OUAD602- Deciding on quotes and statements for Peephole Boxes

I have learnt through my time spent with the webcam girl, and from research for my dissertation that there are a number of themes that run through this line of work. I have determined these through the following headings:

Scopophilia

Voyeurism

Exhibitionism/Performativity

Masks of femininity/Simulation

Narcissism

Standards

Therapy

.. and finally to include my view of the profession that I want to promote:

Celebration of female sexual desire

To encompass the entirety of the work I think a good start to finding the right quotes/statements is to choose ones that represent these themes. Hopefully this will ensure that I am painting the right picture of webcamming and that the audience will be considerate to the sensitivity of the profession. This will hopefully show that I am not promoting the profession but also not denying women of their choice to take part.

“Everyone has their price” represents peoples standards of “taste” and “decency”. Pierre Bourdieu states that “Taste classifies, and it classifies the classifier” (The Field of Cultural Production. Pierre Bourdieu. P16). Meaning that peoples tastes are due to their upbringing and class. This statement I think represents that.

“Wouldn’t you want to be a Russian courtesan for an hour?” represents exhibitionism and love of performance.

“You wouldn’t wanna marry me, but why would I marry you.” represents the celebration of female sexual desire because it shows a defiance to constructed ideals, it is confrontational towards the preconceptions people have when they think that webcam girls will never be able to marry/ have long relationships etc. (this being a “negative”) because it reveals the fact that some woman don’t necessarily want to be married/ have long relationships. They choose instead to have cyber relations and indulge their sexual fantasies through webcamming. I think this quote also show I am not promoting the roffession, because in majority a lot of people do want to settle down with a life partner, and therefore shows this profession is not for everybody.

When I carry on with this project in future forward, I will need to select and choose quotes/statements which represents the other themes:

“They tell me I am beautiful, even when I look rough and I love them for it.” This raises the question of “Do we love someone or do we love something about this someone that reminds us of (an aspect of) ourselves?” (Narcissism, A critical Reader. Anastasios Gaitanidis with Polona Curk. p5).This quote represents the narcissism observed during my sessions with the webcam girl. I am aware this puts a positive stance on narcissism however when I think of how most woman my age compare themselves to media portrayed perfection, and how “kitty Devine’ is so sexually confident and accepting of her own body, it comforts me into thinking this is acceptable. However I’m not sure I am going to use this quote as is, but tweak it a little so it isn’t as long and wordy.

Maybe- “I can be what they want me to be. Unattractive is a feeling I do not posses.” OR “I can be what you want me to be. Unattractive is a feeling I do not posses.” That would also represent simulation/ masks of femininity as well as narcism. Jean Baudrillard states, “Whoever fakes an illness can simply stay in bed and make everyone believe he is ill. Whoever simulates an illness produces in himself some of the symptoms.” (Jean Baudrillard (1995) and the quote I have fabricated proves this theory. For when she is pretending to be something she is not, and wearing a mask so to speak, feelings of confidence and self admiration become present in her ‘real self’ and therefore what she is pretending to be produces symptoms in her reality. I predict this quote will spark off a fair bit of debate. I was indecisive whether or not to speak directly to the audience in this, but as I am counting them as a voyuer, I think I will.

“I often just chat about whatever is going on with me, because they just want some company.” This represents the therapy that is exchanged. She opens up and often drops the facade of “kitty devine” and talks about her personal life. They benefit by listening and feeling like they are in company.. and vice versa. However again I don’t think I want to use this quote because of similar reasons to before.

Maybe- “I’m all ears.. Or shall I just talk?”

Bibliography

Pierre Bourdieu (1993). The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature. Columbia Univeristy: Columbia University Press. p16.

Anastasios Gaitanidis and Polona Curk (2007). Narcissim, A Critical Reader. London: Karnac Books Ltd. p5.

Jean Baudrillard (1995). Simulacra & Simulation. Michigan: University of Michigan press. p3.

