This morning I re-read a paper I submitted for my MA last year. It was a crap essay. Some of the ideas were great but as ever, my execution of anything academic was thwarted by being badly directed and unedited. I am facing the firing squad again soon for my final assessment and so I am tracing my steps back to my initial intentions to give it all a thorough critical 'going over'.
What was evident in the paper was a concern with materials. Mainly ones that could be termed feminist.
A huge digression into the problems of being a contemporary female artist who would resist the feminist label yet still employ domestic, underprivileged materials ensued. I couldn't conclude. I managed to avoid the subject in my practice by steering away from materials coded with feminist, feminine, connotations. I abandoned knitting, stitching, food and fabric (although I was using them for an entirely different reason to the feminists). The detail of piece above was made with paraffin wax and fishing wire. It was formed from casts of domestic doorknobs. I look at the image now and I still see something vaguely feminine. The piece was to do with Sartre. It was based on the existentialist question of whether we turn the handle or does the handle turn us. As far I thought: genderless.
Despite all attempts to avoid being tagged a feminist I think by placing myself in a gallery, making a tally mark over and over with the suggestion I am trapped or imprisoned can still be assumed to be a feminist action.
The reason I have difficulty with all this is because A: why do we need to deny associations with feminism? and B: Do we just confuse female with feminist?
I referred to Rachel Whiteread and Eva Hesse in the 'terrible essay' neither of whom seem to receive the lowly monica 'feminist'. But then Whiteread's works have a masculine, modernist form and Hesse spent her entire career striving to appear intellectual and not emotional.
As far as my own work goes, I am using the most democratic, non- heirarchical, non-gender-specific materials to support the content but the mark-making still looks girly!
there is nothing wrong with being a feminist.
ReplyDeletedid you ever see that piece that the Guerilla Girls did called something like "the advantages of being a woman artist" ?? they mention in that that no matter what you do as a female artist it will always be labelled as feminine. this is listed as an "advantage". I would say the same only because of the absurdity of artwork being labelled feminine because of this. work made by men is never labelled masculine just because the artist is male. women do have a tough time in the artworld (in the world in general). the artworld is male dominated and fundamentally run by/for rich people and rich people tend to be conservative types. the iphone did an app last year of 100 best artists of the 20th Century. 3 or 4 were women. hideous.
anyways...back to my original point. that you are considering downplaying feminine materials/imagery in your work is playing by their rules. you are denying who you are by consciously trying to create gender neutral work. my point, if ignoramuses want to label your work "feminist" or "female" then let them. THEY ALWAYS WILL. just don't let that kind of prejudice decide for you what you do in art or in life. its a shame that you may have to shout louder about your REAL intentions. remember...the artworld (like the "real" world) is retarded, elitist and filled with talentless pretentious fuckers who are VERY successful within it. but at the same time there ARE people who don't add short sighted labels, and lowest common denominator templates for your work to fit into. there are people who do know reason and what the fuck they are doing. that women are still downtrodden in art and life will always have an effect on how a female artists work is seen. its still seen as a male dominated past-time where men are more articulate etc so a woman jumping into those shoes is bound to be seen as feminist in the same way as women getting to do anything that was once dominated by men. look at black artists...firstly how many can you name? not many. why? because firstly they are kept down in an institution that panders to the rich or already initiated. because art is class and black people aren't allowed class. when they do make contemporary art it is ALWAYS labelled rebellious, about black rights or stereotypes etc. this is basically racist. so to label works by women feminine is sexist.
fuck them.
do what you want. you cannot escape prejudice...use it, throw it back in their faces and things will get better. slowly, but you will have had a part in it.