that “to perform queerness is constant misidentification; to constantly find oneself in sites where meaning does not properly line up.” She instead advocated for modernity just as per what Russell did in her article. Benning too takes care of the identity of the filmmaker. She in her tapes embraces video as a medium that is linked to consumer culture. She works within the avant-garde codes, what Russell did advocate. Benning does as well represent the journeys that Russell advocated in auto ethnography filmmaking. She takes journeys in her bedroom studio laboratory. She used found footage that refers back to her as the ethnographic reference in her tapes. Bennings fragmentation of her body into the sphere of image in pixel vision makes her textual and this brings up the effects that are quite removed from the basic verbal of “I” and the video maker name. This is in line with what Russell advocated. The Benning tapes are associated to all aspects that Russell advocates for and they are true for not only postcolonial identification but they too are relevant to queer and the relative hybrid subjectivities that are out to represent himself or herself through the process of articulating gaze. Conclusion In summary, Catherine Russell made a well critique and analyzation on Benning’s work . She does advocate for a better approach to the situation far from the authentic and traditional approaches that did advocate for queer and hybrid subjectivity. Russell dudes this broadly to ensure that the traditional separation of subjectivity with time and participation is realized. Benning in her tapes is able to follow to the latter what Russell was advocating for and ensure that the entire she produced tapes that were timely and have greater ability to reach out to the audience effectively. Through Benning’s adherence to Russell outlined principles in auto ethnography, she was able to produce tapes that were influential and reached out to the audience affectively. Some of her tapes well noted included ‘it wasn’t love” which she did and dedicate to all the bad girls everywhere and “We didn’t need Hollywood: We were Hollywood” which is more concerned with the play of adult games. It is therefore practical to make a conclusion that, Benning’s tapes were adhering to what Catherine Russell was advocating for in auto ethnography and due to this, she was able to convey the message to her audiences effectively. References Hammersley, Martyn., & Atkinson, Paul. Ethnography: Principles in Practice.London: Routledge. 2007. Print. Ho, Karen. Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street. NY: Duke University Press. 2008. Print. Wolcott, Harry. Ethnography: A Way of Seeing. Elsevier: AltaMira Press. 2008. Print. Read More