Carolee Schneemann - Case Study Example

Student’s Name Instructor’s Name Course Date Case Study on an Artist’s Work: Carolee Schneemann Carolee Schneemann is considered as one of the ground-breaking artists famed for the use of the human body in contemporary art. In a career spanning close to forty years, she has used her body in examining the role of both female sensuality and sexuality in a predominantly male society.1 Schneemann started her groundbreaking multimedia art work that varies in range from painting and film to politically sensitive performance and setting. Her work examines visual traditions, the use of the body in contemporary art and the preconceived notion vis-à-vis gender and sexuality.2 In this case study, the paper analyses some of her works and their positioning in history of fine art based on themes and ideas in present-day skill. Up to and Including Her Limits (1971-1976) The work illustrates a nude feminine body of the artist suspended with a rope on a tree. The piece uses crayon on paper, a two-channel analog video, and a rope. The artist tries to demonstrate how her whole body can act as an intervention for visual traces and motion. Schneemann fully developed the performance at the University Art Museum in Berkeley, California on 11 April 1974. Suspended naked in a tree-surgeon’s harness, she moved within the configured space while writing and drawing on a paper attached on the floor and wall around and below her. 3 It can be stated that Schneemann work Up to and Including Her Limits (1971-1976) is positioned in history based on the idea that it is presented during the second wave of the feminist movement which occurred after the Second World War. During this period, the feminist movement propagated the need for representation of the women in workplaces. 4The artist also utilizes language and writing as a strategic tool. The performance integrates writing which demonstrates that language is not in opposition to the female body as so often argued, but rather it belongs squarely to it and its capacity and emotions to reason. Schneemann, therefore, tries to support the views of the second wave of the feminist movement by showing women can participate in the work environment as writers and other career opportunities. The second wave of the feminist ideology also proposed the need for reproductive rights, the acknowledgement of female sexuality.5 It is apparent that Schneemann tries to amplify the issue of female sexuality in her work. Foremost, by presenting herself as nude in her performance, she tries to demonstrate that women can actually be confident about who they are. She further demonstrates that female sexuality is nothing to be embraced about. The second wave of the feminist movement tried to advocate for self-confidence among women, an aspect that is well articulated by Schneemann work. During the second wave of feminism, a perception was developed that women had already attained the objective of equal rights, however, amendments were not implemented to ensure that the objective was enjoyed by the female gender.6Male hegemony was still prevalent in society and women had to fight to show that they can be equal to the men. Schneemann work demonstrates the historical struggle for gender equality where men have dominated abstract expressionism and action painting. In this particular work, a rope and harness hang above a huge canvas while the video monitors display the recording of the artist. The said illustrator, in this case, is suspended above the canvas and uses her body to paint the canvas. The performance, video recordings, harness and markings on the canvas demonstrate that the artist sought to promote feminist views while demystifying societal repression of women in art and contributing to social roles (Art Story 1). Meat Joy(1964) Scenes from Carolee Schneemann’s Meat Joy Meta Joy is one of the pioneer works that allowed Schneemann to craft her place in the world of art. In Meat Joy, Schneemann and her partakers carried out their first performance at the First Festival of Free Expression in Paris in May 1964. She participated in two other performances later in the year in New York and London respectively. In the presentation, a group of men and women, stripped to their underpants, danced and writhed on one another atop plastic sheeting as they rubbed raw fish, chicken, wet paint and sausages on their bodies (Rose 1). The performance was not only sensual but also incorporated aspects consisting of the five senses and feelings which also depicted the concert as both erotic and comic. In the same breath, it was viewed as both disgusting and spontaneous by some while showcasing human flesh bordering on ecstatic ritual. 7 Imperatively, Schneemann’s artwork; “Meat Joy” can be placed in the historical context whereby it demonstrates the beginning of performances that emphasised feminist art and the need to address social repression faced by the female bodies. In history, her art work opened an avenue for female artists to use their bodies to pass critical societal messages on issues that affected their sexuality and gender roles in society (Manchester 1). These performances demonstrated that female artists had grown in their self-consciousness and had control over material conditions concerning their reproductive roles and lives in society. Schneemann’s belief in the power of female body and her sexuality and the expression of these thoughts through her performances, sculpture, and films have helped women to understand their bodies and consider them as important in all aspects, particularly their reproductive lives . 