the gaze

Kathryn Brooks OUGD501//Context of Practise

How has society, past and present, been effected by the Gaze within creative culture?

The idea of the gaze has been applied and adapted to many walks of life, its ideology has been used throughout time to inspire and manipulate art in all of its forms. Particularly within media and cinema. In this essay I will explore the gaze within the media and show how the concept has evolved and developed within the creative industry.

To be naked is to be your complete self, suggesting we feel exposed, embarrassed or vulnerable. To be nude on the other hand, suggests we feel empowered, admired, or longed for. 'The vague image it projects into the mind is not a huddled and defenceless body, but of a balanced, prosperous and confident body: the body reformed.' (Clark, p. 1) In terms of the observer, his or hers attitude towards the subject will alternate depending on whether they’re either naked or in the nude. Therefore the empathetic feelings of embarrassment and vulnerability you’d get when viewing a naked subject are replaced with feelings of lust and desire when viewing a nude. Kenneth Clark once said 'To be naked is to simply be without clothes, whereas the nude is a form of art.' (Berger, p.53) John Berger puts it differently 'To be naked is to be oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognised for oneself.' (Berger, p.54) Although both quotes slightly differ the same point can be drawn, to be nude is to be objectified whether that be as a form of art or as a woman.

The earliest source that deals with the concept of nudity in general is the biblical story of Adam and Eve. There are two factors of this story that art plays reference to, one, is that their nakedness is exposed through the eyes of each other, putting the power of judgment and condemnation in the eye of the beholder. The second is although both of them are punished, in the eyes of god, the women was to blame and therefore made subservient to the man. An example of this is “Vanity” a painting by Hans Memling, in this painting a woman is seen nude gazing into a mirror. At this stage in the 15th century it was understood that artists were men who would paint for art collectors who were primarily men. This painting depicts the judgmental gaze on a woman that is often casted by men in society, this can be seen through the woman’s reflection in the mirror she’s holding. This was painted for the pleasure of the artist and the men who viewed it. 'Men look at women.

Women watch themselves being looked at.' (Berger, p. 47) Hypocritically, the pleasure that is drawn from this painting is derived from the nakedness that the artist has

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condemned by calling the piece Vanity. 'You painted a naked woman because you enjoyed looking at her, you put a mirror in her hand and you called the painting Vanity, thus morally condemning the woman whose nakedness you had depicted for your own pleasure.' (Berger, p.51) In spite of the pleasure men gain from observing the women’s nudity, it is the woman that is at fault, playing homage to the biblical solution of blaming the woman. Further more by averting the female’s attention to herself, allowing the voyeur to judge her freely, both aesthetically and personally, this diminishes any sense of power that could have been derived from her sexuality. 'Thus she turns herself into an object – and most particularly an object of vision: a sight.' (Berger, p.47) Often in these paintings the attention of the subject is not focused on anything within the frame, in other words the attention is focused on the person viewing it. The look is passive and is typically accompanied with a languid pose displaying minimal amount of energy, being there for the taking. The ideology behind not painting hair on a women’s body is that hair is associated with sexual passion and a sense of maturity that could be seen as intimidating. This along side the lack of movement and the natural glair is in order to deter any sense of sexual passion on the woman’s behalf, as if to harness more room for the spectator/owner’s own sexual desires. 'Women are there to feed an appetite, not to have any of their own.' (Berger, p.55) Preside privately commissioned or semi-pornographic painting for personal use, if there were to be a male contained within the picture, as well as the female, she would rarely be heavily interactive with nor replicate the passion with the man in the frame, she would often gaze longingly at you, the male spectator, as she seeks for his approval, not the painted male figure. The only other source of rivalry of male attention in these types of painting is stemmed from a cupid. Perhaps the reason for a small boy to be the Victorian’s choice of symbolic passion in this particular form of art is in order to reduce the sense of threat the male voyeur may feel when admiring the picture, securing his masculinity and the sexual engagement with the female subject. - ' The Birth Of Venus', Alecandre Cabanel.

The paintings previously discussed, were originally bought as signs of wealth, which would typically be surrounded by a gold frame. Much like the women depicted in these pictures, the paintings were a symbol of possession, adding to a life that the consumer already had.

Although much of today’s advertising plays homage to works of art, the ideology behind the desire to obtain something is slightly different. In current media we are lead to believe

Kathryn Brooks OUGD501//Context of Practise

we need to purchase an object, in order to build a life for ourselves that the world the product is packaged by is suggesting we must have. 'It proposes to each of us that we transform ourselves, or our lives, by buying something more.' (Berger, p.131) The reason for this change is due the age of mass production. With a piece of art you had to create an appeal that would target one man, leading them to believe that purchasing such a product would better their life and them as a person. However in advertising, you have to create an appeal for an infinite amount of people, to be purchased an infinite amount of times.