OUAD602- Inspiration for peep boxes

Anton Henning’s – The Beholders through the Peep-Hole of the Beautiful Artist 07 June 2013 – 30 August 2013 “installation refers to the sensitive and complicated relationship between artist and viewer, and angst and Romantic irony as conditions in artistic production” (http://www.houldsworth.co.uk/the-box-view/the-beholders-through-the-peep-hole-of-the-beautiful-artist/1/3) Henning facilitates the peep hole to bring awareness to the sensitivity of the artist and the viewer. This makes me more confident that using the peephole in my work will high light the sensitivity of this line of work and make it more intimate. He provides his peepholes to the audience separately, block style as you can see in the above image. I wonder whether I should show mine individually or clumped together to make a sort of wall? This is something I will experiment with. The Following art gallery was only seen through small peep-holes. Here is some text to describe the reactions of the audience and small destruction from the artist: “The Savernack Street Gallery debuted in May and has since intrigued the city’s art crowd, or at other times, irked it. “So I drive across town to do what? Look into the Savernack Street Gallery premises through a peephole in the front door – and that’s the deal,” kvetches one visitor. “The door’s locked. But wait. It’s opening and someone’s coming out. I ask if I can go in and take a look around. ‘No.’ And this is the gallery’s inaugural show? Oy!” This patron is missing the point of the gallery, which is that it’s only accessible through a reverse peephole. Local artist Carrie Katz built the gallery in her colleagues’ unused studio to comment on the difficulties a recent MFA grad (that’s her) faces when trying to crack into the art world. “You’re on the outside looking in a lot. I wanted to create a physical representation of that,” says Katz, who’s in her early 30s and lives in Outer Sunset. “Historically, there’s always the reality of artists struggling financially, and it’s especially hard with the current lack of funding for the arts in this country.” The barricaded room is her statement that “I wanted to start a gallery, but all I could afford is something that you can’t walk in.” For a gallery designed to keep people out, Savernack has ushered in an impressive series of artists. One was Peggy Ingalls, a maker of miniatures, who fixed a fake, itsy-bitsy “room” to the interior side of the peephole. Visitors looking in were treated to this Alice in Wonderland visage, seeming to show something vegetal lurking in a vitrine. ” The patron that had a negative experience of the peep hole is preparing me for some peoples reaction won’t be what I accept or want them to be. Follows is a picture of one of the gallery spaces: (http://www.citylab.com/design/2013/08/unusual-art-gallery-you-can-only-see-through-doors-peephole/6562/)

OUAD602- Reflection on peep hole experiment

When I asked people to take a peep into my peephole boxes, it turned my work towards an exciting direction that I did not anticipate. Thinking about the audience made me want them to really engage with the work, and so the peep holes really did that. Not only did the selected few have to physically interact with the piece, it turned the rest of the audience into voyeurs too. As you can see in the pictures, the people who were not peeping, were watching the peepers. Which made them inquisitive and added another layer so to speak. The peephole boxes only had text within them however I do not want to limit myself to text in the future. For now I am going to work with just the text because I have to be careful with my images because they can give the complete wrong message. I want to include suggestive images of the profession. Selected garments she wears etc. Perhaps images of performative scenes. Some of the peep holes will include this and other will include selected quotes/ statements (in future forward). I have been asked then what is my focus… the voyeur/ or what is inside the peeping holes. My answer to that would be both. The peep-holes raises awareness of the voyeur everybody seems to possess, engages them, and then the contents of the peephole boxes will hopefully evoke debate, and the debate will be directed towards an understanding and consideration of the line of work with the power of my text and imagery.

OUAD602- Testing Peep Holes- Audience Rich Workshop

I have decided to test this way of viewing my work to highlight that everyone has an inner voyeur. Take for example when a number of us were on our way to Mechelen, there was a façade of prostitutes and are whole group stood up to take a peak.

My chosen target audience is one that does not have to have previous knowledge of the webcam profession, and therefore is a wide one. However adult maturity is required to understand that my project is not a promotion of the line of work but a consideration and understanding to the reasons why specifically woman choose to do it. I may ensure this by selecting the height of my peep holes to be out of reach of children. There are themes of feminism present, for I am opposing the people who wish to deny woman of their sexual desires, however it is not aimed at one sex, for I am aware that the negative preconceptions belong to both. I am aiming my work to be as interactive as possible to include and engage my audience. It will be an exhibition piece, and will be open to anyone off the street. The reason I want it to be an exhibition piece in an art gallery is because I want to elevate the webcam profession as a performative art form. I invited people to peep in the holes to test what reaction they had to them. The following images are of people doing so:

This workshop has encouraged me to withdraw myself from looking at my work internally, for it has been troubling and difficult to highlight what aspect of this complex phenomenon I want to convey. Previously I was dealing with short stories, which displayed in a gallery space, would not engage my audience and imagery that could convey the entirely wrong message. I have now removed myself from feeling overwhelmed and have simplified it to these test products that you can see. This step back has inspired me to shorten my stories to statements. Collect statements of my own and those of the webcam girl’s and use them to build the bigger picture, perhaps with multiples of peeping toms, which underline the voyeuristic habits in my audience. The workshop has also encouraged me to think more professionally about my work and not just as a project for my degree. The marketing students made me think in a way of if my work was out in the real world what would it’s effect be on the people who see it.