8 Interior Scrolls (1975) In 1975, Schneemann performed one of her most famous pieces, aptly named ‘interior scroll.’This remains a remarkable part of art that endured her to both supporters and critics. The said performance provided an essential moment in the history of carrying out art. The recital of the Interior Scroll was viewed as a testimony that Schneemann was keen on advancing what she had set in her earlier feminist performances During the performance of the work, the artist considered the possibility of incorporating nude women artists as both the image and image makers in her future works.9 Eye Body’s depiction was a combination of performance, painting, and photography with the artist’s body used as the material. After the play’s performance, Carolee produced a film named “Fuses” that was a visual exploration of sex starring her partner, James Tenney, an artist in his own right.10 The film that runs for close to thirty minutes puts out an egalitarian erotic experience, inferring that the lover is either or neither an object. Unlike pornography, both figures maintain agency as their bodies blend organically together. It suffices to note that Schneemann’s urge to explore female sexuality arose in response to the apparent disconnect that existed between women’s experiences, their bodies, and both historical in addition to cultural manifestation that promotes repression.11 For Schneemann, the performance of “Interior Scroll” was aimed at signifying that the female body or form was not only idealized and contemplated but was also fetishized. Further, the essential experiences of the body were overtly considered unclean Pandora boxes. Such performances therefore, remained vulnerable but were regarded as essential in the quest to break taboos.12 Schneemann believes that focusing on the ignored part of female sexuality allows feminine artists to expand the discourse concerning the appearance of their bodies and can confront any social stigmas and criticism. According to Schneemann, the main concept behind the performance of “Interior Scroll” was to demonstrate the physical aspects of the invisible, marganalised and suppressed writing history of the vulva. Further, the performance aimed at demonstrating the place of the powerful source of orgasmic pleasure, birth, transformation and menstruation and maternity. The performance was meant to show that while the vulva was invisible, it was not dead. 13The artist used the performance to assert that the vagina is not a site for physical creation, but is a source of creativity and ideas. Further, by pulling a physical object from the hidden space, the interior becomes not only visible but vocal. In fact the artist’s passionate interest in using Body Art, and particularly, the vulvic space, arose from her deep rooted perspective in gender politics and spirituality.14 For her, the vagina has many functions and attributes. Schneemann thought of the woman vulva as a sacred source of knowledge, source of transformation, and a passage of birth. According to Schneemann, the performance of “Interior Scroll” provided her the opportunity to showcase her thoughts on woman sexuality and sensuality.15 She considered the vulva as a translucent chamber that provided a passage from the visible to the invisible and one that not only generated desires and mysteries but also demonstrated both male and female sexual abilities. Carolee Schneemann’s art work makes her one of the pioneer feminist performance artists who uses her body as the main art material in her work. She comes out as an important figure in the development of Body Art performance. She advocates for better understanding of women and considers them as both creators and active part of the creation process.16 She uses her body, albeit naked, to push essential social messages about feminine sexuality and champions the importance of female sensual pleasures as she examines the possibilities of not only personal emancipation from predominant aesthetic and social conventions but also political freedom through a better understanding of the female body .17 Conclusion Carolee Schneemann demonstrates that art work can bring social changes and transform perceptions in society. Through her art work, Carolee Schneemann makes a significant contribution to Body Art and understanding of female sexuality. Through her work, female artists follow her model for success in modern and contemporary art. Work Cited Art Story. “Carolee Schneemann: American Performance Artist and Video Artist”, web 2016. Accessed on August 4, 2017, from http://www.theartstory.org/artist-schneemann-carolee.htm Elbaor, Caroline. “Carolee Schneemann Wins the Venice Biennale’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement” web 2017. Accessed on August 5, 2017, from https://news.artnet.com/art-world/carol-schneemann-wins-prized-golden-lion-venice-biennale-925547 Jones, Amelia. “Presence” In Absentia: Experiencing Performance as Documentation” Art Journal, vol.56, no.4, (1997), pp.11-18. Manchester, Elizabeth. “Carolee Schneemann: Interior Scroll, 1975, ”Web, 2003. Accessed on August 5, 2017, from Mendes, K. Feminism in the News: Representations of the Women's Movement Since the 1960s. Springer. 2011. Neath, Jessica. “The Body in Contemporary Art: Week One-Performative actions”. Pdf. Rose, Steve. “Carolee Schneemann: 'I never thought I was shocking'” Web, 2014. Accessed on August 5, 2017, from Scharzman, Stephen, A. “Kinetic Painting | Carolee Schneemann, Kathy Battista, Jenny Jaskey, David Levi Strauss | An Art Book Series Event” Web 2016. Accessed on August 5, 2017, from https://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2016/03/09/kinetic-painting-carolee-schneemann-and-special-guests-art-book-series Schneemann, Carolee. Correspondence Course: An Epistolary History of Carolee Schneemann and Her. Duke University Press, 2010. Jones, Amelia. "Presence" in Absentia: Experiencing Performance as Documentation Author(s). Art Journal. 56(4). 1997, pp. 11-18 Read More