Maintaining a balance between leading the consumer to believe, that by buying the product they’ll fill some form of void in their life but not so much so that they’ll seize to find a need to keep buying into the product. 'Publicity is never a celebration of a pleasure-initself. Publicity is always about the future buyer.' (Berger, p.132) Enabling them to become a richer person despite them literally being poorer. The Gaze deals with the notion that men are judged by the world around them and women are judged by men.

From early advertisement it was established that it is very much a man’s world, women playing nothing more than an intrinsic part in the bigger picture of a mans life.

'Entertainment as we know it is crucially predicted on a masculine investigation of women, and a circulation of women's images for men.' (Coward, p. 33) Products are sold through glamorisation, making the mundane desirable. For men a huge part of this glamorisation is the concept of being perceived as dominate, powerful and most importantly sexually desirable, all of which is promised to them through the consumption of a particular product.

A lot of the time this is achieved by the sexualisation of anything that can be sexualised.

'This is not only the strict grip of the cultural ideal; it is also the multiplication of areas of the body accessible to marketing.'

As with art, in early cinema, the intended audiences were predominantly heterosexual males. This is clear to see through specific techniques to target this audience such as the use of the camera and framing. For instance the focus will be softened when we are introduced to the on screen female, adding an angelic glow and smoothing blemishes, aiding in the purification of the female as an image, coincidently diminishing the representation of her as an identifiable character. The camera will also pan from her feet to head when first introduced, imitating the stereotypical motion of a man looking at a woman in a sexually judgmental manner, compelling the audience to perceive the character from the same perspective.

Kathryn Brooks OUGD501//Context of Practise

Structures that are contained within art can similarly be found in early Hollywood, amongst the relationship between the audience and protagonist, more specifically the viewers identification with the male hero on screen. The idea of the active male and the passive female plays part in early cinema as well as with art. Often it is the main male character that drives the narrative forward, it is his world we are introduced to and it is with him that the films conclusions or messages are translated through. The female is merely used as a cinematic device to draw love, lust or fear from the protagonist, working as a distraction from the character’s original journey through the narrative or as a disruption to the equilibrium of the plot. All of which is replaceable with an event or an introduction to any other character. This ideology sparked by the theories of Laura Mulvey heavily supports the notion of the objectification of woman within media. The shower scene from Psycho 1960, Hitchcock, one of the most recognisable scenes in cinema, prior to the murder of Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), whom the audience believes is the protagonist at this point in the film, Norman Bate Anthony Perkins), is voyeuristically peering at Marion through a hole in the wall, instantly making her vulnerable. She goes on to almost act as if she's aware that she’s been watched. She walks towards the bathroom as the camera lingers behind, creating some distance between the spectator/voyeur and the back of Marion, this just happening before the sequence of over sexualised close-up shots of water being poured down on to Marion’s face, which leads us to her death, a death the solidifying the on screen female’s disposability. Budd Boetticher writes 'What counts is what the heroine provokes, or rather what she represents. She is the one, or rather the love or fear she inspires in the hero, or else the concern he feels for her, who makes him act the way he does. In herself the woman has the slightest importance.' (Mulvey, p.309) Although the female is a key tool in terms of development of the plot, she is a tool nonetheless and will remain a secondary character. However unlike other secondary characters, a female holds unimportant relevance as a spectacle, a similar paradox to the empowerment women are thought to gain from their sexuality. The Female, works on two platforms within cinema, one as a source of visual eroticism for the male protagonist and secondly for the male viewer. 'Traditionally, the woman displayed has functioned on two levels: as erotic object for the characters within the screen story, and as erotic object for the spectator within the auditorium, with a shifting tension between the looks on either side of the screen.' (Mulvey, p.48) Further phallocentrism, is in the subliminal power that the spectator obtains through

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identifying with the desirable same sex character that consumes the world that he is surrounded by. This power is maintained in both the spectators and the hero of the films view of the female. This structure ensures a sense of dominance is with the male onlooker when looking at the sexualised woman on screen, I.e in an intimate scene or some form of strip tease. The viewer projects this fantasied image of himself upon the protagonist; using the protagonist as a filter from judgement or rejection, meaning the pleasure drawn from observing an act such as a woman undressing is that of the pleasure derived from voyeurism, however unlike like a peeping tom the risk of being caught therefore being emasculated, is eliminated. As with male on screen the control remains with the spectator.

Lost in translation is a hub for discussion and debate in its incorporation of the male gaze.