The first speaker on the first day of the workshop spoke of how to pitch your idea, or a product, applying this to my own work, and starting off with WHY I did it immediately engaged people further. I tested it out on the numerous marketing students and they seemed immediately more enthused. If I applied this technique to say submitting my work for an exhibition at a gallery, it would perhaps give it the platform needed for the curator or gallery owner to take notice.

OUAD602- Selected quotes from webcam girl filmed through a peep hole.

Experiment 1:

Experiment 2:

Experiment 3:

OUAD602- Displaying short stories with Images

Even though I like the simplicity of the images and text, that is alike to Sophie Calle’s way of displaying her work. (Baring in mind I wouldn’t be using the images included here)… I know that I need to be aware of my audience, and from personal experience when I go to exhibitions, I usually look at the imagery, and only if that imagery really interests me will I read the text, and when I see long pieces of writing I will usually avoid them, so I think I want to reduce the stories to quotes.. or statements. The stories go into the many different nuances, and are sympathetic to the numerous ideas that surround the phenomena. This makes it hard to concentrate on what message the audience will receive when looking at my work. After a lot of thinking, what I want to highlight in my project is the enjoyment of role play, and wearing another mask so to speak. For this is one of the main reasons my webcam girl loves her job so much. She loves performing another role, sexually and being a completely different person. I am aware of Jean Baudrillard’s concept of Simulation, and his quote, “Whoever fakes an illness can simple stay in bed and make everyone believe he is ill. Whoever simulates an illness produces in himself some of the symptoms”. (Pierre Bourdieu. The field of cultural production. p16) Applying this to my webcam girl, there is an obvious grey line between when my webcam girl is Kitty and Devine and when she falls back into her “real” self. How ever she said she is consciously herself to the clients that just want some company and conversation but when she takes on role play and sexual performances, it boosts her self confidence and esteem both sexually and in person that she loves it so much. I am wanting to celebrate female sexual desire. Judith Walkowitz states (in discussion over legality of sex work) “The desire to protect young girls thinly masked coercive impulses to control their voluntary sexual impulses” (Banishing The Beast. Lucy Bland. P115). This enforces the idea that people forget that when promoting the well-intentioned act of protecting women/young girls from places of openly performed sexual acts, that they may be denying a freedom or choice to take part. So if I concentrate on some of the things she said to me when in conversation. They could perhaps highlight what I am trying to promote? Also the idea of role play is that little bit less taboo than the idea of webcamming, therefore puts it into a more relatable narrative. So that the audience is more considerate of the profession? Also going back to a quote I discussed a while ago on this blog, that talks about wearing a mask (In her case a metaphorical one) highlights so many aspects of the enjoyment of doing so. “The masquerade had its undeniably provocative visual elements: one took one’s pleasure, above all, in seeing and being seen. With universal privileges granted to voyeurism and self-display, the masquerade was from the start ideally suited to the satisfaction of scopophilic and exhibitionist urges.” (Terry Castle. Masquerade and civilisation. p254.)

Bibliography

Pierre Bourdieu (1993). The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature. Columbia Univeristy: Columbia University Press. p16.

Lucy Bland (2001). Banishing the Beast, Feminism, Sex and Morality. London: Tauris Parke Paperbacks. p115.

(Terry Castle (1986). Masquerade and civilaistion. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 254.)

OUAD602- Down sizing short story 1

Introducing Kitty Devine

The first meet, held tension and nerves. Recognition. Recognition of past experience. Positions of unease. Consciousness of my own preconception. More nerves. Fast-talking. Fidgeting. Short breathes. Converse of haphazard agenda and direction. Panic… so I bought some wine, to free the atmosphere from the requirements of an interview; To make it more of a situation we were both accustomed to. What followed was my disregard of the planned formalities. Deconstruction of the rehearsed interview. Relief. Mirrored relief and the tensions were comforted. Focus of the dialogue was naturally formed and the pace reduced. I began to study her appearance. The attached eyelashes shadowed her child-like eyes. Painted on lips, all retold my days of performing. Stage make-up and hair-spray. Nostalgia and reminiscence. We spoke of her choices; Her own sexual desire, her love of role-play and performance. I walked away in acquaintance with her pride, bespoke self-confidence, and shameless stories that touched on an expanse of clientele stretching worldwide.