The film was released in 2003 and was directed by female director Sofia Coppola. Lost in translation is critiqued from two differing perspectives, one claims it is a shining example of how the male dominated formula for film, that Mulvey argues has been structured, is still embedded within the filmmaking industry today. There are several points within the film where Charlotte, played by Scarlett Johansson, wonders her hotel room partly dressed, these shots are often followed by juxtaposing one of the male protagonist, Bob Harris, played by Bill Murray. However the pinnacle point of deliberation is the films opening credits. The film begins with a static shot of Charlotte with her back towards the camera whilst lying on a bed on her side; the shot frames nothing but her lower back and bare legs. This opening shot contains all the conventions both Mulvey and Berger discuss, for example the active male, which is the camera in this instance, looking on at the passive female, Scarlett Johansson. The shot sections a particular part of her body, which is a sexualised tool, encouraging fetishism. Further sexualised objectification is the choice to frames her buttocks whilst wearing nothing but a transparent pair of knickers. This sequence plays homage to the conventional male dictated shot. It isn’t too dissimilar to an iconic shot from Guy Hamilton’s 1964 film Goldfinger, the bond collection being renowned for its objectified and sexualised representation of women, where James Bond (Sean Connery) walks on to a balcony to find a blond female lounged across a deck chair wearing underwear. On the contrary, it’s the films blatant use of these conventions that lead people to believe that it is an ironic and conscious decision for these functions to be contained in the film. Once again by simply taking the opening shot an opposing depiction can be drawn, as there is a definite directory awareness of the male gaze and the film's attitude towards it.

Kathryn Brooks OUGD501//Context of Practise

To start, one of the defining factors that separates this from another shot from the male perceptive is the length of time the shot is held for, Coppola makes a point of elongating the shot long enough for the spectator to become uncomfortable thus conscious of the gaze that they’re inflicting. By opening with this shot it is allowing the audience to subconsciously assume that this character is an object for desire. However it is only once the film unravels that its clear to see that Charlotte, despite her 'conventionally' attractive appearance, isn’t sexually longed for throughout the film, as her boyfriend often disregards her and there being no directed implication of lust between the two main characters.

Coppola places the characters in a bed of a hotel room, a location often associated with sexual fulfilment, however, in this scene they do nothing more than open up to one another eventually falling asleep side-by-side. What later becomes apparent with the opening, after going on to view the rest of the film, is that the initial sexual objectification of Charlotte is solely projected by the spectator. However, the viewer can only be partly blamed for this assumption as the subconscious perceptions are buried deep within the archive of film, especially Hollywood. Solidifying this notion is how the film ends. Just before the characters part ways, Bob runs down a busy street, catching Charlotte, walking away. Bob brings her closer and they gaze at each other, everything in this moment of the film, indicates witnessing a scene we’ve seen a thousand times before, the generic passionate kiss. After the gaze the pair embrace, reinforcing the spiritual connection between the male protagonist and the female lead opposed to a sexual connection.

Examples of the Gaze can be seen within modern day advertising, an example of this is shown in the Dolce and Gabbana 2007 spring/summer ad campaign. The image depicts a female model, considered to be conventionally attractive to society, surrounded by four male models, she is outnumbered and completely dominated, her position submissive and helpless, displayed half naked.

'This nakedness is not, however, an expression of her

own feelings; it is a sign of her submission to the owners feelings or demands.' (Berger, p.52) These modern day advertisements can be linked in a similar way to the paintings, the women being dominated as 'In this culture, 'the look' is largely controlled by men.'

(Coward, p.34) Mulvey supports these statements as she writes 'In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female', (Mulvey,p19) which is exactly what this advert depicts. These modern advertisements, especially within high end fashion labels represent a constant domination

Kathryn Brooks OUGD501//Context of Practise

of women, 'in this society, looking has become a crucial aspect of sexual relations, not because of any natural impulse, but because it is one of the ways in which domination and subordination are expressed'. (Coward, p.34) Images like these are not used for the natural appreciation of 'objective beauty,' it is to do with the domination of women which makes men feel comfortable, 'clearly this comfort is connected with feeling secure or powerful.' (Coward, p. 34) These are systems of images to make men feel empowered, which they defend by referring to the objectivity of women being in terms of aesthetic appeal, however, 'this so called aesthetic appreciation of women is nothing less than a decided preference for a 'distanced' view of the female body.' By distancing themselves they are allowed to look freely, 'perhaps this sex-at-a-distance is the only complete secure relation which men can have with women. Perhaps other forms of contact are too unsettling.' (Coward, p.35) Throughout cultural history the gaze has played an important part within society, especially within creative culture, drawing examples from film, art and advertising. It is something that is constantly highlighted throughout the media, even today. The concept has evolved into modern day culture moving on from the very first biblical reference and developing into art and so forth. The gaze in all its structures, surrounds us in day to day life, whether it is used consciously or subconsciously we will continue to apply and mould it to whatever the most relative art forms within society are at the time. Throughout history the gaze has been an instrinsic source of inspiration, manipulation and debate within creative culture dictating the style, audience and message of whatever art piece is at question.

Kathryn Brooks OUGD501//Context of Practise

BIBLIOGRAPHY Clark, K (1956), The Nude, Penguin Group Berger, J (1973), Ways of Seeing, Penguin Group Coward, R, The Look Mulvey, L (1975) Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema, Screen Lost in Translation, 2003. Film. Directed by Sofia Coppola Goldfinger, 1964. Film. Directed by Guy Hamilton Psycho, 1960. Film. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Hans Memlings 'Vanity'

Dolce & Gabbana 2007 ad campaign

' The Birth Of Venus', Alecandre Cabanel.